My Cymbalta story by lundeliz

[Rhiannon]

I too am wondering about the wisdom of assuming that this reaction is to Celexa. It seems unusual, if it's an allergic reaction to Celexa, that it would appear so suddenly.

 

I would just be concerned because cold turkey can have such serious consequences, that wouldn't be the first avenue that I personally would consider investigating. I would want to rule out other possible causes before assuming it's a sudden brand new allergic reaction to a drug I had already been taking for months. Particularly since a sudden drop in dose on this drug can have serious consequences.

[Altostrata]

I'd try a dosage reduction by half, first.

 

We have other reports where an allergic reaction started in the throat or around the lips, then got worse. lundeliz may not have noticed early signs. Or, this may be a cumulative reaction to dosage changes.

 

I'm concerned.

[lundeliz]

Thank you everyone. I very much appreciate all opinions. I have reduced my dosage

 

for now. I'll probably just hang in there for now and see if things get better. Thank goodness

 

I can come here for some guidance since my doctor has no clue.

[Shanti]

Would switching to another antidepressant to taper be a good idea? Like how I did the Prozac switch?

[Altostrata]

I don't know if I'd do that, lundeliz has already switched from Cymbalta to Celexa.

 

I am thinking her system has been sensitized.

 

lundeliz, I hope you're okay.

[lundeliz]

Yes, thank you, I'm doing better. My blood pressure has stabilized, and my rash

 

is better. No major withdrawals yet from the decrease in Celexa. Feeling hopeful.

 

Thanks!

[Altostrata]

Very much relieved to hear that, lundeliz. Healing thoughts coming your way.

[lundeliz]

Hi. I have been so very very sick. Blood pressure is a huge issue. It has spiked up to 230/116.

 

I had a terrible reaction to losartan. My dr doubled my dosage. My bp went very high, and I had

 

trouble breathing. I felt like I was really dying. Now I am on diltiazem. Still feel horrible, and drugs.com

 

says there is a major interaction between diltiazem and my other bp med, nadolol. So now what? I can't

 

really not take it till I can get back to the dr. Oh yes, I'm also taking zithromax for a throat infection and

 

bactrim for a bladder infection. I switched over from cymbalta to celexa 7 months ago, and have tapered

 

down the celexa from 30 to 22. I am taking 8 beads of cymbalta now. Could cold turkey type symptoms

 

be hitting me now at 7 months out? Forgot to say I'm also having constant nausea and some diarrhea.

 

Please, does anyone think this could be all withdrawal hitting now? If I could just be assured the sky high

 

bp and all else are withdrawal, I would find the strength to endure it. I guess I will endure it anyway. I have few

 

options right, at 7 months out? Thank you for any comments.

[Altostrata]

I am so sorry you're having such a bad time, lundeliz.

 

drugs.com says there is a major interaction between diltiazem and my other bp med, nadolol.

I would phone your doctor right away and let her know about this. Also look at interactions with your other medications.

 

It may be withdrawal hypersensitivity that's causing an outsized reaction to any of these drugs.

 

Hang in there, get your doctor to pay attention to the drugs you're on.

[lundeliz]

You were exactly right, Alto. All my symptoms were from the bp med. I had been taking Lisinopril

 

for over a year. I started having allergic reaction to it, rash on chest and bp spikes. I was switched

 

to Losartan and things got worse. But when my dr. doubled the dosage, it became unbearable. It

 

felt like I was absolutely losing my mind, not to mention my bp being through the roof. What a very

 

miserable few weeks. I also quit taking the new med she prescribed that can have a major interaction

 

with my other bp med. And today my bp was 115/72! Amazing. Thank goodness for this site. I

 

don't think my dr. would have ever realized. I have decided to take a break from tapering for a while,

 

maybe 3 months. I think I need to let things settle down. I'm already feeling much better. Thank you

 

so much!

[Altostrata]

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy you found out what was the matter!

 

How about that rash before, was it from the Celexa?

 

Yes, take a break from drug changes for a bit and recuperate, lundeliz. Please check in here now and then and let us know how you're doing.

[lundeliz]

Wow. Did I really feel that good just yesterday? Today is another story. BP is back up. Woke up with nausea again and the alarm

 

felt like it pierced straight through me this morning. I talked to the pharmacist about taking those two bp meds together and he would

 

not recommend it. So I'm going back to the dr. tomorrow to see what can be done for my bp. I have read back through my posts, and

 

it really helps to be able to go back and see how I reacted to drops and so forth. There is also a viral respiratory infection making the

 

rounds right now. Almost everyone in my family has been suffering with it. I have had the stuffy nose, cough and sore throat. Maybe

 

that is playing a part in how I feel too. Oh and I'm also treating for a UTI. Man, my life really did start to fall apart when I took that

 

first Cymbalta. Something else I wanted to mention. Before I ever started trying to come off Cymbalta, I started having symptoms of

 

diarrhea and a very bad itchy rash covering my chest and neck. A couple months later I lost my ins. and c/t off Cymbalta. I reinstated

 

about 2 months later and withdrawal symptoms stopped. I had the rash one other time after reinstating. Don't know if it a w/d symptom

 

or a side effect. But I recently had what seemed to be the same rash, while on Celexa. This is all like a big puzzle, and trying to put all

 

the pieces together. My post is long, I'm sorry.

[Altostrata]

I think you're allergic to these antidepressants in large dosages, or they interacted with one of your other medications.

 

Why were you put on blood pressure meds in the first place? Was it from adverse effects from Cymbalta or Celexa?

[lundeliz]

Alto, that is the conclusion I came to, also, after reading back through my posts and my journal

 

I keep at home. I did have a bad reaction to the bp med, but maybe because of hypersensitivity.

 

I have been on bp meds for 30 years. It was always well controlled until I started trying to get off

 

Cymbalta. Since we both think ADs don't agree with me, I will go ahead and resume my taper.

 

I would love to make a big drop to see if I feel better, but I really don't want to be in acute withdrawal

 

for Christmas. I was thinking I would try dropping 2mg, and then drop again as soon as I possibly

 

can. Does this sound like an okay plan? My symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, weakness, insomnia,

 

and a fluttery chest. I feel very wired, and didn't sleep a wink last night. This is a new symptom.

 

Thank you for any input.

[Altostrata]

lundeliz, what medications are you on now, the dosages, and how long have you been on each?

 

Could this be withdrawal symptoms from going off bp meds?

[lundeliz]

I only stopped the new bp meds. I'm still taking the one (Nadolol) that I've been on for years.

 

Also, levothyroxine for years. Right now I'm on Bactrim for UTI. And the Celexa 20mg.

 

Last night I woke up several times feeling like I had been running or something. I did find

 

a new doctor that I am seeing tomorrow. I really think it's from the Celexa, but I'm often

 

wrong. I'm so full of anxiety and nausea. Alto, if I stopped the Celexa cold turkey to see

 

if it's the problem, could I go on a very low dose of something like Zoloft to try to help

 

with wd symptoms, or is that a bad idea? I will talk to the dr. about it, but I'm not sure

 

he will really understand. Thank you again.

[Altostrata]

I thought you reduced the Celexa dosage in late October because of the rashes, did you increase it again?

 

(I merged your topic about the rashes with this one; I was getting confused.)

[lundeliz]

Ok. Thank you. I did reduce because of the rashes, but to 20mg. I think I just

 

got scared to do anything too drastic. Thank you for sticking with me, and all

 

the support. This is the hardest thing I have ever encountered in my life. Trying

 

to figure all this out seems like a full time job. And I'm ready to retire from it.

[Altostrata]

I wouldn't count on a switch to Zoloft. It may work, it may not, you may have a bad reaction to it, too.

 

After you reduced to 20mg Celexa, there were a lot of reactions from your blood pressure meds and changes to them, right? Can you tell if you had withdrawal symptoms from Celexa, or is it all too confused?

[lundeliz]

Yeah, it's all too confusing. Anxiety has been really bad today. Also my stomach is

 

bothering me so much, burning and nausea. The only thing I know to do, is to keep gradually

 

decreasing, and try to tolerate these symptoms. I did see the new doctor today. I was happy with

 

the way he handled my bp. He increased my old med and added a small dose of a diuretic. That shouldn't

 

cause me any problems I don't think. But he told me ADs are absolutely not addictive, so if I was having

 

anxiety, then I must have an anxiety problem. I don't think I will find a dr who thinks differently though.

 

We sort of agreed to disagree and he knows I am going to continue tapering off. So I guess I will stick

 

with him for now. I still feel like this is side effects from Celexa, but can't know for sure. I wish it could

 

be more straightforward, instead of always having to try to figure out what's going on. Like everyone else,

 

I would just like to know that I will get past this some day. I hope we all will.

[Altostrata]

You're going to be okay. You've been going about this in a very calm, determined way.

[lundeliz]

Thank you, Alto.

[lundeliz]

Ok, so another sleepless night. After I take my meds at bedtime, I become totally unable to relax.

 

No way at all can I sleep. And it feels like something pulsing through my body, sort of like anxiety, I'm

 

not sure. Then the next morning I have terrible nausea. I lay there thinking about everything last night. I think

 

I have to just stop Celexa. On my last blood work my kidney function was down and that can be a side

 

effect. High blood pressure and nausea can be a sign of that. That's scary to me. Also today I have a

 

few random spots around that look like hives. The kidney function really worries me. Tonight I will

 

not take Celexa and see how it goes. I don't think I have a choice. I don't look forward to the next

 

few months, but at least I will know I'm sick because the poison is leaving my body, not because I'm

 

putting it into my body. Oh gosh, please wish me luck.

[Altostrata]

Rather than dropping it entirely, how about cutting the dosage instead?

[lundeliz]

Yes, thank you, Alto. I will take your advice. I tend to make rash decisions,

 

even though I think I have thought it through.

[lundeliz]

I have been trying to figure out if my new symptoms are increasing side effects of Citalopram.

 

Since I switched over from Cymbalta 7 months ago, I have been sleeping way too much, always so

 

tired. Now I can hardly sleep, some nights not at all. I'm having anxiety that I am finding it hard to

 

deal with. I have flushing episodes and high blood pressure. Also nausea, and a total loss of appetite.

 

As a result, I've jerked my dosage around too much which I know is not good.

 

How in the world do I get back on track? I dropped down to 10mg and got worried about withdrawal,

 

so last night I took 15mg and did not sleep all night. Anxiety is high today. I would like to stay at 10mg,

 

but am so scared of the withdrawals.

[Altostrata]

I'm so sorry, lundeliz.

 

I can understand why this is all so confusing.

 

We can't tell which is the right direction. Try staying at one dosage and see if your system settles down.

[lundeliz]

Hi. I hope everyone was able to enjoy the holiday. Mine was very nice, spending time with lots of family.

 

Since I dropped my dosage to 10mg about 3 weeks ago, some things have gotten better. The nausea has completely

 

gone away. The anxiety gradually got better. I've had some days with no anxiety at all. It was my plan to

 

stay at 10mg for three months, then decide how to proceed. But in the last few days, I have developed chest

 

tightness and shortness of breath. It could be that I just overdid it with the shopping and cooking. I was

 

really exhausted trying to get it all done. Also having some anxiety and tummy troubles. I'm wondering if

 

it's withdrawal symptoms hitting or if I'm starting to need to make another drop. It's so hard trying to figure

 

out what you need to do to make it better. I won't do anything just yet. It's only been three weeks since I

 

made a huge drop, so I will try to hang in there. It's very uncomfortable at times, hopefully things won't get

 

any worse. Happy New Year to everyone. Hope things get better for everyone in the coming year.

[Altostrata]

You might drop your dosage 1mg and see if symptoms are reduced.

 

You might be having adverse reactions to Celexa, having become sensitized to it.

[Jemima]

I haven't read through all of the posts in your Intro, lundeliz, but one thing that jumped out at me right away is that you're taking your AD at night. Is there a special reason for that? ADs are generally taken first thing in the morning, and I'm wondering if taking your Celexa at night might be contributing to the sleeping problems.

 

If this subject has already been covered, just ignore me.

[lundeliz]

Thanks Alto, I will see what the next couple of days brings, then I may

 

need to try dropping 1mg to see if that helps. Jemima, I guess I take

 

the Celexa at night because it has always been very sedating for me, up

 

until the last few weeks. Most nights I am sleeping ok, have had just a few

 

sleepless nights. Thanks for your comments. I appreciate all input.

[flower]

I,ve had all your symptoms and more. I just read your posts. It's hard to believe these ADs can make you so sick when they're suppose to help.

[lundeliz]

Hi everyone. I have been at 10mg for 6 wks today. I have been doing fairly well, wouldn't

 

consider myself stabilized, but at least somewhat functioning. Some things definitely got

 

better after I dropped down to 10mg. No more episodes of blood pressure spiking sky high.

 

The episodes of my face getting hot and flushed gradually went away, and the nausea disappeared.

 

Until yesterday, when it all started returning. Been having anxiety and hot flushes and I woke

 

with nausea again. Logically, to me it sounds like I need to make another drop. It's very

 

frightening to me, but I think I will drop down 1mg tonight and see how it goes. Would that

 

be enough to make a difference and does it sound like the right thing to do? Thanks for any

 

opinions.

[Altostrata]

My guess is it's the right way to respond to those symptoms. Sending you sympathy and support beams, lundeliz.

[omlett]

Hi Lundeliz,

 

I have been reading your story for quiet a while and find your ordeal very similar to mine.

I have been withdraving from Cymbalta for two years -on 5 beads now - and find it really difficult on the small dose.

 

My BP is out of whack and i having other symptoms too as anxiety, panic etc. lately crying spells and rage but I'm determined to continue to 0.

 

Hope you don't mind if i write here once in a while to share my symptoms

 

- O

[lundeliz]

Hi Omlett, wow you are doing great to get down to 5 beads of Cymbalta. As you may have read, I was having

 

a horrible time and switched over to Celexa. How long have you been tapering? I would be very interested to hear

 

your story. Is withdrawal from Cymbalta causing your blood pressure to rise? Please keep posting to let

 

us know how you are doing. You are getting so close to the end. I hope things start getting better for you.