13 replies to this topic

[VintageViking]

Hi everyone, thanks for letting me on here I hope everyone is managing ok during this virus drama.

I have a few questions as I am currently in a really bad place physically at the moment and was wondering if Cymbalta could be the reason behind it.

I was put on 30 mg of Cymbalta in May 2016 for anxiety, mainly revolving around obsessive thoughts on health and so on.

The medication worked well until the beginning of last year where I began getting anxiety again which made the side effect trade off no longer worth it.

In May 2019 I decided to come off the medication due to feeling emotionless and somewhat robotic at times.

My mother decided to help me and found this forum, she began to research how to slowly get me off this drug and so we began to taper off one bead a day till I was finished in December last year.

It was a bit of a messy process as at times as I would miss a day or might incorrectly count the beads as I was reducing. 
I also was a bit silly in December as I decided to stop tapering with ten beads to go and just do the rest cold turkey.

 

As it turned out my withdrawal was very mild physically, I only had strange dizzy sensations on a daily basis throughout the process aswell as a brain zap episode that made me have to lay on the floor for half an hour to recover.

However I did end up going through a huge bout of depression in November which was quite scary.

It has taken a few months to mentally get back to where I was at but these past 5 months have been really bad physically.

 

The dizziness I experienced began to increase in duration, originally it would last a few minutes but now it can stay with me most of the day.

The feeling is hard to explain but it feels like my brain has to catch up with my eyes, it gives me a feeling like I’m not really here and it’s very disorienting especially when driving.

They have recently led to what I can only describe as migraine pain in the eyes, which is horrible.

The feeling makes me feel like I have no balance and I have even vomited from these experiences.

 

More recently I have began to experience other issues such a chronic constipation, hot flashes, fatigue and flu like symptoms which never seem to develop into something.

Probably the most scary development in the last two months has been strange heart palpitations and chest pain which can sometimes be accompanied with breathing difficulties.

At times I can all of sudden feel my heart begin pounding like crazy for no reason at all and it can leave me feeling quite fatigued especially if I have also had the dizziness during the day.

Sometimes it also feels like my heart beats can be irregular at times which can be alarming.

 

I am a generally a very fit person, I spent most days last year training in my local fight gym with no issues at all but I have had to give it a rest recently as my body just feels in constant pain.

I have noticed that exercise makes these sensations go away when I push through the uncomfortable sensations however as soon as I am at rest the issues come back.

As I suffer a lot from health anxiety this is very distressing at the moment.

I have had numerous blood tests and scans over the past few months and nothing alarming has come up.

My doctor even told me Cymbalta does not cause any withdrawal symptoms when I asked him about my head sensations. 
 

I just have a couple of questions, Is this normal to experience these effects 5 months after my last dose?

The medication hasn’t been in my system for a long time so I don’t understand why I am having very severe issues now when I was having mild issues while tapering.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you for your time.

[invalidusername]

Hi there VintageViking and welcome to the site...

 

So to get some facts, you were on your 30mg dose for three years and then you took ~7 months to taper. 30mg is quite a low dose, and generally 60mg is considered the therapeutic dose for anxiety and mild depression. So the obvious quetion is if you got anxiety again, was there a reason why you tapered rather than switch to another medication, or have you replaced with natural, alternative or therapy?

 

The 10 beads part is not the best idea!! But recoverable...

 

What you are describing is commonly referred to as depersonalisation and is quite common to come and go following withdrawal and this is due to the brain essentially rebuilding itself. Unfortunately, it can take upto 2 years for the brain to return to homeostasis as it was before the med. 

 

Your doctor clearly hasn't done his homework as this is more than likely the Cymbalta - in fact, seeing what I have from others here, it is more or less a foregone conclusion. 

 

3 years is a long time for a drug that is only designed to be in your system for 6-9 months, and the effects are worse because you have less support from the drug now than you ever did. Your brain is putting the jigsaw of your former self back together.

 

I think we need to consider some supplements to help you through this. Are you currently taking any other meds or supplements?

 

Others will be along later, but for not rest in knowing that yes, this can be quite normal for this length of time off the withdrawal. Jumping the last 10 beads will not have helped, but again, it is not an issue in the long term...

 

IUN

[VintageViking]

Hi there IUN thanks for that.

 

To answer your question, yes I was on 30 Mg during the three years on the medication.

The doctors were telling me that it was just a introductory dose but for some reason it was completely effective at lowering my anxiety to a level that could allow me to deal with it, mostly with meditation practice and exposure therapy.

The anxiety was always there however it was more in the background until it started to become less effective and eventually stop working early last year.

The doctors kept pushing me to up the dose but I told them I was happy to keep it like this if it was working.

I have a friend who takes higher doses of Cymbalta and she was telling me some horror stories that prevented me from wanting to up the dose.

 

Yes I definitely agree going cold turkey in the end was probably a mistake.

I don’t think I took this medication seriously when I was tapering which wasn’t the best idea in hindsight.

 

I have heard of depersonalisation, it’s nice to know that it’s a common thing and I’m not going crazy.

2 years definitely isn’t great news but at least I have a bit of knowledge of what is happening now.

Its definitely been a strange few months, my body feels very foreign to me at the moment, which is a scary thing for someone who has a lot of health related anxiety as you can imagine.

 

I started taking Omega 3 fish oil tablets a few months ago when this all started.

I also read the L theanine was good helpful so I have been looking for that recently.

Would definitely appreciate any advice on what’s best.

Thanks for that, it definitely puts my mind at ease to know this is common despite it being a few months since my last dose.

By the way sorry if my replies come in a bit late, I’m in Australia and it’s late night over here haha.

[fishinghat]

Not much I can add to IUNs comments. As far as the L-Theanine is concerned be sure and buy the ones that list 'Suntheanine' as the ingredient., The reason is that most L-theanine also contains D-theanine which is of no value and there is a risk of other contaminants as well. Suntheanine is the trade name for pure L-theanine and works the best.

[VintageViking]

Thanks for that tip, I’ll be sure to double check the ingredients. Where I live most of the chemists have no longer been stocking it so I may have to buy it online.

I appreciate the help from you both. It’s been a bit of a stressful experience.

[invalidusername]

What dose of the Omega are you taking? You need to be getting a combined EPA/DHA of at least 2000mg to be effective against zaps. I know this is a lot, but this is tried and tested by hundreds on the forum.

 

Hat has rightly directed you to Suntheanine. Try the best first. Companies cannot sell without license so it will be legit, wherever you get it from.

 

Sorry to bring the 2 year bombshell down on you, but again, this is the harsh reality and it is better you know. But remember this is the maximum. I came off my Cymbalta November 2018 and I am still having remnants of the symptoms, but they are disappearing. I personally am on Citalopram and have been stable for about 6 months. I need to withdraw from these, but choosing against it whilst in the whole lockdown thing. I will be taking a good 18 months to do this. 

 

You would also do well to download the ebook;

 

https://www.cymbalta...tion-the-ebook/

 

This will be very good reading for you at the moment. Over 500 pages of information!!

[VintageViking]

I have been taking a dose of 3000 for the Omega 3 fish oil tablets,  not sure if that is ok or not.

Thanks for the information I will definitely scroll through this tonight.

 

Its nice to know that it’s a common thing and I’m not the only one having these issues at the moment.

Good to hear you are slowly getting on the mend from all this aswell.

I had no idea it was such a lengthy process.

[invalidusername]

3000 is just fine - it should be helping...

 

We have a few members in Australia, so time is neither one thing or the other. It works quite well as I am usually awake here in the UK when Hat is asleep, so I am the night-shift if you will!! I can be on standby for anyone around this time. But most of our other members are in the US and Canada.

 

Yes - very lengthy process I'm afraid. Some shorter for others, but you never know which you are until you get there

[VintageViking]

Hi again, I hope you both have been going well these past few months, it’s been quite a year.

i thought I would check in as it has been six months since I stopped Cymbalta. It’s been a very strange last few months since we last spoke, I began taking some of these supplements listed which helped somewhat during the process.

the fish oil has been very helpful so far however the things I have been experiencing have still been very frightening and of course I  would like your opinion if this still sounds in range with withdrawal or might be worth investigating.

 

Lately it seems like the symptoms I have come and go in waves and when one symptom stops a completely new one begins to take its place.

My dizziness, visual disturbances, palpitations and feelings of things not being real disappeared for a number of weeks with only one small episode of my vision feeling like a sliding screen saver occurring. That one was very bizarre despite only lasting for a fraction of a second.

However when I thought the worst was past I had a weird episode when I woke up to a strange smell, it was a very bizarre almost chemical smell. It’s only happened once and that was quite a few weeks ago now.

I increased my level of exercise in a hope to get back to my level of fitness I was at last year and put a bit of strain on both knees.

i have had knee issues before and they have always healed with a week of rest. However this time the pain I experienced was unbelievable, I was mostly unable to walk for almost a month due to the pain.

This made things like work very difficult so I ended up seeing physiotherapist. She found no major issues with my knees and was a bit perplexed at the level of pain I have experienced. 
 

Also at this time I began to develop muscle pain under the skin of my right forearm. Over the past month the pain ended up traveling down my arm into my wrists and thumb which has been quite alarming. This pain has somewhat eased this week thankfully.
With these issues being the main problem recently I was really relieved they were passing. However a week ago I experienced the worst palpitation so far while I was asleep. It woke me up in panic and the feeling of dread was so intense I thought I was dying without being dramatic haha.

 

From then on the dizzy spells and migraine like pains behind the eyes have returned and lasted for the past week and a half along with very uncomfortable pressure like pain in my head, eyes and ears. This pressure feels very much like sinus.

 

This whole experience has very slowly worn me down to a point of depression. Just when I think I’m feeling ok something new occurs which heightens my anxiety.

it doesn’t help I have lived with Health related anxiety issues all my life. It’s a constant battle to calm myself down from thoughts of this being things like a tumour or MS.

 

I have found this forum very comforting at times so it’s been a big help.

i have booked an appointment with a doctor to see if any other issues might present however I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of getting more tests.

Thanks for your time.

Andy

[fishinghat]

Ahhh, the Cymbalta rollercoaster. You may have 2 more months of these changing symptoms before things start to level off. Having a dr to ook you over and verify there is nothing else occuring is good. It should bring you some releif. Please keep us posted.

[VintageViking]

Thanks for that. That is good to hear, I will be glad to start feeling like myself again.
I definitely will keep you updated.

[invalidusername]

Hi Viking,

 

Sorry for the late response - busy couple of days.

 

Thanks for the update - and what you are saying rings bells for sure. But take solace in the fact that things are constantly changing. I know it is a pain in the ass right now, but as symptoms are constantly in flux, you know this is a hallmark of withdrawal. It is when stuff sticks around for a while that you need to be checked up.

 

I had exactly the same thing happen once I had the mental issues under control, the physical took over and gave me a fresh set of mental issues just as you say. 

 

As Hat said, it is good to be checked over, but don't let it get obsessive that it starts feeding your health anxiety. Again, I was the same as a lot of my anxiety was based on me passing out or vomiting - so I know where you are at.

 

IUN

[VintageViking]

Hi IUN, sorry for the late reply.

Well that is comforting to hear, these constant episodes do wear me down so it’s nice to know I’m not alone experiencing this.

In the past I have had the habit of making physical symptoms and feelings more intense when I have my anxiety attach to it.

This was a thing the medication was good at helping me cope with so without it has been quite a challenge.

Yes I agree, I had my appointment with the doctor and according to him he finds the length of time I have had these symptoms concerning and wants me tested for M.S, so I’m getting tests and a MRI on the brain in a few weeks.

He was very dismissive of the idea that Cymbalta is the cause of this which is frustrating.

I will keep you all posted on what happens.

 

Thanks 

[invalidusername]

Many doctors are unaware of the extent that Cymbalta (and other AD's) can have during withdrawal. The p-doc I was under forced me off my withdrawal at 10mg by confiscating my remaining supply of beads. I ended up at hospital following a series of seizures.

 

Never underestimate what these drugs can do. 

 

When I had what Hat and I were quite sure was adrenal issues following the Cymbalta, there were times that I was convinced I had ME. But if you put the pieces together, it all makes sense. The brain can control so many ailments, and messing with it in the way that these drug do can have so many pronounced effects.

 

But all the same, please keep up posted.

 

All the very best.