8 replies to this topic

[caith]

*Let me start by disclaiming I am not a doctor, or a psych professional, this is only my experience and I had a doctor and family helping me through! I do not recommend attempting a self wean without a strong support system in place, I cannot stress this enough!*

Welp I've been clean for about 5 months. Honestly I can't even remember the last time I had to take one, because my weaning period was extremely fuzzy and still unclear. I haven't had a brain zap in about 4 months, but I'm pretty sure any ill effects are either gone or so subtle as to be unnoticeable. I stepped down from 60(not that far!) and started taking them in increasingly longer intervals. For example, I started taking one in the morning, then not taking another until the next night, then the morning after the next day. After a 30 hour or so fast, I moved it up to taking one every other day, but had to sometimes take one every 36 hours. Eventually I was to every other day, and the jump to every third day was easier(yes, it does get easier!). Eventually I was taking one a week, and finally I jumped the last few feet and went cold from there.

I was fortunate, as I had the support of my family to help correct weird behaviors, and look out for me on bad days. I wouldn't recommend going off this medication without a good family/friends support system or a doctor, it can be really brutal. Some days I couldn't walk straight, and many days I didn't even get out of bed. My emotions were completely out of whack, and for months I suffered extremely flat affect/low(no) motivation. But now I'm getting ready to go back to school, starting a business(or 2!), and reestablishing old relationships. The point though, is not for me to brag - hopefully you will take strength from this, but temper it with caution. Results may not be typical, so always keep someone you trust close, and keep in touch with your doctor/psych OFTEN. If you don't think you have an appropriate support system in place, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ALONE. Build a support structure through community outreach/drug rehab programs or a doctor/psychiatrist before you even think about reducing your dosage, much less quitting cold turkey. Good luck everyone, I am always available via PM if you need support.

[nursedeborah]

*Let me start by disclaiming I am not a doctor, or a psych professional, this is only my experience and I had a doctor and family helping me through! I do not recommend attempting a self wean without a strong support system in place, I cannot stress this enough!*

Welp I've been clean for about 5 months. Honestly I can't even remember the last time I had to take one, because my weaning period was extremely fuzzy and still unclear. I haven't had a brain zap in about 4 months, but I'm pretty sure any ill effects are either gone or so subtle as to be unnoticeable. I stepped down from 60(not that far!) and started taking them in increasingly longer intervals. For example, I started taking one in the morning, then not taking another until the next night, then the morning after the next day. After a 30 hour or so fast, I moved it up to taking one every other day, but had to sometimes take one every 36 hours. Eventually I was to every other day, and the jump to every third day was easier(yes, it does get easier!). Eventually I was taking one a week, and finally I jumped the last few feet and went cold from there.

I was fortunate, as I had the support of my family to help correct weird behaviors, and look out for me on bad days. I wouldn't recommend going off this medication without a good family/friends support system or a doctor, it can be really brutal.

I totally agree with this, and never even thought about it. I couldn't function at all, cook for myself, I really was in danger.
Thank goodnes for the food at my AA meetings it kept me alive the past 4 months as i JUST COULDN'T EVEN GET INTO THE STORE for weeks on end. In time I am sure that people will get to go into rehab to get off this drug. We just have to keep getting the word out there.

The rest of what you did I would never even think of doing. Please read many posts here, and read about the everyother day methods, and why it not even a good idea, or safe to do. It is in the cold turkey family , or as Queen said "Warm Turkey" method. Your brain is addicted to this drug, and you can't give herion to to junkie oneday, and then not the next and hope they will ever get off of it.

It took these people here lots of hard painful work to come up with this great method for all that come here, I didn't think what they
had to go through to find this, boy do we ever owe them a BIG THANK YOU!!!

Take care, and read, read, read.

Debbbie



Some days I couldn't walk straight, and many days I didn't even get out of bed. My emotions were completely out of whack, and for months I suffered extremely flat affect/low(no) motivation. But now I'm getting ready to go back to school, starting a business(or 2!), and reestablishing old relationships. The point though, is not for me to brag - hopefully you will take strength from this, but temper it with caution. Results may not be typical, so always keep someone you trust close, and keep in touch with your doctor/psych OFTEN. If you don't think you have an appropriate support system in place, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ALONE. Build a support structure through community outreach/drug rehab programs or a doctor/psychiatrist before you even think about reducing your dosage, much less quitting cold turkey. Good luck everyone, I am always available via PM if you need support.

[Drybananna]

Oh my god, this makes me feel so much better knowing that someone was experiencing exactly what I felt and successfully got off of it.

I was weaned down to 20mg of Cymbalta and there was no lower dose that my doctor could give me (so she says), so Im currently a week in on completely not taking it.. Im dying (least, that's what it feels like), Im losing hope, and I feel like these symptoms are going to last forever.. Do they go away? I really hope so. I want my normal self back.. You give me so much hope, thank you so much! Is it unhealthy to go from 20mg to straight 0mg? My doctor doesn't seem to think so.. I just don't want it to permanently damage my brain or anything.

I've broken so many relationships due to this dumb withdrawal and people not understanding. I am crying uncontrollably at times and I just feel psycho. These brain zaps are the worst too.

I originally take SSRIs because of anxiety, not depression. I've never been depressed in my life, so it's scary. I am now sooo depressed and so scared.

I would like to add that my family is supporting me and I don't think I'd ever harm myself.. So I'll do whatever it takes to get off this stuff completely. Might copy and paste some of this and make my own thread too.

So, 5 months clean, do you feel better? Does this hell reaaally get better? Do you recommend I do your method of weaning?

[nursedeborah]

Oh my god, this makes me feel so much better knowing that someone was experiencing exactly what I felt and successfully got off of it.

I was weaned down to 20mg of Cymbalta and there was no lower dose that my doctor could give me (so she says), so Im currently a week in on completely not taking it.. Im dying (least, that's what it feels like), Im losing hope, and I feel like these symptoms are going to last forever.. Do they go away? I really hope so. I want my normal self back.. You give me so much hope, thank you so much! Is it unhealthy to go from 20mg to straight 0mg? My doctor seems to think so.. I just don't want it to permanently damage my brain or anything.

I've broken so many relationships due to this dumb withdrawal and people not understanding. I am crying uncontrollably at times and I just feel psycho. These brain zaps are the worst too.

I originally take SSRIs because of anxiety, not depression. I've never been depressed in my life, so it's scary. I am now sooo depressed and so scared.

I would like to add that my family is supporting me and I don't think I'd ever harm myself.. So I'll do whatever it takes to get off this stuff completely. Might copy and paste some of this and make my own thread too.


Yes there is a way to not just go from 20 mg to 0!!!!
That's what this place is all about, a slow wean!!!

All you have to do is get back on the 20 mg, and in a few days you will
start to feel better, and from there you can start this slow weaning process.

20 mg = 180 beads
10 mg = 90 beads
5 mg = 45 beads
1 mg = 9 beads

Now just remove 1/2-1 mg every 2 weeks, or until you feel ready, stable, all withdrawls are gone.
Just keep doing this until you have finished the drug.

I am now on 170 beads, and I am only going down 5 beads every 3 weeks, I know that's slow, but I
was just having too many withdrawls and couldn't hang. That is the other cool thing about this place
is you finding the right amount to go down that will give you the least amount of withdrawl symptoms,
and allow to be feel normal, and function.

Let me know if you need anything at all.

Debbie

So, 5 months clean, do you feel better? Does this hell reaaally get better? Do you recommend I do your method of weaning?

[Drybananna]

Thank you soooo much! I saw your post about that and decided I was definitely going to do that. Thanks for the extra info about going down bits and bits at a time too. I'll probably end up doing the same.. Because Im just so sensitive to the withdrawal. I'll probably make a thread real soon after I talk to my psychiatrist and let her know what Im going to do.

I really hope you get off completely and feel normal again, which Im sure you will! If you have a thread, I'll keep a close eye on it too. Best wishes to you. <3 <3 <3

EDIT:

My psychiatrist is telling me not to do the bead thing.. What the hell? She says Im already a week in and that going back on a dose might be bad.. I don't know what to do now. Ugh! The bead thing just makes so much sense though, what should I do?

Edited by Drybananna, 15 December 2009 - 09:24 AM.

[caith]

Handling the beads inside the capsule can be dangerous(they are water soluble), and can lead to complications. Somewhere in those 10-15 pages of counter-indications is a clearly stated direction, and i paraphrase "do not open or tamper with the capsules or beads within". Additionally, although I already responded Debbie, do not confuse the withdrawal symptoms of a medication like Cymbalta with a narcotic addiction. Though there may be some similarities, they must be handled differently, and the way these chemicals affect your mind and body are vastly dissimilar.

To answer an earlier post, I feel like my personality is mostly intact, though truthfully it doesn't matter. This experience can be very traumatic, and traumatic events usually result in some change. I feel much stronger and more resilient than ever, and I have traditionally been a rock of support to those around me. I was tempered through this experience, and focused on the positive aspects of what this medicine can help to learn.(emotional control, anxiety management)

*Again, a support system is critical. I am not a doctor or a medical professional, these are my own experiences. Always consult doctors/psychs when considering a step down/wean. Never take the stories shared on this or any forum as medical advice.*

[MaureenV]

Handling the beads inside the capsule can be dangerous(they are water soluble), and can lead to complications. Somewhere in those 10-15 pages of counter-indications is a clearly stated direction, and i paraphrase "do not open or tamper with the capsules or beads within". Additionally, although I already responded Debbie, do not confuse the withdrawal symptoms of a medication like Cymbalta with a narcotic addiction. Though there may be some similarities, they must be handled differently, and the way these chemicals affect your mind and body are vastly dissimilar.

To answer an earlier post, I feel like my personality is mostly intact, though truthfully it doesn't matter. This experience can be very traumatic, and traumatic events usually result in some change. I feel much stronger and more resilient than ever, and I have traditionally been a rock of support to those around me. I was tempered through this experience, and focused on the positive aspects of what this medicine can help to learn.(emotional control, anxiety management)

*Again, a support system is critical. I am not a doctor or a medical professional, these are my own experiences. Always consult doctors/psychs when considering a step down/wean. Never take the stories shared on this or any forum as medical advice.*

Caith, the beads are slow release, inside you're body where it's very wet, they take their time. It's important they don't get damaged on the way down to your stomach, which is why it's important to take them inside a capsule (which dissolves in about 60 seconds - I've experimented) so they don't get damaged by your teeth etc.

I'm glad the alternate days worked for you - but in the several months I've been posting here, I've seen many people who've had absolutely no success with it, including myself.

It was a damned sight more dangerous for me to continue the way I was (alternating) than it was to change to taking 20mg every day (then dropping tiny amounts every five or six days). The difference was massive.


The divvying up the beads has worked miracles for so many around here, I think we'd be hearing different stories if it was so 'dangerous'.

Of course, of course that's what the drug company would say - MUCH OF WHAT THEY SAY IS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES, NOT US.

How could they possibly admit that it's o.k., when that would be a blatant admission that their recommended way of stopping the drug doesn't work for so many.

The evidence is: you're the only person I've seen posting since August who's had success with the alternate days method (and many come here, like me, having already having difficulties with that method). Multitudes have posted here having had success with the tapering system (which automatically means opening the capsules and dividing the contents).

I agree completely with you on the difference between narcotics and these drugs. An article I read said that that was why it was so important to differentiate between 'us/them' being 'addicted' to something (although I have said here that our brainsare addicted, which is a different matter altogether), and anti-depressant withdrawal syndrome.

Similar symptoms - vastly different approach to the problem. I can just imagine an alcoholic or junkie being told to just have a little less every day. Yeah, that would work. Why didn't we think of that earlier. )

Most of us are desperate to take less and less - gladly, happily, joyfully. As you would well know.


kind regards, Maureen.

[Drybananna]

Ackk.. It seems I have good days and bad days.. Today is definitely a bad one. I can't stop crying, god this sucks. You're a very strong person Caith. I hope to be like you. : ) My mother and doctor both want me to continue the cold turkey from 20mg method so it seems that's the one Im gonna do, since they are the ones ultimately supporting me. I guess I'll be a bit of a Guinea pig.. Let's hope it's successful.

I wish there were more success stories.. Which brings me back to the slow tapering bead method, seems so much more logical to just do that. The thought of going back on this stuff though after I've already cold turkey'd a week is a huge YUCK.. Is the bead method that much more less painful? Im sort of in limbo of "Well, Im gonna feel shit either way. Might as well do it the 'fast' way."

Caith! Asking from the start of the time you went cold turkey: How long until it'll start getting better and better? My doctor seems to think 2 weeks and then it'll go easy sailing-downhill from there and just get easier. I hope so, because at the moment, I promise you it's getting worse every day.. Is that suppose to happen? When did you start noticing you were feeling better? Was the first 2 weeks the hardest? Though, I do realize that everyone is different and no set date can tell.. I'll at least have some sort of assurance knowing how it went for you. Also, I realize that Im not doing the same alternating method of yours, Im doing a cold turkey method from 20mg. So who knows. BUT! I'll still feel better with answers to those questions. Please and thank you!

Also,
regarding the beads method: How much easier would you say it is? By easier, I mean .. you know, like, less withdrawaly and less painstakingly horrid.

[nursedeborah]

Thank you soooo much! I saw your post about that and decided I was definitely going to do that. Thanks for the extra info about going down bits and bits at a time too. I'll probably end up doing the same.. Because Im just so sensitive to the withdrawal. I'll probably make a thread real soon after I talk to my psychiatrist and let her know what Im going to do.

I really hope you get off completely and feel normal again, which Im sure you will! If you have a thread, I'll keep a close eye on it too. Best wishes to you. <3 <3 <3

EDIT:

My psychiatrist is telling me not to do the bead thing.. What the hell? She says Im already a week in and that going back on a dose might be bad.. I don't know what to do now. Ugh! The bead thing just makes so much sense though, what should I do?

Drybananna,
Sorry that I have not been around, but having a hard time staying awake
for the past week, and also having really awful abdominal cramping, pain,
and constipation.

I am just so sick of all these doctor's like this one who are so dead set
against even loooking at the things that people from here bring to them, and
still think that they know best. Did you ever get a copy of the FDA report from here
and take that to her! They are more inclined to believe that. It really is sad when
they do not believe their own patients when they tell them they are doing this method
and it is helping them so much.

My doc knows just what I am doing, and has been documenting it all, thank God, and also
has the reports in my chart about this drug.

I just wrote you something, but still what to repeat that I do think if it were me, and I
am so very sensitive to all medications, would get back on the 20 mg, and start a slow wean
from there. If she will not keep giving you the RX for Cymbalta, you can get any doctor to
give you a RX for that.

This doc is being a control freak too! I have been a nurse for over 30 + years, and know
how they can be, especially shrinks. Actually most of them are very pompus jerks, and one
is lucky to find one that is really willing to work with you, and not just do what wver they
think is best.

Please let me know how your doing, I am back again.

Love,
Debbie