I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome in 2009. A rheumatologist prescribed 60 mg Cymbalta once a day. The side effects were unpleasant, but not unbearable. After a few weeks most of them went away. The medication did wonders for my symptoms. Over the last few years I have done a lot of research and joined several support groups. I have changed my lifestyle and my eating habits. The symptoms of my Fibromyalgia have fluctuated along with these changes. Over the last year my largest complaint is insomnia.
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| Cymbalta |
My mother and recently my oldest brother have been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Both are controlled with diet and medication in pill form. Due to my medications and conditions my doctor does a regular blood panel on me. The last two draws done three months apart are listed below:
| Component | Standard Range | Your Value |
|---|---|---|
| Glucose | 65 - 99 mg/dL | 102 |
| Glucose | 65 - 99 mg/dL | 109 |
Due to these results my doctor ordered an A1C:
| Component | Standard Range | Your Value |
|---|---|---|
| HEMOGLOBIN A1C | 4.8 - 5.6 % | 5.8 |
| ESTIMATED AVERAGE GLUCOSE | 120 |
I started on Tuesday, because Mondays are bad enough without trying something crazy. I started taking 30 mg Cymbalta daily as prescribed by my doctor. This will be for two weeks at which time I will drop to 20 mg Cymbalta daily for another two weeks. If I last through the month I will then take 20 mg Cymbalta every other day for two weeks. My Christmas present to myself is being free of the drug.
The first change is in my sleeping. I got up Tuesday morning and took the new dose of medication. Around 2 pm I was exhausted and lay down. Woke up sometime around 7 pm and ordered pizza for dinner being too tired to cook. I watched television, ate dinner, and then went back to bed between 10:30 and 11 pm. I slept through the night and awoke Wednesday morning around 9 am. I was not as tired on Wednesday and stayed up until 11:30 pm. I slept until 11 am Thursday morning.
Per my doctor I am keeping a food journal. This is to open my eyes to what I am actually consuming rather than what I think I am. I have chosen to do a sugar detox on my own. I will be using many sources, but was inspired by a book written by Gina Crawford titled Sugar Detox For Beginners. The most difficult part for me will be cutting out Mountain Dew. I have done this in the past, but always gone back to drinking it. Prior to starting this detox yesterday, I had reduced my intake to two 12 oz cans per day.
Today I have a slight headache. This is most likely due to caffeine withdrawal. I also need to consider that the temperature dropped about 20° overnight. I have not noticed any other changes as of yet.
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The headache is getting worse. My daughter suggested taking medication with caffeine in it. I think that defeats the purpose of going through the detox, but the pain is getting past the point I can tolerate. I am seriously questioning my plans of doing both at the same time. How do I know what change is causing my symptoms? Taking the medication as prescribed is easy, but being careful what I eat could cause problems if I lose focus.
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