Cymbalta withdrawal

So, I've recently done something pretty stupid. I've been taking Cymbalta for a while now for my anxiety/depression as well as for my Fibromyalgia. My prescription ran out the other day, but we are low on funds so I thought I would just wait until John got paid again on Friday before I refilled it. I wasn't thinking about withdrawal symptoms. Since I wasn't permanently going to stop taking it, I guess I just didn't think about the fact that you are supposed to SLOWLY stop taking it. I had started feeling kind of weird on Wednesday. I didn't feel right, but was having issues with allergies so I thought it was connected. I woke up on Thursday morning with a headache that still hasn't gone away. Yesterday evening, I started getting dizzy if I moved my head too much, and I felt sick to my stomach. I've been feeling hot, then cold, then hot, then cold. Then, my brilliant hubby says “Maybe it's withdrawal symptoms”. Why didn't I think of that? Seriously??? And Maryville seriously needs a 24 hour pharmacy. By that time, Walgreens was closed. Later when we went to bed, my body started itching all over. Like, so badly I thought I was going to go crazy. I was thinking that slicing my skin all over with a sharp kitchen knife sounded like a good idea. Yeah, might hurt a bit but surely the itching would stop. Don't worry, I'm not THAT crazy, but at the time it was tempting. Every inch of my body itched. Then, I started feeling like my skin was getting stabbed with a needle – just sudden, random spots. I think I finally got exhausted enough to fall asleep around 4 am. My sweet husband was at Walgreens as soon as they opened this morning and got my prescription for me. I'm still itchy but not quite as bad. My head still hurts though and I still feel sick to my stomach. Hopefully all this will go away soon. I did some research online about Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms. There's actually a whole message board just for people going through Cymbalta withdrawal. Apparently, it's the worst anti-depressant to go off of. And most of these people were trying to go off 20-30 mg. I just suddenly stopped taking 60 mg. So, to make a long story short, stopping a medication cold turkey isn't a bright idea. And, if you're thinking of going on an anti-depressant, you might want to use Cymbalta as a last resort.

On to other news though – we've made it through the fist full week of school. Mikayla loves it. She's disappointed that she doesn't get to go every day. We just put her in half days, 3 days a week. Mostly, because it's cheaper that way. Dakota is just the opposite though. He doesn't ever want to go, and he has probably cried at school half the days. On Friday, the doctor cut Dakota's Abilify in half again and called in a prescription for us for Setraline. We probably won't start noticing a difference for a few weeks though. Hopefully it will help him feel less overwhelmed at school. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there won't be any side effects.