I recently went through a pretty rough month of anxiety/depression and on top of my OCD, it was not a good time. I finally met with a psychiatrist this past January and she did not agree that my current medication (cymbalta) was only helping my anxiety, but not my OCD. My doctor switched me to prozac daily, and klonopin for when I feel my mornings are a little rough. The plan was to taper off the cymbalta and increase the prozac. During this time, I felt like I was getting better to a point where I felt back to my normal self. I was taking the klonopin daily but then stopped as I didn’t feel I needed it daily. My wife even cried happily knowing I was doing so much better.
As of last Wednesday, I stopped my cymbalta and was strictly on prozac. I still felt good until just this past Tuesday when my anxiety came back, and since then has not gone away. Now I’m having all of these terrible symptoms come back, and I’m more frustrated than anything. I just want to feel better and I thought I was, but now I feel like my brain is playing some sick game with me.
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sh0526
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I’m literally going through the same thing. 2 weeks ago I decided to ween off of two meds because I thought they were just keeping me in this type of trance. When I halved the dosage I started feeling better. Back to my normal self. So then I stopped them. I definitely went thru withdrawals but still had glimpses of being better. Now I completely crashed, my anxiety is through the roof, and I’m in limbo waiting for my meds to kick back in.
sh0526, I know exactly how you're feeling. I'm on the process of coming off Zoloft and going on Lexapro. I'm almost 2 months in. The Zoloft was a new med that the Dr. was trying, the side effects were nasty, my stomach was being ripped apart. Since then we tapered off the Zoloft and now on Lexapro and Seroquel. The multiple med changes and adjustments are causing so many side effects. I know they are temporary until my body adjusts, but it's mentally and physically draining. I have hot flashes, don't sleep the best and have this feeling of pending doom, just waiting for the next attack to happen. I'm lucky I work from home so I can take a break and decompress when I need to. I'm just thankful for my family and friends that "get it" I have removed myself from those that don't get it. I also push myself to get out and socialize, the feeling of accomplishment is very good for our recovery. Self isolation is the worst and leaves you time to think so much and analyze every feeling and emotion. Sorry for the long post, it helps us all know we are not alone! This group has reassured me that I'm not alone, we are all in this together!!!! Keep us posted, stay strong! ❤️🙏💪
Thank you for responding, and being so relatable. My ocd doesn’t help matters when I’m like this, and it feels so defeating when I was feeling this way a few weeks ago, then felt better and now feel this way again. I hope to feel better soon. I also work from home, but it’s hard to socialize as I don’t have many friends that are around or able to meet often. I’ll try looking for ways to socialize more. Thanks again!
Cymbalta is not good for anxiety it doesn't help at all. I have taken klonopin it is really helpful but it's so good don't get addicted to it. It's sad to me that any thing really helpful can be harmful too. Good luck.
It’s strange, I took a klonopin (.5mg) this morning and have not felt any difference. I always felt the cymbalta wasn’t doing anything for me, but the two times (including this one) I tapered off of it, I’ve had these effects. I’m just hoping this is my body working on getting used to the prozac. Thanks for your response.
Re: Cymbalta This drug does nothing for my anxiety! I've been taking Cymbalta for several years and I'd like to come off of it but now is not a good time for me. I'm sure it has helped my depression because I'm able to do certain things like I've had surgery on three hammer toes in January and I'm not recovered yet because I can't walk. Klonopin does help my anxiety. Have you ever taken Klonopin before today? Everything takes time and I hope you get relief with Prozac. But for me Klonopin (0.5mg) is good.
If you'd like to keep in touch please do as I have plenty of experience with these particular medications.
I’ve been taking the klonopin off and on for roughly a month now. My psychiatrist advised I take it only as needed, but in the beginning stages of tapering cymbalta and starting prozac I was taking it daily. Once I felt better I didn’t feel the need to continue taking it. Then after last week of feeling my symptoms return, I began to take it again, but just couldn’t feel anything, which resulted in me taking 1mg (two 0.5mg pills). So currently I’m on 60mg of prozac and taking 1mg klonopin daily. I feel better than yesterday, and just hoping I continue to progress. I appreciate the support. Thank you!
Take your medications exactly as prescribed so if things don't go the way their supposed to (feeling a little better each day or at least the same and or feeling a little worse) let your doctor know Prozac and medications like it have to build up in your body for at least a month or longer your doctor may even up the dosage. If you suffer with OCD there is a medication I took years ago,Paxil, for me a wonder drug it worked almost immediately and no anxiety at all. Much to my disappointment in about seven years it stopped working completely. Your doctor is the source of help and knowledge. Don't give up.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Medication can be trial and error. I went through something similar last week when I stopped taking my klonopin and Effexor because I didn’t think I needed it.
I started back on the medication and so far, I’m feeling a little less anxious. I would share your thoughts with your doctor to help identify the right combination you need.
Yeah, I was advised to only take klonopin as needed, so I took daily and after a few days I felt good, so I stopped. Eventually I completely tapered off my cymbalta and was only taking prozac. After about a week I woke up and knew something was off. Now I’ve been taking almost two klonopin throughout the day totaling 1mg (.5mg pills), and don’t feel like it’s helping at all. People say it is supposed to work fast and help you a lot, but I just don’t feel a difference. I’m hoping my doctor and I will make the proper changes. It’s hard going through this daily. Thanks for your response.
did you taper the klonopin? i'm currently tapering from it from not being on it very long and this second tapering schedule is KICKING my butt. I've sruggled with anxiety this whole month. This second time lowering from .75mg to .5 has been rough, i thought i was good after a few days and its intensified my anxiety from about 2 week-4 weeks. it leaves the body so slowly. its called rebound anxiety and it is totally normal. i also feel taking my .25 in the am and then again in the PM doesn't do much but unfortunatly our brains are now relying on it. as long as you're coping skills are working you should be able to stay strong and power through. If not, you may need to go back on the klonopin and taper MUCH slower if you didn't try that way origionally. I'm really sorr you're having a rough time. I hope this answer finds you in a better space.
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