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What Do You Wish You Knew Before Starting Your Taper?


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#1 RenW

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Posted 01 February 2020 - 02:18 AM

I started my taper tonight.  I will be getting a plan together for my whole taper, but the more I read about how Cymbalta has affected people the more apprehensive I get.  I'm hoping though to learn from others experiences and mistakes.  

If you could go back in time and tell yourself something right before you tapered what would you say?  What advice would you give? 

Alternatively if you have read something a lot from other people that have tapered please feel free to share that as well. 



This might sound cynical but one thing I've learned already is to not tell my doctor I want to taper. I already told one doctor in the past I wanted to taper and she advised jumping down to 30mg (from 60 mg) and tapering fairly fast. I tried to tell her that Cymbalta is particularly hard to withdrawal from and many have to taper much slower.  She discounted what I said indicating that every should taper off SNRIs instead of going cold turkey. I told her to look of Cymbalta Withdrawal Syndrome and mentioned lawsuits but I have no idea if she ever did. When she continued to be ignorant I decided to tell her I decided against tapering and wanted a regular prescription. I did take it regularly for a while as I worked on getting better in other ways. But I'm not going to tell the doctor (different one) this week I'm tapering.  If I continue getting pills then I should have more than enough supply to taper as slowly as I want and/or need without having a fast taper imposed on me by ignorant medical professionals.

 

Thank you!

P.S. Addition: I don't believe that all medical professionals are ignorant about the dangers of Cymbalta.  But it does appear that the majority are ignorant of its dangers and what strong averse reactions people have to what would be reasonable tapering for other drugs. Ignorance does not mean they are stupid just that they have been misled by Eli Lily and not exposed to enough information to learn the truth.  Those that are told by their patients over and over what horrible symptoms they are going through and ignoring them again and again are another story all together.  :angry:


#2 fishinghat

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Posted 01 February 2020 - 09:40 AM

Welcome RenW

"If you could go back in time and tell yourself something right before you tapered what would you say? What advice would you give?"

I would tell myself to plan on a 3 year taper.

"Alternatively if you have read something a lot from other people that have tapered please feel free to share that as well."

We have an ebook that summaries everything members have tried what has helped, what has hurt and related medical journal articles.

https://pdfhost.io/v...of_Contents.pdf

As you read if you have any questions please let us know. We are here to help.

#3 Mxpro32

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Posted 01 February 2020 - 02:40 PM

Fh. Would a 3 year taper be pretty uneventful? Or would it still be hell?

#4 invalidusername

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Posted 01 February 2020 - 03:40 PM

Hi RenW and welcome.

 

I would do EXACTLY what you are doing and not tell the doctors that I was tapering. I had my capsules taken from me to force me to do a cold turkey before I was ready. I went through hell and no mistake. 

 

I was on Cym for 10 weeks (60mg) and I took another 10 weeks to get down to 10mg which was tough by itself and I would lengthen that if I had to do it again. It was at 10mg that I had my supply cut off so I cannot say further than that, other than it is a very bad idea to cold turkey from anything more than a few beads.

 

As Ha said, if you haven't done so already, take a look at the eBook and let us know if there is anything you need explaining.

 

IUN


#5 fishinghat

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Posted 01 February 2020 - 04:30 PM

The secret to a 3 year taper would be that as soon as any withdrawal symptoms appear then hold until you feel good again, Then continue. At the 2 year mark the original synapses that were unregulated would be totally healed and would not still be torturing you.....Theoretically.

 

It certainly works fior benzos and is a popular method the last few years.


#6 invalidusername

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Posted 01 February 2020 - 05:50 PM

It is certainly going to be the way forward for my with the Citalopram once I work out a way to drop the equivalent of a few beads!

 

I will need a scored tablet to begin with knowing that there is an even distribution of drug in the pill - then powder it and use my microscales. I am for sure not going to be telling anyone that I am doing it outside of the forum because no doctor here would agree to a taper that long - but I am taking no risks.


#7 frog

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Posted 02 February 2020 - 02:23 PM

I wish I had actually done more research on the preferred method of tapering this stuff instead of just listening to my doc who had no idea what she was talking about. So you're already ahead of the game there!

 

I also would tell myself that when I started getting symptoms, it was because my brain needed more time to adjust, and not because the levels of Cymbalta were now too much and I should just quit it altogether. When I say it out loud now it makes no sense at all, but I had no idea then! Basically if at any point in your taper you start to feel bad, that's an indication that you need to hold there until things settle down. Don't ever cold turkey even when you're down to a small amount!


#8 fishinghat

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Posted 02 February 2020 - 04:02 PM

So well put frog. It is all about being patient enough to allow healing during weaning.


#9 RenW

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Posted 03 February 2020 - 01:05 AM

I have downloaded the e-book!  What a feat that must have been to put it together. 

At my stage right now I did find it overwhelming though.  It would be helpful to know what appears to be the most helpful substances based on people's reports. 


#10 fishinghat

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Posted 03 February 2020 - 10:04 AM

That is a problem RenW. During withdrawal some develop low serum sodium, low blood sugar, low serotonin, low hormones, gi issues or  brain zaps and so so much more. Each symptom is approached differently of course. You can search for that symptom in the ebook (eg. brain zaps) and find what usually helps or just post your major symptoms here and we will help you find your way to a possible treatment.


#11 invalidusername

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Posted 03 February 2020 - 05:03 PM

Agree with Frog there too - you are one step ahead which a lot of people don't get to, so use this to your advantage...

 

Glad you are finding the eBook to be of use... and it is only going to get bigger :)


#12 Lovey

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Posted 08 February 2020 - 08:25 PM

This is a great thread. Thx for the great comments everyone. i feel like shit tonight. My stomach is a disaster. taking pepto bismol. I have made no cymbalta changes for nearly 1 month, fine by me. I will wait. Switched over from hydroxyzine to loratadine for my allergies 2 days ago. Could the nausea be related to that. Barfily yours, Lovey

#13 Lovey

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Posted 08 February 2020 - 10:38 PM

I am a little sad rn because I am seeing how I need to try to be more tolerant of noises and sights, sounds etc.. my friend was over and her phone was getting lots of texts so I finally asked her to put it on silent. Its hard for me to overlook and not hear every tiny little thing. i have PTSD from having survived a home invasion 6 years ago. I was confronted by a huge man, in my home and had to fight him. I have not been able to return to my previous self and I probably seem neurotic to a lot of people. I still feel very much "on guard". Life is so much harder for me and it interferes with my friendships and interactions with other people. I am going to try EMDR therapy to try to help.

#14 fishinghat

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Posted 09 February 2020 - 09:33 AM

It could be. The FDA reports 6% of the people who use loratadine complained of nausea.

#15 invalidusername

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Posted 09 February 2020 - 05:59 PM

Woh... getting deja vu here....

 

I get lost in the Frog and MX and Polly posts!! 


#16 Lovey

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Posted 09 February 2020 - 06:57 PM

I want to share this withbyou all. I posted it yesterday but I don't know if it showed up. So hete it goes again:

I am a little sad rn because I am seeing how I need to try to be more tolerant of noises and sights, sounds etc.. my friend was over and her phone was getting lots of texts so I finally asked her to put it on silent. Its hard for me to overlook and not hear every tiny little thing. i have PTSD from having survived a home invasion 6 years ago. I was confronted by a huge man, in my home and had to fight him. I have not been able to return to my previous self and I probably seem neurotic to a lot of people. I still feel very much "on guard". Life is so much harder for me and it interferes with my friendships and interactions with other people. I am going to try EMDR therapy to try to help.

I just need people to know this part of my story. It has been very difficult to bounce back. I have made huge strides and continue to do so. They took fingerprints and searched for the guy but never found him. I beat him up good and was not touched once. I got the jump on him. I think he did not expect me to fight. I just went starting punching him and screaming in terror. I am a bad ass it would seem. It left significant emotional scars unfortunately.

#17 Lovey

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Posted 09 February 2020 - 11:03 PM

Ren, I wish I knew what I was in for so i could and would go very very slow. I've been at this for about 20 months and probably have another year left. You have a great support team here with us! You will do great. Slow and slower as fh likes to say. Wise words.

#18 fishinghat

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Posted 10 February 2020 - 08:49 AM

Lovey, unluckily past trauma is like an anchor around our emotions during withdrawal. We have to cut the rope to that anchor but unluckily we only have a very small dull knife.


#19 Mxpro32

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Posted 10 February 2020 - 12:03 PM

Lovey, unluckily past trauma is like an anchor around our emotions during withdrawal. We have to cut the rope to that anchor but unluckily we only have a very small dull knife.


That's what it feels like to me. Everything is raw, vulnerable, and powerful, so past traumas come up fierce, or push me down into a depressed hole because they are overwhelming.

#20 Lovey

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Posted 10 February 2020 - 03:31 PM

Baby steps. But keep going!

#21 invalidusername

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Posted 11 February 2020 - 12:47 PM

Woh H... not going near your house!! Sorry - no joking - I understand the trauma thing, and you have my every sympathy. It is SO difficult to recover from things like that. For me, I nearly died in a car accident and for months, when I heard a siren, I would panic. Images of ambulances, police cars. Because I had a distinctive and very powerful car, it made the newspapers, so thing were made worse by the fact that everyone knew what had happened. It haunted me wherever I went. I couldn't leave the house before someone who knew me would shout..."Hey IUN!! I thought you were DEAD!". 

 

Do not feel bad for helping yourself along with things like small requests for noise etc. Friends will understand. 

 

Hat's metaphor is a good one. And most of us here have our own personal anchors. But they can rust away.. dissolve... disappear. In time. 

 

Hang on in there... digital hug for you...


#22 Lovey

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Posted 11 February 2020 - 10:45 PM

Iun i am glad you pulled through! Thx for the kind words. I really need to write my biography and get it published. Or self publish. its remarkable really. I don't want to smear my parents so i may use a pen name. Hug back. H

#23 invalidusername

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Posted 12 February 2020 - 10:18 AM

Sounds like a good idea - there are many of us who have mentioned enough of this sort of information to fill a book!! 

 

Maybe we should also publish from the site in volumes?

 

The CymbaltaWithdrawal.com Chronicles? :)





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