I was on it for five years from 2005 to 2010 and I know only too well how hard it is to come off. The withdrawal regimen my doctor suggested was way too fast and I had all the nasty side effects. I had to taper off using the liquid form for months which was hard to get hold of in Britain. At the time there was a lot of denial in the medical profession about how insidious the drug is.
I've had reasonable success with it. I'm still depressed but my extreme highs and lows have been removed. I feel very flat and lethargic but I've never had to deal with the prospect of a life changing illness and be stuck in a limbo of not knowing at the behest of the British healthcare system before. I can't afford to go private and I don't agree in principle. A free, on demand healthcare system available to all, paid for by everyone's taxes, is one of this country's most enlightened institutions. (I don't want to stir up a hornet's nest about Obamacare!)

The reason I'm taking it again is because my doctor thinks my body already knows it and it would therefore kick in quicker. At the time I was in favour of duloxitine bacause I had already read about it's pain relieving use in diabetic neuropathy. I thought I woud kill two birds with one stone so to speak, the pain and depression. I was a bit concerned about the dose of 60mg though as I thought it was a bit high (I'm on 20mg Paxil). I've since found out that dosages of different SSRI's are not necessarily comparable.

Anyway, on a different point, another problem I have at the moment is my voice. For the last month or so, I have struggled to talk in my usual low register, my voice keeps breaking. It's worse in the morning and on days when I hardly talk (easily done living on my own and being off work at the moment).
I mentioned it to my choir leader last week and she gave me some vocal exercises to do and said she thought it was nothing to be concerned about. I have also mentioned it to my therapist. She thinks it's stress related.
Predictably I've looked it up and started panicking when I saw nerve related conditions. I don't have a sore throat, I have no problems swallowing and I mentioned it to my doctor a couple of weeks ago. He looked at it and seemed perplexed by the symptoms but offered no diagnosis. I'll go again this week I think.

Karen