289 replies to this topic

[fishinghat]

EBB

 

Like Juli said, it may take some time to kick in so hang in there.

 

What else to do? Well there is rTMS, electroconvulsive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, acupuncture, etc.

 

You might look through "and the answer to your question is..." in the medical support section. It is an over view wht what everyone has tried and their comments. I do like Your drs approach to bring up the Lexapro slowly. I know you need some relief soon but this method will minimize the amount you need to take and you won't have so far to wean off if you decide to ever get off the Lexapro.

[EBB]

FH help,

I feel like I have the flu. My stomach has never felt great and I haven't gotten my appetite back, but now I have bad diarrhea. Energy is very low. Been in bed most of day. Is this normal at this point? Is this just another wave of symptom phase? I'm on day 6 of 1mg Lexapro. I'm scared. I don't have weight to lose. I'm trying to eat. Please be gentle with response, I don't know if I can take more bad news.

[fishinghat]

It is common for the GI symptoms to really kick in when you are weaning Cymbalta around that 10 bead dose but it is strange you have come down with this just when starting Lexapro. If it is from the Cymbalta it will taper off over the next few weeks. Imodium, pepto, Kaopectate, etc have helped quite a few get through it. I can't remember any GI problems when I started Lexapro but that was a while back. I will check.

[fishinghat]

The FDA  says that 6% report GI issues when starting Lexapro. You might ask your dr if this is temporary and if so how long.

[EBB]

It doesn't seem like it could be the Cymbalta because Ive been on 10 beads since this withdrawal started in March. I have had stomach pain and no appetite, but not diarrhea/lethargy/exhaustion like this. Would it make sense for this sort of withdrawal symptom to come up now? I thought this was more typical in the beginning?

[gail]

Hi Ebb,

I've been wondering about you. How are you doing since the last post?

[EBB]

Hi Everyone, I am doing somewhat better. I have been very slowly going up on Lexapro. I am now at 3mg. The anxiety is much better, however, I am very sad and depressed. I am hoping that as I go up on the Lexapro I will continue to improve. What do you all think? It's been 5 weeks on Lexapro so far, I have one more week at 3, then I go to 4mg. I have had some good days, and am having more windows, but am still struggling. Does this sound like it's going in a good direction? I still have not touched the 10 beads. I'm concerned about running out of time with the Ativan and the beads. It all seems kind of impossible...

[EBB]

Hi Ebb,

I've been wondering about you. How are you doing since the last post?

Thanks for checking on me Gail. I thought the site was down. I was having trouble seeing anything from my phone...see above for how I'm doing

[EBB]

I am going out of town but I will be praying that you feel better soon.

Juli, are you back? I'm wondering how you are doing with the beads - how has it been?

[fishinghat]

Hey EBB. That is pretty good. The depression should fade in a few days as it is often a rebound effect from having anxiety for such a long period of time.

You are doing fine. You should be stable pretty soon and then you can SLOWLY wean off the 10 beads.

One step at a time.

[EBB]

Hey EBB. That is pretty good. The depression should fade in a few days as it is often a rebound effect from having anxiety for such a long period of time.

You are doing fine. You should be stable pretty soon and then you can SLOWLY wean off the 10 beads.

One step at a time.

Thanks FH, that's the best news I've  heard yet! Thank you! The depression has been going on for a while - maybe 10 days so far. Is that bad? Maybe it's just because I'm so low on the Lexapro? Thanks so much.

[gail]

Thanks Ebb for your visit.

This is the first time that I see positive things here in your post. Youppie!
Going real slow on Lexapro, is there a reason? So glad to hear from you Ebb.

[fishinghat]

If it has already been 10 days and the depression is still present then you may need some more Lexapro unless you think it is not a major deal. It may fade with the fading of Cymbalta withdrawal.

[juli]

Hi EBB.  I am holding steady at 15mg of Lexapro.  I am not going to worry about reducing that for now.  I am happy to have the Cymbalta ordeal behind me.

 

I think you will find your depression getting better as you get higher on Lexapro.  You are still on a very low dose.  I started on 5mg Lexapro for one week, then up to 10 for a few more weeks and then stabilized at 15mg.  The Lexapro has been a lifesaver for me.  I hope you can increase it to the point where you feel good.

[juli]

Also, I wouldn't touch the 10 beads.  I was not able to do the last 15 or so beads until I was up to 15mg of Lexapro.  When I got to 15mg of Lexapro I reduced the beads by one a day depending how I felt.  I wonder if you will be able to make bigger increases on the Lexapro since your anxiety is under control.

[EBB]

Hey, this is EBB's husband Chris.  She's had a dreadful couple of days.  She went up from 3 to 4mg of Lexapro on Friday and has been feeling dismal anxiety and doom Saturday and Sunday.  We've been ramping up on the Lexapro slowly because of her sensitivity to all the other meds so far, so she was on 3mg for 2 weeks before going up.  Up until Friday she has been doing pretty well on the Lexapro, but has complained of headaches and occasional brain zaps, which is new.  Thursday was her best day yet since this whole withdrawal started.  She has been steady on the 10 beads of Cymbalta and is steady on regular Ativan.  The only other thing beside the Lexapro that changed recently is she ran out of the specific kind of fish oil she was taking and is taking regular fish oil until the good kind comes.  Do you have any thoughts on why she might be having a severe wave now?  For some reason, I don't feel like it is from the Lexapro, since she's been tolerating it so well for weeks at smaller doses.  She did 1mg for 2 weeks, then 2mg for 2 weeks, then 3mg for 2 weeks.  Each time she went up, she felt a little off for a couple of days, but not like this.

[fishinghat]

Hi Chris, thanks for updating us.

 

First of all it wouldn't surprise me if the brain zaps are related to the change in Omega 3. Hopefully this will go away when she gets on the good stuff.

 

The anxiety, doom, headaches and brain zaps are routine for Cymbalta withdrawal. With her feeling better the last few weeks has she been pushing herself. Many of the members have had problems with overdoing things when they get feeling better and relapse. Also don't rule out the Lexapro as the cause. She may have finally got to a level where she is experiencing side effects although Lexapro is not famous for that. One way to find out. Go back to 3 mg for 3 or 4 days and see if things get better.

 

Also, other things that can cause flair ups include alcohol, being exposed to solvents like varnish, enamel, gasoline, etc.

[EBB]

Thanks for the info FH.  She's been very strict with herself on alcohol, and I don't think any other solvents are at play here.  She is probably guilty of pushing herself too hard.  We have been doing light bike rides, but she tends to get out in the yard to pull weeds, and that can be pretty strenuous given the state of our yard!  I'll let her know.  And if she's not better today maybe we'll try going back to 3mg Lexapro.  Thanks again and will keep you posted.

[juli]

I feel like her dose of Lexapro is so low that it isn't covering the full cymbalta withdrawl.  I would keep going up on the Lexapro because that is the only thing that is going to kick Cymbalta's butt.

[gail]

Juli,

You have put in words what was on my mind!

[EBB]

Thanks Juli and Gail for the input.  She is feeling *a little* better today.  Given how sensitive she is to medication, do you think it's safe to go up on the Lexapro faster than 1mg at a time?  Dr Shipko had suggested this conservative approach.  It seems she's had a little downturn each time she goes up.  Do you think if she went up say 5mg at a time (like Juli did) would that downturn be more serious?  It would be great if she had one downturn instead of five!

 

Also, brain zaps apparently started before the omega switch.  But we're trying to get the good stuff as soon as Amazon gets their act together (some kind of shipping snafu).

[juli]

If it were me I would try it and give it a few days.  I had a couple weeks of anxiety when I started up on the Lexapro but then it faded.

I feel like the depression and doom and gloom is from the Cymbalta withdrawl.  I feel like once she gets to 10mg she is going to feel a world better.

[fishinghat]

Juli could well be right. It is so hard to tell how a person will react. I was on Lexapro for a few months and never had a bad reaction to it as I built up dose and it was very effective. When I had my Cymbalta withdrawal I tried Lexapro for support but it did nothing. Go figure. It can really be trial and error with these situations.

[EBB]

Do you think going up from 5 to 10mg will give her a really big downturn, vs going up one step at a time?

[fishinghat]

I really can't say. If it is from the Lexapro then it will make a worse flare up (Lexapro is not known for startup problems but everyone is different). If it is a flare up of Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms then the step up might help. If she does go up to 10 mg Lexapro and she gets worse then the evidence is clear. The Lexapro is the guilty party and you may have to drop back down some. The only way to be sure is to give it a try and see.

[juli]

Maybe go up to 5mg for a couple weeks and then 7.5mg for a couple weeks then 10mg.

It's a bit faster than the current plan but not as fast as a quick jump to 10mg.

Just a thought.

[EBB]

Hi guys, thanks for the ongoing help. So yesterday and today symptoms have become increased anxiety. So, since going from 3 to 4mg Lexapro Friday, I had 3 days of despair and now 2 days of increased anxiety. The Ativan does not seem to do anything for this. I had trouble sleeping some last night. On the up side, I feel more level-headed and less emotional and irrational. We asked Shipko and he said to go even SLOWER than 1mg every 2 weeks, meaning hold longer. Thoughts? Should I try something else? Do you think the Ativan is already not working? It's been since mid-May. It seems very difficult to have startup anxiety on top of Cymbalta withdrawal. I'd really really like to catch a break here. It's been months of struggling.  

[fishinghat]

Ativan since mid-May. That is around 9 or 10 weeks. That is possible. I was put on 6 mg of Ativan during my withdrawal and it had no effect. That is unusual though.

https://www.ehealthm...exapro/anxiety/
51,806 people reported to have side effects when taking Lexapro.
Among them, 4,385 people (8.46%) have increased Anxiety
73% were women.

[fishinghat]

I found research that tolerance to Ativan's effect on sleep starts to develop in as little as 3 days. It may take as little as 3 weeks for tolerance to develop to its anxiety effects. As tolerance develops withdrawal like effects may appear. The research I found varied a lot on the time factor for tolerance. The one said as fast as 3 weeks but it also said as long as 4 months. Obviously it varies a lot.