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SEENSpeakNoHEARno: All cleared for landing at 3 cymbalta microballs, and landing gear failed, crashed going from 3 to 2 balls.


SEENSpeakNoHEARno

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Hi to everyone.  I've been suctioning up information here for a while, much of it incredibly helpful, and heartfelt thanks to the creator, administrator and all participants.   

 

After ten years on paxil, I was transitioned from paxil to cymbalta 60 mg in 2005.

 

In 2018 I began to experience spontaneous jaw movements moving in a side to side grinding motion daytimes.  I commenced a physician supervised taper off 60 mg Cymbalta of to 30 over a few weeks, then went from 30 to 20 mg, had waves of dizziness, fatigue, fogginess.

At 20 mg, researched a bit and found the group Cymbalta Hurts Worse, and began tapering at 10%of dose, their guidelines at the time, now CHW guidelines reduced to 5% of dose.

From 2019 to present I tapered slowly with flu-like symptoms, and low mood, intense irritability as withdrawal effects, passing in a couple of days.  In

2020 my new Primary Care Physician suggested ldn low dose naltrexone through a local compounding pharmacy, it was profoundly helpful with the irritability.  Ldn requires you to find a sweet spot in terms of dosage, best arrived at with help of the dispensing pharmacist.  I take 2.00 at bedtime and .5 in the morning. 

 

 

Throughout 2021 I still tapering according to guidelines with a tilt towards holding a bit longer as I entered one ball reduction zone, all went as it had previously until the drop from three balls to two balls, which was destabilizing and as if all hell had broken loose.  I was intending a slow steady landing, instead it was a crash.  Been holding since early May, it is now end of June.  My moods flicker and the insomnia is undercutting my recovery and any gesture at normalcy.  I had been waking at 3:30 many nights during the two years,  but this is more pronounced and inevitable.   During this time, the original prescriber has been giving lorazeapm and xanax.  Following this unexpected crash landing I had a spate of disastrous trials of amino acids, following advice in the Mood Cure by Julia Ross.  This exacerbated the insomnia greatly and further destabilized my ability to function.  Does anyone have a thought on the way things went to hell at 3 to 2?  I'm still wondering "What Happened?"  

 

 

 

 

Edited by arbor
edited to standardize type size

1995- 2005   prescribed Paxil, Lorazepam, Xanax.

2005 Tapered off Paxil with physician guidance.

2005  60 mg Cymbalta.

2018 experienced spontaneous daytime jaw movements  in a grinding motion ,  physician supervised taper off 60 mg Cymbalta of to 30 over a few weeks.

2019 to present began tapering at 10%of dose.

2020   ldn low dose naltrexone, helpful with irritability.  

2021  all went as it had previously until the drop from three balls to two balls, which was destabilizing and as if all hell had broken loose.  

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  • arbor changed the title to SEENSpeakNoHEARno: All cleared for landing at 3 cymbalta microballs, and landing gear failed, crashed going from 3 to 2 balls.
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hello @SEENSpeakNoHEARno,

 

Welcome to SA.  

We are a non-profit site run by volunteer Administrators and Moderators who have been through or still are going through withdrawal.   To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  Just drugs, dates and dosages in a list format.  This would include the time frame between your dosage of 3 beads to 2.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Congratulations as it sounds like you've come a long way with discontinuing Paxil and tapering Cymbalta.  But I'm sorry that you are now experiencing this crash.  Tapering Cymbalta is difficult.  You might find this site helpful:

Tips for tapering off duloxetine (Cymbalta) - Tapering   

 

And here's another important read which explains our basic method of tapering:  Why Taper By 10% of My Dosage? 

 

Some people need to really slow down as the dose gets lower. Possibly making cuts between 1% - 5%. This site discusses the importance of slowing the tapering as the dose decreases:

Micro-taper instead of 10% or 5% decreases 

 

Here is some information about how these drugs actually work.

What is withdrawal syndrome?

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

I include these sites for your interest:

Low-dose naltrexone - LDN anyone? 

 

Cymbalta and naltrexone Drug Interactions - Drugs.com

 

For the moderators to address your situation further, it can be helpful to chart your current symptoms.  This site gives you information about that.

Keep daily notes of drug schedule and symptoms to track ...

 

This is your Introduction site where you can ask questions and connect with other members.

I'm glad you've found us.   And again, I'm sorry for all you're going through and commiserate with the distress withdrawal from these psychiatric medications causes.

Arbor

 

 

Zoloft: 1995 - 2015

Prozac: 2015 - 2018 (tapered from 40mg x day on July 31 to 30mg on August 31 to 20mg on September 31 to 10mg October 31 to 0mg on  December 15, 2018

Gabapentin: 2016 to 2019  (tapered from 300mg x day to 150mg on August 31, 2019 to 75mg on September 15 to 50mg on September 31 to 25ishmg on October 15 to 0mg on December 1, 2019

Enalapril: 2010 - 2019

Lipitor: 2017 -2017

Metformin: 2000 - 2020

Liothyronine: 2007 - 2019

Levothyroxine: 2000 - 2022

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hello @SEENSpeakNoHEARno:

I noticed that you suffered from involuntary jaw movements, so I wanted to stop by your thread and let you know that I'm a survivor of medication-induced involuntary movements (called either dystonia, dyskinesia, tardive dystonia, or tardive dyskinesia, etc.). This site is a wonderful font of resources and support. Please hang in there. It gets better <3 

*I'm not a doctor and don't give medical advice, just personal experience
**Off all meds since Nov. 2014. Mentally & emotionally recovered; physically not
-Dual cold turkeys off TCA & Ativan in Oct 2014. Prescribed from 2011-2014

-All meds were Rxed off-label for an autoimmune illness.  It was a MISDIAGNOSIS, but I did not find out until AFTER meds caused damage.  All med tapers/cold turkeys directed by doctors 

-Nortriptyline May 2012 - Dec 2013. Cold turkey off nortrip & cold switched to desipramine

-Desipramine Jan 2014 - Oct. 29, 2014 (rapid taper/cold turkey)

-Lorazepam 1 mg per night during 2011
-Lorazepam 1 mg per month in 2012 (or less)

-Lorazepam on & off, Dec 2013 through Aug 2014. Didn't exceed 3x a week

-Lorazepam again in Oct. 2014 to help get off of desipramine. Last dose lzpam was 1 mg, Nov. 2, 2014. Immediate paradoxical reactions to benzos after stopping TCAs 

-First muscle/dystonia side effects started on nortriptyline, but docs too stupid to figure it out. On desipramine, muscle tremors & rigidity worsened

-Two weeks after I got off all meds, I developed full-blown TD.  Tardive dystonia, dyskinesia, myoclonic jerks ALL over body, ribcage wiggles, facial tics, twitching tongue & fingers, tremors/twitches of arms, legs, cognitive impairment, throat muscles semi-paralyzed & unable to swallow solid food, brain zaps, ears ring, dizzy, everything looks too far away, insomnia, numbness & electric shocks everywhere when I try to fall asleep, jerk awake from sleep with big, gasping breaths, wake with terrors & tremors, severely depressed.  NO HISTORY OF DEPRESSION, EVER. Meds CREATED it.

-Month 7: hair falling out; no vision improvement; still tardive dystonia; facial & tongue tics returned
-Month 8: back to acute, incl. Grand Mal seizure-like episodes. New mental torment, PGAD, worse insomnia
-Month 9: tardive dystonia worse, dyskinesia returned. Unable to breathe well due to dystonia in stomach, chest, throat
-Month 13: Back to acute, brain zaps back, developed eczema & stomach problems. Left leg no longer works right due to dystonia, meaning both legs now damaged
-7 years off: Huge improvements, incl. improved dystonia

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Hey thanks for stopping by and for the good cheer.  Thankfully, my tardive dyskinesia has resolved about 90% since my taper off cymbalta.  Now at .358 mg, I'm just waiting for a period of relative stability and some sleep to take out one of my last two microballs.  The jaw movements really let me know that bathing my brain in cymbalta was having many unanticipated effects, not good ones either.

1995- 2005   prescribed Paxil, Lorazepam, Xanax.

2005 Tapered off Paxil with physician guidance.

2005  60 mg Cymbalta.

2018 experienced spontaneous daytime jaw movements  in a grinding motion ,  physician supervised taper off 60 mg Cymbalta of to 30 over a few weeks.

2019 to present began tapering at 10%of dose.

2020   ldn low dose naltrexone, helpful with irritability.  

2021  all went as it had previously until the drop from three balls to two balls, which was destabilizing and as if all hell had broken loose.  

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  • Administrator

Welcome, @SEENSpeakNoHEARno

 

Are you still taking LDN? At what dosage, what time of day?

 

It was early May that you decreased from 3 beads to 2 beads?

 

While it's a tiny amount of Cymbalta, your nervous system is still accommodating to the prior decreases. Often the very last bit is the most difficult.

 

 

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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HI Altostrata: 

 

Yes, I am still taking ldn, 2 mg at bedtime and .5 in the morning.  There is a compounding pharmacy nearby that provides ldn to people probably nationwide and has experienced pharmacists who help individuals find their dose level and timing.  It is a bit tricky, there can be an initial adjustment period, as either not enough or too much can miss the target.  Luckily, my physician was happy to have the pharmacist manage how the prescription is deployed.  For me, it has vastly reduced the worst withdrawal symptoms, especially the nasty irritability. 

 

Yes, I was following all the good guidance on tapering that I could find, and I have studied relevant files on Surviving Antidepressants, and thank you for making them available.  They saved me lots of anguish.  But maybe the entire process was a tad too fast, or perhaps it all crashed at the end.  I had had predictable symptoms all along, but the last drop scared me.  My moods flickered like a cheap filmstrip.  My regular 3:30 AM insomnia got much worse.  I was briefly drawn to the Mood Cure amino acid supplements with horrible results, I seem to have paradoxical responses to many substances and those were very irritating.  Then I recalled the stellar advice of the Three S's and realized it was not slow, stable or simple and I understood why the trialing of aminos had been such a disaster. 

 

So, thanks for asking, yes, it was early May when I went from three balls to two, and I was holding for a month which is when the symptoms got bad.   I'm sort of recovering from my brush with the Mood Cure, and seeking enough stability to reduce by one more ball. 

 

I appreciate your time on my situation, and also all the public information you have made available has really aided me in this unexpected, unguided medical quagmire. 

1995- 2005   prescribed Paxil, Lorazepam, Xanax.

2005 Tapered off Paxil with physician guidance.

2005  60 mg Cymbalta.

2018 experienced spontaneous daytime jaw movements  in a grinding motion ,  physician supervised taper off 60 mg Cymbalta of to 30 over a few weeks.

2019 to present began tapering at 10%of dose.

2020   ldn low dose naltrexone, helpful with irritability.  

2021  all went as it had previously until the drop from three balls to two balls, which was destabilizing and as if all hell had broken loose.  

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  • 1 month later...

An update, after ten weeks of holding at two balls, I went down one and it was a mild experience.  One day of flu like symptoms, managed by an Aleve.  The discomfort came on the day after the drop, unlike previous drops which registered 4-5 days in.  I'm now ten days post the reduction and feeling pretty good.  Thanks to all of you for the information you have shared; it has aided me in my process.

1995- 2005   prescribed Paxil, Lorazepam, Xanax.

2005 Tapered off Paxil with physician guidance.

2005  60 mg Cymbalta.

2018 experienced spontaneous daytime jaw movements  in a grinding motion ,  physician supervised taper off 60 mg Cymbalta of to 30 over a few weeks.

2019 to present began tapering at 10%of dose.

2020   ldn low dose naltrexone, helpful with irritability.  

2021  all went as it had previously until the drop from three balls to two balls, which was destabilizing and as if all hell had broken loose.  

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