shellbell Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Have been on Cymbalta 30 mg every evening and Abilify 1mg every morning for just about 3 weeks now. I began to feel better pretty quickly, probably due to the Abilify, and things were continuing to improve. Last Wed at p-doc appt, I thought she might up the Cymbalta to 60 mg. I didnt want her to, but if she thought it was necessary she would say so. I told her I thought I was about 90% improved, and she said, "If it aint broke, dont fix it" , and she left the regime the same. Now since Sat I've been having an increase in anxiety. Wound up in the ER this afternoon with stomach pain, which I've been having mildly since starting the Cymbalta. Never had stomach issues in the past. Today it was so severe and was radiating into my chest. When it lasted over an hour, I went to ER. They were crazy busy, and after sitting there for four hours the pain had gone away. I finally demanded to be released, and some Dr gave me a cursory exam and I got the hell out of there. Now I'm home writing this and I had to stop while I had a panic attack. WTF? How can I go from feeling so good back to this in a few short days? Nothing has changed, and I havent missed any doses of medication. Can this be a reaction to the Cymbalta or the Abilify? I would almost be afraid to up the dose of Cymbalta now, in case it's causing this anxiety. Any and all opinions appreciated. I'm going out of my mind with anxiety......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SashaSue Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 You really need to call your pdoc, and talk to her about what's going on. Could be anxiety, could be side effect shit. You need to talk to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbell Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Plan to call first thing in AM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Yeah, call pdoc it could be either drug, or just sx. But it needs to be discussed. Both cymbalta and abilify CAN increase anxiety, however. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbell Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 OK, I'm sitting here wringing my hands and thinking.....and worrying.....and crying! I hypothesize that the Abilify pulled me out of the depression, but the Cymbalta is just now kicking in and the increase in Norepinephrine is just too much for my Adrenalin-ridden system. Does this make sense? I am such a train wreck right now. I know you're not doctors, but there's alot of smart cookies on this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I had a great deal of anxiety on 1.5 mg of Abilify. I thought I was either going to die or going to have to kill myself because I couldn't get relief. The anxiety went away when I raised my abilify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimpmaster Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Yeah its a strange dosage of ability. Probably not enough to be therapeutic but enough for some side effects. Did your dr indicate what the ability has been prescribed for? It is an atypical anti-psychotic medication and is not normally prescribed for depression and/or anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbell Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 She uses the low dose of Abilify to help "clarify thinking" until the AD kicks in. All I know is it worked for me, as my depression began lifting in about 3 days, and it was way too soon for the Cymbalta to be working..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Well, if the Abilify was just supposed to be temporary, it makes sense to me to remove it prior to messing with the Cymbalta to determine if the anxiety will remain. Hard to say if Abilify is the cause or not, or the Cymbalta. I know that for me, Abilify helped my mood quickly before making me super anxious.. but I only lasted a week until that flipped. 3 weeks is quite a bit longer. But, like you said.. you are on a combination & you have reached the point where it should be starting to kick in. Cymbalta kicked in after 3 weeks to the day for me. So, yeah.. talk to your pdoc and see what can be figured out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbell Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks, all. I had a big burst of adrenaline about an hour after taking the Abilify this AM, about the same time it started yesterday. So now I'm blaming the Abilify.....Gah!!!! Have appt w/pdoc this afternoon. Cetkat, discontinuing the Abilify makes perfect sense and I'm going to suggest that. Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Actually abilify is OFTEN prescribed for an add on for depression; they even market it that way now. It's approved for that purpose. So I'm not quite sure why AM would say that..... That being said, yeah, abilify can be destabilizing but so can cymbalta. So I'd say trial and error is your best bet here. Abilify has a fairly long half life so you will have to give it some time if you and your doctor decide to stop it, before being able to figure out if that is what is causing the agitation and anxiety. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixstringkate Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 How are you doing today? I'm about to switch up meds (I think, have an appt in a few days!) so I'm curious to hear what happened. Hope you're feeling better in any case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletomane Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I was on 10mg of Abilify in order to give me a boost in terms of energy and concentration, but found it made my anxiety and depression so bad (I'd never dabbled in self-harm before and I did on Abilify). My doctor said it's good for most (MOST) people with depression, but anyone with bipolar/schizoaffective tendencies can have a "real bitch of a time on it". (his words) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbell Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 Pdoc had a bitch of a time deciding what to do. Finally decided to stop the Abilify. Since it's such a low dose, I'm not so sure, but we'll see what happens. Sixstringkate, I'm also having the same problem as you with tremors/weak limb feeling. Pdoc even did a chem screen to make sure electrolytes were ok, and they were all normal. I was very interested in Motori's response to you, where her pdoc said it was the norepinephrine causing this and it should go away. Since I'm on Cymbalta, and it's a snri, maybe this is the problem. I really don't understand why they choos a snri on us "nervous nellies", already so full of adrenaline! So, I'm going to stick it out a bit longer and hope it goes away. If not, back to the drawing board! I wish you luck in your quest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpoptart92 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 OK, I can't hold it back anymore. Shellbell, if thats really you in your avatar, I don't see why you would be depressed. If that is you, your gorgeous. Heck, there are alot of ladies on this forum that are beautiful and its hard to imagine them being severly depressed. Now me, I am an ugly 39 year old white dude who looks like Shrek's twin brother. My depression is part due to not being able to find that special someone and have it in my mind, that I probably wont. I just had to say that before my brain blew up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vapourware Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 OK, I can't hold it back anymore. Shellbell, if thats really you in your avatar, I don't see why you would be depressed. If that is you, your gorgeous. Heck, there are alot of ladies on this forum that are beautiful and its hard to imagine them being severly depressed. Guess what? Depression doesn't care how you look, it'll hit people anyways. So saying that good-looking people can't be severely depressed is pretty wrong, and a jerky thing to say on a board that is for support, not for people to come and minimise other experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveyoursanity Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Um, not to mention, I think their avatar is of Marisa Tomei. I mean, no offense to y'all who are fantasizing about me at home, keep on doing that if you like, but I don't look like my avatar either. Avatars can be the person behind the computer or they can be a picture of someone or SOMETHING else that resonated with that user. I'm pretty sure Velvet Elvis is not secretly Gonzo, either. Although Vapourware may actually be a smurf, it's hard to say. BACK ON TOPIC: shellbell, I hope your anxiety goes down. If it doesn't-- I'm kinda wondering if this may actually be the Cymbalta kicking in, as Cymbalta raises my anxiety through the goddamn roof. Effexor and Pristiq don't affect my anxiety levels at all; of course, they also do nothing for the damn depression, so, who the fuck knows what my pdoc is going to do next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scatty Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Depression doesn't give two fucks if you are attractive or not. That is ignorance speaking. OP, I know when I was on 10 mg abilify after a few months it caused so much anxiety that I refused to get into a car, determined it would crash and kill us all. I hope you feel less anxious soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyDaizy Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Feck...it's a long and winding road to health! I had to stop cymbalta a while ago, but because of GI side effects (constipation and indigestion), and I've been a ball of anxiety since. Funny how our chemistries are all so different. It'd make sense that the nor-adrenaline in cymbalta would increase your anxiety tho. So far, the only thing that's keeping my anxiety in check in xanax .25mgs (usually in the morning, when I have to be scraped off the ceiling). I hope you feel better soon XXX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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