[Riley]

My doctor prescribed me Cymbalta several years ago. I don't remember when, exactly. I know during my pregnancy, I suffered from depression and I believe that's when I started on anti-depressants. I haven't been on a ton - I believe only Wellbutrin and Lexapro before Cymbalta. The Lexapro wasn't working anymore and I had too much stress in my life from cancer in my family and several deaths in a row. I have been on Cymbalta for at least 4 years, I know that much.

I've tried to stop them when my prescription ran out on a Friday, like I sometimes did with the Lexapro and Wellbutrin. By Monday, I would be a hot mess. Now that my life has calmed down, I thought this would be a good time to go off. I had a major surgery in May and didn't take my Cymbalta. By Day 5, I had to take them again.

After meeting with my doctor last week and telling her about my concerns, she agreed that reducing my intake would be a good idea. I had tried counting the beads before and it was such a pain, so I thought I'd just eyeball it. The last few days, I think I threw out more beads than I left. All I know is, I feel like death. I've alternated between diarreah and vomiting. I feel nauseous and hungry at the same time. My head is throbbing. I am mean and hateful to everyone who dares talk to me. I spent today in bed, alternating between thinking I have the flu to wondering if I have a brain tumor like what killed my mother. I am terrified. I finally talked myself into thinking it's the Cymbalta. I thought since I was still taking it, that I would not have the side effects as severely, but I believe I cut my dose too low this week.

I'm afraid since I spent a week below 30MG that to go back to my 60MG pill would be backtracking. So starting tomorrow, I'm going to try back up at 30MG and see how I feel. I have a life, a job, school, a child, a husband, and I can't afford for this withdrawal from this stupid devil pill to ruin my life. So tomorrow, regardless of how many times I've thrown up or how bad I feel, I will swallow my pill and take myself to work.

I definitely want in on a class-action against this company. I've talked to several doctors who have not heard about the evil Cymbalta withdrawal. I discovered it when I researched Cymbalta online a year or so ago, but I was not ready to come off just yet. Yay me, now I am and now I am dealing with these feelings making me think I'm dying.

So tomorrow will by my Day 1, of cutting from 60 to 30. I'd like to post here often to document how I'm feeling at every point in the process.

I look forward to meeting everyone!

Riley

[TimC97124]

Welcome Riley. You're in the right place. Many of us are currently fighting the battle and winning little by little. Take it one day at a time and don't cut down too far too fast. Except that it works a little differently for everyone. If you're lucky, you might be OK with big decreases, but most of us find that in order to minimize the withdrawal effects, we need to go slowly and some people need to go slower than others. I've been OK with dropping one more milligram everyday without causing a bad day for myself. Several people have posted their journal so you can see how others do it. You can also read many examples of how not to do it, too.

Best wishes. Fight on!
TimC

[Riley]

Thanks Tim!

Yesterday was probably the worst day for me, so far. I was so miserable, and my head hurt all day long. I was nauseous all day, too and couldn't sit/lay/stand in any one place for too long. Today I added some MG back, I cut about 10MG from the 60MG pill. Last week I reduced myself down to about 20MG I'd say, which was too fast of a cut for me. I had terrible, vivid nightmares last night. So far today, not feeling too bad. Stomach is not too bad, and head is only slightly hurting.

I'm ready to get off this evil medicine!

Riley

[Riley]

Thanks Ryan!

I did drop down too low for a week (from 60 to about 15-20), because when I added myself back to about 30-40, I felt 100% better. It's so tedious to count those darn microbeads! What's the best way, has anyone posted a good method? I know it's important, so I figure I will do that every Sunday and get the pills ready for the week since I don't have time to mess with counting in the morning.

I missed my pill today because I had a minor medical procedure and I prefer not to take any pills when I'm going under anesthesia. I have a slight headache but not sure if it's from missing the pill or from the anesthesia. I normally don't go into withdrawal until about 4-5 days off cold turkey. Cymbalta and Vitamin D is all I take on a daily basis, thankfully I don't have need of many prescription drugs.

I'm a little worried about the insomnia. That's never really been an issue for me. I am a night-owl and sometimes I find it hard to stop my brain, so I use a method of counting to 100, and that usually puts me to sleep after a few counts. I certainly don't need anything preventing me from falling asleep! It's hard enough for me to wake in the morning without struggling to fall asleep! Thanks for the warning, though.

I appreciate your comment!

Riley

[Riley]

Thanks for all the advice! I skipped my pill yesterday because I had a minor medical procedure, and today my stomach is really sick. I don't know if it's a result of the sedation/anesthesia, the procedure itself, or the cymbalta. I was fine this morning but as the day went on, I started feeling worse. Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow. I have my last pill ready for tomorrow too, so I need to sit down and make out the next week's worth of capsules. I just eyeballed it for this week, so I want to make sure I do a good count this coming week.

Thank you everyone!

[Riley]

So, it's been a few weeks now. I cut from 60 - 15/20 and it was too severe so I went up to about 30 for a week and felt wonderful! Last week, I cut down a bit more, to maybe a 20, and I felt fine until the weekend. As I stated before - it takes about 4-5 days for the withdrawal to really hit me, so when I reduce on a Monday, by Saturday I'm feeling crappy and Sunday I think I'm dying. Last night I laid in bed, terrified and thinking that I had stomach cancer because I was sick all weekend with diarreah, nausea, and bloating. This is what happened 2 weeks ago when I reduced - I had the terrible headache on Sunday and I had myself talked into believing that I was dying from a brain tumor. So far, nothing is suicidal, but I am certain that I'm dying from some cancer or another! It's a horrible feeling!

I finally talked myself out of that, and I'm sure it's the pills. I never take them on Saturday and Sunday, but maybe I should, perhaps not having it in my system at all at that point makes the side effects unbearable. Today I started on a slightly lower amount, and I'm going to take them through the weekend. I have a busy weekend ahead of me, so if I don't feel better in the next day or two, by Weds I am going to up my MG again to get thru the weekend.

Drymouth! OMG! I've never experienced this in my life. I wake up choking b/c I have no saliva in my mouth, and only after drinking several bottles of water does it feel better. Then I am up the rest of the night using the restroom!

Cymbalta is the DEVIL!!!!!!!!!

Riley

[earthkitty1]

I am also trying to wean off 60 mg Cymbalta. I am about 5 days into droppng a few beads per day and I am beginning to feel odd. A little dizzy, a little stomach upset, anxious, snapping at people. Dr. says that I may try Zanax. Anyone had any luck with it? I definitely have a chemical imbalance and need to know where to go next. Thanks for any input! Kim