Lilysmummy: Really struggling with duloxetine :(

[Lilysmummy]

Hi there, I really need some advice. I'm 25 and have been on duloxetine since November 2013 60mg every other day. I fell pregnant just before Christmas but miscarried at 9 weeks last week. I've never felt right on these tablets. Like I'm not really here, but from about 6 weeks pregnant I experienced anxiety again which I hadn't had for about 3-4 years. And these symptoms are still continuing. I'm to nervous to go to the doctors as I'm worried they will just tell me to stop the tablets. And I can't handle the withdrawal.

 

I was put on fluoxetine in 2008 after being diagnosed with PND, but after a year I just stopped taking them as I felt fine and the tablets where never really explained to me and I wasn't monitored on them. Within a month or so of stopping I gradually developed anxiety which started with the fear of being sick?! Then I worried about what I was eating incase it made me sick then everything spiralled out of control. I went to the doctors after being admitted to hospital after suffering what I thought was a heart attack, but turned out to be a panic attack caused by the withdrawal of fluoxetine. The doctors out me back on them in 2010 and I got a lot worse before I got better but I managed to eventually control the panic.

 

In the summer of 2010 an ex partner forced himself on to me and I found it very hard to come To terms with it but my so called friend said that I couldn't go to the police as I was mentally unstable and I couldn't prove it. Unfortunately I hung off her words and thought she was right. Eventually the doctors out me on to citalopram which seemed to help me and I managed a daily dose of 20mg and was happy as could be, until I took my daughter to school in September and came face to face with the ex partner that forced himself on me, as he is now in a relationship with the so called friend! This knocked me back abit and the school run made me so anxious that I couldn't do the school run. Went to the doctors and explained how I was feeling and why and he suggested changing to duloxetine.

 

I came off the citalopram fine, then a week later I started the duloxetine. The first time I took it I felt spaced out, like I was on morphine or something. But I decided to take the tablets every other day, had a few stressful days but the tablets did seem to work but I just felt high all the time, which I guess Is good? But ever since the pregnancy i feel like I've lost complete control of everything. I can't tell the difference between real life and imagination to be honest. I've read books, done crosswords, fresh air etc but nothing seems to work. If I'm honest I want to be off medication all together, I'm 25 with a 6 year old daughter, and I'm Ashamed that she has to see me go through this again. She was younger before so she didn't really understand but now she's bigger and pretty intelligent she can tell mummy's not right. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Can I go back on to fluoxetine or citalopram after taking duloxetine? Will I experience withdrawal if I change to another anti depressant?? I'm petrified that I'm going to end up sectioned or something if I go to the doctors. Any advice would be greatly received. Thank you for reading. X

Edited January 27, 2014 by mammaP
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[mammaP]

Hi Lilysmummy, welcome to SA. I moved your post to introductions.this is your thread to update when you like

and ask any questions about your taper. It is your journal and you will be able to follow your own progress,

it is amazing how it helps to look back on how you were some time ago! 

 

I am so sorry to read your story of abuse and miscarriage. That is a lot

to go through and come to terms with. I hope you have someone you can confide in, It is something that

can stay with you for a long long time and you have enough to cope with re the medications. 

 

You've had a lot of changes with medication recently and it has taken it's toll on your nervous system and brain.

Taking an anti depressant every other day is not a good idea, it would be better to cut the dose and take it every day.

It's obviously too high a dose for you but skipping doses confuses your system and throws you into withdrawal every

other day.  

 

I'm not sure what to suggest because you have been on it for a short time and had quite a reaction but that could be

withdrawal too. I do think that coming off them right now would be a bad move because you are under a lot of emotional 

stress which would worsen withdrawal. You need to take a steady dose, get stabilised at the right dose then taper slowly.

I don't have enough experience to say whether it would be best to stay with duloxetine or return to citalopram or fluoxetine.

Alto will be along shortly or one of the others who have more knowledge that I have. 

 

You are not alone in this, you will get lots of support here and we will help all we can. 

 

Could you list your medication history for us in your signature? It would be a help to know when you started, stopped each one

and the doses you were on if you can remember. It will help to give the best advice for you. Here is how to do that.

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

( Did you stop taking the duloxetine or are you still taking it every other day? )

 

Here is the topic for tapering duloxetine

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/283-tips-for-tapering-off-cymbalta-duloxetine/

[Lilysmummy]

Thank you for replying.

I'm on a mobile so can't do my signature on here but will do as soon as I can access a computer.

 

I have always taken then every other day, and tried to cut down when I found out I was pregnant. Which meant I took every 3rd day. I think that's possibly why I have experienced some withdrawal symptoms.

 

Once they confirmed misscarriage I started taking every day for a week and had terrible headache and nosebleeds and I got scared so took every other day again. The headaches went almost instantly but still feeling the anxiety and irrational thoughts.

 

I have a partner but he doesn't understand as he's never come across anything like this.

And he wasn't a fantastic support during the misscarriage either. I can talk to my mum about things but she's only had mild depression and was in fluoxetine for a very short while which really helped her and she's so happy now. We were in fluoxetine about the same time which helped me a lot at that point as I saw it as inspiration, if mum can get better so can I.

 

Until I found this organisation I felt very alone. But I feel like my spirits have been lifted instantly knowing I'm not on my own and there are thousands if not millions of people in the world feeling just as I do if not worse.

 

I'm going to book into doctors tomorrow and have a chat about maybe having 30mg daily, and once it's kicked in properly then I think the best technique for me would be the tricky task if removing 5-10% of the contents.

But my maths isn't fantastic so it may not be a reliable tapering method for me!

 

I will post tomorrow with an update of what the doctor suggests.

 

Thank you for welcoming me into this group.

[Nikki]

Hi Lily....

 

So sorry about the miscarriage and the abuse of the ex-partner.  That would cause anyone heartache, trauma and sadness.

I am not familiar with duloxatine.  I can tell you that taking tablets every other day can cause some of the symptoms you are experiencing.  Psych meds do that.  If you feel you would like to get off of it it has to be done slowly.

 

There are alot of other members who can guide you better than I.  Glad you joined this site.

[Lilysmummy]

Hi Nikki.

 

Thank you for kind words.

I completely agree that these tablets need to be reduced extremely slowly, to be quite honest I came off the citalopram fine and didn't feel down etc so I don't know why I even began the duloxetine. I think I should have just had some councelling rather than ramming more medication down my neck

 

Pitty I didn't think of that at the time though!

 

I already feel so much better knowing that I can talk to and confide in people on here

 

There is light at the end of the tunnel, I just need to focus on finding it x

[Rhiannon]

Let us know what your doctor says. I absolutely agree that you need to be taking the same dose every day at about the same time, but it sounds like 60 mg is too high for you. 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Lilysmummy.

 

I agree, it's important to take the same dosage consistently to avoid destabilizing the nervous system, and my guess is 30mg would work for you. Please also take it at the same time each day.

 

Duloxetine capsules usually contain small beads. Is this the type you have?

 

Feeling high all the time is not the purpose of antidepressants, but it is an effect of psychotropics -- which is what these drugs are.

[Lilysmummy]

Hi there Alto,

 

Thank you for welcoming me.

 

I had a chat with a local pharmacist and he agreed also that because of the half life of these tablets I am technically withdrawing every other day or so, and then my body thinks it's taking a new drug every few days which is why I'm suffering with the side effects etc.

 

He advised me to take 30mg daily and once I've been settled on that for a while, decrease at a very steady pace so the withdrawal won't be so horrendous.

 

So hopefully my doctor can see me tomorrow and change the dosage for me! Fingers crossed.

Will let you know what the doctor says

[mammaP]

That is great that the pharmacist recognises the problem,

hopefully the doctor will agree and give you the lower dose. I'm sure you will feel much better. 

[Lilysmummy]

After a very lengthy appointment the doctor and myself have suggested going back to fluoxetine 20mg daily.

I was at my happiest on that medication, and the doctor thinks that I will have very minimal withdrawal symtpoms from the duloxetine as I never really took properly.

I am to go back in 3 weeks so the doctor can check my progress. And he has also said that joining this forum was a brilliant idea. And also have me a number for a local nhs councelling service so hopefully I will see some improvement soon!

 

I think maybe a few home issues may be contributing towards feelin down and anxious aswell but I'm sure they will resolve in good time

[Altostrata]

How are you going to make the switch? I hope you're going to overlap duloxetine and 10mg Prozac for a few days.

[Lilysmummy]

Um the doctor didn't mention about overlapping, as I haven't taken the duloxetine for 3 days now (2 when I saw my gp) he said leave it a few more days and then start with the fluoxetine.

 

I must say though I feel a darn site better for not taking the duloxetine. The only problem I have is not much of an appetite, but that's been ongoing ever since I first started duloxetine.

 

I never took the duloxetine for more than 2 days in a row and there was always a minimum of one day between taking it again. Except for the other week when I took it for 5 days as I though it may help with the heartbreak and sadness of the misscarriage. I've only taken about 50 of the tablets since October so I don't think it ever had time to actually do anything as by the time It was In my system I would stop it.

 

I think that if I haven't experienced any increased anxiety or depression in the coming few days then I think it's pretty likely that I won't actually start the fluoxetine. I can't believe that im feeling better every day, I was expecting to be suffering some kind if withdrawal. I would rather not take any medication if I can help it, as I feel it's not the real me and I feel almost fake if that makes sense?

But I will see what happens in the next few days and before I take the fluoxetine I will make sure that there is no withdrawal from the duloxetine. And should that happen I will consult my gp first.

 

Fingers, legs and eyes crossed! Lol

[Altostrata]

I'm confused. Have you been taking duloxetine every other day or not?

 

If so, you have gone cold-turkey on the duloxetine. This is a high-risk strategy.

 

Your GP will not have a clue what to do about withdrawal symptoms.

 

If I were you, I'd start taking 10mg Prozac immediately.

[Lilysmummy]

Sometimes it was every other day, sometimes every two days sometimes every 3.

 

Would you suggest 10mg with duloxetine? Or just 10mg on its own?

 

I hated the effect of the duloxetine which is why I never took it religiously.

 

N u don't feel that it ever made me better in anyway, a lot worse in my opinion. But I do feel better for not taking it.

 

I'm unsure about what to do because I don't want to start fluoxetine if I don't really need it :/

[Altostrata]

I really don't know.

 

No wonder you felt terrible while you were taking it.

 

I hope you don't get withdrawal symptoms now that you've quit.

 

If you've dodged this bullet, please consider non-drug treatments for any emotional problems you might have.

[Lilysmummy]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

 

I've got a phone number to call about councelling and they have weekly groups for anxiety etc so I'm going to attend that anyway,

 

Im keeping everything crossed that I don't get withdrawal symtpoms but I'll have to see how it goes.

[mammaP]

Hope it goes ok Lily and you don't get withdrawal, you could be one of the very fortunate ones.

Keep us posted of your progress won't you? 

[Altostrata]

If I were you, I'd keep some Cymbalta capsules. In case you do get withdrawal symptoms, you can open up the capsule and take maybe 5 of the beads.

 

Substituting Prozac may or may not work. It's risky switching drugs to taper.

[Petunia]

Hi Lillysmummy,

Welcome to SA.  I'm sorry for all the difficulties you have been through, it must have been hard.  Thank you for sharing your story.

 

As far as the drug situation goes, you are an unusual case.  The way you have been taking the duloxetine makes me wonder if you are actually addicted/dependent on it, or have just been having an adverse reaction because of the way you have been taking it.

 

If I were in your situation, having only been taking it this very irregular way, for only 2 months, I would not start taking the Prozac, but do what Alto suggests, keep some of the duloxetine, in case symptoms occur and then keep everything crossed.

 

You may be lucky and manage to get though this without a lot of problems.  I have my fingers crossed for you.  Please stay in touch and let us know how it goes.

 

Petu.

[Lilysmummy]

Thank you all for your replies. This is day 4 without the duloxetine and I'm still feeling good.

 

I'm not actually panicking about doing the school run, I'm not worried by going to the supermarket,

I just have a slight nervous feeling in my tummy at night and in the morning and that's about it. My appetite is coming back aswell.

 

I've got plenty of duloxetine left should I have any problems though, and I will keep you all updated with how it goes.

Really am glad I found this group

[Lilysmummy]

Also Alto do you mean take 5 beads out of the capsule and take the rest or just leave 5 or so beads in the capsule?

[Altostrata]

Take 5 beads out and swallow them. Often a few milligrams is all that's needed to reduce withdrawal symptoms.

[Lilysmummy]

I see,

So just take the balls out of the capsule and swallow them as they are.

I didn't know you could do that!

Very handy to know just incase I withdraw.

Thank you

[Altostrata]

Please read http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/283-tips-for-tapering-off-cymbalta-duloxetine/