Hi DTG, I apologize for not responding to you sooner ... I went from not working for 14 months to having two jobs (one PT permanent, the other is 40 hrs/week for just 8 weeks) ... keeping me away from the forum temporarily... anyway .. enuf about me ...
I think you're expecting way too much of yourself too soon, too fast ... body/muscle pain is common during withdrawal and the longer "discontinuation" phase ... which extends over months for many of us here ...
For example, I had excruciating muscle and back pain that hit about the 2d month off (I went cold turkey, 60 mg for 7-8 yrs to zero, so I made things worse for myself) ... the good folks here at the time, Fishinghat and ThisMoment and EquusWoman, all assured me that it was part of the withdrawal "package" ... and to wait it out ... I used chelated magnesium, Epsom salt hot baths, omega 3 fish oil, and a heating pad ... after about 4 weeks, it faded ... and, what really helped me next was that at the beginning of my 5th month off I took a month long yoga class ... just once a week ... nearly killed me, and it was "old fart" yoga for senior citizens ... but man, it sure helped ...
And now, I'm going to "lecture you" a bit ... actually, quite a bit.... .... you quit risperdal, gabapentin, klonopin, and Zoloft and Cymbalta ... all in a very short period of time (I'm still not clear if you cold turkeyed all of them, and did so simultaneously) ... each one of those has massive withdrawal issues ... and massive impact on the brain and body ... is it any damned wonder why you're still having problems? Plus, you've only been off the Cymbalta since September ... your brain and body simply cannot deal with what you've thrown at them ... and you must, absolutely must, slow down ... stop pushing yourself ... and stop adding, then dropping, new meds ...
Do you have a regular GP and psychiatrist and therapist? If yes, are you seeing them regularly, and telling them everything about the meds? and if not, you really need to get them ... one of each ...
Now you've jumped on and off Elavil ... 4 weeks on, then quit cold turkey ... as I'll explain below, Elavil has horrid side effects, and can have a horrid withdrawal if not done very slowly ...
DTG, you are causing these problems for yourself with your attitude towards these meds ... they aren't to be taken, then not taken, like aspirin ... they are powerful, powerful CNS agents ...
And you can't just go to some urgent care place and let a nobody doc hand you an Rx for Elavil ...
That doc was a jackass to put you on Elavil (Amitriptyline) like it was/is a simple aspirin ... it's a TCA ... tricyclic antidepressant ... been around for ages, since the 1960s, and isn't used much any more ... http://en.wikipedia....i/Amitriptyline... it just has too many bad side effects and as other meds came on the market, it stopped being prescribed except for people who hadn't responded to any other antidepressant...
Here's what it was/is used for primarily: ..."to treat a number of mental disorders including: major depressive disorder, anxiety, and less commonly psychosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder. Other uses include: prevention of migraines and post herpetic neuralgia and less commonly insomnia" ...
It's been tried for fibromyalgia, but there's as much evidence that it causes it as there is that it helps it ...
Included in its substantial "side effects profile" are muscle, body and lower back pain ...
I also found 1) a ton of posts on other antidepressant withdrawal forums/websites about people getting off Elavil, and then ending up with muscle, body and lower back pain, which they had not had before taking the drug ... and/or being diagnosed with fibro ... especially the ones who quit cold turkey and/or tapered too fast
You mention in your post that you felt better after taking the first dose of the Elavil ... well, I'm not sure there's a connection ... because it takes Elavil several weeks to ramp up in the system, and it usually doesn't start taking effect until the 3d or 4th week ... so, you quit right about when it would have been becoming effective, if it was going to do anything to help ...
And, because you took it for 4 weeks, you likely did yourself some harm by quitting it cold turkey ... it has its own withdrawal issues, and a very slow taper is recommended ... quitting cold turkey set you back substantially, is my bet ... the comments on the other forums indicate that some folks have taken up to a year to taper off ... granted, those have been tapers from much higher doses, and having been on it for a much longer time ...
but still, you've slammed your brain and body with so many drug withdrawals in just a few months ... this is a powerful drug, and quitting cold turkey wasn't the best idea ... you are a bit of a "hasty one" aren't you? (I bet you were impossible on the run-up to Christmas when you were a kid .... )
Now just slow down ... be patient with your brain and body and give them time to heal ... lots of time ... and please check in here more often (ha, great one I am to say that after I've virtually disappeared for the last 5 weeks) .... let us know how you're doing, and please, check in here before you make any med / routine changes ...
Get the Omega 3 and chelated magnesium .... BUT first check this list of drug interactions it has ...https://www.cymbalta...s/?hl=magnesium(FH posted this months ago, a number of us discovered we were taking meds with which magnesium has a bad interaction) ...
and, get some Epsom salts for hot baths ... it's a form of magnesium and in the hot bath the magnesium crosses the transdermal barrier and gets right into the muscles .... also, haul out the old heating pad and try making it your new best friend ...
And most of all, hang in there ... you've only been off the crapalta since September ... that's not even 4 months ... and in your post you said you were out of town when you got the Elavil ... so gee whiz, you're up and out and about ... that's a huge amount of progress ... give yourself some credit ... huge credit ... for what you've done ... look at the list of drugs you've gotten off of (granted, the hard way) ... and give you brain and body some credit ... and as much time as they need to continue healing ...