65 replies to this topic

[lady2882Nancy]

I started to feel better once my morning 30 (which I normally take at 9am and didn't take until 11) started to work. Now I just feel really tired and dopey. That will be all until probably 5 today when my brain realizes that it didn't get as much as it wants then the nausa, indigestion and heartburn will start lol

I'm too afraid to take more the last day on 60mg which was Tues was too scarey and way too close to being fatal for me.

[CymbaltaCrap]

lady2882

As I think fishinghat mentioned on another thread, slow and steady wins the race! This drug is not one to be messed with but you can do it! But go easy on yourself, ok!?

How did the flooring go? Yes cream coloured carpet does not sound good for children and animals! lol

[lady2882Nancy]

The flooring search went well, he went back with the truck today to pick it up.

Lots of work to do now with the prep for it but I'm not going to overdue it.

Should be funny watching the dogs get used to slippery laminate after having the carpet to play on lol

I will have to be careful too but much easier to clean.

[GreenMachine]

Wow that is brutal. The meds at the hospital would have just added to the withdrawals once your were out. I was addicted to codeine years ago and that was rough going cold turkey with that especially the craving but honestly it was not as bad as the side effects of this crap. 

The only thing similar was the lorazepam. I was very anxious with that just like now. I can barely sit still now and yet so dizzy I'm afraid to walk around much. I have quite low blood pressure normally (70/55 when sitting) so am wondering if that is why I am so dizzy.

Lady, I know those symptoms...just keep fighting through it!   The dizziness does get better...as does the rest of it.

[fishinghat]

Well guys and gals I may have turned the corner. Day 19 cymalta free and except for being tired I actually feel human. Still a little over reactive but if I take it easy I feel really human!! This is definitely the best I have felt in several weeks. Jusy proves that if you hang in there it gets better. I will keep you posted.

[lady2882Nancy]

Wonderful fishinghat so happy for you. You give me hope and I really need that right now.

Headache is not too bad right now, but the wonderful diarrhea is back with a vengence.

And at least I learned something today. "Don't try to delay taking the crap in the morning"

I'm so looking forward to be one month free lol.

[johanna7272]

That's great fishhat... I remember how bad it was stopping Effexor years ago and then finally feeling better.
I haven't had it so bad until yesterday. Diarrhea and headache. I never have headaches so it was distressing. I did, however, share with my husband that I had started reducing the cymbalta. He knew I was reducing the clonazapam but I had not told him I reduced the cymbalta...he knew I was going to but didn't know when. He has been so supportive, I thought he would react differently so I am very happy he is by my side. We talked about the beading. We both think someone should make up dose packs with decreasing doses of the beads, already prepared for those of us who have such a hard time with symptoms while reducing. I am going to change the amount I take out tomorrow. I had been going down 10 beads a day but as of today, with the headache and diarrhea, I'm going to stay on 80 beads removed for a couple days, then remove only by 7, s.
Also, not sure how I did it except I was more focused on the cymbalta, but I am down to .75 mg of clonazapam. YEAH!!!
Wicked vivid dreams! No nightmares but at times, I wish I could record the dreams cause they are so amazing! Then after I wake up, I cannot remember them.
I keep saying to myself, "I wish I had done this a long time ago", or "I wish I never started", but then I remember that I was a complete mess when I started on these meds. I had injured myself at work and was getting crap from work and from workers comp and from the doctors. I finally started seeing a pain management doctor and he recommended cymbalta because I did not want to take narcotics and I still had to work and take care of the kids and house. My husband was over the road driving a truck, gone for three to four weeks at a time. The meds worked. I could function. But finally realized that was all I was doing. My husband is now working locally so he is home daily. Having support is making it possible for me to come off the meds. Also have the chiropractor and massage therapist helps. Well, good talking. Hope everyone is doing great!
We will survive, overcome and succeed!

[fishinghat]

It sounds like you are coming along fine tiemtostop. Your plan sounds solid. I tell you what if you can come off both at the same time ... that woud be something. That added support froma spouse is such a great help. Going through it alone would really suck!! lol Keep up the good fight and keep us posted.

[johanna7272]

Broke down today after massage therapy (so painful!)and took 15 more beads...actually, was an intentional decision. As I have said earlier, I am going to adjust what I take to what I feel. I was itching in weird spots...the top of my right foot, the side of my left wrist, my left calf. Very intense itching. And diarrhea, feeling jittery. So, I intentionally took the 15 beads, bringing me to 5 more than yesterday, but within an hour, all symptoms were gone. I have the time and I have the meds so I am taking it slowly. I have ordered empty capsules so as the count goes down, I can start using the beads I removed.

Lady, how are you doing? Have you adjusted at all to the 30mg? I don't mean to sound pushy, but starting or adjusting higher due to symptoms makes a huge difference for me. Save the beads instead of throwing away and they should last a lot longer. I am getting the empty capsules from amazon. They are $13 for 1000. I don't need that many, but they were the only ones I could find in the smallest capsule. I'll send you some if you need them.

[lady2882Nancy]

Well this morning I woke up mad at the world lol. The dogs even stayed away from me. So I had something to eat and took my pill. I tried to count the beads in a 30mg last night but the beads are smaller in the 30 than in the 60mg ones. Between hubbie and I we managed to count 280 tiny tiny beads lol.

Does anyone know if this is right?

This morning I took the one I opened last night as I know I lost a few beads, and with much steadier hands I removed 10 from the one for tomorrow and 15 from the next one. If things get bad I will stop at whatever number I am at.

The diarrhea much better today, only had a few trips this morning. The headache is not good but I get migraines anyway so decided to treat it like a migraine and that helped alot.

Now I'm just feeling dopey and useless, both side effects of taking this crappy med for me. Worries me that I feel down again but not going to let it beat me.

Hope everyone is doing well today.

[fishinghat]

Lady2882 - The number of beads depends on the dosage and manufacturerer. My 30 mg had 200 beads but I noticed on some of the old posts that some people claimed 280 and some 400. I guess it really doesn't matter as long as you remove 5 each day. I am glad to see that you are on your way down to zero. Good Luck!!

[lady2882Nancy]

Thanks fishinghat. I feel so dopey today, was good until after I took med. This stuff takes all the drive out of me.

[lady2882Nancy]

Well today I feel not too bad, not as dopey feeling and the headache is bearable. Took out some more beads this morning so I guess I'm on day 2 of the decreasing.

I tried to figure out what the actual dose is but my brain doesn't want to do the math today lol.

 

Hope everyone is doing well and a big welcome aboard to any newcomers.

[GreenMachine]

Well today I feel not too bad, not as dopey feeling and the headache is bearable. Took out some more beads this morning so I guess I'm on day 2 of the decreasing.

I tried to figure out what the actual dose is but my brain doesn't want to do the math today lol.

 

Hope everyone is doing well and a big welcome aboard to any newcomers.

Lady, you're taking beads out of the 60mg cap or the 30mg cap, i.e. are you at ~40-50mg or say, 15-20mg would you estimate?

[lady2882Nancy]

Well day 3 today so am now on 27mg as taking beads out of a 30mg capsule and it has 280 beads in it. I was expecting about 100 beads in the 30mg but since it has so many I am taking out 10 beads beads at a time so this morning I took out 30 beads and tomorrow I will take out 40. If I get feeling to rough then I will take out less or stay the same for a few days until I feel better.

 

I'm a little worried though as I started feeling really down yesterday and I haven't felt like that since I was on the 60mg dose. I'm hoping that it was just a withdrawal and I don't want to tell hubbie as he will start worrying again. He handles stress worse than I do.

 

But I got busy this morning and did some stuff around the house before the brain drain started, which usually starts about 30-60 minutes after I take the crap right along with the headache.

 

Good to know you didn't get blown away GreenMachine

[GreenMachine]

Blown away???     

[lady2882Nancy]

Heard on the news that there was a tornado in GA

[GreenMachine]

lol oh, I had no idea.  Yep, I'm fine

[CymbaltaCrap]

lady2882 you're taking 10 out!? Wow! Well if you do start to feel really bad you can always limit that back to 5 or so  couldn't you!? Go easy though! This cymbalta crap does not want to leave us but we'll feel so much better once it does!
 

I hope everyone else is doing ok! I'm off for a girls weekend away this weekend! It's Friday morning here in Oz so the weekend is almost here!
Take care.

[lady2882Nancy]

Wow I can't believe all the problems people are having both on Crapalta and trying to get off it.

What a brutal drug.

Today I am dealing with all over joint pain, something like I have never had before and it just started in the last half hour. I think someone mentioned something like that before. I hope this doesn't last long. I have enough trouble dealing with my lower back and hips.

Does anyone know if it causes fluid retention in the legs?

My ankles were so puffy last night that I couldn't see the bones. Was puffy all the up to my knees. Something new for me.

[GreenMachine]

Hey Lady, not sure who mentioned it but I went for about a week with that constant all over muscle/joint pain, but that was during the worst week of withdrawal for me.  It also happened again a few other times since then during recovery but only lasted a few hours at a time...I took 800mg ibuprofen for it which worked well actually.

I can't comment on the fluid retention though...one symptom I was fortunate not to have.

[fishinghat]

I did a quick search on this site for the word edema and found 4 people who reported fluid buildup for part of their symptoms. Probably goes with the territory for some.

[lady2882Nancy]

Not something I have had much experience with. The only time before was when I was working as a chef. It was extremely hot weather and the kitchen was like being in an oven.. The heat and standing on my feet for long periods of time caused it but it was gone the next morning each time and not as bad as what I have now. It was still a bit puffy this morning when I got up.

 

I am going to try a gentle walk on my treadmill for a bit today to see if that helps with the puffiness and the aching joints.

[CymbaltaCrap]

lady2882Nancy how did your walk go? Did it give you any relief?

[lady2882Nancy]

Yes it seemed to help quite a bit. My ankles weren't as bad and I felt better although tired.

I'm out of shape bad this winter lol. No ambition and too much snow and ice this year for us.

[lady2882Nancy]

Argh there is a crapalta ad on TV right now and I had the urge to smash the TV lol

[CymbaltaCrap]

lady2882Nancy oh we would love to have snow were we live!! My eldest daughter was only saying tonight that she'd love to go riding (horses) in the snow! And my youngest daughter is always talking about it! lol

Are you serious there's a Cymbalta advertisement on TV!!!!!????? What does it say???

[lady2882Nancy]

Depression hurts, Cymbalta can help with the physical effects of depression

 

Now that is the biggest BS I've ever heard.

The youtube video has it right

Depression hurts, Cymbalta hurts more.

My version

Depression hurts, Crapalta brings pain to a whole new level.

[goldenneko]

lady2882Nancy... Drink ginger-ale for the nausea

[lady2882Nancy]

Thanks for thinking of me goldenneko and taking the time to suggest it.

 

I have been through 8 X 2L bottles and 24 small bottles of ginger ale, gallons of ginger tea, even bought some actual ginger root, and now cook with ginger too since I first started taking Crapalta.

It helps some but I don't think there is enough ginger in the world to settle the nausea I have had in the last two months  . 

 

And shame on me for not suggesting it to others  .