Hi there everyone,
So I wanted to share my experience with a particular combination of drugs, namely LSD (2 tabs) and Cymbalta (90 mg), that I took in 2010 that have left me feeling damaged and utterly broken in a lot of ways. My hope is for some insight and perhaps suggestion from anyone who feels they may understand my situation and sense some potential good solutions. I'd appreciate any and all input.
My story:
Some 6 years ago, I was on Cymbalta, having been prescribed it for general depression. I previously had also taken Lexapro, but my doc felt that trying Cymbalta would be worthwhile to see if I could get more benefits to help the depression. Somewhere down the line while on Cymbalta, I decided to trip on LSD with a few friends one night. I had read that SSRI/SNRI and LSD adverse interactions were few and that the primary concern was that the antidepressant might 'dampen' the LSD trip, so I wasn't too concerned about doing the LSD while on Cymbalta but I was still cautious and knew that psychedelic drugs are not something to play with. I took 2 tabs that night and started off on a good high, and then somewhere that night, it took a turn for the worse. I don't quite recall all the details of the moment, but I do remember experiencing stretches during the night of a sense of my cognition not working well, like I could not comprehend and think clearly at all. I was in panic mode for a good part of the night and felt that something had gone wrong in my body/mind/brain and was just hoping and praying it was not permanent. It felt absolutely awful and frightening, because it truly seemed like a mechanical damage of some sorts on my cognition. I ended up snapping out of it and motivated myself to know I'm just tripping and that everything is ok and thus I had a good last half of my trip. And ultimately, after the experience, I actually felt a sense of personal enlightenment, especially with my ego, due in part to the second half of the trip. I felt my ego lowered and my self-esteem seemed to have grown a degree and I generally felt more free in my self and more self-actualized. The next week, having felt so clear and resolved inside, I decided to taper off the Cymbalta. I felt I had conquered this depression that had lingered prior and the experience on LSD and the after effects gave me the confidence that I was resolved and good to get off the meds. I was also at the time smoking Marijuana on occassion, as it was to me a lot like taking itty bitty doses of LSD, giving me a taste of that enlightenment feeling.
Fast forward a couple of months after the trip and I started noticing an odd symptom in my day to day experiences: I had difficulty concentrating, on just about anything. It started created huge problems for me with my school work, work, and especially was markedly problematic in my social performance. Keeping eye contact was now so difficult to do and more straining then it had ever been before. I started struggling with any and all sorts of visual concentration acts. It did not matter what the task or activity was. If I had to concentrate visually, it presented itself to be a huge obstacle.
My current status:
Up until now, 6 years into this issue, I've tried a myriad of treatments and modalities to understand and treat these symptoms, namely through stress reduction, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, SSRI/SNRI use, lifestyle changes, exercise, vision therapy, detox, alternative therapy methods, you name it. Seen various doctors, resulting in no real tangible diagnosis given, as all tests performed came back with good results other than one test that showed my CoQ10 levels were very low (thus, I am now supplementing CoQ10). But nothing I've tried thus far has helped alleviate these unbearable and excruciating symptoms and they seem to have only progressed and gotten worse. What's worst of all is that the symptoms are chronic, and not intermittent. From the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep, they are there. And the symptoms don't seem to improve with very much anything. The symptoms also evolved for me in the past 6 years, having gotten stronger in degree and more numerous, despite having worked on them from an anxiety/depression perspective, as well as making healthy lifestyle changes with diet, exercising, stress reduction, etc.
The primary symptoms I have today are:
- Visual Concentration Dysfunction
- Default 'Far-away-gaze' or 'eyes zooming in' all the time
- Unintentional spacing out and starring all the time
- Double Vision when looking at near distances
- Feeling out of body and 'in my eyes'
- 'Brain fog' feeling throughout the day
- Abdominal bloating
- Cognitive dysfunction
- Lack of emotional experiences or emotions in general
One trip 6 years ago turned my life completely up side down and progressed in me these excruciating physical and cognitive symptoms that are truly unbearable. I don't know quite what to do at this point and don't quite understand what has happened to me. It has truly made day to day life like hell for me. My suspicion is that something with either the LSD + Cymbalta combination and/or withdrawal symptoms from quitting Cymbalta led me down this road. Perhaps a dysfunction with the serotonin receptors that are associated with LSD & Cymbalta both? Would trying a serotonin antagonist be of use maybe? Does this spark any intuition or insight for anyone as to what may have happened to me and what may be going on in my body? Does anyone have any suggestion as to what I might be able to do to get back to my old self or am I lost cause? I hope it is not the later, and that is why I am writing here, in search of some hope and insight into my problems.
Thanks for reading and I hope anyone in a similar situation that may be able to relate and get benefit from my story and this thread as well.
So I wanted to share my experience with a particular combination of drugs, namely LSD (2 tabs) and Cymbalta (90 mg), that I took in 2010 that have left me feeling damaged and utterly broken in a lot of ways. My hope is for some insight and perhaps suggestion from anyone who feels they may understand my situation and sense some potential good solutions. I'd appreciate any and all input.
My story:
Some 6 years ago, I was on Cymbalta, having been prescribed it for general depression. I previously had also taken Lexapro, but my doc felt that trying Cymbalta would be worthwhile to see if I could get more benefits to help the depression. Somewhere down the line while on Cymbalta, I decided to trip on LSD with a few friends one night. I had read that SSRI/SNRI and LSD adverse interactions were few and that the primary concern was that the antidepressant might 'dampen' the LSD trip, so I wasn't too concerned about doing the LSD while on Cymbalta but I was still cautious and knew that psychedelic drugs are not something to play with. I took 2 tabs that night and started off on a good high, and then somewhere that night, it took a turn for the worse. I don't quite recall all the details of the moment, but I do remember experiencing stretches during the night of a sense of my cognition not working well, like I could not comprehend and think clearly at all. I was in panic mode for a good part of the night and felt that something had gone wrong in my body/mind/brain and was just hoping and praying it was not permanent. It felt absolutely awful and frightening, because it truly seemed like a mechanical damage of some sorts on my cognition. I ended up snapping out of it and motivated myself to know I'm just tripping and that everything is ok and thus I had a good last half of my trip. And ultimately, after the experience, I actually felt a sense of personal enlightenment, especially with my ego, due in part to the second half of the trip. I felt my ego lowered and my self-esteem seemed to have grown a degree and I generally felt more free in my self and more self-actualized. The next week, having felt so clear and resolved inside, I decided to taper off the Cymbalta. I felt I had conquered this depression that had lingered prior and the experience on LSD and the after effects gave me the confidence that I was resolved and good to get off the meds. I was also at the time smoking Marijuana on occassion, as it was to me a lot like taking itty bitty doses of LSD, giving me a taste of that enlightenment feeling.
Fast forward a couple of months after the trip and I started noticing an odd symptom in my day to day experiences: I had difficulty concentrating, on just about anything. It started created huge problems for me with my school work, work, and especially was markedly problematic in my social performance. Keeping eye contact was now so difficult to do and more straining then it had ever been before. I started struggling with any and all sorts of visual concentration acts. It did not matter what the task or activity was. If I had to concentrate visually, it presented itself to be a huge obstacle.
My current status:
Up until now, 6 years into this issue, I've tried a myriad of treatments and modalities to understand and treat these symptoms, namely through stress reduction, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, SSRI/SNRI use, lifestyle changes, exercise, vision therapy, detox, alternative therapy methods, you name it. Seen various doctors, resulting in no real tangible diagnosis given, as all tests performed came back with good results other than one test that showed my CoQ10 levels were very low (thus, I am now supplementing CoQ10). But nothing I've tried thus far has helped alleviate these unbearable and excruciating symptoms and they seem to have only progressed and gotten worse. What's worst of all is that the symptoms are chronic, and not intermittent. From the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep, they are there. And the symptoms don't seem to improve with very much anything. The symptoms also evolved for me in the past 6 years, having gotten stronger in degree and more numerous, despite having worked on them from an anxiety/depression perspective, as well as making healthy lifestyle changes with diet, exercising, stress reduction, etc.
The primary symptoms I have today are:
- Visual Concentration Dysfunction
- Default 'Far-away-gaze' or 'eyes zooming in' all the time
- Unintentional spacing out and starring all the time
- Double Vision when looking at near distances
- Feeling out of body and 'in my eyes'
- 'Brain fog' feeling throughout the day
- Abdominal bloating
- Cognitive dysfunction
- Lack of emotional experiences or emotions in general
One trip 6 years ago turned my life completely up side down and progressed in me these excruciating physical and cognitive symptoms that are truly unbearable. I don't know quite what to do at this point and don't quite understand what has happened to me. It has truly made day to day life like hell for me. My suspicion is that something with either the LSD + Cymbalta combination and/or withdrawal symptoms from quitting Cymbalta led me down this road. Perhaps a dysfunction with the serotonin receptors that are associated with LSD & Cymbalta both? Would trying a serotonin antagonist be of use maybe? Does this spark any intuition or insight for anyone as to what may have happened to me and what may be going on in my body? Does anyone have any suggestion as to what I might be able to do to get back to my old self or am I lost cause? I hope it is not the later, and that is why I am writing here, in search of some hope and insight into my problems.
Thanks for reading and I hope anyone in a similar situation that may be able to relate and get benefit from my story and this thread as well.
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