[janrn]

Hi everyone. I have been on Cymbalta for way too long and need to get off!! I saw my PCP yesterday and he casually recommended taking 60 mg every other day,(currently on 60 mg), then 30 mg every other day and voila, you will be done. Yah, right. I told him how I feel if I forget a dose, all the symptoms everyone else described. Didn't seem to phase him. Must search for a new doctor, good luck with that right.I found this site and have been following Linda and Karen.God bless you two. I got some better ideas to wean and hope it works. Today I counted, yikes nobody said those damn beads were almost microscopic!!! I estimated my dose for today was 56mg, hope that is ok. May try that for a few days and see how it works. God willing I can get off this stuff and feel human again. I thought alot of my symptoms were due to menopause and some may be, but reading about the side effects I think alot were from the drug. Will keep posting and may God bless you all and keep you safe.

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Dear Janrn:
I am not a doctor. But from what I´ve read on this site, the every other day approach is not that good. Alternating days, seems to maximize the suffering of withdrawal symptoms because of half life of cymbalta. It is better to take a certain dosage EVERYDAY.

If you want to use available presentations (60mg, 30mg, 20mg) you can do the following. By the way...do they sell 20mg pills in your town???. Because it makes more sense to me to take 50mg (a 30mg pill+ a 20mg pill) than taking 60mg every other day. It also makes more sense to me, to then take 40mg (two 20mg pills) than taking 30mg every other day.

I have weaned off very slowly making very small drops, and staying on a certain dosage for a period of time (a week, 2 weeks). And it has worked for me. I´ve had withdrawal symptoms, but I can function. I started on 60mg like you and then dropped to 52mg, then 45mg, then 37,56mg, then 30mg, etc, etc. Now I am down to 11mg.

[janrn]

Thanks everyone for the replies and good advice. Did well yesterday with the small drop in dosage. I'll make a small drop today and see how that goes. I am off work for a few days so thought this would be a good time to start. I also take a small dose of clonazepam daily--only 0.5 mg for panic attacks. Maybe that will help. I have been getting headaches but I attribute those to that foul ball I got hit with 3 weeks ago at my sons baseball game. OUCH! Got to try to have some humor to get through this. I wish more M.D.s knew how awful this stuff is. I feel like a meth addict in rehab. Always thankful for responses and support. God bless you all and keep you safe.

[janrn]

Day 6 of the weaning process. So far, so good. I have been removing small amounts of beads daily, such as 15-20/day. I am trying to calculate mg and think I have been weaning 2-3 mg/day. Other than some headache, I have been feeling OK. Thank you Lord!! I hope this is not too fast. I am so afraid of "the bottom falling out". I am still so angry about how everyone has suffered and the doctors being "blind" as to how bad this drug is. God willing if I get off this stuff I am writting Ely-Lilly a nice letter about their product. They advertise it EVERYWHERE!! Good luck to all and God Bless.

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janrn, on 28 September 2010 - 04:00 PM, said:

Day 6 of the weaning process. So far, so good. I have been removing small amounts of beads daily, such as 15-20/day. I am trying to calculate mg and think I have been weaning 2-3 mg/day. Other than some headache, I have been feeling OK. Thank you Lord!! I hope this is not too fast. I am so afraid of "the bottom falling out". I am still so angry about how everyone has suffered and the doctors being "blind" as to how bad this drug is. God willing if I get off this stuff I am writting Ely-Lilly a nice letter about their product. They advertise it EVERYWHERE!! Good luck to all and God Bless.

Dear Janrn:
Everybody is different. In my case I rather reduce weekly than daily. It allows my body to adjust. Dropping 3mg everyday sounds to fast for me, because you will be dropping 21mg a week. Besides, if you drop daily and you feel bad, you would not know which dosage exactly was the one that made you suffer symptoms. When I drop weekly and I feel bad, I just return to the previous dose.
Just my thoughts
hugs
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