My Duloxetine/Cymbalta Diary 2018

Hello everyone. I'm 27 and have previously been on Venlafaxine XR 75mg, weaned off of that completely and weaned my 1 year old from nursing and it now feels like it's all falling apart. I have been off of Ven for about 2 months. I was prescribed Duloxetine XR 30mg and battling pharmacophobia (still!) I have had a hard time mentally with starting it. But, I am proud to say, I started it the first night I got it, which was yesterday. When before, I would have put it off for weeks. So here is to night #2... I may be stalling... haha

Day 1--Took it at 10:00pm and tried to distract myself. I ended up being up til 4:30 in the morning and had a bad stomach ache. (I attribute the loss of sleep to the fact that the day before, I had a bad panic attack and slept from 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon!)

Day 2--Woke with major nausea and a buzzing feeling in my head. It was miserable. I hate that feeling and pray that it will go away soon. I also felt jittery and restless. I actually ended up throwing up a couple times. I took a 5mg diazepam and the negative se's slowly went away. In about an hour, I felt pretty decent. I noticed throughout the day that my appetite was up and my heart wasn't racing like it normally would be. I also wasn't having any type of crazy/irrational thoughts. About 7:00 PM I started to notice that I didn't feel quite right and was feeling quite panicky. So I took another 5mg diazepam and I feel much better. About to take the Cymbalta again. Pray that I can get through it!!:yesyes:

Day 3--Woke without head buzzing and actually feel okay. Wasn't nauseous either, but I followed some advice and drank a big glass of milk with my med. Maybe that coated my tummy! Eating some PB toast now. Still feel a bit anxious. Will update later!

The nausea and stomach pain from this med is on and off for me. Right now I take 60mg, however is giving me terrible stomach pains. The doctor has to me to take 30mg in the morning and 30mg in the evening. I also take klonopin to get through this! I hope it works . Keep me posted!

Update to Day 3: So I didn't really mention a lot of details about me (If you read other posts by me in the past you will learn the things I struggle with! :)) but I haven't really been out of the house much the last 2 weeks. I have dealt with agoraphobia in the past (that lasted around 3+ months!) and I am really fighting hard to not let that happen again.

So today was actually a pretty great day. Which is HUGE for me to even say that. I am not a pessimistic person by nature, but lately with all that I have been battling and the fact that there are more bad days than good little moments, I have learned to celebrate anything and everything that is good!

My husband and I were planning to go to supper with his dad and his dads girlfriend for her birthday. I suggested a nearby restaraunt (safe zone!) well we get there and the wait for the place is out the door and it is SO crowded. No big deal... on the inside I was freaking out a little! But I just carried on with a level head. I think diazepam is to be credited in helping with that (but I will give myself credit too!).

Either way, we end up going across town through traffic (out of my comfort zone completely and to a place that takes FOREVER to get your food). So we get there and I am so anxious. But I just try to keep talking and joking around. I accidentally knock over my water and everyone laughs. I feel at ease after. I then feel well enough to go look around the gift shop area of this restaurant.

On the way home, my husband and I talk about how proud we both are of me pushing myself and not quitting (staying home) when that would have been so easy. I feel so happy about the whole day. I have learned to be thankful for the good times and that its okay to say that it WAS a good day and not think I will jinx myself.

ANYWAY. Bless yall for reading all of this! But just wanted to share my thoughts and good experiences today! I hope you all are well.

Day 4: I had a really great day today. I know there most likely hasn't been enough time to get the full effects of this med (which i'm hoping there has been time to see the ill effects if there were to be any!) but I am doing a lot better than I was. As a reminder, I haven't been out of the house for about 2 weeks and today I went 30 minutes away from home. I had a few weak/anxious spells but I pushed through.

No weird symptoms thus far other than feeling quite a bit better than I was when I was at "rock bottom" a few days ago. I know I was still having withdrawals from Venlafaxine/Effexor so I am just wondering if that has helped to fill that void? Curious to know!

Either way, good day and once again, just taking it a day at a time. I had a panic attack (very mild) tonight but i honestly think it was because I was exhausted (daylights savings time here in the US!) but I recovered very quickly from it. Overall, feeling much better mentally. Send me good vibes and hugs! And if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send them my way! xx

---------- Post added at 04:54 ---------- Previous post was at 04:53 ----------

I also want to note that my nausea has subsided completely in the mornings! :) I am actually able to eat again!!

Day 5: Woke with a little shaky anxiety. I am sleeping fine, but I am not being very responsible with my sleep schedule. I should have gone to bed when I was tired at 8:30! But I stayed up til 1:00 painting and watching a marathon of a show I love! Maybe I can catch a nap sometime today when my baby naps!! :) I also need to make sure I am drinking enough water, so that is my goal for the day!

End of day 5: Tried to drink more water today. Didn't get a nap. I am so exhausted. It is 9:15 here and I am considering going to bed as soon as I post this entry! I didn't have a good day. But I don't think it's anything to do with the cymbalta. I can definitely see a correlation between sleep and anxiety. Will keep you all posted! Can't wait to feel better! xx

---------- Post added at 02:16 ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 ----------

In addition, I do feel like I can rationalize things again. It's crazy! Just being able to rationalize things is a huge step.

Day 6: This morning our 1 year old woke at 4am crying his little heart out. He was then determined to be up and playing. Bless him. I went to bed around 12 so waking at 4 was really hard. When I dont get enough sleep my anxiety is horrible! So I ended up getting him back to bed around 7:30 when my husband took over things and I accidentally slept til 11am. I NEVER sleep that late!! So immediately I woke in a panic and just felt yucky all over. I decided today that I should take the Ativan that my doctor prescribed (i had never taken it before--you can read about it in the medications forum!). So I was anxious about it all day until I finally took it.

I was very relaxed and had a great experience with it.

So, ending day 6, I will say it was a tough morning/early afternoon due to little sleep but the late afternoon and night, was pretty good! Just goes to show you, nothing is permanent and anything can change from one moment to the next. Trying to stay positive! Hugs and healing to you all. xx

---------- Post added at 02:55 ---------- Previous post was at 02:55 ----------

Today I drank close to 80 ounces of water. Trying to get my butt back in gear about staying hydrated and eating enough!!

Glad to hear things were a bitter better for you after you got some sleep , and took your Ativan.

---------- Post added at 22:49 ---------- Previous post was at 22:46 ----------

I'm back down to 30MG (couldn't stand the stomach pains). Unfortunately, I am waking up shaking, so we'll see what the doctor wants to do tomorrow. Maybe I can go up to 50MG since i have 20MG pills as well. It's such a crap shoot with these meds.

I hope things get better for you!!! :hugs:You are so right... we are basically guinea pigs! ha ha

---------- Post added at 01:05 ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 ----------

Day 7 was a big day. I actually pushed myself to get out and run errands with my mom and little man. We went across town and we out and about shopping for over an hour. It was uncomfortable at times but I'm glad that I did it. The ativan is good but it makes me EXTREMELY tired. I tried taking a half today, and I still felt like I couldn't do anything but sleep. I am going to talk to my doctor and see if she would consider changing it back to Valium. She thought that Ativan would have less sedating effects but I can't agree with her at this point! I will check back in tomorrow!xx

Hey How are you getting on?

I have been putting off starting duloxeting for 2 weeks not so its good to hear it's been going well