10 replies to this topic

[Hellomattieo]

Hello,

 

I have been taking 60mg of Cymbalta for about 16 months. I talked to my psych last week about getting off Cymbalta and he suggested that I lower my dosage to 30mg and take that dose for 7 days before stopping completely. Does this seem like enough time to get off the drug? 

 

 

 

[TryinginFL]

Welcome Hellomattieo!

 

You have come to the right place!

 

Dropping from 60 to 30 may or may not be OK - should you start feeling withdrawal go back up to 60 immediately!  You can bead count down from either 60 or 30 - if you are stable after dropping to 30, you are fortunate!  Many could not do this, but we are all different.

 

We have other folks here who can help you with bead counting - just please come back to ask any questions you may have........

 

Taking 30mg for only 1 week will put you into immediate withdrawal as C has only a half life of 12 hrs.  So many of these Drs. are asshats who think there is no withdrawal.....believe me, there is!

 

Remember that we are here for you!

 

Liz

[Raven72]

Welcome Hellmatieo,

 

I agree with TryinginFL here.  I am not sure just dropping down to 30mg for one week then going cold turkey would be a good idea. I was on this sinful drug for near 1 1/2 years before and I maxed out at 120mg before I ended up in the ER twice for thinking harmful thoughts.  It is always best to taper as much as you can before you quit all together. I have been off since April 1, 2016 and that was cold turkey, but I had weaned down from 120mg to 30mg and was on bead counting in the 30mg by the time I went cold turkey. That within itself was hard and I still have problems to this day. So, I would not feel comfortable with you dropping straight from 60mg to 30m for just one week and then going cold turkey.

 

I am sure our resident research guru FH will chime in soon. Until then if you needs us we are always here and the one thing you should know here is that no matter what your decision is, we stand behind and support you. We don't judge here.

 

Raven

[fishinghat]

Welcome HMO

 

Liz is right. There are FDA warnings about withdrawing too fast and even the manufacturer warns against it. Just like Liz said, many can handle the drop to 30 OK, some get hit hard. If you have to go back to 60 mg then stay at that dose a few days until stable. Then open a capsule and count the number of little beads inside. Let us know how many and we will give you a recommendation on how many beads a day to remove (usually around 1% or a little less). Anything we can do to help don't hesitate to ask.

 

Well I see that my friend Raven has just posted and as you have read my recommendation is similar to those two wonderful ladies.

[Hellomattieo]

Thank you, everyone, for the quick responses. Yesterday was my last day taking the 30mg capsule. I am going to contact my psych and ask if he will prescribe me a 30 day supply of the 30mg capsules so that I can try the bead counting method. I thought going from 60 - 30 and then stopping after a week seemed too quick as well, but he was pretty stern on that idea. I will let you know when I start the bead counting. 

[gail]

Hello HMO,

Ah, good move. You may need more than that to bead count.

Do expect symptoms while you are waiting for your refill, as soon as you reinstate at 30, you will be fine.

About 30% go through tough withdrawal, if that should be your case, I would say to my doc that I decided to wait a bit to stop Cymbalta. That way, you can get your refills. One refill is not enough to bead count. And it doesn't seem to me that he understands one bit about withdrawal. But then, my doc did the same, not knowing any better.

I would not take a chance for sure, it is a legitimate "lie" to say that you are not ready to quit after all!

[Hellomattieo]

Thanks for the response Gail,

 

So I just got a new prescription for 30 30mg capsules. I have not taken my dosage for today. Should I start bead counting today?

[fishinghat]

If you feel stable and comfortable right now I would say go ahead and start the bead counting.

[Hellomattieo]

I feel fine for right now, getting some of the brain "swooshes" here and there, but nothing major. I counted 146 beads in one capsule. How many do i need to remove?

[Raven72]

I am not really sure on the bead counting, my husband did mine for me. But with the number that you have I would say maybe 5 would be a good number, but let FH tell you. He knows more about that than I do. Hope you are well. Hang in there.

[fishinghat]

Hi HMO

 

In my opinion normally the most you want to remove is 1% a day. In your case that would be 1 1/2 per day but considering they can't be cut then I would do 1 a day. If you have brain swooshes already then I wouldn't start for a couple days (get adjusted to the 30 mg dose again) BUT I know you have a limited supply. This means that you will need a couple refills and I don't know how your dr would react to that but I sure don't want to see you suffer anymore than necessary.