11 replies to this topic

[pirappo]

Hi, I'm a new user. I found this forum while researching cymbalta (wish I had thought to do so before I started taking it) and I wanted to document what was happening with me, just in case.

 

My doc started me off with 20 mg of cymbalta and we increased the dose to 50mg two weeks later. I'm currently on a generic. In total, it's been 2 months. With cymbalta, I noticed many of my side effects vanished after a week, with the exception of 3 things; vivid dreams, sweaty hands and feet, and difficulty reaching orgasm. I didn't mind much because I find my typical libido distracting and I can offset the sweating by increasing my consumption of brown rice and bananas. The sleep was a little more troublesome but slow release tablets of 3mg of melatonin helped me rest less fitfully.

 

I was honestly over the moon with how well Duloxetine helped me at first; I had more energy, I was more eager to socialize, and it definitely helped with pain relief. Then I started looking into the medicine more and the horror stories I read about the withdrawal scared the skeleton out of me.

 

I figured that since it was pretty early on in my treatment, the best thing to do was to try to stop taking it asap and see how it affected me. If the withdrawal was painful, I wanted to ask my psych about switching to something else, like prozac. If I ended up feeling okay, my plan is to limit my intake of duloxetine to the winter months when I experience the worst of my seasonal depression.

 

Here's what I've been doing so far: I quit cold turkey on Sunday just to see how I'd end up feeling. My plan was to get back on it and do the classic wean if I felt like my brain was being flayed. It's been over 48 hours, and I mostly feel okay outside of a barely-noticeable headache and a slightly hoarse throat. My hands and feet are still sweaty (and a little shakey but to be fair I have not eaten enough today). I honestly do not know if the fact that I'm currently taking Strattera is helping me; I know it fiddles around with norepinephrine but I'm only taking 18mg and I just started on the 21st. I'll ask my psych about it during my next appointment and post an update.

 

I've been wondering if I've just been having an easy time of it because of how I've only taken duloxetine for two months. Is weaning different if it's 2 months vs 2 years? Should I expect more withdrawal effects if I continue cold turkey? Do you think the Strattera is helping even though I've only taken it for five days? (Strattera usually needs a month for noticeable results) If I'm one of the lucky folks who doesn't experience the worst of withdrawal, do you think it would be a good idea to only take it for the winter months? (I'm thinking 2-3 months at a time) 

 

I've checked out the ebook and the general forums for tips and I admire all the work everyone has put in to help each other. I hope that by documenting my experience here I can also contribute!

[invalidusername]

Hi pirappo and welcome,

 

First thing I noticed was your dose - 50mg? Are you taking 30mg + 20mg? I was not aware that a 50mg dose existed. 60mg is the usual go-to dose for therapeutic usage.

 

It sounds like you have got a good handle on the symptoms you had whilst starting up, and I can understand that you are concerned about the withdrawal after reading what our members have been through. Your cold turkey approach will not show its biggest impact for another 24 hours when the majority of the drug is out of your system. It typically takes 3 days for the body to adjust to a new dose. So standby for a change in circumstance - although you may be one of the lucky ones that do not get affected, in which case, whilst I don't like to condone it, you may be fine continuing your term of cymbalta treatment.

 

There would be a difference between 2 months and 2 years in terms of a withdrawal, but 2 months withdrawal would be a good indication and the majority of neurochemical changes have already taken place.

 

Regarding the "winter only" approach, this would not be a good idea, as not only would you be spending the spring going through withdrawal (potentially) each time, but each time you stop and start, there is a strong likelihood that the cymbalta would loose its efficacy.

 

The Strattera will be helping inasmuch it is a norepinephrine "booster", so you will have less of the adrenal-related issues that most have during their withdrawal. If that is helping, then it would be wise to maintain this dose. 

 

Finally, just to play devil's advocate, if you are considering switching to another ad which has less of a withdrawal, you need to bear in mind that withdrawals are subjective, and you may experience something more of a withdrawal from Fluoxetine. These things can never be known until experienced.

 

I'm glad the eBook is helping you too - thank you for letting us know. It is always good to know where our work in maintaining it has paid off!

 

IUN

[fishinghat]

"Regarding the "winter only" approach, this would not be a good idea, as not only would you be spending the spring going through withdrawal (potentially) each time, but each time you stop and start, there is a strong likelihood that the cymbalta would loose its efficacy."

 

Absolute words of wisdon from IUN, as usual.

[fishinghat]

Well, lets try this again. 

 

I was applauding IUN's post about taking it only in the winter but when I posted it was only blank. (Sort of like me,  lol).

[pirappo]

@iun

 

Thank you for your insight! I'm a little sad that I likely won't be able to use cymbalta to the same effect repeatedly just during the winter months, but it's good to know.

 

To answer your question about my dosage, it is indeed a 20mg+30mg. 

 

It's been three and a half days now. I slept fitfully and woke up a few times, falling back asleep right away each time. I was shocked when I woke up to find it was 6pm. My dreams were very intense but not nightmarish; just cinematic. I felt very fatigued a while but perked up after about 5 hours of being awake. My sexual functions seem to have gone completely back to normal, which was startling. I've experienced some slight chills and itchiness here and there on my body. My neck and shoulders are pretty sore. The night before, I had a sudden increase in volume in tinnitus in my left ear that went back to its usual volume almost immediately; that happened only once. My short term memory feels spottier, but I'm not sure if that's a result of coming off cymbalta or the new birth control I'm trying out (birth control has a history of doing that to my brain). I still have a slight headache and a hoarse throat but it's not any worse than it was yesterday. I don't feel as shaky as I did yesterday, either.

 

I'm starting to wonder how long how I should hold out until I can safely assume that I'm in the clear. I'm still debating on what my next course of action should be if I find I'm one of the lucky ones; I don't know whether I should keep taking it when it helped me feel so much better or if I should just not take the risk and learn to live with the brain that I have.

 

I've started looking into CBD oil products because I'm curious about it as an alternative to helping out with my depression, but I'm not really sure if it'd help because what I'm looking for is more energy and alertness. At this point though I'm willing to try out anything to offset my seasonal depression; my sun lamp is great but it only helps so much T__T

[invalidusername]

Sorry to be the bearer of the news of using anti-depressants seasonally, but I am sure we can find something else that might help. 

 

Your symptoms seem quite normal, if very tame given your cold turkey approach. It is quite common to have issues with ears as there are serotonin receptors by the inner ear. But to have the sexual functions restore so quickly is something else. If you have got through the first three days and the fourth hasn't shown too much of a change in the intensity, the odds are looking good. There are some rare cases where the withdrawal is delayed - in fact we have one new member who is experiencing this phenomenon at the moment, but this is usually down to a case of traces of the cymbalta in fat reserves keeping the balance.

 

So just to get some background information, what were you put on the Cymbalta for? Was it purely depression, or were there other issues - if you don't mind my asking?

 

CBD has different effects on different people and many find that it doesn't "chill" you out, but be in a place of relaxation whilst continuing day to day tasks. But we could also look at amino acid supplementation for the depression, and possibly some line of vitamins - I'm thinking B vitamins (especially B1) and D3 with some K2 to aid the energy and alertness. Have you been tested for any such deficiencies?

[pirappo]

Today's day four; most of the symptoms I listed yesterday have shown marked improvement. I'm still pretty tired but it's not as bad, and I woke up at a normal time today. I'm still experiencing little chills but they're not unpleasant. I've noticed that I have some indigestion going on, but not enough to make me feel sick. Soreness, itchiness, and sore throat are all gone. Tinnitus is mostly back to normal. The memory issues are still about the same but I can easily point fingers at my birth control for that. No shakiness, feet are still kind of sweaty but my hands aren't so much anymore. Headache is almost entirely gone. It's actually easier to reach orgasm than it had been before I started C, and my libido is back to normal, for better or worse (It was so nice to get away from my distracting libido for a while!)

 

 

So just to get some background information, what were you put on the Cymbalta for? Was it purely depression, or were there other issues - if you don't mind my asking?

 

 

 

I originally approached my doc looking for ADHD treatment. My doctor suggested starting me off on C to see if it'd mitigate some of my symptoms, in case my untreated chronic depression was making my ADHD appear worse than it actually was. She also suggested C because of a nerve injury in my foot that I got last year. It helped a lot, and I'm not surprised that some of the pain from my foot has returned since quitting. I'm not worried about that though because I have other meds for that provided by my podiatrist.

 

The funny thing is that even though C helped a lot in terms of giving me more energy and eagerness for life, it actually made my ADHD more apparent. Not to say that it made my ADHD symptoms worse; rather, because I had more energy to attempt working more often, it became more obvious what kind of barriers my ADHD put up to prevent that. That's when my doc suggested I begin Strattera. I wasn't even mad about it because I felt so good.

 

CBD has different effects on different people and many find that it doesn't "chill" you out, but be in a place of relaxation whilst continuing day to day tasks. But we could also look at amino acid supplementation for the depression, and possibly some line of vitamins - I'm thinking B vitamins (especially B1) and D3 with some K2 to aid the energy and alertness. Have you been tested for any such deficiencies?

 

 

I've had a history of vitamin D deficiency, and I've gone on and off with taking supplements for it/going outside under the sun/eating more mushrooms. Blood tests haven't indicated a deficiency in any other of those areas before.

[fishinghat]

I totally agree with IUN. You are doing remarkably well for how quick you quit. Hang in there.

[invalidusername]

These are the issues with some of the doctors these days - they will just throw anything at them without really giving the drug its due research.

 

It is good that you have found something to help with the nerve pain. Cymbalta is used quite frequently for nerve pain, so that is forgiven if prescribed, but there should be alternatives exhausted before an antidepressant is dished out.

 

If you have a history of a Vit D deficiency then that may be the cause. It is always a good idea to combine with K2 for absorption. Vit B will do you no harm, but unless needed you will be paying only for expensive pee  

[pirappo]

Today is day seven; exactly one week since I stopped.

 

I sleep so much better now. I still have some dreams but they aren't as crazy vivid. When I was on C I'd often confuse dream events as things that happened in real life; I don't get mix them up anymore. No more headaches or any of the other stuff I had encountered the first few days without the drug. Very, very glad I don't experience brain zaps. Sometimes the back of my head does feel "floaty," as if someone is gently pulling up on the back of my brain.

 

Some fun new things though; yesterday and today I've been experiencing tightness in my chest and the feeling like it's harder to breathe. When it happens I get dizzier when I stand up bc it feels like I can't pull in breaths the way I want to. Then my heart starts beating faster, though that might have more to do with the anxiety that there might something wrong. I honestly don't know if it's something up with my other medications, but I've never experienced shortness of breath with them before. I thought it might have been something to do with my pollen allergy at first bc it's really wrecking my nose right now. I looked it up though and it looks like a number of users experienced tightness in their chest after being off the drug for a while. I just hope it's not anything to worry about. 

[fishinghat]

Shortness of breath during withdrawal is a common occurance for members. It will pass with time. If it gets to be a concern there are things that can be tried. Just let us know and we will amke some suggestions.

[invalidusername]

Well done pirappo - looks like you have done well, but there will still be a few things that come out of the withdrawal, and as Hat said, the shortness of breath is seen a lot - no doubt it has its roots in the changes in norepinephrine - the precursor to adrenaline. Don't forget that, despite you now being off the med, your body is still going through a lot of changes - more so than during the withdrawal itself. But things will balance out - once through the first 2-3 weeks, there should be improvements, but for now, try not to worry too much about all the strange occurrences, as you can be sure that 99% are a byproduct of the lack of Cymbalta.