7 replies to this topic

[Lewis54321]

Hi all,

 

I've been off cybalta for about 10 weeks now. Over the past 2-3 weeks I've been getting worse depression/ anxiety symptoms and it's reached the point where I really can't cope anymore. I haven't been able to eat much of anything for the past week and I haven't been able to sleep for the past several nights. I've always had issues with health anxieties and at the moment these have been exagerated in my mind to an extent that I can't think clearly anymore or distract myself with anything. I feel like I'm going crazy.

 

I've tried the supplements suggested (theanine and ashwagandha) but these haven't had much effect. At this point I'm at my limit and am willing to try anything that might lessen the effects I'm going through. I've been on citalopram for the past week or so but that obviously hasn't provided any relief. I know it's not generally recommended but at this point would it be worth trying going back onto a SNRI (either cybalta or venlafaxine) in the hope that it might provide some relief?

 

Many thanks in advance,

L

[fishinghat]

Hi Lewis

 

I remember those times. Tough, very tough. Unluckily those symptoms can last for months even up to a year or more in some cases. 

 

Many members get desperte and go back on an antidepressant like the citalopram. Unluckily starting a new antidepressant takes 4 to 8 weeks to kickin so it may be awhile to get some releif. There are several other supplements to try as well as a couple prescriptions that you can discuss with your drs. Things like clonidine, hydroxyzine and propanolol have helped many. Have you read through our ebook in the Medical Support section? 

[invalidusername]

Hi Lewis,

 

Continuing from where Hat left off, to help you best can you give us a brief backstory? How long were you on the Cymbalta for? How did you withdraw from it and for how long?

 

Citalopram may well help you, but as Hat said, it will take time for this to kick in. Stopping these and going onto another drug is possibly the worst thing you can do as it will only mess your head up more. Was it a case that Cymbalta didn't help you and therefore have moved over to another med/class?

 

After 10 weeks your body will have removed all traces of the Cymbalta and it will take just as much time as the Citalopram to kick in so you will lengthen your suffering even more.

 

I really understand you, and have been there before myself. The patience required is nothing short of agonising sometimes. If you can give us some more detail it will help us give you more support - of which we are only too happy to do.

 

IUN

[Lewis54321]

Thanks for the all advice, I got some medication to help me get some sleep last night so I'm feeling a bit better today.

 

I was on cymbalta for only around 5 weeks but I was only venlafaxine for many months before that. I thought because I had only recently switched to cymbalta I would be able to get away with a shorter withdrawal period but I think because I was on another SNRI prior to this this wasn't really the case.

 

One of the main issues I've been having during withdrawal (other than the usual batch of side effects) has been an increased in anxious (and illogical) thinking about my health anxiety. I had a concussion a couple of years ago and have had anxiety about hitting my head since then but recently (during withdrawal) I have gotten to the stage where I'm almost too anxious to go outside for fear of hitting my head and when I do got out I worry afterwards that I could have hit my head without noticing it (as ridiculous as that sounds). I wonder if you have heard of other people having experiences of that kind of illogical thinking during withdrawal?

 

Thanks again,

L

[fishinghat]

Health featrs are a classic symptom of almost all antidepressant withdrawals. Serotonin and norepinephrine help control the amygdala and hippocampus in the brain. These area control paranoia, fear, panic and worry so this is common and to be expected. The good news is that it does fade as time goes by.

[frog]

Oh wow that's wild that you only started experiencing this after being off for almost 2 months. Did you go on Cymbalta to cope with your health anxieties? 

Just curious because unfortunately these kinds of medications are kind of just a bandaid, they don't really address the problem, just hide the symptoms so you can live your life. That's probably why so many people end up staying on them for so long (that and because it can be super hard to get off). 

 

As FH said, withdrawal causes imbalance in your neurochemicals which can cause your more emotional parts of your brain to overtake the rational bits temporarily. I remember I would swing like a crazy pendulum between thinking my life was completely over and reminding myself this would eventually pass. I think my husband got whiplash for how fast I would flip from one to the other. I remember it feeling very out of my control too. Like a chemical reaction was just happening in my brain on its own timeline and it didn't really matter what amount of meditation or coping mechanisms or whatever I tried to do, I just had to kick and scream through it and wait until it passed over. 

 

I have bad anxiety now as a result of how traumatized I was by everything during that withdrawal and I'm trying to work through it with CBT, with going on SSRI as a backup option, but I can sense that the anxiety is coming from something specific and not just an unpredictable chemical cycle like before. Maybe you can see if you can try to get a sense of where your anxiety is originating and that might give you a clue

[fishinghat]

Yea frog, that ptsd type affect from going through a withdrawal is just now beginning to see some interest in the medical journals.

[invalidusername]

Hi Lewis...

 

Irrational in the normal scheme of things, but perfectly rational within your own head. You are unfortunately really out of sorts as your brain is struggling to find equilibrium that it once had in controlling the levels of the necessary chemicals.

 

Is it a long time to be suffering these things after 8 weeks or so with nothing going in your system. It does come down to how quickly you went about the withdrawal - it sounds like you went at it a bit abruptly. We have had many members who have suffered greatly at the hands of this drug after only being on a few weeks. Myself - I was only on them 10 weeks, but the withdrawal was also 10 weeks, yet even after that I still had a nightmare trying to balance out.

 

I would highly recommend the books of Claire Weekes - or you can find some videos online. It was her books that got me back into the right frame of thinking. The means for getting around it is very simple, but what is difficult is the patience and bravery that one must endure to reach the other side. But the difference is that when you have gone about it this way, you have the tools to deal with it should it return, whereas people who rely solely on a pill to get them over their anxiety do not have any such tools and could very easily "fall off the wagon" again.

 

IUN