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#1 schmb01

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Posted 12 March 2008 - 01:52 AM

Erin, thank you so much for starting the support board! As you know, there is nothing worse than feeling the horrid withdrawal effects, and feeling alone and isolated, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart! The last few weeks have been hell, but when it gets particularly bad, it helps me so much to come here and read.

Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#2 Sarah J

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Posted 12 March 2008 - 07:35 AM

Erin, Thank you and congratulations on your courage to start this board and on your other accomplishments in regards to walking towards a healthier life.

I notice on your "other" site, whatwinnersdo.com there are several people posting there that do not here. Some of those people have been off of Cymbalta for over a month or two. Perhaps you can persuade them to come over to this forum. Especially the ones who have made it off of Cymbalta and feel better.

So again, thanks. I hope that this site will inform doctors that people do have a problem coming off of Cymbalta, and they need to know that things like dosing "every other day does not work" and 20 mg capsules are available.

I know that during my first week of withdrawal, it was nearly impossible to read without everything spinning and lights hitting me. I did not even find this website until I was off 21 days because I basically could not spell or stop transposing my letters.

I know that there is an "Is Your Doctor Aware" section but perhaps a "Things Your Doctor Needs To Be Aware Of When Weaning Off Cymbalta" section could be helpful. Start it off with a "list" of the myriad of withdrawal symptoms people experience to check off their individual symptoms and also a list of weaning and alternate methods (bait and switch with Prozac for a day or so). If people have something that they can print, check or circle their individual concerns and symptoms, they can take it to their doctor before they start to wean or after they have already started, an easy to print list would be helpful to those that can't think straight because their brains are being tortured by withdrawal.

Peace and Blessings to you for starting this stie. I know it is going to help so many people not go through what some of us have had to endure.

When I signed on, I think there were around 80 members, now there are almost 300. In only about 6 weeks. Our numbers are growing.

#3 Ritamae

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Posted 12 March 2008 - 08:40 AM

I wondered what happened to the other page? I did not get any notices or new comments from it for quite a while now. Did it go away?

Hello all;
It is DAY 42. I have been successful in remaining Cymbalta free and my cold turkey w/d symptoms are :D nearly over !!!!! I have hardly any symptoms any more. I still get brain zaps once in a while, but they stop almost as soon as they start. There is hope at the end of this nightmare. I have an occasional sweating episode too, but other than that , I am symptom free!!! It does get better. Hang in there !

#4 Ritamae

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Posted 12 March 2008 - 08:42 AM

PS. Thank you ERin for this wonderful site !

#5 rogerwilco

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Posted 13 March 2008 - 07:11 AM

Hi Erin,

Like the others, I can only say thanks for the site. I've detoxed off of some pretty strong, nasty stuff, and I couldn't have done it so well without this Board and the encouragement of some of its people. I'll never forget this.

Best wishes... :(

#6 schmb01

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Posted 13 March 2008 - 11:58 PM

Erin, I noticed that there is a redirect to the petition that was to be sent in February. Does this mean we can still sign it?

#7 kenp7

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 01:59 PM

Hi Everybody,

I hope I'm not on the wrong posting board or subject. I just started cymbalta. My doctor gave me a weeks supply of 30mg to be followed by 2 weeks of 60 mg. He then wrote a prescription for ongoing doses of 60 mg daily. Curiosity lead me to research the web to find out what the opinions were of others on cymbalta and I read a lot of praise as to what a great help it is to soo many people. However, after continuing, I accidentally found this chat board and boy am I ever scared now ! I've been on it for only 4 days now but I threw up the first day and have had nausea for the last 3 days. I'm inclined to stop it right now based on what I'm hearing of all the pain and suffering going on when eventually trying to stop.
Do these withdrawal symptoms happen to most people or does anybody withdraw without complications? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Kenp7

#8 schmb01

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 11:33 PM

Hi Everybody,

I hope I'm not on the wrong posting board or subject. I just started cymbalta. My doctor gave me a weeks supply of 30mg to be followed by 2 weeks of 60 mg. He then wrote a prescription for ongoing doses of 60 mg daily. Curiosity lead me to research the web to find out what the opinions were of others on cymbalta and I read a lot of praise as to what a great help it is to soo many people. However, after continuing, I accidentally found this chat board and boy am I ever scared now ! I've been on it for only 4 days now but I threw up the first day and have had nausea for the last 3 days. I'm inclined to stop it right now based on what I'm hearing of all the pain and suffering going on when eventually trying to stop.
Do these withdrawal symptoms happen to most people or does anybody withdraw without complications? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Kenp7


Well, as you would expect, you will likely NOT get much positive in the way of responses here.

Only you and your doctor can determine what is best for you. On the other hand, it is very important to get all of the information in advance. Had I known that what I would go through both while on Cymbalta, and trying to get off of it, I never would have taken it to begin with. My depression was mild to moderate, but I also have a chronic neurological condition, so it seemed a good choice to handle both depression and pain. One of the bad things about Cymbalta and even Effexor, is that they can work very well for a year or so, then slowly stop. By that I mean one day I noticed I felt dead to the world around me, and I was having some of the withdrawal symptoms while still on the medication. The dose was upped, I felt even more dead, but began to get severe headaches. Thus began this journey off of this stuff.

In hindsight, I would have done way more from a natural standpoint to try and manage my conditions, such as healthier eating, exersize, St. John's Wort, Omega 3. Also, if I were to use an anti today, it would be one that had been on the market a minimum of 5 years, with solid trials behind it, and a safe taper method outlined as to how to stop. There ARE safer antis out there, and in my humble opinion, if you are just into it for 4 days, and already feeling kind of poopy, I would RUN to your doctor on Monday, and have a very serious talk about trying something else.

Now, you may not be one that has any issues at all with it, I'm sure some don't, but why take the chance?

#9 Sarah J

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Posted 16 March 2008 - 08:29 AM

What a can of worms this question opens up. And, welcome and thanks for bringing this question into the mix and good for you to research what you are putting into your body. I hope we are able to be of some help.

And this is really hard to answer, because not being a medical professional, I have no idea if Cymbalta is something that can or might help you. Some people nicknamed this drug Cym-barf-a. It sounds like you are experiencing this. Keep in mind, I joined this site on Feb. 8, 2008 and since that day, at least six new members sign on. Many of them don't post at all. If it is their first week of withdrawal, I can only imagine they don't post because they are trying to keep themselves from falling on the floor from the extreme withdrawal vertigo.

3.5 years ago, I went to a psychiatrist because my regular doctor noted how sad I was (had been through several family deaths that year). So my regular doctor suggested an anti-depressant. She's a great doctor, but I figured, she was not specialized in anti-depressants, so I might want to go to a psychiatrist. So I did, I got blood tests to make sure my thyroid was functioning correctly and the shrink put me on Cymbalta 30 mg. It worked for me (although now I see it was a big mask) for about 6 months at that dose. Then 60mg, which worked for around 3 months. Then my shrink put me up to 90 mg, which I was only on for one day. I felt like it was going to blow my head off. So I went back down to 30 mg and stayed there for another two years.

Why did I stay on so long, especially since by then my situational depression was over? I was too afraid from the information I was finding on the internet. I could not find the success stories of people who took it and came off. I also figured that people who took it and did come off fine, did not post on the internet. Cymbalta does seem to help people with conditions such as fibromyalgia. So, I do not think it is fair for me to say - don't take it, especially if this is something that could help you. I don't know. I do know that some people (who don't post on the internet) go on, and come off with no problems.

When my old shrink and I decided it was time for me to come off of Cymbalta, I followed his advice. And I read all of the scary stories, and I decided that while those things happened to "other" people, those were not things that would happen to me, many of those things did not happen to me.

As you can guess, by my posting here, it was not pretty. I was told to stop at 30 mg Cold Turkey and I should be fine. When I was having problems, vision, confusion, shaking, being scared out of my mind, my old shrink told me that "it was my depression coming back", "you are an isolated case", "it's just the withdrawal, you will be through it". And the worst comment "the way you feel now is how you felt before taking Cymbalta".

None of my friends and family could figure out what to do to help me. Some of my friends had been on other anti-depressants and come off with no problems, they were so perplexed at my withdrawal reaction, but my friends and family agreed, the me off of Cymbalta was not who I was before.

I kept waiting and waiting for my brain chemistry to readjust on it's own. Finally, on Day 45 off of Cymbalta, I had enough, and went to a get a second opinion and not a moment too soon.

Why didn't I just take some more Cymbalta and stay on it to stop the withdrawal? Because after the first week of withdrawal, I realized something that not supposed to be "addictive" had such a control over me. And I knew that if coming off made me feel this way once, I was not going to risk having to go through it twice. No way. And worse, the last year I took it, I was so complacent, I really didn't care about too much of anything and had a "whatever" view of life.

My last day of Cymbalta was Jan. 13. On day 45, I had to go to another doctor, my brain chemistry was not going to readjust by itself. I started to see a new shrink who prescribed me a low dosage of another anti-depressant called Celexa, this gave me no headaches, nausea, just relief. I am already down to the 5 mg dose, as my new doctor and I both agree it is time for me to be off of anti-depressants. By the time I went to the second doctor, I was so traumatized and frightened, I really did not want to take anything, but did realize how much Cymbalta, and the improper withdrawal advice from my old doctor had "traumatized" up my brain chemistry and it needed to be jump started again to function normally.

If you are going on for depression, you may wish to seriously consider if your situation is something that could be worked through with "talk" therapy. If you do decide to take it, I would recommend to stay on the 30 mg (by the way, there is a 20 mg too) and stay there for as long as it helps. Why jump up to 60 after two weeks if you don't even know how the 30 will affect you in the long term? These are all your choices, I do not want to deter or scare you out of something that may or may not help you.

I am 40 years old. Before Cymbalta, I had never taken any other anti-depressant before. I had done "talk therapy" in my 20s and found it to be effective. I started with the Cymbalta after a very sad time in my life dealing with deaths of 3 people very close to me. I wanted the quick fix, but as I said, it was a fix in a way, but it really just put a mask on everything. I can't change the fact that I took it. Nor am I qualified to tell you not to take it.

When researching the thoughts of others about this drug, I used to think the people who took it for a couple of weeks and said they were "messed up" and think - how could this mess you up after a couple of weeks? they have to be exaggerating? Now, I every story I read, I will give serious validity, there are so many individual withdrawal experiences here. I can only wonder about those people who don't post their stories and what they have been through.

Again, this is a double edged sword question to answer, only you are the one who can decide what to do. Are you one of the people who can take this and come off with no problems? Are you willing to roll those dice?

#10 QueenTimely

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    I am currently on Cymbalta after many years of other drugs including Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Effexor. I had a terrible experience coming off of Effexor that resulted only in my going back on, then changing to Cymbalta. I feel, at this point, that the drugs are causing as many problems as the initial depression did, and am looking at the possibility of coming off but am living this year in rural Italy and need some real support in considering this possibility and its consequences.

Posted 02 March 2010 - 03:17 PM

Thanks so much for this Board -- I'm greatly indebted. And I do have a suggestion. So many people come to this Board for the first time with the same problems and same questions.

Why not a Forum entitled: "Are you new here? Words from the wise about Cymbalta". And then include some prudently-worded items such as.

The following items are based on the experiences of people posting on this board.

- Advice for weaning.

What people have found successful: People on this board have said that weaning very slowly has helped them to successfully cease taking Cymbalt. One successful strategy has been to reduce their dosage by actually reducing the number of beads inside the capsule...
That dosages on the market are insufficiently small to actually complete weaning.

What people on this board have said didn't work for them:
People on this board have found that weaning from Cymbalta by alternating one day off, one day on, etc. did not help...

- Some side-effects people on this board have experienced:

- Some withdrawal symptoms people on this board have experienced:
- Nutritional supports people have found helpful


That sort of thing. It just seems a shame that people in such great distress need to sort through such a large number of posts to get some of the basic tips.

Thanks again.

#11 adminKen

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    I'm the founder and I built this site to better understand the withdrawal effects of Cymbalta of someone who was close to me.

Posted 04 March 2010 - 02:42 AM

Thanks Queen. I'll create a new forum category here and let users fill in what they think is relevant.

Great suggestion.

#12 QueenTimely

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    I am currently on Cymbalta after many years of other drugs including Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Effexor. I had a terrible experience coming off of Effexor that resulted only in my going back on, then changing to Cymbalta. I feel, at this point, that the drugs are causing as many problems as the initial depression did, and am looking at the possibility of coming off but am living this year in rural Italy and need some real support in considering this possibility and its consequences.

Posted 04 March 2010 - 04:57 AM

Thanks. Do you think you might consider posting the announcement of the category to encourage people, especially old-timers, to contribute words of wisdom?

Thanks Queen. I'll create a new forum category here and let users fill in what they think is relevant.

Great suggestion.


#13 QueenTimely

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    I am currently on Cymbalta after many years of other drugs including Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Effexor. I had a terrible experience coming off of Effexor that resulted only in my going back on, then changing to Cymbalta. I feel, at this point, that the drugs are causing as many problems as the initial depression did, and am looking at the possibility of coming off but am living this year in rural Italy and need some real support in considering this possibility and its consequences.

Posted 06 June 2010 - 03:21 PM

PLEASE DON'T DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT. IF YOU ARE OFF THANKS TO THE WEBSITE, PLEASE STICK AROUND AND HELP A FEW OTHERS OFF AS WELL. There are a few members -- Maureen, Junior and others -- whose commitment has made a difference to you and many others. Please help us by giving back. And let us know how you go the next few weeks and months.

how do I delete my account. I am finally off Cymbalta with the help of this website.

thanks and let me know


#14 ESSIE

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    Would like to talk with others with same problems.

Posted 08 January 2012 - 04:16 PM

:rolleyes: Hi! Erin, New to site & think it"s great.Finally real people to talk with.Covers everything to know about Cymbalta. Thank You so much...........



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