[heathermcfeather]

Okay, for anyone who is trying to wean off Cymbalta, here's what I did and it worked like a CHARM!

Was on 60mgs/day for 1 1/2 years.

Started 30mgs/day for 10 days.

Started 15mgs/day for about 3 weeks.

Stopped Cymbalta and started 20mgs Prozac on the same day for 5 days.

Stopped the Prozac (none yesterday or today) and I feel totally back to normal. I had a FEW, very MINOR brain zaps yesterday, but nothing I couldn't handle. Other than that, last night and today, so far, NO brain zaps, NO headaches, NO nausea, NOTHING!! This is greatness! I'm off for good! :-)

[cookie]

Please keep up posted on your progress

[Caresy]

Do you know of the side effects of going on or off Prozac? I don't and am interested in this...

[heathermcfeather]

Sorry, just now got a chance to log in.

I have to say, during the days on Prozac and even still today, I am more depressed than usual, but most people in my support group are saying it takes awhile to completely level out. I had NO withdrawals from the Prozac after only being on for 5 days other than being more down than usual, but once I stopped it, I felt so much better. I say, you have nothing to lose by trying this. It really worked great for me and now I'm on day 8 without EITHER and other than some very minor brain zaps and sadness, that's all I have. I actually feel much better despite those two things.

Good luck. Don't worry, you can do this!

[Retired]

After 3 unsuccessful attempts to get off Cym by counting beads, I saw a new Pdoc & talked her into giving me a script for Prozac. After being on 60mg for several years, I was down to 20 for the past 2 months but still couldn't stop without help. In the past, I could not get beyond 3 days off Cym before I couldn't take it anymore. It has now been 6 days without it & I am optimistic the Prozac cure will work. I haven't had any bad brain zaps or headaches. The only problems so far have been fatigue & body aches (almost feels like the flu), but I think they will pass. Quitting the Prozac after only 5 days, as some have said, seems awfully quick. Why risk a relapse? I think I'll use the 30 day supply then stop it & see how that goes. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Lundeliz]

Hi Retired,

Glad to hear you were able to finally get off Cymbalta! I've been counting beads for about 18 months and have

only managed to get down to 40mg from 60mg. I have so many side effects that I cant tell which is side effects

and which is withdrawal. I really need off of this stuff. Did you add the Prozac after you were completely done

with Cymbalta? Prozac doesn't agree with me, so I asked my Dr. for Celexa to see if it will help get off Cymbalta.

He gave me a prescription, but left the schedule up to me. So I have no direction as he really knew nothing about it.

I've added in 5mg Celexa a week ago, but haven't dropped Cymbalta dose yet. Guess I"m scared to try. I will soon,

and really hoping it works!

[Retired]

Dear Lundeliz,

Sorry to hear that the bead counting has not worked for you, but it didn't work for me either. Regarding your question, I went directly from Cym to Prozac & never took both at the same time. Best of luck.

[Rachempower]

Hi all,

My story: I was on 90 mg of Cymbalta for over a year along with some other crap... and then became suicidal. After that they have had me down at 30 mg but I have been stuck here for almost a year now. I started on my Cymbalta for anxiety and it did help a lot. I was a binge eater when I was anxious and immediately stopped doing that once I started taking Cymbalta. That was 3 years ago. Although it helped at one point it came to be what almost killed me and now I can't get off it.

BIG NEWS: Today I am starting the Prozac "trick." Starting with 20 mg and working my way down to 10 mg.

After months and months of me trying to get off Cymbalta and just hearing from my doctor, "just take it an hour farther apart every day" my doctor finally did something and gave me Prozac as a replacement. I don't think I need the Cymbalta any more because I am on another drug cocktail that seems to be working. I am currently taking 30 Cymbalta mg. every other day. I can't go much longer than 48 hours before I get nauseous and irritable. My doctor acted surprised when I told her about all the stuff I've been reading about Cymbalta withdrawal. My reaction was, Seriously?! This shit is screwing up our lives and a Psychiatrist who has been practicing for decades had no idea what she is giving out. FREE, by the way. Do other people get samples of this shit? Clearly they know it's fucking us up so trying to be nice and make us not pay?!?!

Anyway, now I wait. Hoping it works...I will update.

Good luck everyone. I'm here with you all.

P.S. I've tried the Benadryl trick for the nausea symptoms and it did work but the timing has to be just right otherwise you will be sleeping at your desk at work. Also, it isn't much of a solution for the long-term.

[Lundeliz]

HI Rachempower,

Are you staying on the Cymbalta along with the Prozac? I'm curious about what kind of schedule

you will be using. Good luck to you. Hope it goes well. Please keep us updated with your progress.

[Meli]

Thanks for the original post with the schedule etc.. I went to a compound pharmacy and they made up 15mg for two week supply. I felt no withdrawal symptoms and was due to go onto 7.5mg this week, then I was going to reassess and try prozac if necessary. I had to come off suddenly though, due to a surprise pregnancy, I have horrible brain zaps and just feel yuck...hope it ends very soon. I am going to try omega 3,6,9 as recommended by some members.

My Doctors also said try one day on one day off, they really have no idea.....makes me very nervous to be pregnant !!!

[Rachempower]

Hello,

As I posted above, a couple weeks ago (11/11/11), I started to try Prozac in place of my Cymbalta as suggested by my doctor. Turns out is actually going okay. The two days on the weekend after I started this venture (11/12 and 11/13) were pretty rough...I was super nauseous, brain zaps, dizzy, etc. but since then I have been surprisingly OKAY. I haven't touched Cymbalta since 11/10 (18 days! Yay!) and started taking Prozac 20 mg the first day, then after 24 hours I felt the withdrawal symptoms similar to Cymbalta so I took a 10 mg and felt better. I ended up taking two 10 mg at different times in the day for about a week. For the past 4 days I am taking half of my 10 mg pills (5 mg) once per day and it has been okay. One of the days I felt a little nauseous but it seems like every day I can take it a little bit further apart from the day before. A few days ago I took Omega 3 fish oil pills just because I keep getting told it will help. It's too early to tell if it is actually beneficial for me but will definitely keep trying. I still occasionally have the brain zaps (maybe once every couple days) and I definitely can feel the withdrawal symptoms coming on after 24 hrs of not taking my Prozac dose. But overall I have hope for this withdrawal cure.

Also, I am not sure if it is related but I have been a lot more tired lately. Another change in my body is that I haven't had the "urge" to drink like I used to. I am a social drinker so not someone who drinks a TON but there have been days after my crazy stressful job where I used to want to have a drink when I came home...so I would have a couple glasses of wine or ask a friend to go to happy hour for a few beers. However, for the last couple weeks I haven't wanted to do that after a crazy day, no urges to drink to de-stress! It feels good. Interesting, I know! I wouldn't be surprised if this change was related to being off the Cymbalta...Cymbalta messed up a whole lot of my life. I really hope the Prozac (and eventually nothing) trick is going to come through. I am going to try to take a little less than 5 mg on Friday since I only work a half day (in case it doesn't work).

Good luck to all who are on this journey. I will update as I progress!

Lundeliz, on 11 November 2011 - 06:03 PM, said:

HI Rachempower,

Are you staying on the Cymbalta along with the Prozac? I'm curious about what kind of schedule

you will be using. Good luck to you. Hope it goes well. Please keep us updated with your progress.