October and November
Dec. 3rd, 2017 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geowench It's been a rough Fall, y'all. Some of it is expected - there is always a letdown after a big wonderful trip, but most of it was drug related. I've been on the antidepressant Cymbalta for maybe two years? I started it when the menopause symptoms because too much to bear and I was just overwhelmed with emotions. Well it helped, but then I decided I didn't want to be on it indefintely, and I especially didn't want to be on it in Prague (getting prescription meds is going to be a challenge while we are gone). So my NP dropped me down to half dose and I did that for a month with no problem. Then she told me to start taking it every other day. After about four days I thought I was having a stroke - constant intense headaches, plus these weird brain zaps, and I just could not function. We were about to head to Europe so I decided to go back on the half dose and deal with the withdrawal when we got back. It was a wise choice!
When we got back I started the withdrawal process. Since it is a capsule, you have to open the capsule and count out the beads. You're only supposed to go down 10 beads at a time, but dude I don't have that kind of patience, so I would dump out bout a quarter, then about half, then about 2/3, and then about 3/4. This process took me about 2.5 months, and it was horrible. The brain zaps were weird, the raging emotions were a PITA, but the worst was the pain. I was in constant, overall body pain pretty much all the time. To the point where I seriously thought I that I needed to go be diagnosed with fibromyalgia or some other autoimmune disease. However I kept telling myself to wait it out and see if it got better once I was off the Cymbalta. I've been totally off it for maybe 3 weeks now, and things are much much better, though still not back to normal. The headaches are pretty much gone. The brain zaps are less frequent and far less intense. And the body pain is maybe 75% improved.
So now I'm off the Cymbalta, I'm recovered from the pneumonia, I'm newly turned 50, and I feel about 900 years old. Oh and the menopause is STILL perimenopause; I'm having (weird, gross, frequent, and random) periods still. I've worked my way back up to 25 minute walks and I'm telling you, they totally kick my butt and leave me exhausted. And the knee pain and the foot pain and the lower back pain are challenging too. Not too mention menopause symptoms. So my task over the next several months is to work my way back into some kind of decent physical condition. I'm back at my high weight, too, of course. But I'm not up to dieting right now (or possibly ever again) - I'm just going to focus on moving my body and making sure I eat enough fruits and veggies, and not worry about calories or carbs, at least for now.
So how are you guys? Is anybody even still reading???
When we got back I started the withdrawal process. Since it is a capsule, you have to open the capsule and count out the beads. You're only supposed to go down 10 beads at a time, but dude I don't have that kind of patience, so I would dump out bout a quarter, then about half, then about 2/3, and then about 3/4. This process took me about 2.5 months, and it was horrible. The brain zaps were weird, the raging emotions were a PITA, but the worst was the pain. I was in constant, overall body pain pretty much all the time. To the point where I seriously thought I that I needed to go be diagnosed with fibromyalgia or some other autoimmune disease. However I kept telling myself to wait it out and see if it got better once I was off the Cymbalta. I've been totally off it for maybe 3 weeks now, and things are much much better, though still not back to normal. The headaches are pretty much gone. The brain zaps are less frequent and far less intense. And the body pain is maybe 75% improved.
So now I'm off the Cymbalta, I'm recovered from the pneumonia, I'm newly turned 50, and I feel about 900 years old. Oh and the menopause is STILL perimenopause; I'm having (weird, gross, frequent, and random) periods still. I've worked my way back up to 25 minute walks and I'm telling you, they totally kick my butt and leave me exhausted. And the knee pain and the foot pain and the lower back pain are challenging too. Not too mention menopause symptoms. So my task over the next several months is to work my way back into some kind of decent physical condition. I'm back at my high weight, too, of course. But I'm not up to dieting right now (or possibly ever again) - I'm just going to focus on moving my body and making sure I eat enough fruits and veggies, and not worry about calories or carbs, at least for now.
So how are you guys? Is anybody even still reading???
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Date: 2017-12-04 04:24 pm (UTC)Your entries have not shown up in my feed! Damnit! Going to go read them now...
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