I nervously panned the room, looking for suspicious behaviors from other diners, who were mostly enjoying their pancakes. The conversation from my close friends sitting across the table from me was nearly indecipherable as I surveilled the room. When I did speak, I used hushed tones so potential spies wouldn’t hear us. I was waiting until we left the restaurant and were out of earshot from other diners before I could share with my friends what I was working on.
When we got outside, I urgently asked for their phones. They complied without question, as they could hear in my tone that something was wrong. I placed our phones in my car and then joined them in their SUV. I explained that pharmaceutical companies were listening to our conversations, and I was probably being followed.
That was one of the less-concerning stories from my first month of antidepressant withdrawal.
The reality: I’d been nearly unemployable for the two years prior as the panic attacks, overwhelming anxiety and depression — side effects of an antidepressant and other meds — made me all but incapable of caring for myself.
No one was listening to my phone calls. I wasn’t being followed. A few weeks later, I would take what I thought was going to be my last dose.
The Rocket Ship
In the spring of 2014, I was a tech startup entrepreneur and was living a life that seemed to be out of the pages of an adventure story. Coming from a working-class family in rural northern Michigan, I traveled the world over three tours in the U.S. Air Force, including a deployment immediately following September 11, 2001.
Upon leaving active duty in 2005, and excelling at community college after the transition into the Air National Guard, I earned an acceptance letter to the University of Michigan.
Arriving at the University as a 26-year-old military veteran and first-generation, “non-traditional” transfer student proved to be challenging, so I got the idea to start a student veteran group on campus to help others in their transition to school. The idea proved popular, and with an incredible team of student veterans from across the country, I founded Student Veterans of America (SVA). As SVA’s president, I led the organization’s fight for the passage of the Post- 9/11 GI Bill with former U.S. Senators Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel — the Post 9/11 GI Bill has now sent nearly two million veterans and their family members to college, to the tune of $80+ billion.
SVA now hosts over 1,500 chapters in all 50 states and four countries, and is the largest student organization in America. In 2010, I was recognized at the White House by then President Barack Obama for these efforts. That same year, while still the president and executive director of SVA, I was recruited by the former chief of mental health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to build a national mental health program as part of the “VA Secretary’s 21st Century Transformation Initiatives.”
At the VA, I learned “evidence based practices” in mental health, and the process for America’s mental health model of care: identify patients in need, screen for symptoms, refer for diagnosis, prescribe medications to get the patient to a state where they can accept treatment, treat and then manage care.
After working with an amazing group of psychologists and social workers at the VA, I moved to New York City and became a tech executive, ultimately starting my own technology company. Around this time things started to unravel. I had enrolled in MBA classes but had become distracted in favor of my entrepreneurial pursuits. Remembering I’d been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) as a kid, but forgetting the daily bullying I experienced for nearly a decade of my childhood that had assuredly caused my inattentiveness towards my studies, I went in to get re-diagnosed.
In short order, a psychiatrist prescribed me Aderrall for ADHD, Ambien for insomnia, gabapentin for anxiety, and a few others medications. In 2017, three years after the prescriptions started, a friend helped me move back to Michigan. My life was now on fire, the company in rubble and I was struggling to keep a job and maintain my sanity. Instead of looking at the list of meds I was already prescribed, the VA psychiatrist said, “Let’s try an antidepressant.” At this point, I wasn’t capable of making competent decisions — not that it would have mattered, as I trusted the doctor. The doctor trusted the regulatory authorities, the researchers and the drug makers; all of whom were supposed to make sure the drug was safe for patients. I was told to take the drug and that it would help me, but not how dangerous it was or that I might not be able to stop taking it once I started. I spent the next year and a half on Zoloft.
Fall from Grace — Acute Withdrawal Begins
Wednesday, April 4, 2018: I take my last dose, for the first time.
Thursday afternoon: Flu-like symptoms develop. I begin feeling outside of myself. Slightly dizzy and nauseated.
Friday at 6 a.m.: In the gym with a personal trainer who directs me to fast-step through a rope ladder laid out on the ground, something I could usually do without effort. I couldn’t do it. I could barely put one foot in front of the other and was tripping over myself with every step. “It’s 6 a.m., I haven’t had coffee. Give me a break,” I explain. I arrive at the office and am falling into walls and begin gagging as though I’ll be sick.
Saturday afternoon: I’m unable to get out of bed. Severe physical pain. I feel like I am choking to death and the room will not stop spinning. Bolts of lightning begin shooting from one side of my brain to the other. The electric shocks in my head won’t go away. Brief black blips of time seem to go missing, as though I’m time traveling. My ears start pulsing with such force that my head feels like it will be crushed. It mimics the feeling one gets when driving 70 miles per hour on the interstate with the back two windows down. There is no window button. I don’t know how to stop it. I’m scared. I don’t know what is happening to me.
I begin googling “electric shocks in brain.” “Brain zaps” keeps showing up on layperson chat pages. I find a website called Mad in America that says something about “antidepressant withdrawal” but at this point I can barely process anything I’m reading. My senses and functioning are haywire. I lie in bed and hope the symptoms will be gone when I wake up. Based on initial research, these symptoms seem to be related to the antidepressant I’d been on for the past year and a half, Zoloft (drug name sertraline). If symptoms persist in the morning, I’ll need to retrieve the refill I left at my family’s house in northern Michigan, over a three-hour drive from Ann Arbor, where I’m staying.
Sunday morning: The terrible side effects are still occurring, but worse than before. I’m terrified it will never stop. Nearing panic, I call a friend who will pick up the meds and meet me halfway.
In my condition, the drive is terrifying. I feel better sitting down, but the two-hour drive to West Branch is rough. I shouldn’t be driving. I get to the gas station that is our rendezvous point. Her car is there. She isn’t. I panic. I call her. She’s inside getting snacks. “I don’t think you understand,” I tell her. “This is an emergency!”
Within a half hour of taking a half dose of Zoloft, all the symptoms vanish. I begin to calm down but am still shaken. I can’t believe what just happened. As I drive back to Ann Arbor, I speak with an old friend over the phone who is a licensed clinical social worker and leads mental health programs for the San Francisco VA Medical Center. He suggests I read the article published in The New York Times the day before, titled: “Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit”.
As I read the article, I realize I am not the only one who has experienced “antidepressant withdrawal.” It turns out that millions of Americans are on these meds, and according to a study out of the UK, 56% of patients experience withdrawal effects, with 46% of those experiencing withdrawal effects described as severe. As I read, I realize the month-long withdrawal period I anticipated is going to be a much longer and more painful experience than planned. The stories I’m finding show that it could take a year, or years — if I’ll ever be able to get off this drug at all.
Protracted Withdrawal — A Year-Long War
It ended up taking the full year. I gained 25 pounds. There were times I could barely walk because of physical pain. At times I was overcome with rage and anger. It was the most painful, miserable and trying year of my life, which says a lot considering the previous few years.
Meanwhile, I researched, studied and read every paper and book I could find on antidepressants, specifically Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). I wanted to understand how these drugs “work” and their effects on the body. From Anatomy of an Epidemic I learned how psychiatric medications came to market, their effects on behavior, and that violence and suicides coincided with the rollout of Prozac, Zoloft and other antidepressants and SSRIs.
The book Mad in America gave me the background on the field of psychiatry and how the field shifted from lobotomies in the mid 1950s (the inventor of the procedure won a Nobel Prize in 1949) to antipsychotics in the same decade. I learned that during this period, psychiatric care moved from within the walls of the asylums and into communities around the country.
Prior to my acute withdrawal episode, I’d begun a fitness regimen. Based on my experience, I surmised that going through antidepressant withdrawal would continue to be challenging, so I worked to make myself as fit as possible. Every morning at 6 or 7 a.m., I was in small group fitness classes or with a personal trainer.
In the following weeks, I developed severe arch pain. The pain then moved to my calves and finally to my thighs. I could barely walk. For weeks I was forced to stop going to the gym entirely. Over the next six months, my right calf tore, my left arch blew out, my right ear drum blew out and a doctor friend and my trainer ordered me to the ER for a suspected cardiac event. The emergency doctors quickly eliminated heart attack from their concerns but began testing for a stroke — especially concerning for a 37-year-old healthy male.
I realized the pain and the injuries didn’t just coincide with my antidepressant withdrawal, but instead were caused by the drug. At this point I no longer trusted the prescribing psychiatrist. From the pain and injuries I sustained, I also realized the drug maker’s instructions for weaning were far more aggressive — even dangerous — than I think anyone should be medically prescribed, as it was causing me injuries, pain and psychological turmoil.
After rediscovering Mad in America, the website and podcast, I learned from survivor stories of others harmed by these drugs that I needed to make much smaller, 10% reductions over the course of a year or more.
I began making 10% reductions, eyeballing the best I could with a kitchen knife, as the pill cutter the VA provided me was inaccurate in cutting a stable dose. Since I’d connected the leg pain with the antidepressant withdrawal, I was able to use my arch and calf pain as a barometer for when I could make another reduction.
The model I created for my reductions went like this: first, make a 10% reduction. The arch pain would become nearly unbearable. I’d then decrease my workouts so I wouldn’t re-injure myself. I learned to be aware that as I experienced the leg pain, my depressive, stress and “agitation” symptoms — rage — were likely far more extreme than the physical pain.
To account for the dramatic shifts in affect, I implemented a one-week hold on any important decisions or responding to any major stressors. I learned that my responses to common life stresses were disproportionate to the situations, and if I didn’t question my initial visceral response, I would have blow-ups focused on family members and friends.
And so it went — I’d make a 10% dose reduction and the severe leg pain would resume, along with the manic-like symptoms that led to fights with family members. I’d then resume the one-week hold on decisions and reactions to life events. I’d stabilize at the dose for a few weeks to a month, so I could have a brief period of normalcy, and then I’d make another reduction.
This went on for over a year. As I got closer and closer to being off the drug, I ran into a problem. The size of the broken-down pills had gotten too small to accurately measure, so I began spacing out the days between doses. This was not ideal, as I was constantly in a state of withdrawal, but it was impossible to maintain a stable dose between any given days, so I didn’t feel as though I had much of a choice.
Then I learned from an online support group that if I got the liquid version of sertraline, I could dilute it down to smaller dosages as needed. In theory this was great. In practice, it required a chemistry degree and an associated lab. After getting a prescription for the liquid form of sertraline I opened the packaging, but found the process so complicated that I had to go back to the VA and sit with the pharmacist to learn how to use the three different-sized droppers she had given me to blend this concoction.
This training session took over thirty minutes, as the pharmacist had to read the instructions multiple times herself, which required a calculator to create the correct dilution formula. She then talked me through how to extract the 25 mg of sertraline into the dropper, to then mix the sertraline with a 120 milliliter glass of “liquid,” to then stir this concoction; and finally use another syringe to extract the correct amount of “mixture,” which would ultimately be my dose.
When the sertraline was mixed with water, the drug looked like an alien life form, and smelled like toxic waste. I was able to tolerate this laboratory experiment once. The dose made me sick for a week. At this point, I’d had enough. I’d gotten down to sand grain sized doses of Zoloft’s pill form and was just re-poisoned with the liquid concoction. I was done. I decided to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. I wanted this ordeal to be over.
The next week being off the medication was rough. I was in pain, nauseated, dizzy and “agitated.” The following two months weren’t great. All my muscles and joints were constantly sore, I couldn’t sleep, my mood fluctuated with the hour, but progressively I got better.
As of six months ago, the withdrawal is finally over. Three years of being prescribed multiple meds, plus a fourth year of antidepressant withdrawal, took what was a flourishing career and an amazing life, and set it on fire.
Survived the Crash — That Others May Live
I’m incredibly blessed, and equally lucky. I survived. I never followed through with any of the dark thoughts that neared harming myself or others. I was lucky enough to land a part-time role here at Mad in America where I can help people recover themselves, through the telling and reading of the stories of others. I am able to deploy my incredibly fortunate years of experience as a leader in the veteran community, a tech entrepreneur and mental health leader to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
I’m alive. More than 30,000 veterans in the past decade alone are not; not to mention the family members who fell victim to this epidemic and the wreckage that was left for the survivors. I was not warned of the risks of this drug. I was not told that once on it, I might never be able to get off it, or the nightmare that would ensue when I tried. I know millions of others were not told either.
No more speaking in hushed tones. No more worrying if someone is listening. The nightmare is over for me, but this story is just beginning.
I applaud all your efforts. That’s how you will save lives. I was given a similar prescription for illness for over a decade only to be told, later, I had bone marrow cancer along with another rare disease, amyloidosis (known to Vietnam veterans). Incredulously, I said to my husband “cancer is easier than what I’ve been through before.”. I hear ya. Those prescriptions end lives.
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I’d like to add, that on this new journey, of fighting cancers, which is approaching another decade,I’ve systematically refused psych medications, such as antidepressants and I’m happier for it. I tell everybody to get second opinions and when I hear about people who are confused I always think : “did they get their blood work done and checked. Did they check their urine?” I fear that many people are thrown in the mental band wagon without due diligence and without care. It’s sad for all involved. Easy money for the few and throw away lives for the many.
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Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m sorry that you have gone through this as well, and are also fighting cancers and other issues. I hope this story, yours, and the stories of others can give hope to those suffering, or who don’t yet know they have been harmed. Please keep fighting, and if you’re interested in sharing your story, I’d love to help you share your experience with others as well. Thank you for your service, and for all that you continue to do for our country. Sincerely, -Derek
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Thanks for sharing your story, Derek. I, too, suffered from the common symptoms of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome – I still have the brain zaps – despite being drug free for over ten years now. But you are correct, people are not being forewarned of the dangers of the antidepressants, largely because the doctors claim ignorance of the adverse and withdrawal effects of the antidepressants. Not sure how such ignorance qualifies them as “professionals,” however. But I’m glad you also escaped, and were able to finally get off the insanity creating psych drugs. Kudos, and keep speaking out.
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Thank you for your note, and I’m sorry you’ve gone through and are still going through this today. Please keep fighting on your end as well. People need to hear our stories, as every day that goes by, is another day that people are irreparably harmed. Thanks again for your support, and for following MIA!
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“Ambushed by Antidepressant Withdrawal”
????
How did you get on antidepressants in the first place?
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I’d never really thought of believing that someone is listening is an illness (God, the silent listener to every conversation) until I was snatched from my bed by a Community Nurse who believes all Muslims should be locked in cages and given copious amounts of tranquillizers for it. And unfortunately he has some people helping him. I can’t help but wonder if the need to torture isn’t as a result of paranoids not being able to spy and get the information they want (rather than the truth)
And given that Australia has been caught spying on the telephones and offices of our friends and neighbours (Indonesias presidents wife, East Timor to steal their oil and gas) I’d be a little careful about NOT believing that your being listened to. Its an Alinsky tactic (see Dr Strangelove re Fear). For example, the hospital that arranged to have me spiked with benzos tried to disappear the evidence of this and then slander me as insane for claiming I had been drugged without my knowledge. And its worked a treat, the government has had to go to some extreme lengths to ensure no one believes me and deny me access to legal representation. The history of protecting abusers within institutions on display for all to see.
Didn’t Ernest Hemmingway get a few zaps to the head for making “unsubstantiated claims” of being spied on?
Think the ‘confessional’ is in confidence? Think again. Your doctor, priest, lawyer can have ‘coercive measures’ used to have them release confidential information (HCA 47) Eavesdropping has been around for a loooong time.
“Would you spy on your brother? Would you eat your dead brothers flesh? Nay, yea would abhor it”
Still, glad your off the drugs Derek.
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P.S. Sam Dastyari, one of our politicians left his phone out of a conversation with a Chinese businessman. He asked the businessman to do the same. He got hauled over the coals for this. Why is it that the government doesn’t want anyone not having their phones with them during conversations? Might be that they’re worried that they can’t call him if they need him? Shanghai Sam our current Prime Minister was calling him. Racial slurs are just so effective, almost as good as mental health labels. Speaking of which I note ScoMo pointing to Greta Tunbergs possible mental health issues, and the concern for all young Australians who are possibly ill (Eco-anxiety, coming to a DSM near you soon) about climate change. Big bucks in labelling and drugging them all.
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Thanks, Boans!
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Thank you for the story, Derek.
You’re in a good position now to help your friends.
I think it was Dr Kelly Brogan that said that a person can develop symptoms so severe on SSRI drug withdrawal that they compare with Acquired Immunity Disorder Syndrome.
The slower the better was my own experience.
Thanks again.
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Thank you so much, Fiachra. This mission isn’t one that I planned for, but I’m proud to have the opportunity to represent those who might not be able to do it for themselves.
That sounds right. I know from experience how big of a nightmare this was, and I know a lot of other folks are having it a lot worse than I ever did. I’m hoping more people see articles like this and have a better idea of what they’re signing up for.
Truly, thank you.
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Thank you for your military service Derek and for sharing your harrowing journey with psych drugs and withdrawal. I was aware these drugs did horrible things to the brain but didn’t know they wreaked so much havoc on the physical body as well, as described in your story and Dan Hurd as well in his story.
https://www.madinamerica.com/2019/09/dan-hurd-one-pedal-at-a-time/
It is great you have joined forces with Robert Whitaker and MIA on this noble mission to help stop the harm and save lives. Your inspiring story is very helpful to the veterans and to everyone else as well. Thanks and let’s all keep beating the drums for this mission!
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Congratulations Derek. Glad you’re doing well now.
A lot of our veterans are exploited by the MI System. The whole thing is shameful.
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Thanks Rachel! It’s not just veterans. We need to rethink the way we do mental health, because much of what we’ve been told is turning out to be wrong and is causing harm.
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Not a veteran myself, and I’ve been exploited. I agree.
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God Bless you!!! You are not alone, as I’m sure you are finding out. Your story is so similar to mine, and I suffered for years in solitude before there were reliable sources available to refer to. The internet and associated support forums have literally saved my life. For years I was told I was full of $hit by the medical community, they are just now starting to catch on.
For anybody asking or wondering about the question of “why were you put on these medications in the first place”? The answer is all over the place, and unjustified. Doctors and nurse practitioners prescribe these medications like water. They were never informed of the risks associated, and were encouraged to prescribe copiously by the pharmaceutical companies (big pharma needs their $$$), most often in cases that are legally “off-label”. Millions of people GLOBALLY have been put on these meds for things such as Fibromyalgia, insomnia, PMS (yes, PMS), recent breakups with boyfriends, headaches, generalized aches and pains; you name it and it is prescribed!!! Prescribers are ignorant, but big pharma is mostly to blame.
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And kidney disease.
If the idea of a life on dialysis saddens you that must be a BRAIN DISEASE. Be sure to seek out help for these bizarre, irrational feelings of sadness proving there’s something wrong with you for feeling bad. 😛 You actually find this crap on med sites.
Remember those drugs tax your endocrine system. The irony!
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I’m sorry you’ve had this experience as well. No one deserves to be put through this. I can say for myself that I just feel lucky to be alive; and am equally happy that you made it through as well.
Also, ditto on EVERYTHING you said in your second paragraph 🙂
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Yeah . . . I remember these “symptoms” of withdrawal. In addition to many of those experienced by Mr. Blumke, I also developed internal bleeding, which led me to the ER, where I immediately was threatened with involuntary commitment, if I didn’t “consent” to “go upstairs” as an inpatient. Like Mr. Blumke, I was lucky to get out of psychiatry alive. His life is a miracle, and I’m glad he’s safe and free today.
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I’m glad you’re safe and free today as well. I’m sorry you wen through everything that you went through, but I’m happy you’re here, and hope that you’re able to share your experiences with others, so they might avoid the trap we fell into. Thank you for your support, and thanks for following us here at MIA!
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Derek, thank you for sharing your story and for your outreach work with veterans. Much appreciated!
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Lauren, Thank you for your support! Proud to be doing this work and to ensure that other folks don’t have to go through what many of us have gone through as well.
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Dear Derek, I am a psychiatric drug survivor who’s just finishing up writing a book describing what it’s like to be prescribed psychiatric drugs for 35 years, detailing my multiple cold-turkey withdrawals (barely surviving), then full recovery (minus cognitive impairment we’re left with.)
Your stories, for some reason, hit a heart nerve for me. I’m asking if I can have permission to add your article Ambushed by Antidepressant Withdrawal: The Escape Story, inside my book.
I’m happy to send you the manuscript if you’d like to see how I’m using your article in context with the rest of my ‘story’, along with other survivor stories I’ve included.
God Bless you Mr. Blumke, and thank you for your devotion to helping save other hearts, minds & souls across our great nation by informing the public of iatrogenic harm directly related to psychiatric drugs.
Most sincerely,
Sandra Villarreal
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Hi Sandra, Thank you so much for your kind words, and for considering my story for your book. I’ll send a note offline so we can talk and see how I might be able to help.
I’m also sorry that you went through everything you’ve gone through, but am grateful that you’re still here and are now fighting to save others. Please keep up your incredible work, and please consider me a supporter and friend of all that you are doing.
Sincerely,
-Derek
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Hi Derek, I lost my son to suicide Sept 2020. I’ve been researching since then. When I joined a suicide support group I noticed that the suicide victims either had or had a family history of the same conditions (including PTSD, SUD, ADHD, Bipolar, BPD, depression). I then looked at the things those conditions share and the cause became clear. Some of us parents got tested and we all have double MTHFR C677T mutations. Please contact me and I’ll tell you the rest. Treating the nutrient deficiencies caused by MTHFR mutations could help.
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Thank you for this article!
I was astounded to hear of your calf tear! I’ve torn 2 muscles just doing everyday stuff in the past 8 months, while reducing my dose of an SNRI. Is this a known effect?!
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Holy Crap! I’m not alone…ALL OF THIS IS TRUE!. I’m also an Air Force Veteran who suffers from the usual GAD, PTSD..ect. ect. I was originally prescribed Paxil, which I unknowingly quit cold turkey and contemplated suicide for a week.
Then, they switched me to Wellbutrin, in which I found had no medical effect for me, so again, I stopped taking it, relatively withdrawal free. Fast forward to St. Patrick’s day 2 years ago and I ended up in the ER (thinking I was having a heart attack) only to be told it’s only a panic attack. I was only 40 at the time.
The doctors then started me on Zoloft, which was horrific even going! After about two months I finally settled into a 150mg a day dose, and things were normal. About 3 months ago I decided I’ve had enough, and want off of these drugs. I had recently been taking propranolol and finally been prescribed Xanax for panic attacks, so I didn’t see the need for Zoloft any longer.
I tried to taper, from 150mg to 100mg in about a three week time frame. Things were bad, but nothing compared to what was in store. I was mainly getting the brain zap which I had experienced in my Paxil withdrawal, and a bit of anxiousness and nausea. I then tried to “cold turkey it” from 100mg, NOPE. within a week I was back on 50mg JUST to try to even out. The withdrawal was HORRENDOUS. Nausea for HOURS at a time, panic attacks, tremors, trouble talking, muscle aches, headaches….OMG it was horrible.
This lasted for about 3 months, then I decided to taper down to 25mg for about 3 weeks, then down to 12.5 for about 2 weeks, and then FINALLY, Mar 6th 2020, my last dose…0mg.
The ensuing 3 weeks have been nothing short of a nightmare. Nausea for about 8 -10 hours a day, flu-like symptoms, sweaty palms, anxiety, diarrhea right after I eat, headaches, muscle spasms…tingling skin, tremors when speaking, constantly feeling “off” or anxious. at least 2-3 panic attacks a week because of fear of the side effects are actually killing me. I’m now at about 3 1/2 weeks cold turkey and I don’t know how much more I can take. I still have my propranolol and Xanax, thank God, but daily life is terrible. I feel like shit almost everyday. I spend hours isolated from my family because I feel like I’m going to be sick all the time. I can barely eat but once a day.
I thought I was really dying, and hell, who knows, I might be! I’m only 43! This stuff comes in waves from hours to days…waves of feeling like crap and wishing you just didn’t exist. I just want to feel better again, enjoy my family, and be Zoloft free and NEVER take anything like that again. I hope I can make it through, making it worse, I have a deathly fear of hospitals and having my blood pressure being taken so I avoid doctors at all cost. I’m able to get my meds through the VA messaging system and teleconference (thank you COVID-19).
At this point I am committed to NOT take anything, I am going to ride it out to the bitter end. And it is very bitter.
If you are reading this, I urge to reconsider taking Zoloft, it has caused me so much pain (mental and physical) that I could NEVER recommend it to anyone.
Thank you for this forum, I only wish I could find other forums to share my experience with Veterans so they don’t feel alone as I do dealing with this.
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I’m trying desperately to get off of Cymbalta. It’s a brutally difficult process. I went in Lexspro after my son died. A year later I developed significant joint and muscle pain. Then began the rabbit hole journey of figuring out why. No labs indicated arthritis or an autoimmune disease so they threw the fibromyalgia dx at me. Fast forward 10 years and I want off this stuff. I hate it and the nagging side effects. I stopped and placed in the crazy experience of SNRI withdrawal. Extreme sensitivity to light and sound, unable to concentrate enough to watch a movie, uncontrolled intense anxiety, hours of laying in my bed sobbing for weeks on end. Only now am I learning that all this random joint and muscle pain is probably from the SNRI itself. Never has one of the 25+ physicians ever looked at that as an option. I’m 2 months completely off Cymbalta. I feel like the muscle and joint pain is worse and have considered resuming it. These are destructive, highly addictive and damaging drugs. I’m so sorry for anyone experiencing it.
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“At this point, I’d had enough…I was done. I decided to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. I wanted this ordeal to be over.” Those were my sentiments exactly after 9 months of adverse effects and taper down to 6.25 I just wanted the artificial elevation of serotonin out of my body!! I wanted to take back control. Like you and all those who live and have lived this experience we have an incredible stamina that the adversity ironically cultivated. I turned my rage of unjust helplessness against any notion of one more time of exposing myself to the med and enduring one more day wishing I hadn’t. I’m 5 days into brain zaps — which I’d describe as the Chinese water drip on the forehead torcher method. After a while no matter what intensity of the zap it feels like a metal pipe to the inside of my head. Exhausting, enraging, and depressing. However—at least it’s by my choice and at least no matter how long it takes I’m always one day closer to being able to tell my story!!
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