More withdrawals??? So tired of them. Help.

[Pat1956100]

My doctor wants to start me on Cymbalta.  I have been on Effexor for over 6 years.  I had a horrible time coming off of the Lyrica.  I swear it was as bad as any opiate withdrawal.  I still feel sick, depressed, and really miserable.  Now I am supposed to start the Effexor taper. (Oh, I chose to do them separate).  I am on 150mg.  The taper is 75mg for 1 week, then 37.5mg for a week, then stop and start the Cymbalta.
I am afraid because this seems pretty fast to me but my doctor doesn't like to be argued with or when you don't follow his instructions.
Do you think this is doable?  Am I going to feel as sick as I did with the Lyrica?  Can I start the Cymbalta earlier?
I feel like such a ***** and so sick. .
The missing word is b i t c h.  lol.
I posted this in the depression community but I know that you guys have lots of experience with this as well so thought maybe I could get some help here too.  If not, I am sorry for posting it here.
I just know that you all know my history and know that I'm not usually such a b i t c h.
I'm just scared of more withdrawals.

[Dane74]

Im not sure if this will help you or not but i will share my experience.  I was put on Cymbalta for depression and for pain.  And let me start by letting you know that i never suffered depression until i got clean.  When i was on the Cymbalta i didn't feel emotion, i didn't cry and it freaked me out, i am still not sure till this day if it was the Cymbalats or not, so i decided to CT it, YES i know i was crazy and i would never advise anyone to do that.  As a result i became very depressed, thoughts of sucide, but i knew i wouldn't but i would think it, well after 2 weeks it got better and i was ok.  I went to the doc and he put me on Zolfot currently i am on that and i am happy with that.  I was stupid to CT the Cymbalta but i was just freaking out that i couldn't cry and i had zero emotion.  I didn't like that feeling it actually felt like i was using opiates without the opiate high, and i want to feel now the good and the bad.  But hey we are all different, and meds effect us all differently as well.  

You are doing great  Pat, i am so proud of you!

[theirmommie72]

i was on effexor years ago.  was at 150 as well i think.  i told my psych. i wanted to quit, she said okay.  didn't say anything about w/d etc.  this was when it first came out.  i almost killed myself coming off of it ct.  i went back on and was tapering.  was at the lowest does but they were capsules with the spheres in it.  i was opening the caps and counting the spheres.  that is how bad it was.  the w/d were horrible and scary.  i had never thought of suicide before that, ever.  my psych was no help during all of this.  she wanted to put me on wellbutrin.  that was her solution.  i was at the point were i was deathly afraid to take anything.  

i went to my reg. doc and told him what was going on.  he gave me xanax.  enough for 7 days and i took 3 a day until they were gone.  after that i seemed okay. i did not go back on another anti depressant for many, many years and i will not take anything that is capsule form.  always has to be a pill so i can half them or quarter them when it's time to taper off.  i initially went on it for anxiety attacks.  

[Pat1956100]

Yes, I went from 150mg to 75mg Effexor today.  I also started 60mg. Cymbalta.
I am supposed to stay on that for a week and then go down to 37.5mg of Effexor for a week and then stop the Effexor totally.
I have a headache and feel nauseous but I don't even know if it's leftover Lyrica withdrawals.
Sometimes researching too much isn't a good idea lol.

[vicki595]

Pat- I don't think it will be that bad!  But...after the one week of 37.5mg, you stop? Do you start the cymbalta right then?  Wait? That part isn't clear...

As far as getting a different doctor, that's probably difficult to do in Canada! Still, it's your body and brain so keep asking him questions until you feel comfy.  I really think you can make this switch without a problem and it will be so worth it if it helps!

[Pat1956100]

Yes that is why we are switching.  It's more for the pain from fibromyalgia.  It just happens you can't take Effexor with it and I am worried about the Effexor withdrawals after the percocet and Lyrica withdrawals.  I don't know if I have another withdrawal left in me.  I haven't felt well in months and the Lyrica withdrawals really kicked my a s s.  So here's hoping they aren't too bad.  I swear I may have a baby after all of this pain lmao.

[maria920]

I only felt a little " off" for a few days ..  have u read up on the cymbalta at all? I was on tht for 4 or 5 months and it didn't really work for me so my Dr took me off of it. The wds  for it were pretty intense but thts bc I ran out of pills before my taper was over and I figured I'd b fine, well I was wrong I was really reallY wrong... so my Dr had to give me enough to start the taper all over, so make sure if for some reason u dont like it or switch meds do a slower than normal taper. I'm sure u will b fine coming off the effexor . Good luck to u. most ppl who take the cymbalta really like it and stay in it for a while. The really good thing abt it is its made to help with pain as well. So for ppl who need an anti depressant and r in pain can take this and it really helps them. =]