7 replies to this topic

[youngster]

Hi All,

throughout my tapering 'journey' I have been reading posts here. It's been a huge comfort to know I am not alone in this Cymbalta withdrawal hell.

 

First a little background...

 

I have been on 60mg of Cymbalta for the last 4 years (since I was 17). I had surgery 4 years ago on my legs and after that I developed CRPS/RSD (chronic nerve pain) in both my lower legs. That's when I started taking the Cymbalta along with a few other nasty meds (Neurontin, Seroquel, and few others off and on) (and for the last two years I've been on Wellbutrin for slight depression). 

 

For the last couple years now I had been wanting to taper off a few of some of my meds, as many of the side effects I have experienced have made it difficult to get through school. (I am currently a senior in college.) However, I can't say definitively that the side effects I've experienced over the years have been from the Cymbalta since many of my other meds can have pretty ugly side effects too. (Two years ago I had a huge seizure after being put on way too much Neorontin, but that's a whole other story...). 

 

However, every time I brought the topic up to my dr, of going down on my meds, he shot me down and would say not this season or make up an excuse to put it off for the moment. And being terrified of getting back to the excruciating level of pain I was once at, I was a too nervous to push the topic so I usually just let it go. However, this past summer I was experiencing some not great GI-related issues. All of which I believe can be traced back to the terrible constipation that I had been experiencing for the past few years, which can thus be related back to the crappy meds I was on (especially the Cymbalta). 

 

 

 

Now my favorite part of the story (particularly interesting for anyone else out there who's also dealt with a narcissistic a**hole doctor)...

 

Two months ago I finally had enough and made up my mind to get off most of my meds (I've had a spinal cord stimulator for the past 3 years which has helped my pain the most anyway, so I believed that the meds weren't doing much anymore and were not worth the damage they were causing). 

When I went into my dr I had already tapered myself off of the Seroquel. Of course my dr was furious with me (even though before I tapered off of that med I had called the nursing assistant to review my tapering plan). I had done my research on tapering off of Cymbalta, and knew that it was going to be a bit more 'intense' of a process. That's why I was hoping to run my Cymbalta tapering plan by him (my plan was to go down by 10mg every week). He told me that if I planned on going off of it that fast and 'reckless' that he refused to be my dr anymore and I would be on my own if anything was to go wrong.

 

Yes, I know it was incredibly unprofessional of him and completely unacceptable; drs should listen to what their patients want. But this particular dr thinks he's the 'cats-meow' and the smartest person on the planet so anything he says must be correct. Personally, I didn't think this was a reckless plan. I had known it wasn't going to be an easy process (especially since I was about to leave to back to school for my senior year). After a lot of crying and anger, I signed the paper he gave me saying I was going against his advice, and thus by doing so he could no longer be my prescribing dr. Thankfully though, I have a great support system (my parents) who agreed with me that I should continue on with my tapering plan nonetheless. 

 

 

 

To make a long story short (AKA the part about Cymbalta withdrawal)...

 

About two months ago I started my Cymbalta taper. I went down from 60mg to 40mg and then every week after that I went down by 10mg. I didn't have terrible side effects until I reached 20mg. After that my world basically turned upside down (all the while I've had to deal with school work, searching for jobs after graduation, and having to pretend to everyone around me, with the exception of my best friend, that I was fine). 

 

The week I went down to 20mg I started to experience severe nausea and extreme dizziness (as well as a lot of trouble sleeping). It was so terrible, but only the very start of it, unfortunately. The week that I went down to 10mg, somehow (still not even sure how this was possible) the nausea and dizziness (and headaches) got so much worse I could barely get out of bed in the morning. That week I mostly just ate brown rice and potatoes and forced myself to eat eggs occasionally to get some protein in. That week I also experienced other flu like symptoms such as a low-grade fever, chills, hot-flashes, constant headache, occasional diarrhea and abdominal pain/discomfort. That was a pretty awful week. The next week, after I discontinued the Cymbalta, my nausea had started to dissipate (thank god), but I started to experience off-and-on brain zaps and a lot of mental and cognitive withdrawal symptoms (difficulty concentrating, fatigue, irritability, mood swings, extremely negative perspective/mood). The week after, which was this past week, (which was my second week off the Cymbalta) I had a mix of the flu-like symptoms and the mental/cognitive symptoms (plus my gastritis also returned).

 

In the last three days I've felt a slight (emphasis on the word slight here) improvement in my symptoms. My mood is a tiny bit more positive; I no longer feel like everything is pointless and my entire life is going to be grey forever. And my mood is no longer swinging from extremely angry for no reason to extremely sad for no reason. My physical symptoms have also gotten a tiny bit better. This is all a good sign that in the next week or so hopefully my symptoms with continue to decrease and hopefully dissipate.

 

And one of the most frustrating things of all... my pain has not changed since going off of the Cymbalta. Meaning the meds were actually not helping my pain. I am so looking forward to seeing what I'm like/ my life is like sans meds. It's been so long since I've been med free that I honestly don't remember what it's like or what I'm like. I bet I'm not the only one on here that feels like you've been on Cymbalta (and/or other meds) for so long that you can't remember life before it.

 

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For anyone out there contemplating whether they should start Cymbalta, my advice is never ever ever start it because once you get on it, it's almost impossible/excruciating to get off. There are so many other meds out there; explore your other options and absolutely abandon the idea of Cymbalta. 

 

For anyone out there starting their Cymbalta taper, I'm not going to lie it will be tough but you can do it! Just keep listening to your body and remember that there are so many others out there going through the same thing; you are not alone. And just how great it will be to finally be off of it and have your life back!

 

 

I hope this post helps others through their taper! 

 

 

 

 

 

[fishinghat]

Welcome youngster

 

That is about twice as fast as we recommend as a maximum withdrawal rate. Usually I would recommend to withdraw over a 12 to 15 week period. You are right, those last 10 to 20 mg are a real tough road. Slow down and remember... time and patience.

[dreayoga]

After a lot of thinking and discussing with family and friends, I decided to come off of Cymbalta 60 mg 1 once a day.

 

I started Paxil when I was 17 and switch to C when I was 20 and am now 30. That's a long time. I was originally prescribed P by my pediatrician and then three years later I was talking to my aunt, a psychiatric APRN, who suggested I go on C. She continued to prescribe it until I was 24 and started going to a psychiatrist who suggested that it was all in my head and switched me to Wellbutrin and Zoloft. Not really loving this care plan, I switched doctors who put me back on the C and I felt so good. Well, relatively speaking. I had weird thoughts at time but had no idea this could be caused by the Cymbalta, I thought it was just me being "crazy". Fast forward to now and my therapist brought up the idea of going off of it. This has been a really intentional thought process that I am incapable of fully describing without typing so much more and boring you .

 

I'm going into my fourth week. The first week I dropped to 30 mg once daily and my mood started to fluctuate. I decided I just wanted to be "free" from C so I stopped cold turkey after that. That's when all of the withdrawal symptoms started for me: severe vertigo, diarrhea, hot flashes and sweats, cold chills and shivering, sooo nauseated, sleeping schedule has completely changed. Then there's my mood: EXTREME anger and irritability, very self deprecating thoughts. I experience moments of happiness so I know it is possible. I feel like a naturally happy person but coming off of C has made it sooooo hard. My lows are extremely low and my highs are just my normal self. In any given day I can experience so many different emotions.

 

The most frustrating part is that I have no baseline on what "normal" is for me because I started this when I was a hormonal teenager and my brain has physically changed so much. The physical withdrawal symptoms have improved but the vertigo is still hanging on. 

 

In this moment I feel hopeful, but when the blues hits, it feels hard to believe this will get better. My rational brain knows it will get better but the healing part of my brain, the vulnerable part, sometimes takes over.

[fishinghat]

Welcome dreayoga

 

You should reinstate your Cymbalta right away. The manufacturer and FDA recommend against stopping suddenly as it can cause seizures, suicidal ideation and many other severe effects. Considering what you have gone through I wouldn't go back to 60 but try reinstating at 30 mg until stable. A procedure called bead counting can then be used. Open a capsule and count the little beads inside. They usually contain around 300 but it can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Once stable remove 1% of the beads (such as 3 beads) a day until weaned. So remove 3 beads the first day, 6 the second, etc.

 

Another option is just take a small dose, say 5%, when ever the symptoms are too bad to handle. With time you will need less and less to 'stabilize'.

 

And a third option is to get a prescription to either hydroxyzine or clonidine. Both are good at handling the withdrawal symptoms for most people. They are none habit forming and have no withdrawal. Once the Cymbalta withdrawal subsides you can come off these medicines.

 

Keep us posted on your progress and let us know if you have any questions.

[dreayoga]

Welcome dreayoga

 

You should reinstate your Cymbalta right away. The manufacturer and FDA recommend against stopping suddenly as it can cause seizures, suicidal ideation and many other severe effects. Considering what you have gone through I wouldn't go back to 60 but try reinstating at 30 mg until stable. A procedure called bead counting can then be used. Open a capsule and count the little beads inside. They usually contain around 300 but it can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Once stable remove 1% of the beads (such as 3 beads) a day until weaned. So remove 3 beads the first day, 6 the second, etc.

 

Another option is just take a small dose, say 5%, when ever the symptoms are too bad to handle. With time you will need less and less to 'stabilize'.

 

And a third option is to get a prescription to either hydroxyzine or clonidine. Both are good at handling the withdrawal symptoms for most people. They are none habit forming and have no withdrawal. Once the Cymbalta withdrawal subsides you can come off these medicines.

 

Keep us posted on your progress and let us know if you have any questions.

 

I'm almost two months of being off of Cymbalta. I did great after about 3 weeks and felt normal again but two weeks ago the terrible psychological symptoms came back. So much anxiety. SO MUCH. Mood swings all over the place. Will I ever be free? My doctor said to go back up to 30 mg but would this be reversing the time I've been off? I just don't know what to do.

[fishinghat]

As I mentioned in my earlier post there are several options dreayoga.
 
1)  Go back up to 30 mg and wean slowly from there. You would be repeating most of your withdrawal you have already experienced but by bead counting you could come down slower and more gently. I am not sure I would recommend this considering how much you have already suffered through.
 
2) Take a few beads in an empty capsule as needed to take the edge off. I would start with about 5% of the beads inside one capsule.

They are fun to count. NOT  lol   This will help soften the symptoms while your body adjusts. You may have to experiment with the number of beads necessary but the 1% mark is a good starting point.

 

3) You could use an anxiety drug temporarily to help you deal with the withdrawal. I would recommend either Clonidine or hydroxyzine as they do not have a withdrawal issue. Many drs recommend taking a benzo and while they are typically very effective they are very addictive and can present their own challenges later.

 

Don't underestimate the severity of this withdrawal. It can last from 2 to 4 months to 2 years. Usually you can see some very very slow improvement after 2 to 4 months.

[dreayoga]

I do not want to go back on it. I don't need the medication, my life is actually really great, I have just been taking it all of these years because no one ever said not to. The moments of "weakness" make it really hard to not want to go back to taking it. It's frustrating because I felt so good for three weeks. I now know that I shouldn't have done it cold turkey but I thought I could do it and didn't realize the implications. I know it's a time game now but do you know of any supplements I can take during this time?

[gail]

Hello Dr,

Vitamin C, omega fish oil are recommended.

I understand you not wanting to go back on it. Perhaps your symptoms are just a small phase, time will tell. Now, not everyone goes through a tough withdrawal, about 20% to 30%.

Should great anxiety set in, get yourself some Benadryl, it helps a lot. Not an everyday thing, a few times a week is ok not to build tolerance. Worst comes to worst, a benzo for a short time.

Hang in there!