Posted by Patient on February 27, 2005, at 10:54:32
In reply to Immensely relieved! » saw, posted by partlycloudy on February 15, 2005, at 7:55:42
> Took a minimum dose of 30mg last night per my doctor's instructions, and I feel like a shiny new penny today.
> I don't care if it's a placebo effect or not - I'll take it!
>
> And I would not wish this experience on anyone, not anyone on earth. It completely unhinged me.
>
> Thanks so much for asking, Sabrina.It would be helpful to know your prescription history-like, how long you have you been taking Cymbalta (duloxetine) SSNRI AD? Have you taken any other med. and how did you do on it? Has your doctor diagnosed you with any disorder, e.g. anxiety, depression, mixed, bi polar, etc.?
High blood pressure can be a problem with this serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor drug, as well as Effexor (vanlafaxine), which has some of the same actions. Make sure your doctor doesn't switch you to Effexor or Wellbutrin (bubropion) for you may get high blood pressure reaction from these as well.
If you hadn't gone back on Cymbalta, I would have suggested you take Percogesic, a combination of acetominophen and antihistamine anelgesic. Or a single antihistamine like diphenhydramine which can help when discontinuing from an AD. Your doctor should wean you off of Cym over a period of weeks, or switch you to a non-NE action AD.
No, I don't think that was a placebo reaction. I've gone off of ADs in the past and when the irritability and mood swings got so bad (a couple weeks after discontinuing), that I would go back on the med. and within a few hours I would be relieved of these extreme mood swings. Currently I have been off of 10mg Lexapro (acitalopram) for 16 days now-doing much better with discontinuation effects than when I went off of Zoloft and Celexa.
Cymbalta is a heavy duty wide-effecting AD that I'd only use it as a last resort AD-Effexor is also in this class. I'd never use it as a first choice med. You said you were or are taking Xanax? This might be adding to the depression problem when you discontinued from Cym. But this is just a guess. I'm no doctor, just my opinion.
Hopefully things will work out for you!
poster:Patient
thread:457481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050214/msgs/464034.html