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MsAbsynthe
New Student/Teachers Apprentice
Posts: 12
(11/3/04 5:24 am)
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 Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
Hello all, I have a friend named Annette, she's in her late 30s, and I believe she's in South Carolina.
Last night, because of how a new drug (Cymbalta) was affecting her, she had planned out her Suicide, and had said her goodbyes, not wanting to be a burden on anyone.
I had forgotten my cellphone, and thank goodness I arrived home to the 3rd time she called. While she was talking to me, I woke up my computer, to the small little words, "help." was all I needed to see to know how serious the situation was.
She was in the process of committing suicide, and I was able to talk her out of it, methodically. She had talked to the suicide hotline earlier in the day, but unless you too suffer Fibromyalgia, Chronic Myofascial Pain, and add nerve pain of 7 - 9 out of 10 to the mix, it's hard to explain. I'm a little lower on the totem pole than her in pain, my levels jump up and down. Very few drugs touch nerve pain, and it was hoped Cymbalta would.
Instead, it drove her past Suicidal thoughts, right to suicide. I spoke to her for a long time, and she promised me verbatim that she would not take her life, and see the Psychiatrist today, but was scared of what would happen.
She saw her psychiatrist, and called me on the way to the hospital, where she's been committed, while she's coming off this medication.
Whereas it's helped others, it's a death sentence for her. She's being very, very brave, and even reached out to warn others that this can happen, and even had me post to warn others that this could happen - while she was on the way to the hospital!
While she's in there, she needs strength, the will to live, a reason to live and go on, and her stomach to calm down! She's down to 95 lbs, and can hardly eat, from what the pain has wrought on her.
She's been surviving on Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia yogurt, bless her heart, but she needs to gain back minimum 20 lbs, which would put her back to her normal weight, on her 5' 7" small frame.
She's been on morphine and it's dirivitives to control the pain, but nothing has touched the nerve pain. Friends suggested Darvocet, and when she took that, dropped her pain to 6/10, but the Cymbalta had already grabbed her on the suicidal thoughts, and grew like a rotten apple into action.
Please help me pray, and any spells of comfort, and to help her stomach calm down and her gastrointestinal track would be appreciated. Like most Chronic pain patients, even me, we have constipation, which links into all that, and I started taking fibercon tablets to help.
She desperately wants to enjoy food again, and it take her 45 minutes to down a cracker.
I think I have a good update on new meds that affect nerve pain, so the stomach thing needs addressing.
I also fear she will have to be restrained, because when you go cold turkey off Cymbalta, well one of the clinical trial gals, 19, committed suicide by hanging herself in the shower, and she wasn't suicidal before joining the trial. It's going to be a rough road, but she will perservere.
Thank you all, for your help in this. She is precious, someone who has endured pain beyond my imagining, and I almost went onto that drug...and chose Topamax instead. I could have been in her shoes.
I pray someday, she will know what it's like not to know daily pain, and have it controlled, and start enjoying her life again.
{{{HUGS}}}
- Julie
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sheilajw2002 
Our Lady of few words and many emotions
Posts: 180
(11/3/04 6:45 pm)
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Re: Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
Sending prayers and healing thoughts her way. 
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lauriex
The gentle hearted
Posts: 195
(11/4/04 11:32 pm)
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Re: Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
aww, man..
l can't imagine that, but she's in my heart, ms.. l know someone who's in pain from chrones a lot, and l've seen how miserable she can get.. l hope they can get her off this, and find something to help her out a little.
laurie.
~sending healing thoughts her way
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Akuma Kijin
Defender Beast and Fowl
Posts: 145
(11/5/04 11:32 pm)
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Re: Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
of course light healing and comfort on the way. My mother has a cronic illness so I have seen the pain they can cause. good luck to you her and her families
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MsAbsynthe
New Student/Teachers Apprentice
Posts: 12
(11/7/04 7:29 pm)
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 Re: Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
Thank you! She has been steadily improving, they may let her out Monday. They wanted to make sure she's on the optimum dosage for her pain meds too, so she's without pain as much as possible.
She's completely off the Cymbalta, and onto another one. I spoke with her yesterday, and she doesn't understand how she was feeling that dark day. I just told her it was the drug, and I was proud how she didn't stop reaching out that day.
I also suffer from Chronic pain, I have Fibromyalgia, Chronic Myofascial Pain, and Chronic Migraines. I am working on those with a clinic, and I picked a drug that has been helping with the nerve pain, but my friend, who's part of my support group, was put on the other drug given out for the nerve pain...I am thankful she's alive, and doing better, and she's even been able to eat, so that's a radical improvement.
Now, to help get some weight on her! She can have what I lost, lol.
Thank you all.
- Julie
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Sugar Mtn Honeybee
Waiting for a name!!
Posts: 70
(11/9/04 1:10 pm)
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Re: Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
Chronic pain is difficult to deal with on a daily basis. I hate taking medication anyway. There are several of us here at COTES who have FMS, as well as other chronic illnesses. Migraines seem to go along with that too, for some reason. However, I hope they don't market that Cymbalta. Sounds like a very BAD medication. Of course, they were/are still pushing Prozac like candy too.. except it causes psychosis in some people. They gave me the generic form of it, & I didn't realize what it was. I started thinking my family members were plotting against me & trying to poison me! I KNEW it had to be the pills, so I stopped taking them and THEN talked to the doc's office about it.
I'm glad your friend is feeling better.
**edited due to brain fog - can't remember how to spell - **
Sugar Mountain /
The DanceEdited by: Sugar Mtn Honeybee at: 11/9/04 1:13 pm
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shadeaux63
Keeper of dreams
Posts: 988
(11/9/04 2:22 pm)
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Re: Prayers and such needed for an ill friend...
I'm glad your friend is doing better,and hope she continues to improve.
They want me to start taking Cymbalta,too.When I read the side effects to Ralph,he heard the part about increased risk of suicidal thoughts,and asked me if I was sure I wanted to take it.I told him he knew me,I wasn't taking anything until I researched it thoroughly.And after hearing this,I'm not so sure,myself.Especially considering that the psychiatrist who gave them to me said that the type of depression I have usually doesn't respond to anti-depressants very well,anyway(isn't that lovely?).
Your friend is lucky to have someone like you on her side.It helps so much to know you aren't alone,when you're feeling so down,and in pain.
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MsAbsynthe
New Student/Teachers Apprentice
Posts: 13
(11/10/04 12:46 am)
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 UPDATE! ALIVE AND DOING BETTER!
Shadeaux, thanks! I just did what I had to do, nothing more. She asked for help, and I helped.
What I do think she and I had on our side is that she was familiar with suicide, and realized that's where she was headed, and knew to ask for help. One of the things we talked about on the phone was, well we recognized it was the drug; but according to the trials, one girl who never was suicidal, hung herself after the Cymbalta trials were over!
Also, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
For me, I had a gamble: take either Cymbalta or Topamax for pain, and maybe it would also affect nerve pain.
I first chose Cymbalta, but after reading BOTH inserts, insisted on Topamax to my Orthopedic Surgeon.
He had to retire over the past week, just too sick from his cancer treatments.
Tomorrow, I go before the owner of the clinic and his replacement, and explain the Topamax! My Dr. was too sick to explain it, but trusted me enough to take it correctly. I am the first at the FM/pain clinic to take it for Migraines (cleared 8/04 for Migraines!) and it has affected my nerve pain, and the "burning ant" gloves.
But I still am in chronic pain, and need Oxycontin, just to draw again...I need to so badly, but hurt so much. They promised to fix that tomorrow, and start my physical therapy, and I promised to hang in, and do it!
Hopefully, no more falling off my Nordic Trac in the future! 
AND I hope Annette, my friend, continues to advance in her pain control, and we get to take a vacation together, without pain. I've never met her, but she and I have been buddies online, even when others on that particular site didn't want us to talk about surviving suicide...they are listening at least for now.
AND thank YOU ALL for listening, and praying for her recovery! I just want her to not suffer, and be able to enjoy her life.
EDIT: As of 12/9/04, she has survived 2 suicide attempts, schizo affective voices telling her to off herself. She's alive, and the last anti-psychotic is being withdrawn! She's asking for the anti-seizure drug I'm on, that has cut down my nerve pain and hand shakes, Topamax, and hopes it will help her too.
Other s/e documented is that it activates Hypothathalamus gland, and helps with Bipolar, AND stops Schizo Affective problems in some people! I sure hope it helps her, like it has helped me. She's still out of work, and suffering from s/e from the Seroquel, ie, her eyes had double vision, but started to clear up.
She's happy to be alive, and sent me pics of her pets and she and her roommate, and an Xmas card of a cat in thanks for helping, very unexpected!
I do hope she starts to feeling better. I have no idea why they put her on drugs, when she just needed off the Cymbalta, IMHO.
Time will tell, thank you all for your thoughts, time, spells and prayers!!
{{{hugs for all!}}}
Julie
Edited by: MsAbsynthe at: 12/10/04 3:56 am
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