257 replies to this topic

[smacoy1973]

OMG!! I would LOVE to see Luke Bryan!!! So lucky!
Day 14: Took 55 out
Day 15: Took 60 out
Day 16: Took 66 out
So far so good! My daughter's last day of preschool was pretty hard. I cried at the drop of a hat several times last week. I go back to work on Monday after being off all summer, so we will see how that goes. I'm actually looking forward to it and I really think it's because of the essential oils and knowing how good I'm going to do when I get off this cymbalta. Still no weight loss, but I keep telling myself that I'm still taking a lot of the cymbalta. If there are around 200 beads in the capsules, then I'm almost half way there. So ready to be done with this awful stuff! I hope everyone else is doing good.

[Carleeta]

Hello all! Doing ok. Plagued with migraine headaches lately. Yuck! Otherwise ok. A bit melancholy ...tired. 7 more days and I'll be on the beach ! Cannot wait. Tonight going to keith urban in the Lou with my daughter. Let's hope a migraine does not appear !! Or a speeding ticket.. Lol. We went to see Luke bryan in June and I got a speeding ticket!

Crystal1973...Hoping your migraines have let up some...Also, how was the concert? Getting ready for the beach vacation for sure. Wishing you a wonderful and fun loving time. Hope all is well with you.....

[smacoy1973]

Pheobster, I am using Young Living Essentil Oils. There are so many oils to use for so many things. I diffuse them, take them orally, apply them topically. My favorite right now is the supplement called Ningxia Red. It's a mixture of fruit juices and essential oils. It gives me energy and even curbs my appetite some. It's also great for your immune system. I also have lavender, frankincense and lemon which are supposed to be great for depression. I have a pendant that I'm going to put them in and wear them so that I'm inhaling them all day😁. Check into it. You can also visit thelemondroplounge.com and get lots of info. Let me know if you are interested in getting some and I can email you the directions on how to sign up.

[Crystalg1973]

Carleeta, the concert was awesome!! My daughter loved it. Well i did too! No migraine .. Great show. He came out into the crowd such am awesome performer. Thanks for asking. Hope you are doing well?

[smacoy1973]

Day 17: 72 beads
Day 18: 78 beads
Day 19: 84 beads
Day 20: 90 beads
Day 21: 97 beads
Day 22: 104 beads

Overall doing pretty good. I have just cried a lot this week. I do feel bluesy a good bit and feeling sorry for myself, but I just keep telling myself that this is part of it and it will get better. Monday is the first day of school for students, so praying for a good day. It's going to be very emotional with my little girl starting kindergarten, but I will be busy with my new set of students. I'm at the point where I've always told myself that I can't do this, and I go right back on cymbalta. Thankfully, because of this group, I know eventually, it will get better. I hope everyone is doing ok. No one has posted lately, so that kind of worries me😁. Have a great day!

[nannah98]

I found this site while doing a search for cymbalta withdrawal symptoms. First of all I'm on it among other things for depression (15 year abusive marriage that I've been out of for 4yrs, but not away from the mental and emotional from my ex, mainly for what my daughters still have tp endure. I've also got chronic pain from an auto accident years ago, fibromyalgia, and endometriosis . I've tried to get myself off this medicine several times only to have horrible, and very scary symptoms. The best I could explain to anyone is like when your foot is asleep, that's what my head and face felt like. Also its like my head was snapping pictures or someihing when I turned it like a whoosh whoosh whoosh. Its scary and I'm surely not going to attempt to drive in that condition. So I went to a new Dr and he put me down from 60s that I had been on for years to 30s and told me I only needed to take them for 2 days then start on my new script of amitriptyline. Did that, been off for 4 days now and I'm in hardcore withdrawal ( this is the worst withdrawal, I've been through morphine withdrawl and yes that sucks, but this is just straight scary!) I came here and read just a pinch of what everyone said and it made me cry and scared me enough (the length of time it takes) that I took a 60mg right away. I would have suffered through it if I wasn't in the midst of a gianormous custody battle. No way I can get thru court like this. I see my Dr in a week and will discuss this. Should I worry about amitriptyline too? Ugh ~ gonna be doing a lot of praying. It's nice though to have other people who understand. Thanks for all your input.
Nicole

[thismoment]

nannah98

 

Hi and welcome.

 

The amitriptyline is an older TCA (tricyclic antidepressant) that goes back 50 years. It's half life is ~24hrs and it takes about 4 weeks nominally to become fully effective. The doc should have kept you on the Cymbalta for a month while the TCA was uploaded. But that didn't happen.

 

I see you've started back on Cymbalta because you've encountered the rough cold turkey withdrawal; totally understandable. It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate right now and with cold turkey withdrawal you will be challenged to cope.  I understand going back on the Cymbalta.

 

Aside from the Cymbalta issue, do you feel like you need another antidepressant? For piggybacking off Cymbalta, a SSRI like Prozac might be more appropriate as it's proven and it has a much longer half life at about 3 days. If you plan to get off antidepressants altogether, then drop the TCA, get stable on the Cymbalta until you have a smooth patch in your life and then plan to wean off over 6 months minimum. 

[smacoy1973]

Day 23: 111 beads
Day 24: 118 beads
Day 25: 125 beads
Day 26: 132 beads
Day 27: 139 beads
Day 28: 146 beads
Day 29: 153 beads

Today is day 29, and still doing great! The tears still fall VERY easy, but other than that, I have had no withdrawal symptoms at all! Praying that I continue to do well and get this poison out of my symptom for good!! I guess I just assumed that I would start losing weight, but that hasn't happened yet. I guess if I really tried, it would probably happen😜. Just been busy starting back to work. I hope everyone is doing well WITHOUT cymbalta. Have a great weekend!

[FiveNotions]

Great progress report, smacoy!  7 beads at day ... no symptoms ... well, the tears/crying, but that's such a small effect ... at this rate, you'll be off the stuff before you know it...

 

also, the weight ... it's different for all of us, but it does start to come off ... it just may take a bit of time  ... I'm at 8 1/2 months off, and I've lost the whole 30 lbs I put on ... it came off gradually... and I think a lot of it was fluid retention ... don't worry about "trying" to lose weight now, let yourself focus just on getting off the drug ...

 

Keep us posted ... we need all the success stories like yours that we can get! Pure inspiration!

[FiveNotions]

Way to go, Phoebster!

 

Please don't leave us completely once you're up and running full-time in tip-top shape ..... stay around, or at least check back regularly ... we need success stories and perspective like you have to offer ... you can help so many others who arrive here needing help and encouragement!

[smacoy1973]

Gosh, it feels so good hearing from y'all! FiveNotions, thank you so much for your post! You give me so much hope. Pheobster, so glad you are doing so well. I'll post back in a few days😊.

[Limbo]

Crystal!

I'm so impressed that you communicated through your entire withdrawal. I was in pure wonderment when you mentioned you were going cold turkey. 

Question, if you knew then what you know now, would you still have done cold turkey?

 

I'm doing the opposite. I'm going very slowly. Snail like really. 

Family was visiting for four long weeks and it's always a trigger for me. So I stopped weaning all together so as not to trigger myself. It was a great time with family, and now I'm weaning again. 

I'm at 27mg, and notice (like so many have said) that I feel withdrawal more now than before when I was weaning. 

 

For those who are thinking of the slow method, I can tell you that I have mostly experienced positive outcomes from weaning. I sweat less in the nights now, don't have crazy visceral nightmares anymore, and feel more and more like myself. 

However, back come the emotions that I've always struggled to contain - the quick fire joy and irritability, the enthusiasm and exhaustion.

 

I would say things have mostly been positive from the snail method, however I'm noticing now that as I wean I'm starting to feel hungover. I guess I'll go even slower, and inch my way towards the freedom of drugs. It's worth it when little suffering comes as a result.

 

It's nice to read everyone's comments again!

[Carleeta]

Limbo, appears you have great control with your weaning process. You are definitely listening to what your body is telling you, and truthfully that is the key....Keep up the good work.

[TryinginFL]

Bravo, Limbo!!

[thismoment]

Limbo

 

You have fully grasped what this is about! Excellent.

 

In essence, the symptoms have to be in charge; they lead in this dance, this surreal chemo-emo-physio fandango. Step forward, step back, pause, twirl, big dip, hold me close, let me go.

[Limbo]

Awww, thank you guys!

I have to say, it's been your posts and the sharing of your experiences through withdrawal that made me take it slow. If I hadn't of come across this site I would not have known what to do.

 Normally I would have just barreled through it and followed the Dr's quick drop methods. 

Recently I told my Dr. about this method and she looked at me like I was crazy, but then she  just shook her head and said "whatever works!"

[thismoment]

Limbo

 

"whatever works". Without knowing it the doc said a mouthful! A scientist would have excitedly asked, "What was your method? Tell me exactly how you are doing this. I want to learn everything I can about this strategy because so many people are suffering with discontinuation, but you have managed to find what amounts to a breakthrough!!" Doctors aren't scientists. 

 

By the "whatever works" sarcasm it's clear to see that the doc would rather have you follow her advice and suffer-- rather than find alternative advice and be healthy. One wonders what ethic that attitude emulates.

 

Good work Limbo; I'm proud of you.

[smacoy1973]

Day 30: 160 beads
Day 31: 167 beads
Day 32: 174 beads
Day 33: 181 beads
Day 34: 188 beads
Day 35: 195 beads
Day 36: 202 beads
Day 37: DONE!!!!
Today is my first day without any cymbalta and I'm a little disappointed. I am really dizzy and a little nauseated😞. My biggest complaint is all I want to do is eat!! That's the reason I wanted off cymbalta so that I could try and lose weight. Has anyone else experienced?

[brzghoff]

smacoy,

 

first, a big congratulations! i wouldn't be too concerned about really wanting to eat at this point. give it time. the weight loss is tied to a change in metabolism. cymbalta slows it way down. im a not sure how that is influenced when bead counting because i was more or less a cold turkey quitter. as a result, it hit hard and i couldn't eat - big gastro issues were the first w/d symptoms and aching muscles and joints. it may be a subtler impact when bead counting. 

 

a reasonable expectation is losing what you gained while on the C. for me that was 20 lbs. it only took about 3 months, but i went cold turkey so it wasn't a healthy experience. i expected that it would have taken 6 months or more. 

[smacoy1973]

Thank you, brzghoff! I'm thinking I may be eating trying to mask the nausea. Hoping tomorrow is a better day.

[ShadyLady]

YES!, Smacoy...I ate myself into a 25lb weight gain over 8 weeks off the shit with hard carbs!! I never gained weight while on the Crap, no appetite, but omg, I was so out of control with hunger & cravings for bread, pasta, pretzels, bagels & cream cheese...gluttony!! The appetite is now under control the last two weeks (starting my 11th week tomorrow) and have been eating 'whole foods' to settle down! I HATE that on top of all this suffering I have 25lb thrown in the heap of shit I'm trying to work through...Uurrgh:(

Hang in there;)

[Limbo]

Does anyone have any tips for when you are feeling irrationally irritated? I'm at work today with my door shut and head phones on...I feel angry and tired at the same time. I'm wondering what's a productive way to get through this? I suspect taking five minutes and doing a breathing exercise, and it's almost laughable because I'm even angry at the idea of that!

[thismoment]

Limbo

 

I totally get it-- been there. First, it's not irrational, the cause just isn't apparent. You say you're tired, and that's probably half the problem. Frustration often comes from mental time-travel: We are often lost in a seemingly failed and frustrated past, or we wander dazed and confused in an uncertain future. While it's a cliche, your life is right where you are-- oh you can change it alright-- but reality is only right there in front of you, in your hands.

 

Frustration often comes from pent-up sexual desires.

 

Take care.