Tag: side effects

Learning about withdrawal

~ fibro-academic ~ 1 Comment

Long-suffering people with fibromyalgia probably know that there are only three FDA-approved drugs to treat it, and the cheapest one is Cymbalta/duloxetine.

They may also know that Cymbalta is really terrible to come off of, and its parent company has actually been sued by patients for not properly disclosing the risks and difficulties of Cymbalta withdrawal.

The symptoms match some of what I went through when I reduced my dosage in half a month ago, and are matching what I’m going through today on Day 1 of no Cymbalta for a year.

We’ll see how this goes!

Catching up by making the most of insomnia

~ fibro-academic ~ 1 Comment
20181029_055642.jpg
My desk. I may be slightly unicorn obsessed.

This was my desk at 5:45 a.m. I’ve been up since 3 a.m. You can add “insomnia” to the list of side effects I started yesterday.

However, I only feel regular-sleep-deprived tired instead of fibro-fog tired, so I am using the opportunity to catch up on work I did not do this weekend with the help of my Chibi Star Trek cup filled with delicious Mauritian tea.

It’s not an ideal state of mind to delve into citizenship theory, but it’s better than nothing. I’ve learned to take the moments of clarity where I can find them.

The frustrations and hopes of new medication

~ fibro-academic ~ 2 Comments

First off, I am annoyed. I am unable to function well enough today to focus on anything, and so the pile of books I need to for my pre-dissertation work remains untouched. I also have many articles logged away in my citation manager, and it feels awful to KNOW I need to work but my mind just feels frayed, like there is a lack of connection between my two brain hemisphere. The most I could do today was finish up and submit an assignment for an online class.

20181028_174750.jpg
What today looks like for me: my outstanding reading pile, trying to understand fibromyalgia, and keeping track of my medications and all their interactions.

It’s been almost a year since my diagnosis, and while medication and my own supplementing coupled with lifestyle changes have helped some, my doctor thinks I should be able to make better progress (and I agree! Being debilitatingly tired most of the time is not fun, especially when going through a rigorous academic program).

Continue reading “The frustrations and hopes of new medication” →