Basti: road to recovery from 9 years of Cymbalta 30mg

[Basti]

Hi All,

 

Very glad this forum exists...I started Cymbalta in 2009 on the advise from my GP after a long period of depression and increasing anxiety. CBT therapy sessions were not doing enough and I was feeling very low so I said yes. During this time I became superman, much less anxious and much better mood. At work I was asked to move to France for a major role in Paris and on steroids of course I said yes. Did not pay much attention to all the side effects building up, an important one extreme restlessness. My GP said alcohol was not such a problem during treatment and advised to stop in the spring. My mother had a hart attack just before I stopped Cymbalta and back in France I was having severe withdrawal (I thought it was depression coming back). As I was just a few months in my new job I was really anxious and decided to go to a French GP to get back on medication. I asked him if it was safe to use it for years on end, no problem he said...1,5 year later I went back home and the side effects became more and more dominant, the most scary one was memory and cognitive function declining while restlessness increased more and more. In 2013 I took on a new job and worked very hard, easy on Cymbalta but then my pharmacy switched me to generic and I started to feel worse. Thought I needed to end my relation a take new job in the beginning of 2017. Also a decision made very restlessly, the day I signed I had panic attacks at night and started to sleep very poorly for the months to come. My GP switched me to Mirtazapine 7,5 mg in may 2017 and a week later I started the worst period in my life. Had to call in sick, extreme restlessness, did not sleep at all, racing thought, extremely anxious etc. And for the last few years I have been through various waves and far from full recovery. Currently in an intensive therapy treatment which makes me go up and for the last few months down. At the moment the symptoms I have ranked on severity: extreme restlessness, cognitive skills all time low, short term and long term memory very deteriorated (please tell me this will come back), neuropathy, feeling numb, depression, hightened anxiety, racing thoughts (ocd), unable to enjoy things and so on. I hope to recover as much as I can without using antidepressants ever again in my life. Really afraid the combination of alcohol and cymbalta caused cognitive, memory impairement and nerve damage that is irreversible. Hope we can help each other!

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Basti.

 

What drugs are you taking now, at what dosages, and at what times of day?

 

How much alcohol do you habitually drink?

 

It's not clear when you were taking drugs and what dosages. To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[Basti]

Hi Altostrata,

 

Thanks for your reply. I put the info in my signature, my main problem is high cortisol I think which is only a little lower during holidays I sleep around 4-5 hours per night and the mornings are very depressive, racing negative thoughts. They want to start me on escitalopram again but I really want to try to get by without...

 

Bastian

[Altostrata]

The alcohol may very well be a problem for you, keeping your nervous system in an uproar.

 

You should think of alcohol as another drug. If you're concerned about your liver, you should get a liver function blood test.

 

If you keep on drinking, it's very possible we will not be able to help you.

 

Taking Cymbalta every other day is a very bad way to take Cymbalta. We see that when people go on and off psychiatric drugs many times, or skip doses, this often makes their nervous systems hypersensitive to drugs, alcohol, sometimes supplements and even foods.

 

What time of day do you take Seroquel? What do you mean, it works poorly? What is your sleep pattern?

[Gridley]

 

24 minutes ago, Basti said:

my main problem is high cortisol

This is a very common withdrawal symptom.  I had severe anxiety symptoms upon awakening in the early morning for several months, then they improved (reason unknown).  Now  I get between 6 and 8 hours' sleep per night, not continuous but adequate.  I take an additional low dose of magnesium glycinate around 3 or 4 when I wake up and after a while I do get back to sleep.  Start with a low dosage and see how it does and increase from there if needed.

Waking with panic or anxiety - managing the morning cortisol spike ...

[Basti]

Thanks for your reply, that was my GP in France advising to take it every other day because i was having constipation. Starting to get really angry on all their bad advises... I don't drink that much alcohol anymore and I will limit it further to recover. I agree that it has a strong effect which i pay back in anxiety the day after...I read your post about low dose lamictal, do you have experience with low dose Lithium as well? I just want my brain to become less anxious and regain my mental abilities and memory do you have any stories about full recovery on that part? Thanks a lot!