fourleaf Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 my wife started Cymbalta 2 weeks ago after weaning off Celexa (on that for mild depression and severe panic attacks). The Cymbalta was chosen due to her also suffering from chronic jaw pain (a result of an ill-fated decision to have surgery for TMJ approx. 20 years ago). About 3 days into the Cymbalta she became "different"...she had insomnia, decreased appetite, non-stop talking...all of which snowballed over 2 weeks to extreme anger,profanity,irrational thoughts and controlling behavior. We had to hospitalize her 3 days ago due to her jumping out of a parked car and running down the middle of the street. We couldn't help her anymore. Needless to say she has not been on the Cymbalta for 3 days and is now on Serequel but has not really improved much. she refuses to believe that she ever had or has a problem and even more, refuses to believe it was the med. She has NEVER had a manic episode before...EVER. This has to be the med. Of course it helped greatly with the jaw pain which is why she is so heavily invested in the Cymbalta. I feel such profound sadness and anger and confusion about everything. She holds me accountable for all this and everything that has ever been negative in our 12 year marriage. We had a good marriage...no infidelity,no substance abuse, no spousal abuse just a normal marriage with normal marital issues. We have two great kids who are very confused (11 and 8). I fear that I may never be able to feel the same about her or invest the resources needed to stay with her...I don't know what to expect and fear this being an issue forever. Any advice please!!! My life has been turned upside down in the space of two weeks!! Has anyone else had this happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 my wife started Cymbalta 2 weeks ago after weaning off Celexa (on that for mild depression and severe panic attacks). The Cymbalta was chosen due to her also suffering from chronic jaw pain (a result of an ill-fated decision to have surgery for TMJ approx. 20 years ago). About 3 days into the Cymbalta she became "different"...she had insomnia, decreased appetite, non-stop talking...all of which snowballed over 2 weeks to extreme anger,profanity,irrational thoughts and controlling behavior. We had to hospitalize her 3 days ago due to her jumping out of a parked car and running down the middle of the street. We couldn't help her anymore. Needless to say she has not been on the Cymbalta for 3 days and is now on Serequel but has not really improved much. she refuses to believe that she ever had or has a problem and even more, refuses to believe it was the med. She has NEVER had a manic episode before...EVER. This has to be the med. Of course it helped greatly with the jaw pain which is why she is so heavily invested in the Cymbalta. I feel such profound sadness and anger and confusion about everything. She holds me accountable for all this and everything that has ever been negative in our 12 year marriage. We had a good marriage...no infidelity,no substance abuse, no spousal abuse just a normal marriage with normal marital issues. We have two great kids who are very confused (11 and 8). I fear that I may never be able to feel the same about her or invest the resources needed to stay with her...I don't know what to expect and fear this being an issue forever. Any advice please!!! My life has been turned upside down in the space of two weeks!! Has anyone else had this happen? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You'll probably get more responses on the Bipolar spectrum disorder - I'm so happy I could kill myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulu Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 4leaf, please don't give up on your wife and your marriage so easily. You say your marriage has been pretty solid up to recently and that you have 2 kids. I think that alone tells you she is worth fighting for. You have been going through hell during your wife's bout with mania, but imagine being in her shoes. Unrelenting physical pain is a monster and I understand why your wife would be reluctant to give up on a med that is helping with that. Couple that with depression and you have one very miserable person. You said she had been hospitalized but that there is nothing further to be done, why? Maybe you could get some counselling on dealing with a "crazy" wife, or even some books that could help you cope. Please don't abandon your wife for something that is out of her control. None of us would choose mental illness, it just is. Sulu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olga Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 Where are the psychiatrist and the therapist while all this is going on? If she was being treated for depression and severe panic attacks, maybe she needs a mood-stabilizing drug as well as an anti-depressant. If one drug screws up, you don't just throw your hands up in the air and give up. There are HUNDREDS of drugs out there---if her doctors aren't exploring the possibilities, then you either need to do the research yourself or get her some new doctors. And if she is MI, then yes, you will have to deal with it for the rest of your life. I'm sorry it's hard on the kids, but if you work on it and help her get the correct meds and some therapy (and some couples therapy), then those kids will have 2 functioning parents. I'm not unsympathetic. My husband jokes all the time that with all my problems, he should trade me in for 2 25-year-olds instead of having this one depressed, falling-apart, middle-aged broad. But we take our vows seriously. I've wiped his butt when his back was out and he couldn't get to the bathroom, and he held my hand when the doctor told me I had advanced glaucoma. This is life. We get sick and we need our spouses and families to help us get through it. Go do some reading on the bipolar board. Read up on psychotic episodes. Go to crazymeds.us and read up on medications. Make appointments for her with top-notch doctors and go to the appointments with questions and information from this board. If she's at all rational, have her come here and read, too. She doesn't WANT to be sick. It's her illness talking to you, not your wife. I'm sorry if I sound pushy, but I've learned that if we want effective treatment, we have to take the initiative and do the reasearch so that the doctors take us seriously. My opinion! I hope it all works out and that you stick with her until she gets a firm diagnosis from a competent doctor, and then some new treatments. olga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourleaf Posted September 4, 2005 Author Share Posted September 4, 2005 4leaf, please don't give up on your wife and your marriage so easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourleaf Posted September 4, 2005 Author Share Posted September 4, 2005 Where are the psychiatrist and the therapist while all this is going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulu Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 If the Cymbalta is working so well for the pain but is causing mania, perhaps a mood stabilizer to level moods would being useful. Could you ask her doctor to see if he thinks that might do the trick? I sense that you are feeling ganged up on and want to assure you that I sympathize with you, you have your hands full, it is just that most posters here are folks with mental illness and we are as a rule a rather protective bunch when it comes to fellow sufferers. Try to remember when you say your wife has a choice, that she has to make a decision through the filter of MI. It never goes away, it may hide itself well, but it is always lurking nearby. I hope things work out well soon for you and your family. Take care, Sulu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 FWIW, Tegretol is a mood stabilizer which is also used to treat chronic pain. I have a couple teeth that are infected and direly need root canals. It's made them much more tolerable, a side effect I don't mind at all. Depression with severe anxiety can be symptomatic of a mixed bipolar state which could have been made worse by the Cymbalta. It's possible that the depression and panic were symptoms of a latent bi-polar condition that didn't really rear its head until the Cymbalta set it off. Unfortunately, part of the intrinsic nature of psychosis is that the affected person does not know they are psychotic. Is she still on the Cymbalta? If so, get her off of it now before she goes totally batshit crazy for good. Period. Talk to her doc if needed and get him to cancel the rx. In addition to the bp board, you might want to post on the relationship and/or family boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConfusedCat Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 I am not quite sure I understand why you say she has a choice to go back to the cymbalta. If she was indeed in a med induced mania no Doc in their right mind is going to give it back to her after a 3 day Hospital stay. Did I miss something? CC~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourleaf Posted September 5, 2005 Author Share Posted September 5, 2005 I am not quite sure I understand why you say she has a choice to go back to the cymbalta. If she was indeed in a med induced mania no Doc in their right mind is going to give it back to her after a 3 day Hospital stay. Did I miss something? CC~ <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That is exactly right although my wife has proven extremely resourceful and I fear will be highly motivated to obtain the med from ANY doctor. I don't think I can monitor her activities at all times and therefore fear she will take it without my knowledge...again, she absolutely refuses to believe that this medicine did anything but provide a pain free extremely happy, well-adjusted person. This is not a contolled substance and can be prescribed by anyone with an MD attached to their name. My only hope is that she slowly comes to the realization that she indeed is delusional on the med and stops treating it as her sole salvation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulu Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 It's me, the little pest. If you don't believe your wife will ever give up her Cymbalta please ask her doctor about giving her a mood stabilizer. It is possible that she could still get the good benefits of the Cymbalta (pain relief, help with the depression, etc.) but the mood stabilizer should help stop the mania. I am not a doctor but a lot of folks have been put on mood stabilizers for exactly this reason. It certainly is worth asking about. Take care, Sulu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Well. Enough hospital stays should make her change her mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadplumber Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 Well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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