[Momoftwo]

Hello again. I had been on this site back in April/May and was going through horrible withdrawals from Cymbalta. It lead to intense GI problems (constant cramping, diarrhea, nausea)--which were occurring 9 weeks after my last dose. The doctors all swore up and down that Cymbalta would not cause these things this far out. I was told the reason my body reacted that way was because I was not ready chemically to go off of Cymbalta. I have had every GI test done--and the only thing that showed up was colitis of unknown etiology. They slapped me with a IBS diagnosis (this was not there pre=Cymbalta). I was encouraged to restart the Cymbalta. After trying Zoloft for a week, they switched me back to Cymbalta--30mg for 2 days and then up to 60mg. I was crawling out of my skin!!!!!! The anxiety was 10X's worse than it was before and I felt so jittery. They backed me down to 20mg of Cymbalta where I have been for about 3 weeks. I can no longer stand the heart palpitations and jitteriness (which I DID NOT experience when I was on this drug the first time). My doc said she would not stop it because she thought it was helping, and gave me a prescription for buspar. In the mean time, I have an appointment with a psychiatrist next week to help me get the meds organized. The heart palpitations and jitteriness are so bad, that I have decided to do 20mg every other day until I see the psych doc next Tuesday. Having been through Cymbalta hell before, I am terrified. I am also terrified the horrible GI issues will come back. I did not have a dose last night, and the palpitations are a little better today. Has anyone had success doing 20mg every other day for awhile and then stopping? I am hoping that the psych doc will be able to help me get off of this. Also...has anyone had any permanent GI damage from this junk? I have decided NOT to start the bupar until I see the psych doc because I want to be able to distinguish what is Cymbalta related and what is not. Thanks for your support. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Kathy

[CathyH]

Kathy.....I, too, am sorry your doc has put you back on cymbalta. How can he say it is helping? I don't understand that if your jittery and having heart palpitations, and having all these GI problems. I hope the new doc can get you on the right path.

I experienced a lot of GI problems, too. It really started after I reduced a drug I'm on (seroquel), and then they got worse during the cymbalta withdrawal. I was diagnosed with IBS at the beginning of this year, but didn't have a real bad flare up until the med reductions. I'm still having problems.

I understand the terror that goes with the cymbalta withdrawal. My doc took me down on my doses fairly slowly. It took me months to do it, the reduction, before totally going off it. I experienced withdrawal symptoms the whole time he was reducing my dosages. One time, when I was at 30mg every other day, he told me to go off completely. I only lasted 7 days, and couldn't take it. I thought I was going stark-raving nuts. I went back on at that time. So, when I went off this last time, I was completely terrrified, as I had been through it before.

I'm at day 27 now: No cymbalta. I will never go back. I'm actually doing pretty well, and the withdrawals have dropped off considerably. They are to a point that I seem to handle it pretty well. Good days, and bad days, you know? But it can be done. There is the other side, it's just a matter of wading through the muck to get there.

Hang in there,
CathyH

[Momoftwo]

Greybeard and Cathy,

Thanks so much for your support. I am so mad at myself for being talked back into Cymbalta! I am hoping that a psychiatrist will be able to help me get off of it all together. Since Sunday, I have been taking 20mg every other day. So far, I just feel like my head is in a fog, and I have no appetite. Please keep your fingers crossed I can do this. I have 2 toddlers and live in fear of going through this hell again. Thanks.

Kathy

[schmb01]

To add to this conversation, you do NOT want to be taking this drug every other day. You are just going in and out of withdrawal every other day due to Cymbalta's short half life in the system. You would feel better either not taking it at all, or taking it daily, but that is just my 2 cents worth on the topic. I hope the psych doc can help you get sorted out soon dear, you must feel miserable.

[CathyH]

When I was weaning, the last step my doc had me do was take 30mg of cymbalta every other day. I learned here that that was just putting me in withdrawals every other day, due to the short half life of the drug. That made sense to me, as on the second day, if my dose was late, I started to get the brain zaps.

One thing: I am not anti-psychiatrists, but no one can force you to put a pill in your mouth.

Hang in there!! It CAN be done, and is being done by people, right now, right this minute. You CAN get through this!!