1636 replies to this topic

[fishinghat]

I hope I understand your question right.

Some things to consider...

There are a certain number of serotonin receptors in a persons body.

The effective dose of Cymbalta has to effect a enough of those receptors to bring relief.

So in general the larger the number of serotonin receptors in your body the greater the dose of Cymbalta needed for relief.

There are of course other factors that come in to play but trying to keep it simple here.

As you wean and reduce the amount of Cymbalta this leaves certain serotonin receptors without the drug and symptoms develop.

The shape of the serotonin receptors are changed by the Cymbalta so when Cymbalta is reduced those exposed receptors will not function correctly until they recover.

It takes these receptors up to 2 years to fully recover.

As long as you are weaning then there will always be new receptors that are no longer being controlled by Cymbalta and must heal before they can properly function again. A slow proves.

I hope this answers your question and if not let me know and I will try again.

[invalidusername]

There are even serotonin receptors in the ears.. well vestibular canal.. near enough

[fishinghat]

Right you are IUN. They are one of the most common receptors in the human body and are found in nearly every major sysyem in the body. That is why withdrawal symptoms vary so much.

[invalidusername]

Was reading up about it further after reading this post.. 15 variants of HT receptor too. It's a minefield. Explains a lot why only 30% get anywhere with SSRI's...

[ForLyla]

I wonder if my wave was from something I did or if it's just the normal course. I know from benzo wd there is the dreaded 3 month mark and I hit that around the same time I experienced bad waves since uprising. In April and May I had weeks where I felt pretty good overall but I've only had maybe a day or two this month where I've felt somewhat ok. I'm back in a wave to where I was in March - feeling super shaky and seizure like in my movements. My eyes are sensitive to light and my cognitive abilities are super slow. I'm starting to feel like I'll never feel normal until long after I'm off this drug. I just dont know if I should be staying where I am or if I should taper.

[fishinghat]

Forlyla, I sympathize and still think this is a matter of getting the stones out and waiting a few days for your kidney to recover. I think this may help you stabilize considerably..

[ForLyla]

Perhaps but I've had stones for 15 years. They have just gotten bigger. Perhaps the pain puts me into a wave.

[ForLyla]

Fh how would the stones affect wd? My kidney function is back to normal.

[fishinghat]

Absolutely. Perhaps most important is the larger the stone the worse the kidney function. Low kidney function allows toxic wastes to buildup in the body causing a condition called metabolic disease. This is a condition where most of the systems are light to moderately effected causing decrease in their functions.
 
Research bears this out.

https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/26195070
Regardless of the patients' baseline comorbidities, patients with urolithiasis showed a higher incidence rate ratio of anxiety and depression than those without urolithiasis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/22136748
The prevalence of depression in our patient cohort with urolithiasis was substantially greater than societal norms. Multiple stone-related factors were associated with significant psychological distress.

I just saw your recent post. I don't understand how your kidney function could be normal while you still have stones. Do you know what your GFR is?

[ForLyla]

Creatinine 87 and GFR 97. I've definitely been worse since around the time my stones got bigger but I feel like we're reaching a bit. I had waves in March that felt the exact same.

[fishinghat]

Those are very good numbers for having kidney stones. Getting rid of the stones and alleviating the pain should help some though.

[ForLyla]

How do I get rid of the shakes? Although going up in dose has helped considerably with the depression and some other symptoms it also gave me the shakes which I never had before.

[fishinghat]

If you have heart pounding with the shakes then that is a sign of adrenaline. If it is not accompanied with heart pounding then it is just withdrawal probably. Many many of our members have suffered from the shakes but they usually subside in 2 or 3 months. I think yours has gone longer than that though.

[fishinghat]

When I did a search for 'shakes' I got over200 hits. Very common.

[invalidusername]

I had the shakes for a good 3-4 months after my last dose. Even when I was well into the Lexapro stages, the shakes were still there, but they were just like yours and I thought they would never go away. There were days where I was nearly falling over when I went for a walk. It will go....

[ForLyla]

It's good to know that it's fairly common to get the shakes. I think I'd feel somewhat decent if I didn't have them. Although it's crazy to me that my wd seems to be going backwards. I was better in April and May than I am in June.

I still can't believe I did this to myself- sending myself into cymbalta protracted wd syndrome right after benzo wd syndrome. I feel like I'll never go back to normal now. I feel like a lab rat. How much stress can the mind and body take before something terrible happens?

[invalidusername]

I really understand you here - no much to say as too early! But what with recent onslaught of depression, I too wonder if I will ever see anything positive after all these effects. It is so tough....

[fishinghat]

"I feel like a lab rat."

You are. Why do you think they call it 'practicing' medicine. lol

[invalidusername]

I remember you saying this to me many months ago Hat - it has stuck with me ever since!

 

GP - General Practitioner

 

[ForLyla]

Will I return to normal after a couple years if I just stay at the same dose? I imagine I'll be on this drug for at least another 5 years... if I live that long.

Did your shaking accompany anxiety? I have this constant doom feeling. I was actually feeling decent yesterday but I had a hot dog and I think it sent me right back into a wave.

[fishinghat]

I know that question was actually for IUN but I am going to jump on in.


My shaking lasted about 2 to 3 months at the most. Talk about feelings of doom. Imagine waking up and seeing a truck coming at you at 80 mph and only about 10 ft away. Absolute terror and doom. While a feeling of impending doom is fairly common mine was a little unusual as it took 9 months to fade away. Mine was accompanied by anxiety the whole time. Most of these feelings of fear and doom take a few months to subside but they do gradually go away. All you can do is take another drug or just wait it out.

[invalidusername]

It was difficult to tell. Very much a chicken and egg situation. I felt shaky because I was anxious... and I felt anxious because I was shaky. 

[ForLyla]

I'm really struggling mentally. Sometimes I feel pretty good but then I'll get bouts every day of extreme anxiety that are really difficult to handle. My vision is off a lot too. Is this par for the course? Why is it I was feeling better in April and May than I do now?

I'm in a hot mess with this kindey stone stuff as well. I just feel like I cant catch a break.

[invalidusername]

It's all the changes going on Lyla. I got a bout of the shakes back today.. haven't seen those for a while. I wouldn't expect your anxiety to be in fine form what with the stone stuff. Even if you aren't thinking at the time, there is all the subconscious going on.

 

What's going on with the vision? I had blurry vision from time to time. I am get "dancing eyes" but this is triggered solely by stress. Still I never had that before I withdrew from the cymbollocks.

[ForLyla]

Ya I get the shaky vision and blurred vision where I just cant focus properly on things.

I'm rarely happy anymore. My brain is in la la land perhaps now more than ever. I literally feel like I have dementia sometimes.

Today is particularly bad and it could be due to a number of reasons. I seem to be having an allergic reaction, stones, stress, and lack of sleep last night. I'm so fed up with wd syndromes. It's 28 months and counting now of this hell.

[invalidusername]

I forget there are those out there who have served this long with the symptoms. Here I am with 9 months under my belt, and you have 28! It is so wrong - on so many levels. Of course your brain feels off the planet. When I saw the p-doc at the start of the week I tried to explain about my anxiety and depression when he said "it will go". I asked him how he would feel if he was ill every day of his life with no idea of what was going to happen the next day. This is not a problem with my brain (although that maybe underneath all this crap), my depression and anxiety is based on tangible and logical events in my life. These people broke me with all these pills and now they do not want to take responsibility for fixing me. So just like I am talking to kmrekl about, we have to do this ourselves and it is just so damn hard to keep going... Apologies - not having a good day this end!

[gail]

Lyla,

Have you got something for the anxiety? Use the benzos if you have them. There are other solutions, well, in Canada, we have a few over the counter that gets rid of anxiety.
Anxiety is a killer beast, all is worse, we are doomed, so get the anxiety down.

[fishinghat]

Lyla just weaned off of benzos Gail.

[ForLyla]

Benzo withdrawal was pure hell as well

[gail]

Oops! Sorry about that Lyla!