335 replies to this topic

[RoaldDahl]

So with day 6 behind me, which was in all honesty a good day I woke up in fear on day 7. 

 

Day 7 report: woke up at 7 am. Anxiety in my body noticeable, cold hands, diarrhea (sorry lol), felt an episode coming like I had on day 5. Took 15mg oxazepam and 25mg Atenolol at 7:30. Felt better at 8:30 AM. This day is hard. Feeling tired and on edge. With yesterday being a good day I guess this is one of the worst ones. 

Limiting the max amount of Oxazepam to 35/40mg a day. Atenolol helps greatly with my keeping my adrenaline in check. 

Ate some raw fish (herring) to get some good fats and omega's

[invalidusername]

Ah - the morning fear - you poor fellow. Remember that very well.

 

All sounds good. It is better if you can get your omega's through food, but it is difficult to get enough every day - which is why we suggest supplements as well. See how the zaps go...

[RoaldDahl]

Day 8 report: Woke up feeling great, half an hour later the fear of an anxiety attack came creeping up. I guess it's due to the very very bad and almost traumatic experience I had on Saturday. 

 

Took 10mg of Oxazepam and 25mg Atenolol. Feeling good today. The brainfog from my cymbaltadays are gone. Happier as a person. Let's try to keep this up. All in all this is a good day! 

 

I'm avoiding working out however, don't want to stress my body too much yet as you adviced Invalid

 

Taking multivits and Omega 3 forte on the side. 

[invalidusername]

Glad to hear a better day. Try your best to forget what has happened - nothing you can do about it. Nothing you COULD HAVE done about it. Retrospect will be the worse thought pattern here.

 

Good for holding back on too much exercise and supplements should do you well. Try to get as much vit C as you can and natural vit D. 

[RoaldDahl]

Thanks for the positive words Invalid, much appreciated!

 

Day 9 report: still a bit flu-like symptons. Brainfog seems to be gone. Quite happy positive. Trying to lower Oxazepam. Started with 5mg Oxa. Feels good till now

[invalidusername]

Good stuff. 

 

The omega will be clearing the fog, so keep it going for now. And well done for the lower Oxa, but should you need it, don't feel guilty about it. Still relatively early on, but you are doing very well for day 9. This is a positive sign for sure.

 

Just don't get into the trap of complacency. Things will end up good, but it can be a bit of a rollercoaster. 

 

Don't like to be too harsh, but it is important that you remember to "bank" these good days for when the not-so-good days creep up on you. 

 

But for now, as I said, this is a very positive sign for where you are - keep going... 

[fishinghat]

Driven, don't get too carried away with the weaning of the Oxazepam. If you get too bad of a withdrawal symptoms then going back up in dosage is very risky. Updosing is only effective in 50% of patients and in the other 50% it makes symptoms WORSE. Slow but steady like a toad a walking wins the race.

[invalidusername]

Driven is another member Roald... it is just Hat having a Cymbalta moment. We answer to quite a few members and names can become blurred very easily!

 

And yes... slow and steady. No harm in using the Oxa where needed for the moment...

[fishinghat]

Sorry Roald.   &*%($# Cymbalta!

[RoaldDahl]

Haha no worries Fishing. You and IUN are doing god's work. You guys literally are amazing!

 

End of day 9, survived the day on 30 mg of Oxazepam. Since my brother is a cardilogist we have been following my bloodpressure and heartbeat a lot these last weeks. With cymbalta I experienced high blood pressure and a pulse between 100/120. He was shocked and thinks it should get banned. He really dislikes the effect of the N component in the SNRI's. 

With the citalopram my pulse is steading down at around 85.. 

Had a good really good day, actually got some work done lol. As you said IUN, I am now prepared for bad days as well. If it happens I will know how to handle it better than last time (hopefully). Although with 9 days behind me I hope to have the worst behind me. 

 

The suicidal thoughts I had on day 5 were something I have never experienced before. My brain was literally screaming to kill myself. Horrible what this drug can do to you. 

This far on Citalopram I got a lot more energy which is a really big positive for me. 

 

I will report again tomorrow!

[RoaldDahl]

Day 10: Definately not as good as day 9. Up's and down's Woke up with quite some anxiety. Took oxazepam. At least slept a lot! It's manageable however! I expected the first 2 weeks to be hard, pushing through. 

[invalidusername]

Well done mate... 10 days! You have earned a little pick-me-up!! 

 

The suicidal thoughts are just horrible and you have no idea where they come from. This chap got me through some of the toughest times of my withdrawal. Granted it is about Pregabalin, but I was put on that just after my Cymbalta drop and it really messed me up, so I had 2 withdrawals going on at once - tht is a place you DO NOT want to be, believe me...

 

I must have watched this video about 100 times or more. It is hilarious... warning... some swearing, but done so in a jocular manner... enjoy...

 

Just to 2m30s for the bit on suicidal thoughts

 

[RoaldDahl]

Thanks for the vid! It was hilarious

 

Day 11: It has been a great day. Got actual work done. Little anxiety. Survived the day with 25mg Oxazepam on the site. A lot of progress!

[invalidusername]

Thought you might enjoy that. It was a Godsend to me at the end of 2018...

 

Difficult to say, but I was at a point during that Christmas that I was counting my leftover pills to see if I had enough to do enough damage to bump me off. This was the pregabalin. This video got me to the point of putting the pills down and going to the hospital to wait it out. 

 

Withdrawal can be THAT bad. It turns you into someone you never thought you could be.

 

One of the reasons why I am here on the forum doing what I do. I don't want anyone to have to go through what I did - and if they are, I want to be there to tell them.

[RoaldDahl]

Haha yea it really is a good video. 

 

Day 12: woke up feeling not that well. Extremely tired. Cold legs/bones. Started sweeting. Took 15mg to prevent a big attack from happening. Became worse. Panic/anxiety/disorientated/sweeting/weird suicidal thoughts. Are these the last bits of Cymbalta leaving my body? I sure fucking hope so. 

 

Took 10mg zolpidem to sleep. Helped me through it. 

 

Fun fact: my last real big wihdrawal day with anxiety was last week Saturday

 

Definately one of the hardest days out of the 12. 

[invalidusername]

You will still have traces of Cymbalta in your body for a while. It will be held in fat reserves around the body and these will be drawn out, but are minuscule amounts and won't amount to anything. This is your body doing its rollercoaster thing - perfectly normal. 

 

Easy with the Zolpidem - use only as a last resort. 

 

Keep going... you are doing well.

[RoaldDahl]

Thanks mate. 

 

Day 13: Having a great day. Trying to limit to 20mg Oxa today and no Zolpidem. Just did a great workout. 

 

It's weird how yesterday was such a bad day exactly one week after my last horrible attack. Had the same sympthoms. Extreme brainzaps, thoughts of suicide, a completely upset stomach. warm/cold/shacking you name it. 

 

Noticed that during an attack like this, which happened only twice, taking 1 Zolpidem 10mg works best. It works extremely fast and within 10 mins you will be calmer. 

 

I can recommend anyone going through Cymbalta withdrawal to have these 2 meds on hands but ONLY used responsibly and measured. As Hat is not a big fan of it I do wanted to express that it helped me an awful lot. 

 

Once again I want to thank you IUN and Hat for all the advice and encouragement. I know I am not there yet and it will be a while but I will get there. 

[fishinghat]

Hi RD

 

Mot a big fan BUT everyone's body is different and if it works for you fantastic. If it works don't fix it.  lol

[invalidusername]

You are more than welcome my friend. It is what we are there for.

 

As I said at the start, for these earlier days, don't worry too much about what you need to take to keep you stable. I think after another week you will start to reach a plateau without quite so much up and down. So whilst you might still need the odd rescue med, the dose shouldn't be as high.

 

Keep going....

[RoaldDahl]

Day 14 report: ended the day with 25 mg Oxazepam. Had a really good day all in all friends! Did some work on the house, had 15 minutes of trouble with anxiety but pushed it away with heavy breathing exercises. During the night I experienced dizziness a lot but I pushed through. 

 

Day 15 report: in the morning I woke up feeling less good. Cold/warm again. Took 5mg Oxazepam. As you said IUN, it's still early days and I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Will report in later

Update day 15: went well! Lasted on 25mg Oxazepam. Not too many withdrawals. Light anxiety on the surface but manageable. 

[fishinghat]

So far so good. Things will settle down. Take care.

[invalidusername]

Excellent - looks like the rollercoaster is slowing down early on. This is good news.

 

Keep going exactly as you are - well done. We're all proud of you here...

[RoaldDahl]

Day 16: Great day! Had only a bit of anxiety during a Zoom meeting with loads of collegues. Used 25mg Oxazepam today on the side. Is the Citalopram starting to do it's job? I feel a lot more stable  

[fishinghat]

It is possible. A little quick but who is complaining? Right?

[RoaldDahl]

It is possible. A little quick but who is complaining? Right?

 

Not me mate Hopefully the same tomorrow!

[invalidusername]

Different for us all... but best not to question it and just enjoy!!

[RoaldDahl]

Hello friends,

 

Day 17. Really stable and good day again! Pushed through the day on 15 mg Oxazepam. Going better than expected

 

Sleep well!

[invalidusername]

Awesome!! I think you might find you are one of the lucky ones!

 

There have to those out there - so feel very happy you are one of the few percentile

[RoaldDahl]

Update day 18: Stable, good, can be productive. trying to end the day on 15/20 mg Oxazepam. 

 

Tomorrow will be a real test as all my serious attacks have been on Saturday, god knows why. 

[invalidusername]

Tomorrow will be a real test as all my serious attacks have been on Saturday, god knows why. 

 

Try your best not to be superstitious!! But that is easy considered during the anxiety of withdrawal