Episode 2: Gail Regenbogen
On this second episode of Akathisia Stories, we hear from Gail Regenbogen.
In late 2010 Gail's husband, Howard, went on the antidepressant Cymbalta; in a short period of time he changed from the "very outgoing, happy" man Gail had known him to be through 30 years of marriage, to someone who was "real quiet and withdrawn." "This was three weeks into the course of the Cymbalta” [she recounts]. “And that night my daughter called me up and she said, ‘We were all driving home and we were talking about dad tonight and I think something’s not right.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ve noticed a change in his personality, as well.’ And my kids were concerned, and I sort of just kind of let it be because I really wasn’t educated on any of the side effects of any of these drugs. You know, all I knew is that these drugs work and they help people."
Gail Regenbogen was born 63 years ago in Detroit, Michigan and raised 14 miles north of Chicago in the village of Wilmette. She attended New Trier High School and went on to study elementary education and history at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and was an elementary school teacher in the Chicago public school system. She married Howard Regenbogen in 1980; they raised three daughters together.