7 replies to this topic

[Lori]

Hello Everyone!!! It has been awhile since I have been to this site, and hope all new people are still getting great information from this site, its an awesome site! This site helped me so much during my withdrawals and I thank those who helped. For every single person reading this, I pray for you daily.

To inform anyone who is interested, I am now at day 146 Cymbalta Free......but on day 142-144, I was extremely tired, I went back to bed once I got everyone off to work and school and each one of those three days, I experienced the brain zaps as I lay in bed resting.....after I woke up they were gone. But it happened three mornings straight. I found that to be odd, but I sure was reminded what it was like to have the brain zaps every day round the clock.

I hope no one is thinking I have forsaken any new people coming along with these crazy and frightening experiences, but please understand I have some past issues that needed my attention and I have been working on those. I pray for everyone on this site every day, and you are not far from my thoughts, but I must heal from my past, and then I will be able to help others, again.

Best wishes to everyone, and please remember, that YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

Lori

[lazup]

Hi Lori!

Do you mean that you don't have had any withdrawals in 146 days? Except those you mentation.. How did you get free from cymbalta?
Your words was very supportive!! Thanks those! And of course you have to work your own issues, don't apologize that!

And I remenber, we all can do this!!

[Attorney_Victim]

Lori,
I am 66 days Cymbalta free, and about 4 weeks off the Prozac, but I too have been experiencing mild brain zaps again the last couple of days. I couldn't think of why these would be happening again, and I wondered if it could possibly be that the Prozac is just now out of my system. But then I read GB's post about how it is common for these symptoms to show back up when we are tired. I have been sick this week, and extra tired...so that probably explains why my symptoms have popped back up. They aren't bad, just a nice little "reminder." I plan to sleep a lot this weekend. Take care of yourself!! And when you are ready, come back anytime!

[Lori]

Thank you GB, for your words of support, it was nice to hear from a familiar helpful person. I hope you are doing well, also. Right now, I am not suffering from Cymbalta Withdrawals by my being up this late, I am actually sitting up all night because of Tropical Storm Hanna keeping me awake....so I will be up tonight. Brain zaps tomorrow? Yes, GB, I am doing well, like I said, I have some issues dealing with my past that I am working on, healing from. I still have the support of a wonderful man and an awesome family. I know all the new comers to this site appreicate you so much. Thank you for still being there.

Lazup, thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them very much. I beat Cymbalta by taking alot of advice from some wonderful people on this site. There is so many wonderful ideas, and advice on this site. At first, my mind could not function well enough to find what I needed, I used this place as a place to vent. Read some of my old posts. I had so many people praying for me, too. I was not in the frame of mind to THINK ABOUT PRAYING......which is crazy in itself. As you have probably read, the withdrawals, for the most part, have to run their course. Like having a cold, you can take things that may lessen the symptoms, take care of yourself, but as hard as it may seem, our brains have to reset. For some its going to take longer, depending on chemistry, the amount of stress we have in our lives, our diets, our exercise, and simply the way we each handle the withdrawals. I took Omega 3 and ate alot of Salmon. At the beginning, I stayed in bed for the most part, I just could not deal with it. I had so much rage, the brain zaps were driving me insane, I could not think, I could not put two sentences together. It was just easier to stay in bed. But as I began to fight back alittle, I took advice from here, and did not watch anything on tv that was upsetting, I tried to get out and work with my flowers, stretching exercises, but keep it light at first. Relax in the bathtub, nice music, which I could not stand to hear music at the beginning. Well, I could not stand much of anything, to be honest. How long have you been off the Cymbalta? Did you wean from it? I wish you so much luck with this and am very sorry you are having to go through this. I pray every night for everyone who has to deal with the effects of Cymbalta but you will get through this.

Day 66, Congrats AV, you are DOING IT!!!! Yes, GB answered both our questions. When we are tired, we may possibly feel some of the old symptoms sneak up on us, but thank God, its just a small reminder.....maybe God is telling us, we did it, and dont ever forget what so many others are dealing with. Well, I am going to catch up on what this storm is going to do. Please know you are all fighters and have much more strength than you think. Dont beat yourselves up if you feel you can not do this, because we all have felt that way. You take one minute at the time if thats all you can do. Never feel you are a failure or weak, because its just the evil effects of the drug. Thats all it is, I promise. Any of you can email me at any time, and I will respond ASAP.

God bless and take care of yourselves.
Lori

[lazup]

Hi Lori!

Your words sounds like mine.. I mean that I feel in the same way that you described your own feeling. I have so much rage too.. Allmost everyday I cry and feel so desperate. This is so horrible. And you asked about weaning. Yes! I have not taken cymbalta in 6 days now, and prozac I have took in 5 days.. My withdrawls are terrible! I can not do nothing, just stay in the bed. My school is suffering this very much, but I just can not go there in this shape. This site is a great thing!! Maybe only place where I have had a support in this thing. Thank you for praying!

Best health to you

Laura

[agrace]

Lori, reading your post I wasn't sure whether to feel comfort or cry. My husband has been off Cymbalta (60 mg) and Wellbutrin (300 mg) for over 2 months, and he's still experiencing some really crappy effects, although the bad stuff is no longer constant and it seems to be getting better.

I have a thread started on the "how to find support" forum that details his story, so I'll sum up - weaned for about a month, dealt with the zaps, sweats, fatigue, headaches, tremors etc from about day 5 on, then it all went away and he felt good for two weeks. Then the REAL fun started - at all hours of the day, EVERY day for a while, he would suddenly manifest slurred speech, unsteady gait, wild eyes, impaired motor skills, rage, crying jags, after which he would crash for a few hours and wake up with little to no memory of the episode. Pretty much like someone who drank A LOT at one sitting, but without the alcohol. His primary doc and pdoc both wanted a complete neuro workup (even though we were pretty confident it was extended withdrawal, his primary doc said "I never say never, but it is nearly impossible it could be discontinuation"), so he agreed to a battery of tests, and ironically, the brain zaps returned as he sat in the chair waiting for his cat scan.

That was several weeks ago (and needless to say, all the tests came back clear), during which these episodes came and went. And they are still happening. Although with greater infrequency, and usually when he is very tired or stressed, as mentioned above. At first they happened every day, morning, midday, night - didn't matter. Then they shifted to just evening, when he'd start to get tired, but still every day. It was so bad that I begged God for a break for my birthday, which was 8/21 - and that night was the first night in weeks it didn't happen. But then after that, another few days running, and now within the last two weeks, they are finally more gone than present, although they show up like I said when he's very tired, hungry, stressed.

After three days that were good, last night was a struggle, and tonight was the worst night in a long time, after he drove out of state and back today, spent about 8 hrs on the road for work. He got home at about 630 and immediately showed signs, went to bed for a couple hours with the promise that I would wake him for dinner, which I did, and he was ok for about a half hour, then got even worse, and for the first time in a couple weeks, the emotions got going too. He's so frustrated with all of this, and I'm so mad I want to sue someone. Watching him fight with himself to put a coherent sentence together and make it up the steps without falling backwards, it's hard to believe sometimes that there isn't some permanent damage in there. He just wants to be done, and frankly, so do I. I've been scouring the internet to try to find anyone with similar experiences but so far, other than a very comprehensive list from Dr Glenmullen's book that includes every single thing he's still dealing with, as well as a couple obscure references that suggest some people can deal with this lovely list of stuff for up to a year (a UK study even named it - PANES - persistent aggravated neurological effects of SSRIs, and one of their case studies still exhibited neuro effects like slurred speech and motor skill problems a year later), I have yet to find someone who says, YES! I went through the same kind of thing, and it lasted___.

Oh well, I take comfort in the fact that they are becoming more infrequent, and so far, he's been fortunate in that this kind of thing hasn't happened when he's out and about, driving, or in a meeting for work, or in a situation where someone might mistake him for drunk and disorderly, or take him to the emergency room for fear of a stroke!

[agrace]

Oh, forgot to mention! Another lingering symptom is numbness in hands and feet, especially feet - he's had constant numbness in his toes for weeks now, sometimes the whole right side of his foot, and it's driving him so crazy that he is thinking of going back to his primary doc about it. I said why bother, he'll probably send him off for a few thousand bucks more in tests that show nothing. And in the past week, he's occasionally stuttered, not in the sense of repeating words or syllables, but like he's stuck on a syllable and it's dragged way out before he finishes the word. Another source of frustration lately for him.

[mahpiohazi]

Hello. I'm new here. I just posted a new topic...2 years after cymbalta withdrawal -- brain zaps.

I am still experiencing brain zaps TWO YEARS after the fact of going through cymbalta withdrawal. So technically...it's been 3 years since being on Cymbalta -- possibly more, I have lost track. I was on the drug for a mere 6 months until I began having horrid reactions. It took 9 months to withdraw. To this day, I am still having brain zaps. Please refer to my post. I'm trying to find others who may still be having brain zaps even though it has been over a year, two years, even three years after the fact of going through withdrawal. Needless to say, I'm scared.

Thanks...and good luck to you.