[Therese1960]

I began taking Cymbalta early last November (2007) due to an excessive over-load of family health issues, etc. I didn't realize it helped with FM pain, so when that calmed down for me, I thought hey, this drug is great. I have been on a 30mg dose daily since then and I had a stroke actually in December of '07 and they wanted to increase the dosage. Thank goodness I refused because coming of this 30mg is killing me.

I am happy (probably not the right choice of words) to know that I am not alone here. I stopped taking the Cymbalta a week ago today (major liver problems) and the "withdrawal" symptoms seem to be getting worse each day that goes by....

Please tell me if any of you have experienced any of the following and I will desribe them best I can:

1. Crying for no reason.
2. Insomnia
3. Jerky leg movements when trying to rest ... feels like someone is squeezing the leg (only on the left leg) at times.
4. Sort of a buzzing in the head.
5. Feeling of impending doom or "I know something bad is going to happen" for no reason
6. Rapid heartbeat
7. Feeling out of it or spacey ... (maybe attributable to insomnia, I don't know)
8. Forgetfulness - mid-sentence (have this problem anyway, but it's worse than usual)

Please, if someone has any of this or all of this, how long and what have you been doing?

[doviine]

Hi Therese....
1. Crying for no reason.
2. Insomnia
3. Jerky leg movements when trying to rest ... feels like someone is squeezing the leg (only on the left leg) at times.
4. Sort of a buzzing in the head.
5. Feeling of impending doom or "I know something bad is going to happen" for no reason
6. Rapid heartbeat
7. Feeling out of it or spacey ... (maybe attributable to insomnia, I don't know)
8. Forgetfulness - mid-sentence (have this problem anyway, but it's worse than usual)

I am so sorry you had a stroke - I hope you are ok.

I can relate to all of the above -- in the extreme.
1. On at least 2 occasions I've cried for over an hour or more straight.. Or I cry all day off and on. I would say it's for no reason too...no good reason. It's been a real issue at work,to hide it. On the other end I went through (less now) a period of about two weeks of uncontrollable rage (once it got going). Always at strangers though... any business transactions where the person did not treat me as I thought they should.
2. Sleep? Thank God I have a huge script for Ativan. nuff' said.
3. restless legs? oh my......... what a yucky, horrible make you want to scream thing it is.
4. some call them brain zaps - I call them brain shivers.... doesn't quite describe it either. It's as if
my brain and mind are separated and keeping them together is an effort and it manifests visually which adds to
the out of sync feeling - a stun - a pause a shock would cause. Weird and disturbing.
5. Intense feeling of being a "walking dead girl." Feel death all around. Even started blogging as if it were real! Making comments such as "we're dying! what are you doing that's so important!" People must've thought I was nuts... not pretty.
6.Again, ativan.. I've had pvc since in my mid 20's - not much difference there.
7. My head enveloped in a thick fog. Unable to focus or concentrate - also caused problems for me at work... scary
8. Have been unable to recall words that I use all the time.... once though I forgot the name of my last employer, not cool.
made me think I was getting some form of dementia.

The one thing I can add to the list which didn't come till recently... this is roughly my 10th week coming off 120mg for about 8 months... is pain. There was weakness and general malaise in the beginning.. unsteadiness.. then actual clumsiness. And finally my whole body hurt when I tried to use it. Felt like arthritis or something (I'm guessing) - for all these symptoms I kept forgetting about
the withdrawal... oh and back to back hot flashes and profuse sweating - very uncomfortable and hard to hide in public. I figured menopause.

Last night I came across a website on fibromyalgia (spelling?) Boy did I fit that to a "T." All of it... it even talks about being in a complete fog........ and all of it is attributed to lower than normal serotonin levels. which really annoys me since
this drug jacked serotonin up so high, no wonder coming off of it is like kicking heroin... oh, yeah === forgot the nausea, headaches
and anxiety. Lots of fun. Yesterday was actually my first good day in over a month. Brain cleared... muscle pain subsided - I could perform my work and simple movements without struggle and pain... so I'm thinking it's finally getting better.

The impending doom... cloud of death has dissipated a lot... still getting waves of emotion that immediately spring to tears I have to hold back a couple times today, but didn't overwhelm me --- my liver is compromised because of hep c, so i think that, and the fact of the high dose (the doc knew I have hep c and got irritated when I mentioned the insert info about liver function) I was on is what has dragged this out like this.... I'm hoping.


all the best to you and everyone here Therese

[nossri4me]

Hi Therese-
Being a big fan of cut and paste (ok, I'm lazy) here is my original post from a few weeks back.If yo want to skip right to my withdrawal sx, it starts out where the bold text is below. I hope this addresses some of your questions about withdrawal. No, you are not crazy. I am very sorry you had to contend with a stroke, I hope the aftereffects are not too bad.
Any questions, post a reply and I will answer.
God Bless you!!!
N-


MY ORIGINAL POST:
After three years on Cymbalta 60mg to treat depression and GAD, I found myself needing to take Xanax 1mg to unwind at bedtime more nights than not. I mentioned this to my new prescriber who instantly suggested that I up my dose to 90mg ..."let's get rid of that anxiety and the need for Xanax! This should work really well for you! Bye now!" I was marched off with 30 mg samples to start taking immediately with my 60mg pills.

As soon as I went up to 90mg I got crushing headaches daily for two weeks. Now I previously had not linked the headaches I got randomly up to three times a week to Cymbalta..... but this gave me something to think about. Could there be a link?

Anyway: I began to contemplate that I have been putting very powerful drugs in my system (SSRI's) for ten years now...and do I really need them? Whats wrong with a Xanax a day for a chronic worrier like me? Is that really so bad? I think not. Never mind the articles I found online about placebos being as helpful as the SSRI in half of all cases studied. That the big drug companies want our docs to keep feeding us meds no matter what. Now dont get me wrong- this medication did help me with a serious depressive episode. But do I need it forever?

So I quit. I could not take the headaches. No titration, I just stopped taking Cymbalta.
Here's a rundown of my withdrawal symptoms. They lasted about eight days and then eased off significantly:-feeling very spacey and disoriented
-inability to concentrate
-fatigue: and I mean no energy the first few days
-muscle aches: like you would have during the flu
-early morning awakening and not being able to get back to sleep: I woke up around 3am..I usually sleep thru to 5am when the alarm goes off
-those freaky brain zaps: randomly up to five a day
-vivid nightmares: I almost never have nightmares but I did during this withdrawal for three or four nights straight.
-dizziness on and off throughout the day:a woozey, dizzy disoriented feeling, expect lots of this one
-irritabilty: expect to be crabby and argumentive. Just getting to bed and resting at the end of the day is the best way to go. Explain to your family you simply don't feel so hot and this is not a good time to stress you out out with any major drama.

Talk about gaining some respect for how powerful this drug is! But my headaches are gone! And I feel back to normal now. My only other med is Xanax and it works nicely when I use it.

I have gone off SSRI's once before and unfortunately had my depression return after less than a year. However, I found a new psychiatrist who I will see in December. I had recently been switched twice to new providers (nurse practicioners) after my psychiatrist of ten years moved away. He was a master at med management and he helped me out of severe depressions twice. I am not impressed at how readily this latest NP wanted to up my medication and scoot me out of the office.

So that's what happened to me. I wanted to post this here as when I was withdrawing I looked all over the internet and found this site the most helpful. It seemed that some of the withdrawal stories I read about elsewhere were pretty overblown, but again, what do I know. I was able to tough it out and go to work everyday through this but I have a desk job. Not sure I could have done heavy physical work thru this. Just mowing the lawn was a major effort.

In the end: I survived. I'll stay in treatment. I pray I don't get seriously depressed again. I will work on my anxiety with healthly diet, exercise and other underrated activites that help one cope. (Owning an affectionate dog has been a big help, don't laugh).

Just wanted to let you know my story. If you want to come off this drug, it is possible and manageable. Well, it was pretty miserable. But you'll be ok.
Last edited by nossri4me on Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[redsnapper]

I thought I had the flu. My Rx ran out and it took me about a week to get it refilled. I've just restarted my dose, but I also went to the doctor today to see why I've been so icky feeling. As we were going down my list of meds I just happened to mention, yeah, those are all my regular meds, but I haven't had the Cymbalta for about a week now. She told me my symptoms might be due to missing this drug.

I spent two entire days in bed. When I got up my head felt dizzy. I kept dropping things. I felt like my head was brittle, or fragile right where my head connects to my neck. I kept saying I think my head is going to fall off and roll out the door. I felt like I had pins and needles in my lips. I was achy and felt bruised all over.

[milinda]

I can relate to everything you said exactly. Go to this wonderful site i found, it tells about all withdrawl from A-Z. Help Spread this to any new ones getting off this. It was like gold when I found it .These feelings are so real. I mean How do you explain a brain zap to someone whose never had one. They have no idea. There is actual med . terms for this stuff.
http://www.psychdrug...om/cymbalta.htm