Straight off Cymbalta and onto 900 mg lithium! - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

shutterbug · 10-11-2005, 12:40 AM

hi guys...first....i decided to stay at my sister's over the weekend instead of going into the hospital just yet because my doc just did a med change and i was able to pick up the meds Thursday.

Problem:....SEVERE cymbalta withdraw! She had me on 60mgs a day and told me to stop it all at once and started me on 900 mgs of lithium. I wasn't thinking about having withdrawls from the cymbalta so i didn't even bring any of it to my sisters for the weekend...so I went 4 DAYS without ANY and i've been completely miserable. My sister drove me home today to get my cymbalta and i took one around 4 p.m. thinking that i would feel some relief from the the electric shock waves going through my head and my body....but it hasn't seemed to help one bit. I'm so mad at my doc. I tried calling her today and no body could even tell me anything except they would TRY to get me in to see her tomorrow

See I was on the 60 mgs of cymbalta, 100 mgs of lamictal and 150 Welbrutrin....well as of Thursday...no cymbalta, no lamictal and she upped the Welbrutrin to 300 mgs and then put me on the 900 mgs of lithium.

Now I KNOW she is negligent in telling me to stop the cymbalta cold-turkey...but I also thought you were suppose to be tappered off of lamictal too?

And a friend told me that when they put him on lithium...they started him on only 50mgs and worked up....so I'm thinking THIS DOC HAS JUST MADE 3 CARELESS/STUPID MED SUGGESTIONS/CHANGES TO ME ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

in addition to the bodyshocks the last 4 days that have been growing worse....i've felt dizzy and sick at my stomach and like i'm about to pass out at any moment, slept almost non-stop, ate almost non-stop, and am having hot flashes and my hands are swollen.....oh...and yeah....been crying a lot. (just reading Eddie Z's cymbalta thread brought me to tears...although i have NO idea why).

Anyway i'm feeling REALLY bad at the moment and i've also been VERY angry inside over the past 2 days. if my doc was standing in front of me right now i'd rip her a new one!

Anyway...i know that all i can really do is try to make sure i get in to see her tomorrow...but even then....WHAT THE HECK'S SHE GUNNA DO TO ME THIS TIME!! And it's not like i have a choice in docs....she's it! Yet i feel like I KNOW more about head meds than SHE DOES!

Anyway...if i don't go lay down asap...i'm gunna lose my dinner. I just feel like what she's put me through this weekend alone is a very serious thing and VERY negligent.

Anybody know why the dose of cymbalta that i took today doesnt' seem to be helping? Is it maybe because 4 days without it....brought down the level of it in my blood stream that had been built up over a long time...and therefore just one pill isn't enough to bring that level back up to where it was 4 days ago? If so....what the heck do I do to feel better?...just start popping a cymbalta ever 6 hours or so until i feel normal again?( okay...so i'm half-way joking about that last one). I just dont' know what to do cus i don't want to feel like this anymore.

Heck....you guys KNOW i'm stressed enough already right now without going through med withdrawls and potentially dangerous lithium levels!!

Hugs,
Jenna

just wanted to say thanks to you guys once again. i love you all and thank you for caring about me when i've done nothing to deserve that. you guys are the best!

RX-7 · 10-11-2005, 02:00 AM

hi booger

Don W · 10-11-2005, 05:01 PM

Hi Shutterbug, The force be with you. Don W

shutterbug · 10-11-2005, 07:01 PM

well...today the doc said that the 300mgs of Wellbutrin should be keeping me from going through withdrawls from the Cymbalta. i told her of course she was crazy because the last 4 days was the worst kind of withdraws i've ever been through.

She said to stay on the regular dose of my cymbalta for about 3 more days and then start taking one every other day....and then after two weeks from now i should be able to stop the cymbalta all together. i know doing this will help...but i think you have to come down from it slower than that...so we'll see.

She also said the 900 mg's of lithium is what she starts everyone out at....so who knows?

10-11-2005, 12:40 AM	#1 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,947 Blog Entries: 5	Straight off Cymbalta and onto 900 mg lithium! hi guys...first....i decided to stay at my sister's over the weekend instead of going into the hospital just yet because my doc just did a med change and i was able to pick up the meds Thursday. Problem:....SEVERE cymbalta withdraw! She had me on 60mgs a day and told me to stop it all at once and started me on 900 mgs of lithium. I wasn't thinking about having withdrawls from the cymbalta so i didn't even bring any of it to my sisters for the weekend...so I went 4 DAYS without ANY and i've been completely miserable. My sister drove me home today to get my cymbalta and i took one around 4 p.m. thinking that i would feel some relief from the the electric shock waves going through my head and my body....but it hasn't seemed to help one bit. I'm so mad at my doc. I tried calling her today and no body could even tell me anything except they would TRY to get me in to see her tomorrow See I was on the 60 mgs of cymbalta, 100 mgs of lamictal and 150 Welbrutrin....well as of Thursday...no cymbalta, no lamictal and she upped the Welbrutrin to 300 mgs and then put me on the 900 mgs of lithium. Now I KNOW she is negligent in telling me to stop the cymbalta cold-turkey...but I also thought you were suppose to be tappered off of lamictal too? And a friend told me that when they put him on lithium...they started him on only 50mgs and worked up....so I'm thinking THIS DOC HAS JUST MADE 3 CARELESS/STUPID MED SUGGESTIONS/CHANGES TO ME ALL AT THE SAME TIME! in addition to the bodyshocks the last 4 days that have been growing worse....i've felt dizzy and sick at my stomach and like i'm about to pass out at any moment, slept almost non-stop, ate almost non-stop, and am having hot flashes and my hands are swollen.....oh...and yeah....been crying a lot. (just reading Eddie Z's cymbalta thread brought me to tears...although i have NO idea why). Anyway i'm feeling REALLY bad at the moment and i've also been VERY angry inside over the past 2 days. if my doc was standing in front of me right now i'd rip her a new one! Anyway...i know that all i can really do is try to make sure i get in to see her tomorrow...but even then....WHAT THE HECK'S SHE GUNNA DO TO ME THIS TIME!! And it's not like i have a choice in docs....she's it! Yet i feel like I KNOW more about head meds than SHE DOES! Anyway...if i don't go lay down asap...i'm gunna lose my dinner. I just feel like what she's put me through this weekend alone is a very serious thing and VERY negligent. Anybody know why the dose of cymbalta that i took today doesnt' seem to be helping? Is it maybe because 4 days without it....brought down the level of it in my blood stream that had been built up over a long time...and therefore just one pill isn't enough to bring that level back up to where it was 4 days ago? If so....what the heck do I do to feel better?...just start popping a cymbalta ever 6 hours or so until i feel normal again?( okay...so i'm half-way joking about that last one). I just dont' know what to do cus i don't want to feel like this anymore. Heck....you guys KNOW i'm stressed enough already right now without going through med withdrawls and potentially dangerous lithium levels!! Hugs, Jenna just wanted to say thanks to you guys once again. i love you all and thank you for caring about me when i've done nothing to deserve that. you guys are the best! __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).

10-11-2005, 02:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
RX-7 Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Payette Idaho Posts: 37	hi booger __________________ e Be Kind To Yourself f

10-11-2005, 05:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
Don W Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Charleston S.C. Posts: 1,463	Hi Shutterbug, The force be with you. Don W __________________ Captain America - On the side of good

10-11-2005, 07:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,947 Blog Entries: 5	well...today the doc said that the 300mgs of Wellbutrin should be keeping me from going through withdrawls from the Cymbalta. i told her of course she was crazy because the last 4 days was the worst kind of withdraws i've ever been through. She said to stay on the regular dose of my cymbalta for about 3 more days and then start taking one every other day....and then after two weeks from now i should be able to stop the cymbalta all together. i know doing this will help...but i think you have to come down from it slower than that...so we'll see. She also said the 900 mg's of lithium is what she starts everyone out at....so who knows? __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).

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