[CWilhite]

Hey all, I hope you had a great holiday weekend! Recently I decided that I wanted to try dealing with RSD without all the medicine I've been taking the last two years. I know it sounds crazy, and there are days I wonder what I was thinking but after the failure of my SCS I had implanted 6 months ago I feel into this heavy depression and as ashamed as I am to say this, I even had a few weeks where I had terrible suicidal thoughts because I felt so helpless. I recently found a pain relieving lotion (two different ones I use daily) and made the choice that I didn't want to take he heavy duty narcotics, and wanted to begin the process of weening off Cymbalta and Lyrica. I'm finally down to only two doses of Lyrica but Cymbalta has been terrible to step down from! For the last two weeks anything I eat goes right through me, and I started having "brain zaps" as a site for Cymbalta calls it. A few nights ago I also started feeling like I was having a heart attack to which I was given beta blockers to slow my heart down. Has anyone else experienced this stuff when coming off Cymbalta? Is stepping down the way to go or would I be just as miserable going cold turkey like I want to? I've also been exercising daily again, before my accident I ran 8 miles a day so getting back to being in the gym has made such a difference in my mood! I noticed that being off pan meds and stuff has also helped me sleep all night!

So after that rambling, is three anything else I can do to make life easier going down this med free path?