[cookie]

Hello, I´ve been on Cymbalta 60mg for 5 years. At the beginning it worked great for my depression but after a period of time it´s effectiveness diminished. I wasn´t planning to quit this antidepressant until I found this site and started reading about the horrible withdrawal effects. In fact my psychiatrist has always said that I need antidepressants -for the rest of my life-, so I never thought of stopping. He has never said anything about withdrawal symptoms.

Here´s my problem. After reading this site I was determined to decrease and wean off of cymbalta. After taking 60mg for 5 years I was going to start 30mg this week. But I didn´t want to do it without my doctor permission. He said last thursday that I need to take 60mg for a little while. (isn´t 5 years enough???).
I do not want to still take that large dose, and postpone the dosage decrease, but I am scared to do it without the psychiatrist consent.
If I diminish it without his permission I will be responsible for my symptoms and not be able to report my symptoms to him.
But if I do not diminish it, I am just postponing the suffering it takes to wean off cymbalta.

I do not what is worse: the symptoms of my depression or the cymbalta withdrawal symptoms?? what do you say?

Please I need your help to decide.
Thank you so much
C.

[MaureenV]

cookie, on 24 April 2010 - 10:00 PM, said:

Hello, I´ve been on Cymbalta 60mg for 5 years. At the beginning it worked great for my depression but after a period of time it´s effectiveness diminished. I wasn´t planning to quit this antidepressant until I found this site and started reading about the horrible withdrawal effects. In fact my psychiatrist has always said that I need antidepressants -for the rest of my life-, so I never thought of stopping. He has never said anything about withdrawal symptoms.

Here´s my problem. After reading this site I was determined to decrease and wean off of cymbalta. After taking 60mg for 5 years I was going to start 30mg this week. But I didn´t want to do it without my doctor permission. He said last thursday that I need to take 60mg for a little while. (isn´t 5 years enough???).
I do not want to still take that large dose, and postpone the dosage decrease, but I am scared to do it without the psychiatrist consent.
If I diminish it without his permission I will be responsible for my symptoms and not be able to report my symptoms to him.
But if I do not diminish it, I am just postponing the suffering it takes to wean off cymbalta.

I do not what is worse: the symptoms of my depression or the cymbalta withdrawal symptoms?? what do you say?

Please I need your help to decide.
Thank you so much
C.

The next thing to ask him would be his recommendation for weaning off IF and WHEN he believes it's o.k.

Let us know what he says, and we'll let you know whether that's a realistic plan for Cymbalta.

Many don't have a problem withdrawing, but many have huge problems, and it's not well recognized.


regards, Maureen.

[nursedeborah]

cookie, on 24 April 2010 - 10:00 PM, said:

Hello, I´ve been on Cymbalta 60mg for 5 years. At the beginning it worked great for my depression but after a period of time it´s effectiveness diminished. I wasn´t planning to quit this antidepressant until I found this site and started reading about the horrible withdrawal effects. In fact my psychiatrist has always said that I need antidepressants -for the rest of my life-, so I never thought of stopping. He has never said anything about withdrawal symptoms.

Here´s my problem. After reading this site I was determined to decrease and wean off of cymbalta. After taking 60mg for 5 years I was going to start 30mg this week. But I didn´t want to do it without my doctor permission. He said last thursday that I need to take 60mg for a little while. (isn´t 5 years enough???).
I do not want to still take that large dose, and postpone the dosage decrease, but I am scared to do it without the psychiatrist consent.
If I diminish it without his permission I will be responsible for my symptoms and not be able to report my symptoms to him.
But if I do not diminish it, I am just postponing the suffering it takes to wean off cymbalta.

I do not what is worse: the symptoms of my depression or the cymbalta withdrawal symptoms?? what do you say?

Please I need your help to decide.
Thank you so much
C.

Cookie,
For starters I think that doctors need to work with their patients, and listen to what they are
saying. It sounds like he is not hearing what your telling him, and just keeping you on this
medication. Also how does he know you need to be on these kinds of meds for life??

I need a doctor who works with me,and hears what I am saying. For me I ended up having symptoms
that were like severe depression, and much more just from being on this drug.

You have to be the one to decide if you want to come off this drug or not, not your doctor.

As far as the withdrawl symptoms, these can be managed very well with the slow wean that many
have learned here. Also not everyone has it as bad as others coming off this drug.

Try going to this site, and see if you see any of your symptoms that you having now
http://prozactruth.com/cymbalta.htm

Good luck in your journey. Just remember you can always find another doctor to talk to
that will work with you.

Debbie
medication.

[cookie]

Dear Debbie:
Thank you so much for your response!
Because of what my doctor has always said, I thought that I had to use antidepressant for life.
Since he is the "expert" on mental issues, I believed it as true. However I´ve
been reading this site, and making decisions to wether I rather live with depression symptoms, or suffer
the horrible withdrawal symptoms of cymbalta. I do not know what is worse.

You are right, Doctors need to work with their patients and listen to them and I should be the one
who decides, whether I want to come off this drug, not my doctor.

I would like to know which symptoms you ended up having because of cymbalta usage. This info will be
helpful to me.

I´ll check the site you gave me.
Thank you so much! again
C.

[cookie]

Dear Maureen:
Thank you so much for your quick response. I appreciate it.
In relation to the questions you recommended me to ask my shrink, I already know his answers.
1. IF to wean off of cymbalta: he says I should take cymbalta or other antidepressant for the rest
of my life. I once told him that I wanted to be medicine free and that was his answer.
2. WHEN to wean. Because of what I mentioned above, we haven´t talked WHEN to wean, but we have talked
about WHEN to reduce the dose (from 60mg to 30mg). He says that he will diminish it when he sees that I am
more active in my life, get involved in new activities. What worries me Maureen is that I do not feel like
getting involved in many activities due to my depression. So the dosage increase has been postponed several
times. And if he´s waiting for me to become more active, the dosage decrease will take a lot of time.

What I feel like is totally the opposite. I rather reduce the dose, NOW, that I have more free time, and not when
I am responsible for many activities.

Thank you again
C.

[MaureenV]

cookie, on 26 April 2010 - 11:33 PM, said:

Dear Maureen:
Thank you so much for your quick response. I appreciate it.
In relation to the questions you recommended me to ask my shrink, I already know his answers.
1. IF to wean off of cymbalta: he says I should take cymbalta or other antidepressant for the rest
of my life. I once told him that I wanted to be medicine free and that was his answer.
2. WHEN to wean. Because of what I mentioned above, we haven´t talked WHEN to wean, but we have talked
about WHEN to reduce the dose (from 60mg to 30mg). He says that he will diminish it when he sees that I am
more active in my life, get involved in new activities. What worries me Maureen is that I do not feel like
getting involved in many activities due to my depression. So the dosage increase has been postponed several
times. And if he´s waiting for me to become more active, the dosage decrease will take a lot of time.

What I feel like is totally the opposite. I rather reduce the dose, NOW, that I have more free time, and not when
I am responsible for many activities.

Thank you again
C.

Problem is, too, many people feel quite lethargic on anti depressants. I know I'm doing a lot more exercise now than when i was taking Lexapro or cymbalta.



Have you thought of looking for a different doctor, or do you feel committed to him for other reasons. ??

regards, Maureen.

[cookie]

Dear Maureen:
It´s good to know that you are exercising more now that when you were on cymbalta. I hope I get more active when I wean.
I do feel committed in some way to my doctor. Maybe the word is not exactly committed but linked.
The main reason is that he has been treating me for 5 years, I do feel comfortable with him, he knows me a lot, etc.

I tried changing psychiatrist a month ago, the new doctor increased my dosage of cymbalta from 60 to 120mg!!!!!! and I felt that I had to tell him all my story (my life) again. So I went back to my former shrink

Thank you again for your response
C.

[Junior]

cookie, on 24 April 2010 - 10:00 PM, said:

Hello, I´ve been on Cymbalta 60mg for 5 years. At the beginning it worked great for my depression but after a period of time it´s effectiveness diminished. I wasn´t planning to quit this antidepressant until I found this site and started reading about the horrible withdrawal effects. In fact my psychiatrist has always said that I need antidepressants -for the rest of my life-, so I never thought of stopping. He has never said anything about withdrawal symptoms.

Here´s my problem. After reading this site I was determined to decrease and wean off of cymbalta. After taking 60mg for 5 years I was going to start 30mg this week. But I didn´t want to do it without my doctor permission. He said last thursday that I need to take 60mg for a little while. (isn´t 5 years enough???).
I do not want to still take that large dose, and postpone the dosage decrease, but I am scared to do it without the psychiatrist consent.
If I diminish it without his permission I will be responsible for my symptoms and not be able to report my symptoms to him.
But if I do not diminish it, I am just postponing the suffering it takes to wean off cymbalta.

I do not what is worse: the symptoms of my depression or the cymbalta withdrawal symptoms?? what do you say?

Please I need your help to decide.
Thank you so much
C.

Hi Cookie

Firstly, it is only recommended that people who have had a depressive episode stay on medication for 9-12 months in order to stabilise. Not forever.

Secondly, you didn't mention having had previous episodes so I'm assuming you haven't. If that is the case then you don't need to take medication for the rest of your life. That is a total croc. I know depression well, unfortunately, as I've had five episodes in my lifetime. (Also wrote my 4th yr psychology thesis on it). It runs in the family so, in my case, it is genetic. But.. many people have one episode and that's all. So I don't know why your Dr told you what he did. Maybe he needs to do some professional development in regards to this topic?

Thirdly, at the end of the day, the choice is yours. I was always in favour of medication, given that I didn't 'discover' Paxil / Aropax until my 4th episode and how well it worked on me compared to the old tricyclics. But, I've discovered that after a period of time - for many, between 10-15 years - on SSRIs or SNRI's (like Cymbalta) that people build up a tolerance to them. This can mean basically going into withdrawal while still ON the drug and brings more problems than being on it solves. However, since one is now addicted, one has to wean off slowly. The medical profession has yet to recognise the major difficulty many are having in coming off their medication (see http://www.paxilprog...display.php?f=7) but it will happen. Hopefully then, they will revise how often they prescribe these powerful drugs and how they are to be used.

Hope that helps
Junior

[cookie]

Hi Junior:
Thank you so much for your answer! it really helps.

Imagine I´ve been on cymbalta for 5 years and as -you describe- I´ve develop certain tolerance to it. It is not as effective as at the beginning (thing that I told my psychiatrist, he says that it is not possible, that antidepressants do not just stop working).

In my case this is my second episode of Depression. I had one mild one 8 years ago, and then a strong episode struck 5 years ago.

The reason I started to think about dosage decrease (& weaning) was all the horrible withdrawal symptoms I read on this site. Exactly like you say I thought that cymbalta "brings more problems that being on it solves". I am evaluating what is worse: the Depression symptoms (that i had at the beginning) or the withdrawal symptoms people describe.

I do appreciate your opinion, because you yourself have suffered for many years episodes of Depression & have tried different medications. If you can keep me updated on your progress it will be interesting.

Thank you for the site I´ll check it out
C.

[Junior]

cookie, on 29 April 2010 - 06:02 AM, said:

Hi Junior:
Thank you so much for your answer! it really helps.

Imagine I´ve been on cymbalta for 5 years and as -you describe- I´ve develop certain tolerance to it. It is not as effective as at the beginning (thing that I told my psychiatrist, he says that it is not possible, that antidepressants do not just stop working).

In my case this is my second episode of Depression. I had one mild one 8 years ago, and then a strong episode struck 5 years ago.

The reason I started to think about dosage decrease (& weaning) was all the horrible withdrawal symptoms I read on this site. Exactly like you say I thought that cymbalta "brings more problems that being on it solves". I am evaluating what is worse: the Depression symptoms (that i had at the beginning) or the withdrawal symptoms people describe.

I do appreciate your opinion, because you yourself have suffered for many years episodes of Depression & have tried different medications. If you can keep me updated on your progress it will be interesting.

Thank you for the site I´ll check it out
C.

Hi Cookie

Glad I can help.

Yeah, depression is the absolute pits. Give me physical pain any time. It makes sense. The anguish of depression doesn't. And when you are in that state you can't even begin to imagine feeling happy and enjoying life again. Just having a simple conversation can seem impossible because words just don't come. And cognitive tasks? Bah..too hard!

Your Dr is actually right. A/ds don't stop working. The problem is, we become addicted to them and our bodies ask for higher doses. When we don't give in to that, we effectively go into withdrawal. My own experience was that Aropax / Paxil wasn't working as effectively as previous and my mood was lower than it should have been. I wasn't depressed but a bit low and sleep was an issue. Took me a while to figure out what was going on and when I did, I spoke to my Dr and we decided I would wean off and switch to another a/d. I ended up going from Paxil to Lexapro to which I had a bad reaction (inner restlessness, impaired concentration, impaired short term memory, feeling of being electrically charged, low mood and eventually the urge to slit my wrists!) then over to Cymbalta. Cymbalta disrupted my sleep pattern and gave me GI distress. I cold turkeyed it after only 19 days on 60mg and suffered horrendous withdrawal. By that time my brain chemistry was so up the pole that no matter what I did, I just could NOT get a decent night's sleep. I was forced to go back on Paxil to stabilise. That and 5 diff tabs that my naturopath prescribed. I've learned a lot in the past 12 months and that is why I hang around here. To help others. I should also mention that I'm not generally sensitive to drugs or allergy prone so I've only suffered a small percentage of what some people go through.

Oh, and because drug companies fund the research into their drugs, there are no studies on either long-term a/d use or long-term withdrawal effects. Therefore, doctors believe that 'discontinuation syndrome' only lasts 2-4 weeks and that any return of symptoms cannot be withdrawal. It must be a return of the original symptoms...... You can see how people end up on a merry go round of different drs, drugs and symptoms. A merry go round that can take years to recover from.

There are some good psychological therapies for treating depression. Not just during the episode but to prevent future ones. If you want to come off Cymbalta, maybe look into one of the more popular ones - cognitive behaviour therapy.

Talk more soon
Junior

[cookie]

Dear Junior:
It sounds so familiar "can´t imagine feeling happy and enjoying life again" "have a simple conversation can seem imposible...." "cognitive tasks too hard".

Thank you for sharing your story. It´s interesting your point of view that if one takes antidepressant for a long time, the body becomes addicted to it and ask for higher doses. This is the reason why I want to be in a lower dose (30mg). It sounds contradictory with what you are saying. But I have felt that if one reduces the dose and the body gets used to that lower dose, then when a higher dose is needed you can increase it.

It´s so bad, that you only took cymbalta for 19 days, and still got the withdrawal symptoms!!! I´ve taken cymbalta for 5 years!!!!

That merry go round scares me!!.....if quitting cymbalta bring the original symptoms, I wouldn´t care, that much (although is hard to live with depression). However what I´ve read here, is that people start experiencing other symptoms which they never had! before taking cymbalta.

Thank you for your advice on -cognitive behavior therapy-.....I think the key is to prevent future episodes of Depression. Although I haven´t been able to get out 100% of this episode!!!

Thanks
C.

[Junior]

cookie, on 29 April 2010 - 10:37 PM, said:

Although I haven´t been able to get out 100% of this episode!!!

Thanks
C.

After 5 years on Cymbalta I'd say it's unlikely anything you are feeling now is related to your original depression. You might find this article interesting http://www.psycheduc...hanismIntro.htm It's vary long so maybe just skim it or save it for another time. But it backs up a lot of what I believe and makes a lot of sense to me. I think there is something in there about cells dying off and I think modern a/ds reverse that process. So IMHO it's likely that anything you are feeling / experiencing now is a result of Cymbalta and not your original depression. If that is the case, you should find that you feel better as you wean off.

I've been holding at 20mg of Paxil for nearly 3 months because I'm like you. I don't fear depression because that tends only to happen if I'm put under an extended spell of stress, and i've learned a lot about stress management. I fear a return of my old GAD. But I've decided that I haven't been off a/ds since undergoing therapy 11/12 yrs ago and I know I've changed since then. So maybe it's time for me to take a journey of discovery and find out who I am now and what my coping skills are like. Maybe the same is true for you? Except maybe doing therapy during withdrawal rather than after?

Just some thoughts
Junior