4 replies to this topic

[svaughn]

After 29 years as a normal, healthy mentally-stable person, I had a very ugly couple weeks of sadness, guilt, nervousness, and panic attacks when my son was a newborn. I was told I was depressed... I was put on Zoloft, tried to wean after a year, relapsed, then was put on Cymbalta. I have since been on Cymbalta for over two years. With my Psychiatrist's guidance, I attempted to wean off again a year and a half ago - I was at 60 mg and he prescribed me to go to 30 mg for two weeks, then STOP.

The withdrawl was horrible. Evil. After surviving the withdrawls, then feeling "normal" for about a month, I relapsed (feelings of extreme nervousness, panic attacks, loss of appetite), or "failed" as my doctor says. I was put back on cymbalta and told by my Psychiatrist that I need to be on medication for the REST OF MY LIFE. I tried to talk to him many times since about weaning, but he says he doesn't suggest it.

Today I went and saw a new doctor. He is happy to work with me to try again to wean, slowly. Our plan is to go to 50 mg for a month (30 capsule plus 20 capsule) 40 for a month (20 capsule plus 20 capsule) 30 for a month, 20 for a month, and then I think I'll look into splitting my own and putting them into my own capsules.

Anyway. This is scary for me, after my former withdrawl experience, so I'm hoping taking it step by step, sloooooowly, will help.


I do wish you luck and myself also. I am scared myself. I have taken antidepressants for 7 years RX by regular physician which i will say is not a good idea b/c they know squat. I did at one point wean off effexor and it was bad(she had to put me on zoloft b/c she said that would be better to wean off) so i finally got thru it but still felt depressed, but now i wonder if maybe my brain has just been warped b/c when i orginally sough help on 01 I was mildly depressed. Oh and i also have ADD. Ok..2.5 years ago given cymbalta 60 mg. While pregnant was paranoid and wanted to come. BIG MISTAKE. couldnt handle it and my psychiatrist was a NUT. so went back on. I am now with new dr. and am weaning off bc i feel it does not work. I paid 1800 to see psychologist for her to tell me YES i have ADD-knew that and depressed so then i guess cymb. not working.
PLAN went from 60 to 40 for 2 weeks then 20 for 2 weeks then did 20 every other day for a week and stopped. THE BOTTOM HAS DROPPED OUT. sad, angry, depressed, vrying, muscle aches, extreme nauseau and not wanting to eat, brain zaps and regular headaches. Given this i called on call dr who RX klonopin to help and this has eased some but it has gotten worse. SAw dr. today and he said go back to 20..well i really didnt want to...bc i hate this drug so much and am scared. He didnt have a 20 in office so gave me a 30 so tomm i will take a 20 and hesays take for 2 days then skip..just play all by ear!!!!!!!!! WHAT?? ANd of course opening up caps. is a big no no he says. WELL how do you do it and where get capsule from. how do i break 20 down? any suggestions? I have hears that benadryl, omega 3 and snapple/gatoreade help.

THis is the worse but I do hope to get through it just scared. good luck. shannon

On top of this, I'm going to plan on quit drinking alcohol until I know I'm out of the woods, taking 2,000 I.U. of vitamin D daily (per new doc's advise), eating depression fighting, healthy foods, and exercising daily.

I honestly don't think I'm a lifetime-depressive person. I think the panicky feeling and nervousness I felt after weaning *might* be my body's way of adjusting back to being on it's own after being dependant on medication.

I also want to mention that throughout my life I've always had random migraine headaches, every few months or so. Mysteriously, while on antidepressants, my migraine headaches have dissapeared... but both times after weaning, just before my "relapses" I've gotten a migraine.

So that's my story. Wish me luck.

[svaughn]

Hi. Wanted to wish you luck as I am going through the same thing. I can say that this site is comforting-knowing there are others out there who can relate. I have been on antidepressants since 2001. At that time I was just feeling down in dumps and wanted to sleep a lot. My mom took me to a psychiatrist and was RX welbutrin. Well I ended up not much liking the doctor and a friend suggested my family physician could RX me what I needed so I did that. So over the course of 8 years I have seen her and been on i think 5 diff. meds. Me taking these were not much monitored. She would ask how i was feeling(like when i went in for a cold or something) and i would say well okay i guess i still feel irritable sometimes and she would say well theres a new drug and we can try that...and so the story goes on. While on Effexor I told her I didnt know even if i needed meds and wanted off. She weaned me. This was in 2006. I had head zaps-which of course she had never heard of. I was also emotional. She put me on zoloft(which i had taken before) b/c she said it was easier to wean off of. I finally got off of it all. Now I ended up going back on something..CYMBALTA. like always took her advice and did no research. While pregnant thought it could be dangerous and sought psychiatrists help. He said he would help wean me. I described my withdrawals with Effexor and he said there was no such thing and if i felt that way then i needed meds. He knows nothing obviously. These withdrawals were TERRIBLE. worse than with effexor. OB told me i was doing more harm than good and got back on. I am now seeing new psychiatrist and he is helping me to wean. I was hopeful as in he understands the withdrawals and did something I had never seen. He went from 60 to 40mg for 2 weeks and then 20mg for 2 weeks. During this time was nauseous but it was bearable and had headaches. When I began taking 20 every other day IT BEGAN. Zaps..emotional...sad..anger...sickness. I was RX klonopin to ease this by on call psychiatrist. I asked if i should go back to 20 and she said you have made it this far..ride it out. I saw my DR. 4 days later and was an emotional wreck. He made me take a 30 there and told me I needed to go back on and wean slower and do every other day. I so did not want to. but i did. i am concerned on this every other day thing. I give myself the meds then take away and lose it and then give it to me and so on. Now of course he does not recommend me opening capsule and assures me he will help me thru. this and get me off. BUT i am very scared. Unless you have experienced this then you really dont know and I wish this on no one. It truly feels like death. I cried in my one year daughters face as i fed her breakfast. it breaks my heart. So i took 30 there and today took my 20. OK head zaps are sort of gone and feel somewhat emotionally stable but muscle aches and TERRIBLE headache. I am thinking of opening capsules as others have suggested. It is just all so scary. I wonder if i will ever return to normal. I mean i feel 7 years of diff. meds has messed me up and i am addicted to it. AND word to the wise to all of you.....DO NOT have regular physician RX meds. she did it like candy and does not have the knowledge. Now so far this psych. has not pissed me off yet so i am hopeful and do like him but he says in 2-4 weeks u should be better.....but he does not know for sure.
I told him about this site and he said are you going to rely on that..I said im not sure if i would say rely but def. find comfort in b/c you, my mom, my husband have NO IDEA what i am feeling. besides all the withdrawals i am scared too. scared to ever feel this way again so not sure what i will do tomm. with taking what. keep me posted on your weaning. GOOD LUCK. shannon

[Junior]

Hi Shannon

I'm sorry you are going through such a hard time. Unfortunately your story is one that I've read so many times now - both here and at another forum I go to - Paxil Progress. Doctors do not understand how long withdrawal can last. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think any studies have been done that go longer than just a few weeks. Hence doctors think "discontinuation syndrome" only lasts a few weeks. In addition, they seem to think that it's just a matter of how long it takes to get the drug out of one's system.. but it isn't. I'll try to explain...

SSRI's (Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac) and SNRIs (Effexor and Cymbalta) alter the way the brain functions. SSRI's down regulate serotonin receptors on the sending neuron, making more available for the receiving neuron to take up. SNRIs do the same thing but with both serotonin and norepinephrine. Additionally, if the level of one neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) is altered, then the brain naturally adjusts the levels of others and more than 50 have been identified!

Therefore, as you can imagine, it can take quite a while for the brain to return to its pre-medication way of functioning. It's about healing... not how long it takes to get the drug out of the body. This is why a slow taper has been found (by many) to be the most effective way to get off anti-depressants. It means far less severe withdrawal effects and ensures a reasonable quality of life while withdrawing.

Hope that helps
Junior

[MaureenV]

Hi, I posted in another thread but want to post here as well.

First, I want to say that I am glad that I found this site and am sorry about the horrible experiences you all are having or have had.

I am hoping that someone can help clarify the SLOW weaning process. I read elsewhere about taking 8 beads less a night (from a 60 mg capsule), so it would be 8 on night 1, 16 on night 2, 24 on night 3, and so on. I am afraid that this might be too fast?

I read that Debbie mentioned the 10 bead/2 week method but said if this is too much, a person could go to 5 mg. 5 mg = 45 beads. So my question is how does the 10 bead/2 week method work? It can't be 10 beads total in 2 weeks, so can it be 10 beads less a night for 2 weeks? So after 1 week, you would be somewhere between 5 and 10 mg?

I hope this all makes sense. I am just trying to figure out the safest way to wean myself off. Doctor suggested every other day - don't want to do that.

Hi Kaitlyn,.


there's no one way of slow weaning - some count the beads at their own pace - there's no rule about how many or how often; some can go faster than others; some can do their next drop faster than others.

I did a very slow wean from 20mg (after having been on 30, then 60mg, and struggling with the every second day bit once back down to 30) taking 10 weeks to do so in order to avoid the worst of the symptoms.

You're right about not doing every other day - crazy. I've seen a few post here for whom it worked, but generally that's the point at which many, many people reach this site, wondering what the heck all these symptoms are when they're still taking the drug every second day.

I found it easier to buy empty gelatine capsules (otherwise what are you going to do with all those beads in the long run?) and divide the doses that way. At the beginning, though, you may find it easier to remove beads and save them for later, when you're on a much lower dose.

Removing 8 more each day would take you about 70 days to be off completely. Some can be off in a few days, others take many months - no one can say what it's going to be like for you.

If you're doing really well with the 8 extra each day, you can increase it, if you're not, you can decrease it, or stay on the same dose for a while.

keep in touch and let us know how you're going.

regards, Maureen.

[MaureenV]

Thanks Maureen for your response.

I think I am going to try 6 less a day (6 on Day 1, 12 on Day 2, etc). About how many days would that be? I'm sure there's a formula to figure that out...

A 60mg capsule has 540 beads, so that works out to 90 days.

If that sounds like a long time, just remember, that time will come anyway, and you might as well be 1) off Cymbalta if that's what you want, and 2) have had an easy a time as it's possible to have when withdrawing.

If at any point you find the symptoms distressing, you can either stay at the same dose until they subside (after which you may wish to go slower), or go back up a few.

If after a few weeks you have no symptoms at all, you may wish to go faster.

That's the joy of the tapering system - you don't ever need to make huge adjustments.

Keep in touch here, even if it's just to vent.


cheers, Maureen.