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Hot Flashes, Nausea Persisting After Weaning


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#1 CatMom

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Posted 12 January 2016 - 09:55 AM

Hello. Thank you so much for this website, which has provided me with a lot of useful information. A few facts about my husband:

 

- Was on 30 mg for approx. 4-1/2 years. Prescribed for chronic pain.

- Could not tolerate generic when it first came out a couple years ago (severe nightmares) and went back to brand-name as soon as insurance approved it.

- Did approx. a 2-month taper by bead-counting this past fall. Last day for any beads at all was December 10, 2015

- Reason for taper was severe jerking and twitching during sleep, which I read could be caused by Cymbalta. Jerking, twitching are much better now, but are still present at a lower level. He was also having a lot of nightmares, which have also eased, but not completely gone away.

- Taper went reasonably well, with side effects mainly of irritability and anxiety each time the dose was stepped down.

 

So now, more than a month later, my husband has the following symptoms:

 

- Waves of heat/hot flashes, but temperature is normal when I take it. This is the symptom that he finds most bothersome. It makes him feel weak and debilitated.

- Intermittent nausea. Was worse at first, but is better the last couple of days. Still happening, though.

- No appetite. Losing weight because of that.

- Headaches. Better yesterday. Not sure how he is today (still sleeping). I think headaches were more connected with a sinus infection than anything else (treating that now), but certainly could be the Cymbalta withdrawal.

- Intermittent mild abdominal pain.

- Lots of gas, belching, etc.

- No energy whatsoever. Sleeping a lot.

- Irritable.

- Sensitivity to noise, even to a mildly raised voice.

- Sense of smell is very acute.

 

He says he has not felt well for even one day since he stopped the drug. My observation is that his symptoms are either new or worse now that he is completely off the drug than they were when he was tapering.

 

Question: Has anyone had similar symptoms 4 weeks out from finishing a taper? How long did the symptoms last? I think if I can give my husband some hope he will get better, he can deal with this a little better. But right now, he is feeling pretty desperate.

 

Thank you so much for your kindness and for this website!


#2 fishinghat

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Posted 12 January 2016 - 10:02 AM

Welcome CatMom

 

Most experience the worst symptoms after tapering. These (including the symptoms your husband has) which will start to fade slowly after about week eight. Now there is a lot of variation between people but that is just and average. So he should have another 4 weeks or so before he begins to see small breaks in the symptoms and they fade very ssllooooowwlllyyy.

 

Time and patience. He is right on schedule.


#3 CatMom

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Posted 12 January 2016 - 05:17 PM

Thank you very much. He is feeling so lousy, but he feels reassured that others have experienced the same thing and got better. I told him we are going to take it one day at a time.

 

I forgot to mention that he has no energy but is paradoxically restless. He always looks like he is trying to crawl out of his skin! He agrees that he feels that way. I guess that is all part of the "fun" of Cymbalta withdrawal. :(  He calls it "the most evil drug ever". It certainly has scared him away from ever taking another SNRI or even SSRI.


#4 lady2882Nancy

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Posted 12 January 2016 - 07:10 PM

Hey there CatMom

 

I did see that you mentioned that he is losing weight which will also contribute to the lasting side effects.

Cymbalta is stored in the fat so even if he does not have a lot of fat on his body as he loses weight a bit more is released.

But like fishinghat says it will end and he will start seeing more improvements over the next 4 weeks and beyond.

 

Take care of you and of him

 

Nancy 


#5 CatMom

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 08:14 PM

Hey there CatMom

 

I did see that you mentioned that he is losing weight which will also contribute to the lasting side effects.

Cymbalta is stored in the fat so even if he does not have a lot of fat on his body as he loses weight a bit more is released.

But like fishinghat says it will end and he will start seeing more improvements over the next 4 weeks and beyond.

 

Take care of you and of him

 

Nancy 

Thank you for your kindness. He had a pretty bad day today because he is feeling so desperate to feel better. The sun and bright lights are hurting his eyes, he has episodes of nausea, he feels very restless, etc. All I can do is tell him to hang in there and make sure he is eating and drinking OK.


#6 lady2882Nancy

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 12:11 AM

Time for the shades.

I had to have the curtains closed in the house and no bright lights on. When outside I had to wear some wrap around sunglasses even on a cloudy day. The inside stuff lasted about 4 months but the outside light sensitivity lasted about a year when the sun was shining.

My eye doctor told me that we should all be wearing sunglasses on sunny days lol

 

Take care of you


#7 CatMom

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 09:55 AM

What seems so strange to us is that he was pretty much OK during the taper, even in the last week when the bead count was very low. But as soon as he stopped the drug completely, all these symptoms popped up. And some of them (esp. restlessness, lack of appetite, foggy thinking/lack of concentration, bright light avoidance) actually seem to be getting WORSE as time goes on. :( Now he is getting more tearful, too. Ugh. I worry about him when I am out of the house at work, as he essentially stays in bed all day and isn't very good at accomplishing even simple tasks.

 

I keep telling him it will get better. We both have to believe that!


#8 lady2882Nancy

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 03:27 PM

If you want to see if it is the Cymbalta then if you have any left he can take just a bead or two (or whatever his last dose size was) and see what happens.

Myself at 12 weeks off the C I had to go on a very low dose of Zoloft (10mg) to get over the effects of getting off the Cymbalta and then a few weeks later was easily weaned off the Zoloft.

I do not know what the heck that Cymbalta does to us but it sure has some lasting effects for some of us.

 

Take care


#9 CatMom

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Posted 28 April 2016 - 09:04 AM

Just wanted to update everyone and offer a word of support to others going through this Hell. Approximately 10 weeks after tapering and completely stopping the Cymbalta, my husband started feeling a little better. He has ever-so-slowly gotten better day by day, but is still not back to baseline. He is able to tolerate light again and sound (but not too loud). He is eating a lot better, but still not back to where he was. He went through a long period of nausea and dizziness with very little food intake, and then a long period of eating the exact same thing every day (because it was the only food he could tolerate). So at least he is eating more variety these days! His energy level is still quite low, but he isn't spending 23+ hours a day in bed, which is good. He is actually working on some art projects for a few hours a day now. He still twitches in his sleep, but at a much lower level than he did when he was on Cymbalta, and not all the time, the way he was twitching before.

 

Thank goodness for this website, because I kept reassuring him it would get better, even if it was taking far longer than he or I could have ever anticipated. There were some really rough days when I was seriously worried about his mental state. He kept thinking he would feel horrible forever, and I kept reassuring him he would get better. I am sure he had his doubts, but I kept pointing to things I had read on this website, and he managed to hang in there. Also, the advice to try benadryl was good, and that did help. He also used Rescue Remedy as-needed.

 

What a long, horrible journey it has  been! But it IS getting better. So if you are reading this and are just starting the journey, or are wondering if you will ever feel better, please hang in there and take heart.


#10 TryinginFL

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Posted 28 April 2016 - 09:29 AM

Hi CatMom,

 

Thanks for the update!   I'm sorry to hear that there are still problems, but I understand very well. I was on the poison for 4 1/2 yrs also, but went cold turkey off of 60mg in Jan of 2014.  Man, what a year :angry:

 

So it is now 2yrs and 4months off - anxiety for about a yr and a half was hideous.

 

Much of the withdrawal seems to depend on our age - those of us over 50 really have a harder time for some reason.  There are those who, fortunately, can get off this stuff with very little problem.  Young folks, especially.

 

I wish your husband well and must say that you are a loving care giver!  I went through this alone and it was hell.

 

Take good care of him and keep us updated on his progress

 

LIz


#11 fishinghat

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Posted 28 April 2016 - 02:16 PM

Hi Catmom

 

Great that your husband has turned the corner and is progressing. This a time to be cautious. You can easily overdo it on a good day and relapse for a few days. Slow but steady. Bless you for hanging in there with him.





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