11 replies to this topic

[fapemberton]

I went off Cymbalta 4 days ago. I am in the process of going off all my psych medications. I am having withdrawals from the Cymbalta, confusion, nausea, head feels fuzzy, numbness in my arm. I am fortunate I have only been on Cymbalta for 6 months. I was prescribed it when I wanted off the Paxil. I am also on Lamictal for BiPolar depression. I am planning on getting off that as well. Any advice?

[mrsmoe95]

Can I ask why you're going off all your meds? You might want to wait until your completely weaned off the Cymbalta before going off Lamictal so as to not compound your side effects. Just a thought. Please keep us posted as to how you make out

[fapemberton]

Can I ask why you're going off all your meds? You might want to wait until your completely weaned off the Cymbalta before going off Lamictal so as to not compound your side effects. Just a thought. Please keep us posted as to how you make out

[fapemberton]

I feel as though the medications are doing more harm than good. I have been off Cymbalta for over a week now, and the withdrawal effects have decreased significantly. My head is already clearer and my short term memory is improving. My plan with the Lamictal is to wean off very slowly. Thank you for your response.

[Amber0401]

Cymbalta is a scary drug to mess with I'm glad you're getting off of it. As for your side effects, not to sound unsympathetic but they seem very minor to what they could be. All of what you are describing are extremely common and will clear up in a few weeks. So don't get yourself too worked up because so far you've been very lucky Lamotrigine I have found isn't as effective as I want it to be but I don't find it causing harm. May I ask why you've decided to go off of it? I'm just curious for my own well being is why I ask.

[fapemberton]

I was only on Cymbalta for 6 months, and yes, the effects could have been much worse. I was put on Lamictal in 2004, so the withdrawal will be way worse. As for the reason to go off of it, I managed for over 40 years without it, and at this point I am ready. I feel as though the psych medications over time can cause short term memory loss and psychological dependency. I just feel like it is time. Thank you for your response.

[SMay]

Just remember you can make it through it. I'm in my second week of stopping all my medications cold turkey as well. I quit my daily doses of Cymbalta 60mg, Ambien CR 12.5mg, Neurontin 3grams, Morphine 300mg, Fentanyl 50mg, and Oxycodone 200mg, all cold turkey last week after years of being on them. It has been by far the most horrible thing I've gone through but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Granted my Dr. dropped me as a patient for doing it but I'm living proof it can be done.

[fapemberton]

God bless you! That is a lot to do at once. I am going off one at a time.

[SMay]

It is indeed a lot and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I made the decision to quit everything at once to shorten the overall amount of time spent in utter misery. So much medication was impacting my involvement in my new Son's day to day activities. He's 5 months old and I didn't want to look back on these days and have it be just a fog of medication induced memories. Doctor's these days just want to throw pills at the situation rather than a solution and I don't want to play that game anymore.

I'm taking a lot of B6/12 and drinking a small fountain of water daily. It's a simple thing but it might help you. Also, I had read that mild blood pressure medication helps withdrawal symptoms and oddly enough I had some from an old prescription from 6 months ago. It might have just been the placebo effect but I sure think it helped. It might be worth talking to your GP about.

[fapemberton]

I have started exercising again and it seems to help with the anxiety. I just started back today, so I will see how it goes. I have really bad anxiety and it is debilitating at times, but this too shall pass. Soon I hope. And that is true about the docs, throwing pills at the problem.

[RamonaK]

Hello, I had been on Cymbalta 60 mg. for about 5 years and I am in day two of getting off of it cold turkey. Surprisingly, this was the advice of a phyciatrist I saw last week. He specializes in detoxing people. He said that in his opinion, NO ONE should EVER take Cymbalta or Effexor due to the threshold seazuire activity it causes. I explained to him that several years before my family Dr. weened me off of Lexipro over several months and it was living hell. I have to be able to maintain my job! The horrible brain shocks, mine became increasingly worse with vision and sound effects. He said that weening off of meds like these only INCREASES THE AGONY. He said the drug company convince people they must ween off of it because then the side effects are so severe they'll just get back on it again. He also explained some things about the half life of the drug, and that after 7 days it is out of your system.

So, then, after saying all of that, I am pleasantly surprised that my symptoms are far less than the experience I had the last time. I do have some of the brain shocks, head feels weird like a weight is on it, I cried making coffee this morning (LOL) and last night I had the worst terror dream I've ever had. I plan to hunker down at home the whole weekend and even call in sick on Monday if necessary. But over all, I am really excited about getting off of it and becoming "myself" again and getting my libito back(OMG!) I am tired of just being "numb".

I hope this encourages some of you. Don't ween off of it! Just get off of it. It is the drug causing the shocks, not withdrawing from it. We'll get through it as others have.

[fapemberton]

Hello, I had been on Cymbalta 60 mg. for about 5 years and I am in day two of getting off of it cold turkey. Surprisingly, this was the advice of a phyciatrist I saw last week. He specializes in detoxing people. He said that in his opinion, NO ONE should EVER take Cymbalta or Effexor due to the threshold seazuire activity it causes. I explained to him that several years before my family Dr. weened me off of Lexipro over several months and it was living hell. I have to be able to maintain my job! The horrible brain shocks, mine became increasingly worse with vision and sound effects. He said that weening off of meds like these only INCREASES THE AGONY. He said the drug company convince people they must ween off of it because then the side effects are so severe they'll just get back on it again. He also explained some things about the half life of the drug, and that after 7 days it is out of your system.

So, then, after saying all of that, I am pleasantly surprised that my symptoms are far less than the experience I had the last time. I do have some of the brain shocks, head feels weird like a weight is on it, I cried making coffee this morning (LOL) and last night I had the worst terror dream I've ever had. I plan to hunker down at home the whole weekend and even call in sick on Monday if necessary. But over all, I am really excited about getting off of it and becoming "myself" again and getting my libito back(OMG!) I am tired of just being "numb".

I hope this encourages some of you. Don't ween off of it! Just get off of it. It is the drug causing the shocks, not withdrawing from it. We'll get through it as others have.

After two+ weeks of going off the Cymbalta, I am feeling more like myself. I don't get the brain zaps and my head doesn't feel fuzzy any more. I am glad I got off of it. My doctor also told me I can just stop taking it without weaning, so that is what I did. I recently passed the national board exam for my job, and I don't think I could have remembered anything had I not stopped taking it. My short term memory has gotten better. I, too, prefer to feel rather than to be numb. Next step, getting off the Lamictal. I am not too excited about that. Thank you for sharing your story. I feel it is encouraging. God bless you!