Withdrawel from anti-depressants

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I've taken Cymbalta for a few years with great results. However like all SNRI's and SSRI's you go through withdrawal if you miss doses. Due to complications I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to get more. Tonight will be my third night without it and I am getting the characteristic withdrawels one gets from antidepressants ("head zapping", dizziness, etc). I have found that benadryl (diphenhydramine) works very well to help the withdrawels. In fact, it was benadryl that gave the scientific community the idea of finding drugs like it that prevent the reuptake of serotonin. That's how they invented prozac (which is chemically similar to benadryl). However, benadryl makes you very sleepy so I can't take it and go to work. I've been taking large doses of 5-htp which is helping ease the withdrawels somewhat. Does anyone know of any other over the counter meds I can buy that help to alleviate the SNRI withdrawals??

no idea, sorry. i came of SSRI meds a few months ago. i am doing ok. i am less social but more AS me. that is what i want.
good luck. it can get a bit trippy.....

You can't tell your doctor you're going through withdrawals, and get him to give you samples or something to tide you over? Because that stuff isn't meant to be stopped quickly and you're finding out why...

When I was on Zoloft and then Lexapro, I made a practice of always keeping a week's extra dose, and not touching it unless I ran out of medication and couldn't get more. I do the same with my birth control pills now, because if you're taking them to regulate and tone down your periods, then taking them irregularly can mess up your hormones.

So what happens when you call your doctor and say you're out and the voc rehab people won't pay for another refill for a while? Lots of docs will help you out with samples or a prescription for just three or four pills (cheaper, so you can buy them yourself)... they don't like it when people take their medication intermittently anyway.

re. Withdrawals, remember to eat and drink enough. You will probably lose your appetite, but being dehydrated or having low blood-glucose levels will just make things worse. Count the calories you're eating, if you can't figure out when you're supposed to be hungry.

It's funny, I've never had "withdrawals" from SSRIs (Zoloft). It's littered all over the 'net about the withdrawal symptoms, but I've never experienced it. All that happens is my anxiety and OCD come back (which the drug treats). I've never had withdrawals from taking Valium either for over a month at a decent dose.

I really think it depends on the person, physically and mentally.

I've missed doses of paroxetine (Paxil/Seroxat) for at least three days (because my routined changed and I kept forgetting) and never felt anything. In fact I rather wonder whether anything would happen if I just stopped taking them permanently, but I don't want to do that without talking to my psychiatrist about it. I've been on this stuff for eight years and I haven't a clue whether I need it any more (or even if it hurts now, by masking problems I should be solving and making them just tolerable enough not to solve).

As for you, I really don't have any advice but I really hope you can get back on your meds soon. Not to make a political point out of this but it is really appalling that you cannot get the medication you need because of financial issues.

The way that you are supposed to get off SSRIs is by cutting your dose in half for a few days to a week, then cutting that in half. Repeat until you are taking half of the smallest pill that they make.

Mind you, this is not formal medical advice, this is just my 2 cents coming from a neuropharmacology grad student, and someone who took Zoloft for way too many years...

Not everybody is going to have withdrawal symptoms. People are different after all.