Hi guys, I feel kinda bad about writing this, because I never seem to actually give anything back to EC. I'm just in one of those lonely sad moods and I want someone to listen to me! I think I need to not live alone anymore. Anyway, I'm feeling crap, and it's probably because I've halved the dose of my medication (Cymbalta). I was doing really well on it, but then started getting a crappy side effect. I have been getting soaking wet and sticky with sweat every night, multiple times a night. I wake up and I can't find a dry patch on the bed to sleep on. Every part of my body is dripping. It's really awful. So, I really can't stay on this medication, even though it was working so well. I took Luvox in the past and it had the same effect. I dunno what to do. Anyone else had this experience? I recently saw my psychologist and told her I'm fine, and I don't need to see her anymore. I think I forgot how crap I am when I don't have medication. I'm just starting to get a glimpse of it. At the same time, I feel that maybe I should just see how I go without it. Last time I went off one though, I ended up getting into this really high anxiety state and was doing a whole lot of head banging and other crap. So yeah. Oh and my stupid Christian friend (who is no longer my friend) said all this stupid crap about how I 'believe' that I'm gay, but that gay people are just straight people who choose that lifestyle because they are lonely and can't find a partner. :bang: Talk to meeeeeeeeee
First, punch your Christian friend in the face. Secondly, I'd say that going off medication could be good, or could be terrible. In any case you should wean off of it, because even halving your dose abruptly was probably too much and may contribute to why you're feeling crappy. I would not suggest going off except with the cooperation and supervision of your psychiatrist or whomever prescribed for you. It is not uncommon for people to be on antidepressants for a couple of years and then be able to wean off of them and function pretty normally without them. And all other things being equal, it's better not to be on them if you can do without. But you'll need your psychologist to monitor you and help you because you may not necessarily see when you're going into an undesirable altered state. Give it some time unless you completely crash, becasuse your body will need to readjust to life without the mood elevators, but if you can function without and feel ok, you'll actually feel a lot more "whole", and most likely, that feeling will improve as your body readjusts. It may take anywhere from 1 to 3 months. And if you findn you have to go back on them... that's not the end of the world either. The main thing is to find a happy medium where you feel good and you don't have a lot of side effects.
I take like 10 pills a day and I experienced similar side effects in the past. I would suggest going to your doctor and having him/her switch some things around.
The withdrawal effects of anti-depressants can be horrible..that's why they say always do it under a dr.'s supervision. Never just quit them cold turkey. The severity of the withdrawal depends on the dosage and how long you were on it. I was on Prisitq for a while, and I weened myself off properly with minimal side-effects. Depending on the half life of the drug, it could take anywhere form 5-15 days for it to be completely flushed from your system. But...one thing that people don't realize (which I had a good MD friend tell me this) is that is not the end of the "de-tox" (for lack of a better term) process. While the medication may be out of your blood, it may take up to six weeks for your brain to return to a "normal" base line. But, aside from all of that, don't get off any anti-d own your own...always do it under a dr's care. Not weening yourself off properly can case all kind of problems (high anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, brain zaps, etc). Good Luck!
Aww chin up have some (*hug*) (*hug*)s. I dont take anti depressants but someone once explained it quite well to me. Its all about people opinions of them. Depression is an illness just like asthma or diabeties, etc, etc, its just it affects your brain so your doctor or psycologist or whoever decided the best way to treat your illness was to give you anti-depressants and if they make you better then no-one should feel bad about taking them or feel like they are any less of a person, its no different to taking blood pressure pills or insulin or anything else. That being said if you are having side effects then I agree that the best course of action is prob to go back to whoever prescribed them and see if they can change things around. Thats no to say that you will always need to take them, but its just what you need at the moment. Oh and your friend, or ex friend, well you dont need friends like that. Hope you are ok
