46 replies to this topic

[buntbean2]

I've cut my dose in half now.  From 60mg to 30mg.  When I went from 50-40 my pharmacy changed me to generic.  I had massive dizzy spells adjusting.  Now that I'm going from 40-30 they gave me regular Cymbalta again.  I'm 2 days in and I'm incredibly dizzy and that is causing nausea as well.  It's hard enough decreasing without switching back and forth from Cymbalta to generic and back.  Also, I don't get hives but I've got hives.  Related?

[thismoment]

Hi buntbean2

 

Welcome!

 

Dropping from 60 to 30 is a cold turkey move which will bring on the dizziness and nausea. I've heard about this in switching between brand-name and generic too. Stick to one or the other if you can.

 

Hives is on the list of side-effects. If it's not too bad try some Benadryl. If you are really concerned maybe see the doctor.

 

If you are planning to withdraw, the brand name has more beads in each capsule giving you more tapering-off options.

 

Best wishes!

[fishinghat]

TM is dead on. Good luck and hang in there.

[FiveNotions]

Bunt,

The generic causes some people problems in and of itself....it's part of why I quit cold turkey....I lost insurance, had to go on generic...it made me sick as a dog, felt like a psychotic episode was coming on (had one of those back in 2007 caused by generic Welbutrin, did not want another)....couldn't get a call back from the poverty clinic I'd had to start going to, as I was desperate to get back on the brand....would've spent any amount of money at that point even if I had to borrow it....

So, I quit the generic crapalta cold turkey...

My point is, stick with the brand cymbalta....and bead count, don't do the harsh drops in dose to yourself....getting off is hard enuf without adding to the struggle....

If you need to, in order to stabilize, go back up to the 40 brand cymbalta and stay there for a few days, even a week, until the dizziness etc. subsides....then, start bead counting your way down....I didn't do that, so others here will need to give you details....

Hang in there, you can get off the poison, and you'll be so glad you did!

Keep posting and reading here regularly, well do our best to help you!

[ShadyLady]

PLEASE ADVISE! I have both brand & generic (60mg w/ 12 pellets).. I down dosed off 120mg to 60mg (1 week) 2 months ago. All seemed fine:/ I rec'd the generic through mail order pharm last month (1st time) didn't know they were generic, who reads the label?! I wanted to continue the down dosing so I opened the generic & saw 12 pellets...started countdown of 2 a week. I am at 4 pellets and am a hot mess. Assuming this is 20mg? I am minute to minute. Water touching my body is excruciating, no hygiene, soaked sheets I could care less about changing so I switch sides of the bed, comb hair not, cook can't hold a spoon or remember what I was attempting to make...so I open bread and eat pieces, drink tons of water w/ proof of bottles laying around & now incontinence:o...wait patiently ? For 5 o'clock cocktail thinking surely I can't be this jacked up

The roots of my hair feel like someone is pulling it out, oh yeah, taking supplements ordered (a Texas sh_t load) that do help brain zaps but who is beating my arms and legs with a bat? Dear God, who LIVES TO TELL?

[ShadyLady]

Oops...question was who the heck can hold their hands steady enough to count those frickn beads in the brand...I can't even open one without all the darn beads flying out all over the place..oh yeah, I'm married 20 years in a nightmare relationship...who knew someone could look at you with such disgust, but hope that I will finally succeed at suicide...yes, been to the bin twice for that while on this fabulous miracle medication!

[thismoment]

Hi CynSik

 

FN said it: back up.

 

Dose back up until you are stable-- even go back to the full 12 pellets and once you are comfortable (maybe a couple of weeks), start tapering off again. 

 

Starting with 12 pellets, try reducing it by 1 per week over 12 weeks. If it gets rough, wait until you stabilize (don't remove any more- maybe even add one more). Once you are feeling like you can go on, go on.

 

Take it slow. 

[thismoment]

CymSik

Throw the bastard out (lol) or move out yourself! (There Must Be 50 Ways).

You might suddenly find most of your problems disappear too!

[fishinghat]

CymSIk

 

Way too fast. One person took 6 mths or more to wean they are so sensitive but in general ThisMoment is right. Go back up til you are stable. Then one bead a week. Stop if it gets to bad. The key to success is patience.

[ShadyLady]

I feel if I add all this misery is for not! Surely this gets better if I don't add! Like a junkie saying a little more and I'll feel better. PLEASE I am 12days? On 4 pellets...do not want to go up as my fried brain even says you'll never get off this Sik if you go back up!

[ShadyLady]

FN. Throw the bastard out? I can't even throw myself in a chair? :/

Damn 'errors' constant. How do I know when someone answers me as I posted a couple places I think?
What a loser I am on a simple site...maybe I should shut up and just read. Who am I & what happened to me.

[fishinghat]

If you want to stick it out you can and we will be here for you. Just be ready....it will be tough.

[thismoment]

CymSik

I understand you don't want to go back up. But your withdrawal is just starting, and it will get worse before it gets better. If you could total up all of the misery, you will still endure much less misery in total if you go back to stable and start again from a position of strength.

But on the other hand, I think you have a good attitude and a great sense of humor which will go a long way toward helping you through if you just keep doing what you're doing.

Take care.

[FiveNotions]

Look, Cymsilk, subject to what TM and FH say, I'm urging you to get yourself back on the Brand, and away from the generic....

And, to go back up to a bead level on the brand where you can get stable for a while....then, start counting down...slowly....

The generic itself may be causing you problems, and it has far fewer beads, so each of those beads removed means you're removing a larger dose of the poison....

Also, I think you came down way too fast and hard from 120 to 60 in just a week....even if it was two months ago, it counts as cold turkey....and it sounds like you're back in cold turkey again due to the generic and too rapid a drop in dose due to bead size....

I just don't think you need to put your body and brain through the wringer like this...I totally understand that you want off, and soon....but don't rush this....I may have done some permanent damage to myself by going cold turkey...

I didn't have a choice, but you do....

Your doc can order the brand to be provided to you....the generic is the insurance cos way to try to save money under the new obamacare regulations....do not let the fed government take control of your health!

Please consider what I'm suggesting....

[ShadyLady]

BIG THANKS TO FISHING HAT, THIS MOMENT & FIVE NOTIONS...who knew anyone cared or was so knowledgeable about the hell of getting off this Sik sh-t! much less cared about me!! I took a Vicodin & a Gabapentin, yes, prescribed! I see I am so desperate to be clean off mads that I am fearful of taking ANY meds. I know it is all in my sick head that tells me I can get clean fast & start a new beginning of clarity that left me 20+ yrs ago:/

So, at this moment, I am clearer in thinking because the throbbing extremities are manageable for a few hours...still rotting in the hygiene arena & that chili I opened and ate cold out of the can because I wasn't clear on whether it would blow up or burn out the micro seems to have helped! At least until a raging bout of diarrhea strikes...better put on a big girl Depends panty & deal with it.

Okay, BEAD COUNTING? I have enough brand CYM for all so I guess I will try to count? Question is:

HOW DO COUNT THOSE PINHEAD BEADS? The generic has big pellets, that should really create havoc with others now that those have hit the masses.

[ShadyLady]

Is there such a thing as sending a member a private message? I'm afraid to post some things and who knows, I may already get 'warned' for some posts already? Anybody have an answer? I desperately need you good people and this site so don't want to jeopardize being booted before the 'miracle!'

[FiveNotions]

Unless you really feel a need to keep this your info and experience private, which is entirely fine, please go right ahead and discuss it all here.....everything you describe about your experiences and struggles, every question you ask, and everything any of us say to you,suggest to you, may be just what some other soul, desperate to get off this poison, needs to read and know....

Your contribution here is invaluable to those who will arrive soon, and those who will come months, maybe years, later....

And to the cymbalta withdrawal syndrome team at the law firm, Knox Ricksen....they are reading here and learning from us what they can use in the legal action they are developing on our behalf!

[FiveNotions]

To send a PM to another member, click on that person's avatar....you'll be taken to their profile page....at the top of the page, about an inch or so down, there are several white rectangles...one of them says "send me a message"....click that, and the PM writer will open....there's a space to put your subject or title, and under that, a space for your message...underneath the message box is another rectangle that says something like "send" or "post"... Click that, and voila....PM sent....

:-)

[tria]

CymSik - I'm sorry you are having such a rough time!! I am weaning down from 20mg (teeny tiny beads) and once I got to approx. 10 mg I felt beyond horrible and that's when I found this site.  I followed the advice to go back up on the dose just a bit and it DID help.  Like you, I hate when I have to raise the dose, but I am no good to myself if I am depressed, paranoid, exhausted, etc etc.  Listen to your body and do what you need to take care of yourself.  You will get off this drug, even if you have to go up and down on your dose in the process. 

 

Regarding bead counting, that's what I was doing as well.  I found that using a good pair of tweezers helped.  And to get the beads back in the capsule, I took a small piece of paper and folded it in half.  Make the crease as sharp as you can (run over it with your fingernail or a ruler) and pour the beads into the folded paper. This makes a nice little funnel-type thing to pour the beads back into the capsule.  The counting took me forever (have trouble with shaking hands), and I also seem very sensitive to dosage changes so I decided to order a scale.  I got it from Amazon and it was around $25. It is a Gemini-20 AWS - measures from 20g down to 0.001g.  I can pour the beads (very slowly because they bounce like crazy!) onto the measuring tray and only have to count a few at the end to get the exact weight.  The scale also helped when I switched to a generic.  I weighed the beads in several brand capsules and in several generic capsules.  The beads in the generic capsules weighed approx. 16% more than the brand so I adjusted my dose up 16% when I started on the generic.  My new refill is a different generic manufacturer, so when I start that prescription, I plan on doing the same "test" to make sure I'm at the right dosage. 

 

I also kept everything written down, whether I was counting or weighing the beads. Otherwise I'd never remember what dose I was at, if I went back up or on what day I changed my dose, etc.  Hang in there, you will get thru all this!!!

[FiveNotions]

Tria, what an excellent, informative and encouraging post!

I am in awe that you bought that scale and at how skilled you are in its use! And that you did a detailed weight analysis of the brand and generics! And that you have been keeping detailed notes!

I could barely sign my name on a personal check during withdrawal....

Wow! I'm giving you that "God-like" moniker that appeared over my avatar....I got it simply because I yap a lot on here....you've earned it doing something difficult!

[ZappAlta]

FN. Throw the bastard out? I can't even throw myself in a chair? :/

Damn 'errors' constant. How do I know when someone answers me as I posted a couple places I think?
What a loser I am on a simple site...maybe I should shut up and just read. Who am I & what happened to me.

I give you 100 credits for having a sence of humour Cym !!!!!

[ShadyLady]

"Normal Withdrawal" sounds like an oxymoron to this loon! I am so far gone in this nightmare I can't conceive this to be withdrawal symptoms! At this hour, I am unwired in the brain, zap, zap, freeze thoughts!, whole body is wracked with unbearable pain even with the aid of Percocet, Xanax & Neurontin taken several hours ago now, legs throbbing, burning, stabbing & flopping around on their own will...tight, gripping pain across middle of my back (new), shortness of breath (paper bag in hand in case it's the "big one"), hands tingling & numb, diarrhea, cramping, heart palpitations, knots in my neck the size of marbles where the zaps radiate from, 3 or 4 remaining brain cells that have sputtered out committee meetings in my brain I need to address-one in particular, Tourrete's Syndrome like swearing(new!) possibly associated with rage and anger & fantasizing about going directly to Eli Lilly's corporate building, just as I am with dreadlock looking filthy hair, stinking body, bulging, bloodshot eyes(oh yeah, diagnosed with glaucoma 2 yrs ago @ age 55!), massive belly bulging(possibly an alien inside), trembling hands, sweat soaked nightshirt and my walker with one leg pushing Flintstone style while the other one drags behind, bruising from God knows (bumping into walls or being slapped for being stupid) and holding a big ass sign that says "I FORGOT WHAT I WANTED TO TELL YOU ABOUT CYMBALTA DISCONTINUATION SYNDROME!" Small print, My name is Rebecca, I was a whole, productive person before you released the equivalent of mustard gas on me and countless other victims...isn't that terrorism?!

[ShadyLady]

I give you 100 credits for having a sence of humour Cym !!!!!

Thank you Zapp! I just saw your post after I ranted and raged!

Also, FN for answering site ?'s

Tria, big thanks for the bead instructions! I'm not sure I can do it, but will try today to 'pluck' beads with tweezers & place back in caps if my eyes aren't closed shut after not sleeping;-s

[FiveNotions]

Cymsilk, have you gone back to brand, and upped your dose to stabilize? You probably said that above, but right now I'm keeping my eyes peeled for wagtail, who needs some help settling into the Clonidine and lorazepam she's just started....

Look, you can minimize this hell a bit if you'll just stop rushing the process....you're only going to hurt yourself, not help yourself, by pushing this hard and fast....you're setting yourself up for failure, not the success you deserve and can have....

Go up a dose, and back to the brand....get these hellish symptoms back under control.....please.....it's hurting me to hear how much you're hurting....and you don't want to hurt a friend now, do you... ;-)

When are you due for your next dose? Take the brand, at the higher level right then.....And report right back here....keep talking with us, we'll help you get through this....from now until the last damned little bead and then into a stable recovery!

Hang onto that gift of humor, dear one....God gave it to you for times such as now! And hang onto us!

[ShadyLady]

I take the dose at around 8am or whenever I wake up is more the truth! Should I just dump some of the beads out of the brand to an eyeball 1/3rd...I cannot count that crap at this time...maybe later today I can pluck some beads and chin hairs:) but not now. I've cried so damn much my eyes are slits not to mention can't sleep...this whole trip appears so uncertain as to a destiny of hope.

Thanks, Dear for hanging with me & your caring heart...means the world to me right now...s**t stupid tears flowing again:..{

[FiveNotions]

Sweet Lord Almighty, don't dump or eyeball anything....!!! Recipe for disaster!

Take the brand, at the last dose at which you were stable.....stay there until you are stable again.

Do not remove a single bead until you have been stable for a week...I had said maybe a few days. Now I'm saying a week.

You need to be back at a point where you are able to think clearly and not be in the whirlpool of symptoms.

Stop reducing immediately.

Take the full dose.

Friend here, shaking you gently to get this through to you! ;-)

[fishinghat]

CymSik

 

You really need to listen to FN. It may take longer, but trust me it is worth it.

[tria]

FN - Thank you!  Though I did have my Mom's help with the scale, so she deserves a lot of the credit.  My obsessive compulsive personality also does have its benefits   I have also found that things like using the scale, making lists, using calendar reminders, all helps me feel like I am able to manage something in my life.  The downside is the worse my withdrawal symptoms get, the worse the OCD gets which is not good because it then leads to more panic and a kitchen table covered in sticky notes! 

 

CymSik - Please listen to FN!! Get back on your last stable dose and stay there.  I was going crazy when I found this site, with all the physical and mental symptoms everyone else has described.  I was crying, terrified, couldn't think straight, etc etc.... I'm sure you know.  Everyone here told me to go back up on my dose a bit and stabilize.  I didn't want to but I did and they were RIGHT!!  I have stayed at that dose for at least a week (it may be longer, would have to look when I joined here or check my OCD notes ) and I cannot tell you how much better I feel.  I would not have believed it if I didn't experience it myself.  I'm having oral surgery on Saturday and plan on staying at this dose for a while so I don't upset my system any more than necessary.  Please get back on a stable dose.  I know you can't think clearly now so just do it!!  Don't try to think, don't worry about bead counting... just get on a stable dose, stay there, and you WILL start to feel better.  Sending good thoughts your way, my friend.....

[ZappAlta]

CymSik give us an update Support and hugs to you and all others here)))))))

[ShadyLady]

Update News Desk...was it just yesterday I posted?! Hmmmm, thought just left on a train what I was going to say! MENTALLY, feeling much better after having counted these little, fricking beads:) why does no one else say 'you've got to be kidding?' Day 2 of 65 beads with hundreds more scattered everywhere...they are like Mexican jumping beans when trying to count. This is a minute to minute, second to second process! Tried to take a bath, thought I ran bath water but just dumped Epsom salts in the tub. Crawled into bathroom and climbed over side of tub and knee came down on salts which felt like broken glass...so straddled on the side I hoisted myself back on the rug & took a 2 hour nap. Woke up and felt better, bath didn't happen...slept 'All Night Long,' thank you Lionel;)

PHYSICALLY, my legs are still throbbing! Anyone else have this issue? I know to most I sound whacked but Today I have an Attitude of Gratitude that this just might get better! Please, don't burst my bubble and say it's temporary...I've read the stories here and it appears for every good day there's a s**tload of bad ones.

Today is my husband's 69yh birthday...plan on telling him I have to find a place to live out this withdrawal. The 20 years of physical & mental abuse are clearer in my mind than ever before! That's a huge thing for me. More about that journey another time...

Thank you, my cyber friends for caring & asking how I'm doing. Hugs to each on you blessed souls, Rebecca<3