Hi, I'm Flyguy10

Welcome to the Taper Community!

Hi @Flyguy10, welcome! We're glad you're here. You have definitely been through A LOT with having your physical problems dismissed and then being put on multiple drugs. I'm glad you've been able to taper off the Gabapentin and Lyrica and have been able to get down to 10 mg of Valium. It's no surprise that going from 40 mg of Cymbalta to 20 mg caused such severe symptoms. That was a 50% drop. Even at so-called "low" doses these drugs still block a good percentage of receptors, which is why the closer you get to zero the drops need to be much smaller with longer holds in between (whatever your own CNS can handle). Please read about Hyperbolic tapering in the Resources section. It's best not to taper more than 10% of the previous month's dose. The reductions will get smaller and smaller as time goes on. On thing you need to be cautious about is that you added in Prozac. Some people do try to use Prozac as a "bridge" to help them come off a drug, but it doesn't work for everyone and can muddy the waters if you start to have issues. You won't know what is causing what. According to your signature, you've been on it one day? If so, you might want to re-think trying to add it into the mix. Just some food for thought. You're certainly not alone in this journey, and this community is here to help and support you along the way. You can check out the Symptoms and Self-Care section for lots of helpful information to handle both physical and emotional issues during withdrawal. We look forward to supporting you as you work to reclaim your health. Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Catina 💜

Hi @Catina. Thank you for the response and input. I'm now having a psychiatrist manage all of my meds to deprecribe. The meds were prescribed and altered by various doctors along the way, though all aware of my current dosing at each phase. I brought him in when my PCP said in April we could discuss duloxetine tapering at my follow up in late August. At that point I was 2 weeks away from being done with the gabapentin and did not want to wait another 4 months. The psychiatrist did bring up hyperbolic tapering as one option, along with the Prozac switch or bumping up to 30mg duloxetine. I decided on the switch for a few reasons. Cost, ease and the fact that I had been on Lexapro in the past and had no symptoms at all when stopping. I also found out in my research that SNRIs have anticholinergic effects and I have terrible reactions to those types of drugs (and it is noted in my file, and the PCP had also put me on trazodone briefly, but my reaction to that was so severe and immediate that I was never on it long). So the symptoms that are improving that were being caused by the duloxetine offset as a net positive for me when taking into account the discontinuation symptoms. I also want off as fast as possible so we can move on to getting rid of the valium, as I am now 18 months on that. Clearing up long term issues with removing the drugs helps me tell the doctors what symptoms are coming from my injuries. I thankfully have a surgical consult coming in 2 weeks to hopefully get the proper MRI for my one injury (suspected chronic sports hernia, took a year for me to get a dedicated hip MRI to confirm a torn labrum, then failed PT caused that ortho to suspect sports hernia). The other issue is in my upper core, hoping he can extend the MRI range from the standard protocol. Back to the psychiatrist. He is a good one, told me I may worsen and if I do to get in touch with him through the portal immediately. He has responded within hours every time I've needed to reach out. I'm prepared to go hyperbolic if necessary but want that to be a last resort. Sorry for the long meandering post, the physical plus drug issues have taken a toll on my mental health as well and I don't get to talk much about it. My wife is having mental health issues just watching me deal with it all so talking to her makes her worse and I don't want that. Again, I appreciate the insights and support. I will continue to check in and make updates here along the way. Be well.

No worries @Flyguy10, thanks for your detailed response. I'm sorry things are hard on both you and your wife. I wish you much success with everything and am glad one of your injuries is getting the proper attention and treatment. Keep us updated on how things are progressing for you!