Metalaxe Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Hi All I am new to the site - just wondered if anyone could offer any advice here. I had a very bad withdrawal from Seroxat over a year ago now. My gp took me off it too quickly. I had to see a psychiatrist and he reinstated the original dosage of Seroxat which had no effect whatsoever on my awful depression and anxiety levels which were chronic. He then raised the Seroxat to 30 still nothing. I then went on citalapram - didnt help at all. It was raised to highest dosage - still didn't help. I then tried Nortriptylene - didn't feel good at all on it - very very unwell then discovered it was causing abnormal heart rythm and I had to come off it very sharpish. I then tried Sertraline. This was upped to a dosage of 150mg over a period of about 2 months. This med gave me very bad back pain so I had to come off it. I can't say that during the time I was feeling much benefit from it with my anxiety and depression. I was then put on duloxetine 60mg. Ihave been very up and down on this medication. It seems to have helped my anxiety in that it has helped me face situations and have felt motivated to do so. I can't say though, that it has helped the depression as I hoped it would. This is strange because this med is for depression and not anxiety. Ihave been on it for just over four months now and have just had a couple of very bad days with a return of my depression, feeling weapy, no motivation and very low thoughts. I don't know what todo now, I don't want to raise this medication because the side effect of insomnia is very bad and that makes me tired and lifeless during the day where I'm not getting enough sleep at night. I feel at the moment like the med has stopped working for me. I keep wondering that if, after a bad withdrawal from a med like I had with Seroxat, or maybe after prolonged use with an anti depressant that all others tried after become less effective. I have no idea what medication I could try next. I am wondering if I should give up on meds for a while although that scares me. Should I wean off the duloxetine gradually and try no meds, I really don't know any more. It really does feel that despite all my efforts no med is helping as it should. This has been going on for nearly two years now and it really is getting me down. Can anyone please offer some advice. Metalaxe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamison Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 First and foremost, I must suggest you make sure you are getting your liver enzymes tested every few months. Please. Cymbalta can be very harsh on the liver and some doctors won't think to look at it. Secondly, Cymbalta was the greatest drug in the world for me. Every other drug I take gets compared to Cymbalta. It never pooped out on me. I didn't have a problem with falling asleep, just staying asleep but it was hard to deal with. I also would get sleepy during the day. My doctor prescribed me "Provigil" to counteract the sleepiness and aside from smelly urine had no side effects to speak of. At one point I was on 90mg of Cymbalta and there was a slight benefit over 60mg. My doctor was prescribing me 60mg and giving me 30mg samples so it cost me no extra money to take the extra. There was no increase in side effects from adding an extra 30mg of Cymbalta. Hope this helps some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalaxe Posted December 2, 2006 Author Share Posted December 2, 2006 Jamison Thanks so much for replying. Wow scary about the liver. I will speak to my psychiatrist about this when I speak to her. It sounds as if you are not on Cymbalta any more - why is that? I really really don't want to increase this med because the other side effect I get with these meds is dry eye syndrome - they have a drying out effect on the system and for me the eyes suffer badly. Lots of people say this med worked very well for them, however i have been doing a bit of looking around on the web and have found lots of people that have not had a good response to this med. The worry is what med do i go for next - or do i try no meds? Anyone out there with any ideas please let me know. Take care all First and foremost, I must suggest you make sure you are getting your liver enzymes tested every few months. Please. Cymbalta can be very harsh on the liver and some doctors won't think to look at it. Secondly, Cymbalta was the greatest drug in the world for me. Every other drug I take gets compared to Cymbalta. It never pooped out on me. I didn't have a problem with falling asleep, just staying asleep but it was hard to deal with. I also would get sleepy during the day. My doctor prescribed me "Provigil" to counteract the sleepiness and aside from smelly urine had no side effects to speak of. At one point I was on 90mg of Cymbalta and there was a slight benefit over 60mg. My doctor was prescribing me 60mg and giving me 30mg samples so it cost me no extra money to take the extra. There was no increase in side effects from adding an extra 30mg of Cymbalta. Hope this helps some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I've been on it for about 18 months. I think what you describe is common at about 4-6 months from what I recall others saying. It may even out again in another month or so. It is often used synergisticly with Wellbutrin (bupropion hydrochloride). Adding that could help kick it back in. You might want to look into venlaxine (effexor). It's probobly more like Cymbalta than any other med Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalaxe Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 VE Thanks. That's reassuring but i still don't like the up and downess because you never know how you will feel the next day. I am going to look into adding wellbutrin - will speak to the psychiatrist - I think I would like to cut down on the dulox though before adding the wellbutrin because what I do know about Wellbutrin is that it can cause insomnia as well. I think with the two meds together i would never sleep! Thanks again. M I've been on it for about 18 months. I think what you describe is common at about 4-6 months from what I recall others saying. It may even out again in another month or so. It is often used synergisticly with Wellbutrin (bupropion hydrochloride). Adding that could help kick it back in. You might want to look into venlaxine (effexor). It's probobly more like Cymbalta than any other med Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeahCherie Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I have been taking Cymbalta for months with no real side effects. no insomnia. I tried Effexor and I couldn't sleep at all for 4 days. *insomnia!!!* I think it really just depends on the person. They keep telling me you have to try it before you really know how YOU will react... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maceo Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Hi All I am new to the site - just wondered if anyone could offer any advice here. I had a very bad withdrawal from Seroxat over a year ago now. My gp took me off it too quickly. I had to see a psychiatrist and he reinstated the original dosage of Seroxat which had no effect whatsoever on my awful depression and anxiety levels which were chronic. He then raised the Seroxat to 30 still nothing. I then went on citalapram - didnt help at all. It was raised to highest dosage - still didn't help. I then tried Nortriptylene - didn't feel good at all on it - very very unwell then discovered it was causing abnormal heart rythm and I had to come off it very sharpish. I then tried Sertraline. This was upped to a dosage of 150mg over a period of about 2 months. This med gave me very bad back pain so I had to come off it. I can't say that during the time I was feeling much benefit from it with my anxiety and depression. I was then put on duloxetine 60mg. Ihave been very up and down on this medication. It seems to have helped my anxiety in that it has helped me face situations and have felt motivated to do so. I can't say though, that it has helped the depression as I hoped it would. This is strange because this med is for depression and not anxiety. Ihave been on it for just over four months now and have just had a couple of very bad days with a return of my depression, feeling weapy, no motivation and very low thoughts. I don't know what todo now, I don't want to raise this medication because the side effect of insomnia is very bad and that makes me tired and lifeless during the day where I'm not getting enough sleep at night. I feel at the moment like the med has stopped working for me. I keep wondering that if, after a bad withdrawal from a med like I had with Seroxat, or maybe after prolonged use with an anti depressant that all others tried after become less effective. I have no idea what medication I could try next. I am wondering if I should give up on meds for a while although that scares me. Should I wean off the duloxetine gradually and try no meds, I really don't know any more. It really does feel that despite all my efforts no med is helping as it should. This has been going on for nearly two years now and it really is getting me down. Can anyone please offer some advice. Metalaxe u could try prozac (fluoxetine), effexor (venlafaxine), luvox (fluvoxamine), lexapro (escitalopram), wellbutrin (bupropion), remeron (mirtazapine) or edronax (reboxetine) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null0trooper Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I then went on citalapram - didnt help at all. It was raised to highest dosage - still didn't help. I then tried Nortriptylene - didn't feel good at all on it - very very unwell then discovered it was causing abnormal heart rythm and I had to come off it very sharpish. I then tried Sertraline. This was upped to a dosage of 150mg over a period of about 2 months. This med gave me very bad back pain so I had to come off it. I can't say that during the time I was feeling much benefit from it with my anxiety and depression. u could try prozac (fluoxetine), effexor (venlafaxine), luvox (fluvoxamine), lexapro (escitalopram), wellbutrin (bupropion), remeron (mirtazapine) or edronax (reboxetine) Hm. If Celexa didn't work at all then Lexapro probably won't help much. Milnacipran would be another to consider, although I don't see any mention of it being approved in the US or Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanophile Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Talk to you doctor if you are going to discontinue Cymbalta. I'm in middle of going off of it by tapering very slowly and it is HELL. I'm almost certain that Cymbalta must be the pharmaceutical equivalent of Satan. I feel like I could jump out of my body at any moment and at this point if it would make me feel better I would! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhisattva Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Talk to you doctor if you are going to discontinue Cymbalta. I'm in middle of going off of it by tapering very slowly and it is HELL. I'm almost certain that Cymbalta must be the pharmaceutical equivalent of Satan. I feel like I could jump out of my body at any moment and at this point if it would make me feel better I would! Just a quick note concerning my experience. I went on Cymbalta shortly after it was approved. I had been on Prozac 60. We worked up to 120 mg until I went manic. Cymbalta is the all round best of the bunch so far. I won't even begin to list the players along the way. I came full circle. The Effexor scare is highly overated (ds). The hardest I've ever come off is Cymbalta itself. I then got entangled in the lamictals of the world, even good old lithium, entering the world of the bipolar spectrum. The flavor of the month is III. Med induced.... Cymbalta works great for anxiety. Depression? I just don't know anymore folks. Don't fall in the BPD hole.... My motto these days is less is more! I dumped Wellbutrin, Seroquel, to name a few. Traz is out the window too! Ich. These dayys it's 60 Cymbalta, 15 Valium, 3 mg Lunesta daily! The trouble with the many cocktails I've been on is that you are never sure which med, which combo, which dose is the culprit when your helplessly lost in a sea of meds. Too much coffee!!!! So much for the quick note! Be Well....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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