[Wife52]

I could use anybody’s advice on withdrawal from Cymbalta. I am a newlywed and my husband of 8 months is going off his Cymbalta that he has been on for 10 years. He started taking it when he was married to his previous wife because living with her was so bad. They would constantly argue and fight their whole marriage. She, herself, was on a lot of drugs for depression, anger, and the list goes on, and suggested he go on them too. He was trying to make it possible to endure so he started and now wishes he never did.

He is at a different stage in his life, has come closer in his walk with Jesus, and doesn’t need it anymore, so he stopped cold turkey last Thursday. He is now on his 4th day of withdrawals, and while it is not as bad as some have described his is experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

He is having those brain zaps a lot, some mild nausea, and sore joints, very tired and not feeling right, kind of like he has the flu. He is only 57 and is working full time, so he needs to be around a lot of people. His job is high stress, with a lot of demands put on him from all different areas of the company and vendors.

I have stayed by his side all this time and he tells me what he is experiencing during the day, so I can monitor his withdrawal symptoms. He was able to go shopping on the 1st day, some shopping and going to a car show with lunch out on the 2nd day, 3rd day only church, and today he said he just wants to stay at home (called in sick for the day) as any movement makes the brain zaps worse.

So I am looking for any advice to help him deal with this. Any foods that help the brain zaps, chocolate, coffee, etc., or do it make them worse? How about vegetables, etc.? Meat? Dairy? Any over the counter medications that he can take to help with the withdrawal symptoms temporarily? Any advice would be most helpful?

Thank you,
Loving wife

[itsnotinyourhead]

God bless you, youre a sweet wife looking after your husband! Go to your local healthfood store! There are alot of helpful herbal remedies and supplements available. Someone told me about drops u put under toungue for anxiety. Also Hylands makes a calms forte remedy that is natural. Im not sure what your man was prescribed this horrible drug for but given the years hes been on it it wont be easy getting him off of it, so hang in there and pray for him continually! I took it for a short time, maybe 3 months, for fibromyalgia and withdrawal was horrible! I started taking Magnesium & B vitamins along with fish oil and it has helped alot. Also seeing a Naturopath and doing nutrition response testing which looks a bit Hokey but it works! My doctor is a Christian man and I know him well, he was there to help us deliver our 2 sons at home. I never question his integrity as I know and trust him. As for the doctor who put me on these drugs...he is really a licenced drug dealer in my opinion. One day at a time...he will get thru it with a loving wife by his side.

[Wife52]

Thank you for your advice and the time you took to write this note. My husband actually is doing quite well physically and mentally from his quitting the Cymbalta after 8 years. It has now been 22 days since he took his last Cymbalta and all of the withdrawals symptoms are gone. His nausea is gone, brain zaps gone, feeling overall much better, and his withdrawal I would say, in reading other's withdrawals, has been mild to moderate. I know God's hand has been on him during this time and he is so happy that he did it.

He originally went on it 8 years ago because he was in a very bad marriage, his ex-wife took lots of pills and medications for anything you could think of, she is basically a prescription drug abuser, and it was more a case of misery loves company. It was hell for my husband, and she encouraged him to get on all these drugs, and he basically went on them because it numbed him to her and his mother dying at the time. His ex kept getting worse, till he couldn’t take it anymore and they divorced.

We met 3 years after they divorced, and I was, and am very involved in my church, and it brought him back to his faith. He is in a different place now, and felt it was time to get off of the medication. He said his relationship with God has never been deeper and he didn’t feel he needed to be numb to life anymore. When he quit cold-turkey we shared with our pastor what he was doing, who is also a close personal friend, and they started praying regularly about his withdrawal and his health, which is why I say God has had his Hand on him the whole time. God answered our prayers and He has remained faithful.

What has made it more difficult during this time is his job. He is under a lot of stress from his job, and is looking to hopefully change companies soon. But I will say even during this time of tremendous stress he doesn’t have any desire to go back on Cymbalta, and is still glad he did it. Now he needs to learn how to handle stress in a much more constructive way, without having to resort to medications, and I know he can do it. He has come so far, and I am very proud of him.

[Chw31]

I'm about to start week two cold turkey and I've been having a lot of physical symptoms as well - my husband has just been trying to support me in everyway possible. Not taking my mood swings to heart. I've been staying hydrated, sleeping when possible, going on walks outside and I hear fish oil pills and gatorade help a lot so I'm going to pick those up today if I get out.

You are being a great wife, coming on here and at least looking for help, he'll need it. It feels like the flu-first-trimester-hangover physically! I've always had the mind set that hydration and sleep can fix all things