401 replies to this topic

[FiveNotions]

I went through a sort of manic spell....a couple of days....about the second month....I sort of liked it...I got a lot of cleaning done...;-)

But, then I flipped back into exhausted.....I slept lots and lots....it was a different kind of sleep from when I was on the poison....this was helping me to heal...

And I also had some skin itches and rashes....never anything like a butterfly....more like a bowl of oatmeal spilled on my face....

[ittybittysmitty]

AM,

 

Yes, I have fatigue but it's also from fibromyalgia...Sorry you have to go through this...are you working FT?

 

Yep, molasses has taken over my brain too...It also feels like cement has been poured over it...

 

Do you forget what you did yesterday? I take Lamictal so that could be the reason;.

[ittybittysmitty]

LAFM,

 

ha..i'm not laughing at you just at your comment about oatmeal...so many posts with analogies...they make me smile through this hellish ordeal.

 

I had a rash on my left butt cheek...the rash travels around my body...weird.

 

So I hope you are through this withdrawal by now!

[ittybittysmitty]

I don't want to be around other people and want to bite everyone's head off...

 

I suppose this is part of the laundry list?

 

Anyone else "withdrawing" while withdrawal? Play on words, i know. lol

[FiveNotions]

Blessedly, I was/still am unemployed throughout this whole thing....the first month, December 2013, I was pretty much bed-bound....I was anti social while on cymbalta (I'm a natural introvert, but this was pathological)....and I'm glad I was alone...except for visits from one close friend....I needed to do my suffering alone....just me, three cats, and this forum....

Now, I find myself enjoying people....still an introvert, but i find myself able to converse and interact in ways I couldn't/didn't for the years I was on the poison.....

[AnotherMind]

FN - Oatmeal - LOL! (I'll drizzle some mollassas over it for you!)

 

IBS - re: fortunately I am not working at present so Ive been able to collapse spectacularly without impacting anyone. Last week I had to turn down an offer of PhD scholarship though. I have to get this body/mind stuff sorted before I attempt anymore academia.

 

Im really ineterested reading about peoples social withdrawal here -  Ive been a life-long introvert, but while on Cymbalta my social phobia/anxiety got so bad I had to leave my job (didnt help that I was assulted at work) - I then basically hid in my house for 3 - 4 months. I couldnt even have curtains open knowing there were neighbours out there. Shopping for food would put me in bed for the day as the anxiety was so intense, I stopped answering calls, seeing people, the fallout was pretty devestating - it was a terrible imprisonment of sorts. I didnt recognise myself.

 

That's shifting now - combination of Mindfulness and getting off Cymbalta. Now Im trying to repair the fall-out from this period of reclusiveness...it's amazing how quickly you 'vanish' when you have a major health crisis/withdrawal from mainstream society. Life just marches on with out you and people's own lives are so complicated, busy and vulnerable they cant take on your woes (nor should they be expected to). Very sad tho.

 

Hope the day is kind.

[ittybittysmitty]

I'm suffering from insomnia since starting Celexa; it's also a side effect of the Celexa...

 

Anyone suffering with insomnia while withdrawing?

[AnotherMind]

Absolutely! - 14 days now. Relying on Temazepam and Valium for sleep - otherwise up all night.

 

This is hellish isnt it.

[thismoment]

Have you heard about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac? He stayed awake all night wondering if there's a dog. . . lol

[AnotherMind]

[Xanazul]

13 weeks
I wish I could say that I am feeling better, for my own sake and for giving hope to others, but I am not.
I keep a diary since week 4 and in fact these two ast weeks have been the worse since all this started.
Waking every morning has becomed a nightmare and anxiety, fatigue and the pain in my right arm caughts me from the very moment I open my eyes and lasts every day for mor time along the day, until 5 or 6 in the evening when it subsides leaving me exhausted.
Wish you all my friends to be living better than I am enduring.

[AnotherMind]

On Xanazul - I am so sorry to hear that! That must be very worrying and disheartening for you. Did you have pre-exsisting conditions that would contribute to arm pain, anxiety etc - or do you feel that these new post-cymbalta symptoms?

 

so sorry

[Xanazul]

No pre existing conditions as for arm pain.
I did take Cymbalta por two years for anxiety and depression, and worked OK. However anxiety has becomed terrifying, morning hideous these last two weeks and banzos are not of any help.
Hope you are doing better

[Wagtail]

Xanazul , you are right in the throes of withdrawal @ 13 weeks & the way you are feeling is not surprising . This is when you need to stay positive & ride out these feelings . It's the Cymbalta trying to make you reinstate by making you think your not strong enough to keep going or that you are having a relapse ...YOUR NOT .. This is all part of your journey & many of us became worse before we became better ... Use your benzos for your anxiety until you start to feel better .. You will, feel better & most likely in a few more weeks ..you have to stay strong & tell yourself that you are ..... One of my personal tricks, was to tell myself every morning " TODAY I CHOOSE TO FEEL GOOD ." No matter how bad I really felt , I made it my matra ....
" I CHOSE TO FEEL GOOD TODAY !!!."

I have to laugh about it now as I picture myself , sick as a dog , sitting of the loo with a false smile on my face ( to trick my brain ) & saying out loud .. " I feel good today !."
It worked for me & I still say it to myself when I start to feel doubtfull ..

Good luck ..you will make it ..:-)

[AnotherMind]

No pre existing conditions as for arm pain.
I did take Cymbalta por two years for anxiety and depression, and worked OK. However anxiety has becomed terrifying, morning hideous these last two weeks and banzos are not of any help.
Hope you are doing better

 

Eli Lily REALLY need to know how devestating Cymbalta can be for anxiety. Im so angry about it - Im just investigating petitions and lawsuits.

 

Xanazul I can't quite recall - where you about to start Mindfulness Course? Mindfulness was the only thing that hepled my anxiety when it was acute (i was hospitalised with anxiety while on Cymbalta). Over time, daily mindfulness practice calmed it down.

What you;re going through sounds very hard - hang in there, seek support!

 

Im going though shocking pain now with my withdrawals - wondering if that's forever...

it's hard to keep positive and clear sighted.

 

xxx

 

 

Wagtail - you are so brave!!! Admiration!

[AnotherMind]

Far out - I cannot believe how much pain I'm in!!  Feels like my shin bones are crumbling and I can't sit for pelvic pain. Everyday it migrates to another place in my body. Unsettling.

[Xanazul]

AM,
Yes! I started the eight weeks program last week, but is kind of difficult to do the practices when I feel so anxious. Have not gone pass the body scan yet, I just can not concentrate in whatever part the scan is focussing more than a few seconds, because my mind keeps going and going elsewhere all the time. I guess I need to complete the training before the benefits show up. Nevertheless I try to use some of the mindfulness guideliness and tell myself this is just what's going on now, not necessarily tomorrow or forever.
Also I keep exercising, but this too takes time to produce any benefit, so right now I suppose I need to accept that I am stuck in this hideous state.
Pain will go away and we will all see shining days. Take much care

Wagtail,
Yours is a very comforting example that things go up and down but improvement goes steady state, I thank you wholeheartly both for your sharing and your caring.

[Xanazul]

And, AN
Ely Lilly KNOWS, they just don't care, more than that they hide what they and we know because selling is their business.

[AnotherMind]

X - Give the mindfulness time and find your own way to do it is my advice - my mind was leaping like a flea when I first came to the program (in fact I almost left because of it) and the sense of wanting to be able to do body scans 'correctly' started to become another source of anxiety -  so I dropped all expectations and used the time and technique to quietly dialogue with my body in what ever way I could manage on any given day, in any given state.

 

I grew my own unorthodox way of body scanning that could be adapted to whatever condition I was in. I guess the message of acceptance and the ability to take time to  simply breathe and be with myself non-judgementally, regardless of my condition became the most helpful tools in the end.

 

Ely Lilli are as unscrupulous as all big companies - we are just fodder for profit.

 

xx

 

AM,
Yes! I started the eight weeks program last week, but is kind of difficult to do the practices when I feel so anxious. Have not gone pass the body scan yet, I just can not concentrate in whatever part the scan is focussing more than a few seconds, because mi mind keeps going and going elsewhere al the time. I guess I need to complete the training before the benefits show up. Nevertheless I try to use some of the mindfulness guideliness and tell myself this is just what's going on now, not necessarily tomorrow or forever.
Also I keep exercising, but this to takes time to produce any benefit, so right now I suppose I need to accept that I am stuck in this hideous state.
Pain will go away and we will all see shining days. Take much care

Wagtail,
Yours is a very comforting example that things go up and down but improvement goes steady state, I thank you wholeheartly both for your sharing and your caring.

[thismoment]

A conversation.

 

AM: "Eli Lilly REALLY needs to know how devestating Cymbalta can be for anxiety. Im so angry about it - Im just investigating petitions and lawsuits".

 

Xanazul: "Ely Lilly KNOWS, they just don't care, more than that they hide what they and we know because selling is their business." 

 

TM: "The only difference between Eli Lilly and the meth lab in the garage is the number of money-counters- Eli Lilly has more!"

[AnotherMind]

my short term memory is obliterated now Im withdrawing - anyone else?

I feel like a gold fish circling in a bowl...it's embaressing and disabling.

[ittybittysmitty]

I love your analogies but so sorry you are feeling this way! I know how you're feeling...i can't remember what I did yesterday...Does Cymbalta withdrawal cause Dementia?? now that wouldn't be funny!

[fishinghat]

Ah Cymbalta. The gift that just keeps giving!! And each time you unwrap it there is a 'new' joy to be found.

[ittybittysmitty]

What a hoot...we all have something witty to say here...as we sit here suffering, paying the consequences a billionaire company chooses to ignore.

 

I just had a temper tantrum, just like a toddler...and I'm almost 50? Hmmmm, is that on their website? lol

[Amybc7]

I am so thankful for all of you.  

 

Today I called in to work.  Simply because I couldn't function.  I need a day to not deal with anyone and enjoy the silence of my own mind.  Sadly - my mind didn't get the memo.

 

The other morning was particularly rough and a coworker remarked that I wasn't myself.  I explained I was weaning off my Cymbalta and she nonchalantly shrugged and said "oh".  I want to grab her, shake her, and say "No...it's not oh.  It's a big deal!"  

 

I think I'm on week 6.  7?  Something.  I lose track of time so easily right now.  I've started bead counting since I found you all which has made a huge difference (instead of the every other day method the doctor told me to use).  Of course - I reduced a little too fast and so now am hanging tight and "half" doses each day until things calm down again.

 

The insomnia is ridiculous - especially since I was used to getting 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night.  The nausea.  Awful - and then suddenly it disappears and I want to eat everything.  The itching drives me insane.  

 

What I'm curious about is the aches and pains that have no explanation.  Have they been there all along and were just masked?  Are they real?  I hate that when each new thing pops up I'm not sure what it is.  What's causing it.  So frustrating!

[FiveNotions]

TM....actually, I think I prefer the meth lab in the garage...if the product is bad they either blow themselves up or an unhappy customer whacks 'em...... ;-)

[thismoment]

I love your analogies but so sorry you are feeling this way! I know how you're feeling...i can't remember what I did yesterday...Does Cymbalta withdrawal cause Dementia?? now that wouldn't be funny!

 

There is some science on the relationship of antidepressant side-effects to the accelerated onset of dementia. I'm sure fishinghat has something on this. A google search turns up a few articles.

[thismoment]

TM....actually, I think I prefer the meth lab in the garage...if the product is bad they either blow themselves up or an unhappy customer whacks 'em...... ;-)

FN… all outta 'Like this's', but I like this.

[fishinghat]

Amybc7 said...  What I'm curious about is the aches and pains that have no explanation.  Have they been there all along and were just masked?  Are they real?  I hate that when each new thing pops up I'm not sure what it is.  What's causing it.  So frustrating!

 

 

I can't promise but I would bet it is from the withdrawal. It is a very common occurance.

[fishinghat]

There is some science on the relationship of antidepressant side-effects to the accelerated onset of dementia. I'm sure fishinghat has something on this. A google search turns up a few articles.

 

I have 4 articles that say Cymbalta causes or makes dementia worse, one that says it makes no difference and 3 that say it improves dementia, esp in alzeimers.

 

I don't know what to say.