Brain Zaps

I know that it sounds weird, but I've been having an "unusual" feeling in my head acompanied by dizziness and mild nausea. In looking through some of the withdrawal side effects of Cymbalta, I found one called "brain zaps" or "brain shocks". In looking it up, I discovered that that is probably what I am having. Any rapid movement of my eyes or head causes these "zaps".

Wikipedia says that,

The brain shiver effect appears to be almost unique to those antidepressant chemicals that have an extremely short half-life in the body; that is, they are quick to disappear completely. This attribute of abruptness leaves the brain a relatively short time to adapt to a major neurochemical change when the medication is stopped, and the symptoms may be caused by the brain's readjustment. There is no evidence that the shivers present any danger to the patient experiencing them.

Dizziness

Oh boy, I don't know where to start. Let's see... today is the 4th day since I've stopped taking Cymbalta. I started feeling dizzy yesterday afternoon. It lasted on into the night and is still with me today. I also feel tired, yet jittery.

Although my darling wife arranged for me to get some time for sleep yesterday, my fatigue is pretty strong today. what reaslly stinks is that today is my "meeting day" at work. I have four meetings scheduled for today and don't know how I'm going to NOT come across as "bored" during them. To make matters worse, the meetings are very unstructured; are backto-back, drag on forever and we have the most uncomfortable 1/2 back chairs in the office world.

Well, I guess I should run and grab some coffee before it all starts.

Hallucinating

I have been experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations. This is a dream-like state with auditory or visual hallucinations, while dozing off or falling asleep. I also seem to be falling asleep in the middle of conversations with my wife. I can't seem to help it and my wonderful wife thinks that I am being insensitive to what she is saying and what her needs are.

I am also in Day 2 of my withdrawal from Cymbalta. I currently feel lousy. I am in pain all over my body and am REALLY sleepy.

I've read that people who stop taking Cymbalta have weeks of withdrawals because it is such a powerful drug. I certainly hope that that is not the case.

Denied...

Well, I just spoke to my wife who was going to the county clerks office to pick up my disabled placard and she said that the clerk told her that we didn't have the right form. What?!?! That was the form from THEIR website. Needless to say, she didn't get the placard, but did pick up the correct form that she will be taking to the doctor for me when she goes for her appointment this Thursday.

By the way, in case you are wondering, the only difference between the 2 forms is that the newer one has one line moved to another area of the paper and that area now has a box around it. To me, this is rediculous...

Disabled Parking

Well, it's been a while since my previous post. I have been back to my doctor for med refills and had decided ahead of time to ask her for to sign for a disabled parking placard for me. She gladly did it. Now, at least, I'll be able to walk shorter distances to work, etc. I actually counted the steps that it takes to get from the building where I work to the CORNER of the parking lot, let alone the walk to the spot, and it is over 1/2 mile!

This placard will help in that I can at least park at the 1/2 mile marker... LOL

Cymbalta Withdrawal

Today I spoke with my doctor and we talked about my elevated liver enzymes. We talked about the possibility of Cymbalta being the cause. She didn't want to take a chance, so she asked me to stop taking them. Because I had capsules, I could not taper down the dosage, so she asked me to quit cold turkey.

I know that in the past, when I missed a dosem, that I would have violent dreams and generally feel miserable.