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Posted 04 August 2021 - 07:36 AM
"If you want to go slow, then go slow. They can't force you to do anything you don't want to do."
this is soooo important. A dr is a vital part of our health care team BUT he is just an advisor. You ultimately control your health effortsd. SWell said frog.
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Posted 04 August 2021 - 01:25 PM
Ideally all doctors would present you with options and allow you to have autonomy over your care rather than just having a standardized approach to everyone. For example Lexapro. I think majority of doctors tell patients to start on 10mg off the bat. This is likely fine for the majority of the population but people don't necessarily know that they CAN choose to go slower. And maybe a lot of people would prefer that option if they had it. You trust the doctor to know exactly what to do but of course they can't anticipate how anyone will react because we're all different.
This is why I'm really happy with my new doctor. She gives me options for what to take, when and how much. If anything I'm the one who's like let's go faster because I'm so impatient!
I think the tough part of advocating for your own care is that you often have to learn the hard way first that you need to do that. Before going through some traumatic health issues (including the Cymbalta withdrawal) I never thought to challenge my doctors on their advice.
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Posted 04 August 2021 - 06:21 PM
well I have an appointment friday and I'm at peace with my decision. I'm mostly nervous its not going to work now. my psych may be clueless, but hes not pushy. I direct my treatment pretty well. I'd like to start low and work my way up as I need help, but I don't want to be numbed out like I was before.
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Posted 04 August 2021 - 07:41 PM
Frog has got the right approach here - you need to question the decision making process for your own peace of mind.
Why does the doctor think drug x is better for me? What will it do that drug y and z has not been able to? What is anticipated as a result from being on drug x?
The whole thing is subjective, but they should at least be able to respond with answers relating to their own experience. If they can't I would simply walk away. Just like I did my last who wanted to put me on a drug simply because it was new. Didn't buy it at all. I need tangible answers as best that they can be given in a subjective situation.
I understand this isn't easy but on a 6-figure salary they can at least try!!
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Posted 05 August 2021 - 02:04 PM
MX I think it'll work. I think it's a matter of if the first one you try will accomplish everything you want it to without side effects you don't want. So it may be that you might need to try a couple to get to where you need to be. But if you're starting low and going slowly then making a switch would be easy if needed. Just check in with your doc as the start up side effects pop up, they should be able to use that to determine whether it's worth to continue or make a switch based on what's happening.
As the guinea pig I can assure you that even at 7.5mg of Lexapro I feel a huge change already. Honestly I wish I had done this sooner but c'est la vie
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Posted 06 August 2021 - 02:20 PM
well I just got done with my doc. he recommended remeron or lexapro. he said remeron makes you hungry and causes more weight gain so I decided on the 5mg of lexapro. I sure hope it works and sooner than later. now that I've decided to try it, I'm really ready to stop feeling like this.
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Posted 09 August 2021 - 11:31 AM
I'm on lexapro too. My doc said out of the bunch lexapro has a slight edge specifically for anxiety. She gave me Remeron as an option too but said it has a sedating effect which is why it's good if you have trouble sleeping. As much as I want to make sure I'm sleeping well, being sedated sounded awful so I said PASS. Per my doc the big downside for lexapro is decrease of libido as you increase doseage. For me this wasn't a major issue due to my ongoing pelvic pain already causing a ton of problems in this department.
You probably won't see any difference with the anxiety itself at 5mg BUT you should see a pretty dramatic change with your overall mood. Happier overall outlook, you won't get triggered and start spiraling from thoughts or events.
I'm at 7.5mg now and will be bumping to 10mg later this week. So far the biggest grievance I have is that my motivation to do things is quite low and my sleep is kind of MEH. I'm getting enough hours altogether but I sleep about 3-4 hours then wake up and can't fall back asleep until I read a bit and get drowsy again and then sleep another 4 or so. I think I'm being greedy but I do miss that really satisfying feeling of falling asleep for the night and then waking up in the morning. I also miss taking naps 
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Posted 09 August 2021 - 02:26 PM
I'm pretty good at not letting negative thoughts spiral into anxiety any more, which is why I think I'll do well with a little help. I think I've really developed some skills dealing with this crap. I do tend to have mostly negative thoughts though so it triggers fear and depression. a bump in my mood and a few more positive thoughts should do wonders. I had a really good friday evening and saturday, and started questioning if I wanted to start my meds, and now I've been really depressed yesterday and today so far and I can't wait for them to kick in. I feel overwhelmingly negative like things will never be good again and I feel like crying. its weird to objectively know things are really good, yet still feel like everything is crap. I took my first pill today. I really miss sleeping too. going to bed and having a real reset where you wake up after a full nights sleep sounds like heaven.
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Posted 12 August 2021 - 12:58 PM
did your insomnia get worse at first? the last couple nights I've sprung awake after 5 hours. it was like it was early in withdrawal where its like turning on the light switch and theres no going back to sleep. lately I've been waking up at the same time but not like this. I'm hoping it goes away. I'm also having night sweats like I used to have on cymbalta. thats a price I'm willing to pay if it helps with everything else. the insomnia isn't good though.
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Posted 14 August 2021 - 09:14 PM
Hi, I’m new to this forum. I’ve been completely off Cymbalta for 5 months after tapering for 2 months. I was on Cymbalta for 10 years. Needless to say, this has been the hardest time of my life. Symptoms were way worse several months ago, so I’m grateful for having progressed. Life just feels so hard still. I miss being my normal optimistic self. Having the hardest time getting out of these negative thoughts that seem to spiral. I miss sleeping and not having anxiety,head,neck,leg pain etc... I’ve never felt like crying so often and that life is never ending stress and pain. I was hoping to see that people were doing so much better 6 months or so off, but I’m reading that people 1.5 to 2 yrs + off are still really struggling. In need of some hope. Anyone starting to feel normal again? Is that possible after Cymbalta?
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Posted 16 August 2021 - 07:06 AM
Welcome wondering2
There are a few that are indeed suffering after 1 or 2 years (althbough much improved. For most I would say the turning point is 6 to 8 months after their last dose. After that improvement is slow but continuous. Of course that is just an average. There are some supplements that may help as well as diet and such. I would recommend a look at our free ebook which contains info on what members have tried, their comments as well as scientific information, diet and much more. It is the first thread in the Medical Support section. Please feel free to come back and ask wuestions, release your frustrations ir just update us on your condition. Hang in there.
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Posted 16 August 2021 - 08:34 AM
Hi wandering2 and welcome to the forum....
Hat is always there with the right advice for such people as yourself. There is never any knowing the length of the "sentence" following the withdrawal, but we can go by the averages.
Your focus here is that things have improved. Sure they have taken a few months, but yes, this is absolutely normal. Where people talk of things continuing for 2 years or so, it is often a specific complaint - for myself it was seizures. These cam about as a result of the cymbalta. Everything else cleared up within around 6-7 months, but I still have the occasional seizure. They were initially at least once or twice a week, if not more. Now, if I am fortunate, I can go a couple of months between episodes, and they are less intense. It is my fond hope that that will go altogether in time.
Again, as Hat said, the eBook would be great reading at this point, and please feel free to drop in any time - perhaps start your own thread so you can document your progress. We often encourage our members to do this, so they can see their improvements, not matter how small. I look back on my posts 3 years ago and it shocks me to see what I was going through. If only the 2021 me could have spoken to the 2018 me and told me everything would be alright! You will be there.....
IUN
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Posted 16 August 2021 - 12:15 PM
did your insomnia get worse at first? the last couple nights I've sprung awake after 5 hours. it was like it was early in withdrawal where its like turning on the light switch and theres no going back to sleep. lately I've been waking up at the same time but not like this. I'm hoping it goes away. I'm also having night sweats like I used to have on cymbalta. thats a price I'm willing to pay if it helps with everything else. the insomnia isn't good though.
MX yes definitely. Trouble sleeping started pretty quickly. Fortunately that and fatigue have really been the only side effect I've had. My insomnia was still more of the variety of trouble falling asleep in the first place, would just lie there with my brain refusing to shut off pinging random thoughts about random things. I've been taking melatonin at night which has helped a lot. It makes me super groggy so when I wake up in the middle of the night usually I end up falling back asleep eventually. I think the trouble sleeping is a common enough start up complaint. My friend said when she first started Lexapro her doc prescribed Ambien to go along with it essentially in anticipation of sleep problems. In theory it should eventually get better once you fully adjust but unfortunately every time you updose, this side effect will probably return until you get to the dose you're after and stay there for a little bit.
Even though it's still sort of hit or miss sometimes I've been happy overall with the melatonin. I take about .9mg when I'm about to get in bed.
How are you doing other than the sleep? I just went up to 10mg a couple of days ago and I feel GREAT. I feel like myself again after 2 long years. The agoraphobia anxiety is still rearing its head here and there but it's much milder. The constant fear and dread and sense of alertness is completely gone. I'm going to stay on 10mg for a month or so and see how I feel and whether I need to increase more or not
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Posted 16 August 2021 - 12:26 PM
Hi, I’m new to this forum. I’ve been completely off Cymbalta for 5 months after tapering for 2 months. I was on Cymbalta for 10 years. Needless to say, this has been the hardest time of my life. Symptoms were way worse several months ago, so I’m grateful for having progressed. Life just feels so hard still. I miss being my normal optimistic self. Having the hardest time getting out of these negative thoughts that seem to spiral. I miss sleeping and not having anxiety,head,neck,leg pain etc... I’ve never felt like crying so often and that life is never ending stress and pain. I was hoping to see that people were doing so much better 6 months or so off, but I’m reading that people 1.5 to 2 yrs + off are still really struggling. In need of some hope. Anyone starting to feel normal again? Is that possible after Cymbalta?
Hi there,
Welcome to the forum. I think the people who don't continue to struggle tend to leave the forum so we don't know about them so you're left seeing only those of us who still need help. There are likely lots of people who got better and never looked back. I can only speak for myself, but my withdrawal was really really bad. It triggered new panic attacks that were near constant and random and severely affected my mental state and sense of "safety". The experience was super traumatic and once the panic attacks finally wore off after about 5 months, COVID started which piled on an additional layer of stress. What I've been dealing with in the year following that is more the consequence and trauma of the withdrawal not the withdrawal itself. I hope that makes sense as there is definitely a difference. I just couldn't pull myself out of that loop on my own so I finally turned to Lexapro about a month ago. My hope is that with the help of meds I can give my mind and body a reset and a rest and allow things to go back to normal levels. Eventually when I feel ready maybe I will try to taper off the Lexapro slowly and maybe be off meds for good. Or maybe not. Life is very stressful these days. Having a little artificial buffer from the stress may not be such a thing bad.
Hang in there. If you've already seen a lot of improvement, there is likely more still to come. If it really gets to be too much, there are always SSRIs to try. They are much gentler than Cymbalta so even though withdrawal with them is certainly possible it would never be as bad as Cymbalta
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Posted 16 August 2021 - 09:23 PM
MX yes definitely. Trouble sleeping started pretty quickly. Fortunately that and fatigue have really been the only side effect I've had. My insomnia was still more of the variety of trouble falling asleep in the first place, would just lie there with my brain refusing to shut off pinging random thoughts about random things. I've been taking melatonin at night which has helped a lot. It makes me super groggy so when I wake up in the middle of the night usually I end up falling back asleep eventually. I think the trouble sleeping is a common enough start up complaint. My friend said when she first started Lexapro her doc prescribed Ambien to go along with it essentially in anticipation of sleep problems. In theory it should eventually get better once you fully adjust but unfortunately every time you updose, this side effect will probably return until you get to the dose you're after and stay there for a little bit.
Even though it's still sort of hit or miss sometimes I've been happy overall with the melatonin. I take about .9mg when I'm about to get in bed.
How are you doing other than the sleep? I just went up to 10mg a couple of days ago and I feel GREAT. I feel like myself again after 2 long years. The agoraphobia anxiety is still rearing its head here and there but it's much milder. The constant fear and dread and sense of alertness is completely gone. I'm going to stay on 10mg for a month or so and see how I feel and whether I need to increase more or not
the last couple days have been pretty rough. waking in fear again and antsy and anxious, but the two days before that my mood and attitude were great. its only been a week so I shouldn't feel the effects but I sure felt good. my problems seemed manageable and my focus turned from threat detection and avoidance to empowerment and opportunities. I also had more of an urge to smile instead of the urge to cry. I'm hoping thats a preview of whats to come.
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Posted 27 August 2021 - 01:47 PM
Lexapro update.
I've been on 10mg now for about 3 weeks I think. Sleep is actually pretty good again. I think the melatonin started out as helpful and then became hurtful and was weirdly waking me up when it wore off after 2 hours. Once I stopped taking it I've been sleeping through the night though it can be very hard to get going in the morning. Had the same problem with Cymbalta.
I don't really have any other notable side effects. I still catch myself clenching my jaw a bit here and there and I feel pretty tired/unmotivated most of the day and then get random bursts of motivation in the evening. This is kind of consistent with how I was on Cymbalta too. Not a huge fan of the lack of desire/energy but I will take it over crippling anxiety any day of the week.
In terms of anxiety, I think the initial high of just generally feeling better has worn off/things have just settled into place and while I do still feel a million times better overall, I can definitely sense some of those fear feelings trying to poke through again. Same stuff that was giving me the highest levels of anxiety before: traveling, being too far away from comfort zones. No specific thoughts about what it is I'm scared of, just a feeling of fear like what if something bad might happen. So as much as I would love to stay at 10mg I think I will need to increase at least to 15 if not the full 20. Would love to stay at the lower dose with the lower side effects and less withdrawal, but my main goal is to feel the best I can and to travel again.
Hope everyone is doing well!
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Posted 27 August 2021 - 03:16 PM
I'm just hoping to have any sense of wellbeing, not feel worthless and like crying all the time, and not have constant feelings of fear and dread. I've been on the 5mg for 2 1/2 weeks now. sleep is still terrible. I'm hoping I don't have the lack of desire as well, but it would be hard to be worse than it is now. I've had no desire/motivation for 2 years now. the side effects of the lexapro, including the sexual side effects are almost gone now.
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Posted 27 August 2021 - 05:27 PM
Frog; Don't go up to 15 mg yet. It takes Lexapro 4 to 6 weeks to kick in so you shoulkd still improve some.
Mxpro; 5mg for 2 1/2 weeks is still very early in the process. Give it another 2 or 3 weeks before you decide to increwase the dose any more. Hopefully it won't be necessary.
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Posted 27 August 2021 - 05:43 PM
Frog; Don't go up to 15 mg yet. It takes Lexapro 4 to 6 weeks to kick in so you shoulkd still improve some.
Absolutely, more does not necessarily mean better. Lexapro is a very potent drug. A lot of people get the relief they need from doses as low as 5mg. But I agree with Hat. You need to give this time to get to the full plasma level in your system and then consider it from there.
MX - I really empathise with you given the situation you have found yourself in, and asking you to be patient will I am sure not go down well!! But if you can stick it out that little bit longer, it will tell you a lot about what you need to know.
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Posted 27 August 2021 - 09:16 PM
Absolutely, more does not necessarily mean better. Lexapro is a very potent drug. A lot of people get the relief they need from doses as low as 5mg. But I agree with Hat. You need to give this time to get to the full plasma level in your system and then consider it from there.
MX - I really empathise with you given the situation you have found yourself in, and asking you to be patient will I am sure not go down well!! But if you can stick it out that little bit longer, it will tell you a lot about what you need to know.
fortunately dealing with daily suffering for 2 years has given me patience if nothing else. its not fun, but it hasn't been fun all along and I've been able to push through. I'd rather be sure a low dose wasn't going to work before bumping up and wondering if a lower dose would have done it.
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Posted 30 August 2021 - 12:26 PM
Definitely. I will say 5 was definitely not enough for me. At 10 I am finally feeling quite good. We went on an overnight trip to wine country over the weekend (only about 90 min drive from us) but we went to multiple wineries, went into town for dinner and roamed around the town the following day before heading home. All things that would sent me spiraling and panicking and white knuckling it before the Lexapro kicked in. I had a great time, enjoyable, happy, fun, in the moment. Such a treat. I feel pretty great overall, but still getting pangs of anticipation anxiety about other trips, especially longer or farther ones. I think we might be going to the East Coast in early October for a wedding and then to Chicago for another wedding and to see friends and family at the end of October and then the holidays with lots more traveling. (Un)luckily for us none of our families live on the West Coast. It's a lot so I want to be sure my meds will keep me in good shape. Alternatively my doc offered to give me a prescription for Xanax to have as an emergency rescue med which seems like not such a bad idea
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Posted 30 August 2021 - 03:59 PM
I am really glad to see you stabilizing frog. Hopefully in a year or two when you get your sttrength back you can wean off the lexapro.
thats what I'm hoping to do, but if the lexapro works and I have to stay on it, so be it. I'm hoping the damage from cymbalta will continue to improve while I'm on it and I won't need it any more.
frog. it is tricky to know how much anticipatory anxiety we should tolerate, as anxiety is a part of normal life for things that have been unpleasant in the past and make us nervous. I imagine that will subside as you have more experiences where things are uncomfortable but tolerable. it should train your mind that these experiences are safe, as long as the unnatural chemical anxiety is kept in check.
I had a great day a couple days ago where life seemed good and I had a sense of well being and optimism. It was so dramatic my wife would start laughing at the positive things I was saying because she hasn't seen it in so long. the last couple days I haven't had bad anxiety or depression, but I've woken with nightmarish feelings, and a sense of doom has followed me all day.
my 8 year old son the other day was upset and said "you're not fun anymore and you never talk to us". that hurt because I know even though I've been trying to fake it all along, its not the same as having a dad who isn't suffering and is fully available. on my good days lately, my kids really bloom and laugh and seem so happy. It sucks that I haven't fully been the best dad I can be, but hopefully I am again soon.
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Posted 31 August 2021 - 11:29 AM
"my 8 year old son the other day was upset and said "you're not fun anymore and you never talk to us". "
Oof I'm sure that one really stung. Kids have a way of going straight for the jugular. But it does sound like things are turning around for you and I think it'll continue to get better. Your kids likely won't remember this phase once you're back to yourself again. Stick with the 5mg for a while if you can and see if things level off, if not there's always the option to go to 10mg
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Posted 02 September 2021 - 12:37 PM
Talked to my doc today. She was super pleased with the turnaround I've already had. She recommended staying on 10mg for at least another few weeks so we can judge the full potential of 10mg dose for me as it can sometimes things can continue to improve for as long as 8 weeks.
I explained to her that my biggest issue is that I'm still feeling anticipation anxiety around being too far away from home or being away for too long, especially with some big travel coming up in the next months. She will be prescribing me Ativan to have as a rescue medication so I feel more secure and in control if something does come up. Alternatively she said at this point a lot of that kind of thinking is just learned behavior from before. So the best thing to do is to use the Lexapro as a tool to soften or eliminate the physical anxiety and then rationalize with myself to help break the patterns instead of just trying to medicate them away. All things we've talked about on this forum I'm up for the challenge but definitely nervous.
Hope everyone is doing well!
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Posted 02 September 2021 - 06:00 PM
sounds like you are on the right track. I agree that the meds aren't going to eliminate all of your anxiety and nervousness, nor should they really as some is normal, as long as its not overwhelming and you can constructively work on managing it. the ativan is a good idea. I have xanax for when I need it, and just knowing I have it helps to reduce my anxiety.
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Posted 03 September 2021 - 06:11 PM
Yes she is awesome!!! And definitely right. Of course there is a part of me after 2 years of hell that does just want all the anxiety to go away and give me a rest
I know the feeling. I've noticed on my really good mood days that there is still a decent amount of anxiety here and there, but if I don't focus on it it doesn't really keep me back. I do think the anxiety shouldn't be to the point where its intrusive and interferes with your life though. I think you will like having the ativan for the times when you just need a break, as long as you don't use it too much. my xanax comes in .5mg tabs which is a pretty low dose, and I usually break that in half when I take them. I'm usually not looking to be completely chilled out and calm, I just want to take the edge off, and I don't use it very often. having that option is really nice though.
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