[habaneroo]

im trying to learn about cymbalta withdrawal to support my wife in her struggle to quit.efter 3 years on 90,some periods 120mg.

she was diagnosed with depression,and prescribed cymbalta.

she has trying to step down on the dose,but felt bad and the doctor then raise the dose of cymbalta.making her even more sleepy and disfunctional.

It esculated when my was being manic(probably because of cymbalta,she totally went mad.Spending all money,wanting to divorce etc. you know the typical manic things.

She then decreased the dose from 90 down to 60,after a week she was taken by police after we(relatives and friends) and police was searching for her a whole night. She was taken to physiatric hospitol and stayed there for 3 months. They raised the dose of cymbalta to 90mg,and diagnosed her bipolar type 1.
and ADHD(she had tested for that couple of months,much tests).
she was put on lithium,and concerta. and felt better much because of concerta.

Now she is back from the manic state,and totally convinced to get off cymbalta,and just being on litium and concerta.

She has decreased the dose of cymbalta from 90mg to 60mg a day(with her doctor protesting).

after a week now she feels the buzz in the head and her heart almost popping out of the chest.

I see it as she is getting of heroin,and trying to support her to just live thru this.

she wants to go from 60mg to 30mg after 2 week on this dose,but im not sure about that.

maybe the lithium and concerta can milder the withdrawal symptoms?

she thinks that maybe going cold turkey is an alternative,and just stay in bed til its over,but i try to make her lower the dose slower.

whats your advise? she is at home now,but going back to hospital once a week,seeing the doctor and checking everything is ok,but they think the withdrawal sympoms she has is side effects of concerta(that shes been on just 2 weeks).

[Junior]

Hi Habaneroo

Nice to see a caring husband here although I'm sorry you NEED to be here. Welcome :)

How do her doctors feel about her coming off Cymbalta? I understand her desire to reduce the amount of drugs to the minimum but whatever she does, it's important that she does it slowly. Esp if she really is Bipolar (I have a sibling with the same condition). I say that not only because of the withdrawal from Cymbalta but also because it may affect her bipolar.

People have many and varied withdrawal effects from Cymbalta. In fact, they have many and varied withdrawal effects for all modern anti-depressants. To find out what people suffer, have a look around this board. Also maybe check out a few other forums - not just Cymbalta ones - as the list is endless.

There are two major problems in withdrawing:
1. Every person is different. This is because we are all 'wired' a little differently. For instance, many people here talk about 'brain zaps' but I've never had them - despite coming off Aropax (Paxil), Lexapro and Cymbalta, all in the past few months (I'm back on Paxil now). Generally however, people do better if they do a long, slow taper.
2. Drs don't know about the major withdrawal problems some people have. Drug companies only run studies that last 4-6 weeks so Drs think 'discontinuation syndrome' only lasts about 3-4 weeks. Unfortunately, people have problems that last a lot longer. Sometimes people can get off the drug easily - initially - but major problems surface several months down the track. So just be aware that Drs don't have all the facts.

Regards
Junior

[nursedeborah]

hanabaroo,
Welcome, and it really is awesome to see you here for you wife. I do have to tell you that even the
company, and TV commerical say it's not for people with Bipolar! I can't even believe her doc put
her on this med.She is going through withdrawls, and it is from the Cymbalta, and needs to slow way down.

Here is the site I like to give for all the withdrawl symptoms http://prozactruth.com/cymbalta.htm
Look it up, and see if any of them ring true for her.

junior is right the doc's know nothing about the side effects, or the withdrawl symptoms. It is people
like us that are showing up in their offices, and bringing them post, and the FDA report that is here.
Please find it, and get a copy for you, and take one to your doc.

90mg to 30 mg is way to huge of a drop. I would just do 90 mg + 15 mg, and see if she doesn't start to
feel better. Then what we do is wait about 2 weeks, or until the symptoms have left, and we decrease again.
I still gett some withdrawls, and it avbout 6-9 days after my decrease, that just happens for some. I am not
going to go down that much on my next decrease, as I have read so many posts, and see that you can get it
almost to none!

Please let us know what happens at the doctors, and also whatis still going on now. We are here to support
you both.

Debbie

[habaneroo]

actually my wife was diagnosed "bipolar type 1" after being on cymbalta 3years,thats one of the reasons she wants to quit.

Probably ite because of Cymbalta and the high dosage of it (120mg sometimes) that she went bipolar.

its so wrong that instead of decrease the dosage when she was on 90mg and so tired she couldnt work,she couldnt even get out of bed some times,they increased it to 120mg.

now she has talked to her doctor about quiting it,and he had got the tips from another doctor(who claims to be an expert on bipolar disorder,and says he knows about the problems with cymbalta withdrawal) to quit cymbalta 60mg cold turkey,and start taking 20mg prozac every morning.

i wrote about it in another thread.

its day 4 now,and she is not feeling well. I still tell her she could go back on it and try the slow tapering.

But she says she will never take a cymbalta ever againg,i just hope she will be ok.

im so glad this forum exist,and i hope i be here to tell you that she manage to get through this crap.

thank you all,and i feel sorry for you all who have to go through this.

[MaureenV]

I can certainly understand her wish to never take Cymbalta again.

However it's important to understand that our brains are 'crying out' for this drug;


Unlike some illegal drugs, the difference with something like Cymbalta is that by slowly lowering the dose the body can be slowly trained to want less.

That's a bit different from people addicted to other stuff, who even years after being clean are tempted to taste the high the drug gave them (like my nephew two years ago, sadly, 3 years clean from heroin, tempted to dabble again, and his body couldn't cope with the drug and he fatally overdosed).

Maureen.

[Junior]

Habaneroo

I agree with Maureen. While I understand your wife not wanting to put the poison that is Cymbalta into her body again, she needs to understand why going cold turkey is NOT a good thing. The drug alters two chemical messengers, serotonin and norepinephrine. The brain then kind of says, well hang on, all the other chemical messengers now have to be changed in order to regain balance. This is why many people suffer side effects when they first go onto Cymbalta (and other anti-depressants). Now, when it's time to come off, that process works in reverse. As you can probably imagine, it takes time for the brain to regain it's natural equilibrium, which is why it is better to taper slowly. Two common features of withdrawal are 'depression' (feelings are similar to real depression but it is chemically induced as the body is not used to functioning without the serotonin/ norepinephrine boost given by the drug) and anxiety - experienced as though the nerves were jelly / jitteryness.

I have talked to people on other forums, people who are withdrawing from other anti-depressants, and they all say the same thing. NEVER go cold turkey. I switched from Aropax (Paxil) to Lexapro earlier this year, had a bad reaction so tried Cymbalta and quit that cold turkey. I got over the Cymbalta withdrawal after only 2 weeks (had some nasty effects though) but my body is so used to being on anti-depressants that it couldn't cope without them. In the 3 weeks that I was off them altogether, I could NOT sleep no matter how tired I was. Even sleeping tablets didn't do much. The anxiety was unbelievable, it was like being all shaky on the inside. And I thought I was sliding into depression. I had no choice but to go back on something and I chose the one that had worked for many years - Aropax (Paxil). I now know that if I want to come off it, I will have to go very slowly.

Please warn your wife of what could happen. It really would be better if she went back on Cymbalta and withdrew slowly. She could probably stay on the Prozac. Some people find that it really helps to ease the withdrawal.

Good luck
Junior

[nursedeborah]

junior,
Thanks for writing all that, it's what i need to hear right now, as I really am having a
hard time still, and just can't function. The depression or what ever this drug did to
me is happening so very intensly right now. Then to read what you wrote, it like went
into my little head, and made things better, somewhat.

I know all about this stuff, but when I am in such a dark place it's like I forget everything
I do know. I know it will get better, it is just not an over night fix.

Debbie

[Junior]

Deb

You are most welcome :)
Glad you got something from it. "I think I can.. I think I can.... I think I can...." =D

Junior

[nursedeborah]

junior,
This has really been another one of the most crueling times I have had going through
all of this, and then to add my PMS on top of it. I do think it, no I know it did something
to my hormones. I waw just to out of it for the past 6 days, and all I could do was lay on
the couch.

Yesterday was the first time I did go into the kitchen, and do the dishes, I was that messed
up. I couldn't even call my friends, and let them know I needed help so badly. See I have
always done everything myself! I do not want to be like this, and that's why I have been
going to my AA meetings, and Alanon meetings, so I can get to know people, as I was just
so isolated for so long.

Well enough out of me, I do feel stronger today, but it sure does take so much out of you
physically all the emotional stuff.

Love,
Debbie

[Junior]

Debbie

I'm so sorry that this has been so hard on you. You are such a giving person and all you want to do is help others. It just doesn't seem fair. Maybe you can look at this as a real learning experience. A time during which you had to learn to ask for help (You did say that you are used to doing things for yourself).

I've been doing more Home Visits for work and I have to tell you, some of what these Carers have to deal with... I just want to give them a hug and tell them everything will be alright :(

Just try to nurture yourself. If you can't do much today, don't. If you can do more tomorrow, do it. No one is going to judge you. If anyone does, send them to me and I'll practise my karate on them *insert evil grin*.....

"I think I can ....I think I can..... I think I can..... "

Junior

[nursedeborah]

junior,
Your just so precious, and I wish I had you as my in home care provider!
I am doing better, I actually got out yesterday, and went to my meeting,
got the car washed, the bank, and grocery.

Then I came home, and swept all my hardwoods floors, and put the dishes
away.

I also did make a reach out phone call, and need to get better at that!

I do have to tell you that this new person, and the info she is giving out
had me very upset yesterday. Then I realized that there was all of you
here too, and that I was not alone. I just love this place, and all of you
what it's done for me. I saw that post, and just freaked out!

i did write something about it all, and also told that person I was sorry
if I had hurt them, that way I have kept my side of the street clean.

Hope all is well with you.

Thanks again!

Debbie

[Junior]

Debbie

What a great day! Good for you! woooo hoooooooooooooooooo!!!! *throws streamers*.
Hopefully there will be more days like that soon. People talk about windows where they feel great but then the window closes. Looks like you had one of those. Great news. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if you were very tired today and if that happens, just go with it. Your body is not used to all that activity. As they say, all good things take time.

Keep up the good work

Junior

PS - I understand why you were upset. Don't worry, today is another day :)

[Junior]

PPS - I'm doing great. After a quiet few days (late last week and the weekend) I finally settled down and I'm actually sleeping again. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
I think the higher dose of the Aropax (Paxil) has kicked in too. I feel like 'me' again. But... I now know what happens when these drugs start to lose their effectiveness and I won't try switching again. It might be better to give myself the occasional 'holiday' from the drug that works... Not sure yet. Seeing my shrink today to discuss more of this.

[nursedeborah]

junior,
OMG to finally get to sleep, I just know how awful it is when you have insomnia.
Before I finally got some help with mine, as it does run in families, but mine also
had to do with my issues, I suffered so badly, and like you had to go to work, and
do life.

I am really back to feeling like I will live again, and I am also looking at my attitude
towards how I do see things in my life. Also how I have never done the grief work
on so much, and have just kept pushing it down for so many years!

Life goes on, and life gets better. Follow your own path.

Love,
Debbie