i love that you're really a human and not a robot.

i never did believe all the naysayers;)

hang in there...changing meds and dosages suck donkey sacks.

<3 and hugs.

So I am not the only one who thinks dreaming is EXHAUSTING. I am not on any meds but sometimes I have phases when I dream almost incessantly and then I feel mad with the combo of feeling almost worse than if I had no sleep and being obsessed with what I dreamed about.

So when someone says I am crazy for thinking dreaming is tiring, I will refer them to you and then they will.... still think I am crazy ;)

I never comment and now I autimatically feel like a stalker for doing so... so I'll end with: I LOVE YOU.

Ohmygosh, the zaps... I just felt one in sympathy. I got them going off Effexor and Cymbalta (at different times). I am so, so sorry. I hope they go away quickly. I swear it gets better - I found that eating lots a chocolate made them less intense. Can't be anything wrong with that.

I get it Heather and it sucks! All I can say to you is Effexor ER saved my life! I feel normal and I take the lowest dose. I have been on it for five years and it SAVED MY LIFE! Once you find one like this you don't look back, ever. Kudos for having humor about it, it is so not funny when you are dealing with it. Cheers!

I'm sorry. This is so horrible of me.

But I laughed through this whole post. I know I should be sympathizing with you but you just have such a way with words!

Don't hate me. Maybe I can make it up to you by finding Brad...I might have to have my way with him before I return him, tho.

You might want to stay away from Effexor also. That was a rough withdrawal for me. Before that was Celxa. That was easy to come off, but had stopped working.

Right now I'm maxxed out on Prozac. Which seems to work fine except for the bouts of depression. oh wait..

Rather than be smart and talk to my doctor, I quit taking Celexa on my own. I did taper off, but I remember the day that I stopped taking it completely. Oh, the zaps! And there was that part where if I looked up it felt like all the blood drained from my body and my limbs all fell asleep and if I didn't sit down I would fall down. FUN TIMES. Thankfully tapering off of Wellbutrin wasn't as bad, probably because it didn't do much to begin with.

Oh, Heather I know exactly how you feel. I don't think I put it in the comments last time you mentioned going off of cymbalta because I didn't want to scare you...but I had gone through the exact same thing. I actually started gripping my head in anxiety as I started reading the part about the dreams. Oh, the dreams! Aren't they awful? I had dreams that my husband left me, dreams about people being jerks and the worst...I once had a dream I was in the Holocaust. And they're so realistic. It got to a point wherein I couldn't remember if some stuff happened in a dream or in reality. I could tell if it was in a dream if it was some crazy shit but if it was mundane to slightly weird, I was like, "Did that actually happen?"

And the brain zaps? Blech. I was nauseous dizzy mess of a woman. And I was exhausted too. So tired.

But I'm all better now!--At least in that regard.

I am so sorry you're going through this hell, and hope it doesn't last too long. I'll send you good feely vibes. ;)

I can't say that I know what you are going through. The only meds I really ever had to take were fertility drugs and they made me bat shit crazy and that is a sucky feeling.

I hope that you can wean off of it soon and get on a better medicine for you.

Onto something lighter...I can't even begin to grasp that concept of what it might be like to clean shit out of a bathtub. Neither of my angels ever did that.

Thanks for sharing your struggles (and life) with others who might be going through the same thing and feel like they are alone. The taking the diaper thing off gets better (mine did that for about 4 months and it was hell).

Coming off of Cymbalta fucking sucks. I was having "inability to orgasm" while on it and after 6 months I couldn't take it anymore. I was getting married in 4 weeks. I wanted an orgasm for my honeymoon! Instead of tapering me off and then starting me on something else, my doc straight up switched me to Celexa. The second day I was having so many dizzy spells and brain zaps and nausea and just all kinds of hell. I called his office thinking it was the new meds and he had me stop taking it completely. Ahem. As in STOP TAKING COLD TURKEY. Now I know better.

Two weeks later I was still having problems with being constantly dizzy and the electrical currents running through my brain. I sat down and did a shit ton of research over the course of two days and found out the best treatment for the withdrawal symptoms? Prozac. I went back to my doctor, and begged for a scrip for that. He did write that for me, but wanted me to try a motion-sickness drug because he had never had a patient have so many problems coming off of Cymbalta before. Fine. Tried his way for two days. Didn't help at all. Got the Prozac filled and by the next day I felt 100% better. I took that for a month and then was able to stop taking it without any problems at all.

I empathize with your situation completely. Valium. It helps the withdrawal of any anti-depression or mood stabilizer. Your MD should be acutely aware of your situation. If not inform him/her immediately to get yourself some relief.

I take an unbelievable combination of meds throughout the day to make me a productive member of society. The side effects, I gained 30 lbs and I have nightly dreams in which I talk in my sleep. I am tapering down my dose of seroquel so I might be able to stop eating everything in sight. As far as the other meds, I don't want to jump off a bridge any more so I'll talk in my sleep and keep the boyfriend guessing.

I had a horrible year on Cymbalta. I began to notice that it didn't last the full twenty-four hours like it had in the beginning, so I would have withdrawal symptoms an hour before I was supposed to take it, so I began taking it earlier and earlier in the day to avoid the miserable side effects. I finally just quit, "Cold Turkey." The Brain Zaps were almost impossible to tolerate. I did discover (accidentally) that the drug Scoopolamine, which is sold as a transdermal patch under the name TransDerm Scop, really helped with the dizziness, etc. This is the same drug doctors will provide to those who are prone to motion sickness prior to a cruise. It was a real life saver! By the end of six weeks, most of the side effects had subsided. However, after fourteen months, I still experience an occasional Brain Zap. I feel strongly that this drug should be taken off the market or used only in the most extreme circumstances.

Also, I had trouble finding information on the withdrawal process until I learned the appropriate search term. Try searching, "SSRI (or SNRI) Discontinuation Syndrome." You'll find lots more info.

Thanks for sharing so much of your life with us! I hope this process goes quickly and you find a way to manage the side effects!

P.S. If you try TransDerm Scop, DO NOT TOUCH THE PATCH AND THEN RUB YOUR EYES!! They will dilate and stay that way for three days, lol. Learned that one the hard way!

Oh, my. Oddly enough (and not making light of your struggle...goodness, no), but tapering off of Cymbalta sounds like Fight Club, with the double lives and the Brad Pitt...

Brain zaps suck. I came off Celexa cold turkey (long story, stupid doctor, Welbutrin doesn't work for me) and spent the better part of a week running off to the car during my work day so I could scream as loudly as I needed to without anyone hearing me.

Granted, sex drive would be nice. But not depression, not brain zaps and not anxiety is good enough for me right now.

I am SOOOOOOOOOO glad I didn't read this BEFORE I accidentally missed my dose of cymbalta this morning since my incredibly flighty psychiatrist forgot to refill my script.

I feel fine, though. WHICH MAKES ME EVEN MORE WORRIED. Have I been speaking in tongues all day and didn't realize it? Oh no.