4 replies to this topic

[MaureenV]

Hello<
I have read many posts that say Cymbalta must be weaned very slowly. My Dr. has had me decrease it over the last week. 60mg to 30 mg for 7 days. I took it for Fibromyalgia and they thougt is might help if I was a little depressed. He took me off b/c it made me gain substantial weight. All week I have been lightheaded/dizzy and when I turn my head I have this loud ringing in my hear or it could be in my ears I am not sure. I thought it was due to the Wellbutrin but last night was the first night I wasn't to take anymore cymbalta. Today was worse then the other days with the above symtoms-after I took a shower I guess cause I had to move my head I ended up gagging/having the dry heaves over the sink. Then later in the day I developed tic like or seizure like/ weird movementsin my eyes,mouth,face, head and shoulders. I say it was not a seizure as I was alert and I felt this coming. I have had similar symptoms before but not from Cymbalta.

I took 1/2 a pill tonight of the cymbalta b/c this is very uncomfortable and I plan to talk to my Dr. tomorrow.

I just wanted to know if anyone has experienced the odd movements? I think I must be very sensitive to SSRI's I am done I don't want to take anymore of these meds.

Thanks,

Tammy

All of your symptoms are typical of Cymbalta withdrawal. The drug companies misinform doctors about how difficult it is for some people to get off the drug, and because doctors have also had people get off it without too much difficulty, it can sound like we're imagining things. I hope you're as lucky as I was, and that your doctor believes you when you tell them that you've investigated and found it's common.

You'll need to taper slowly, as in spending a few months at least getting of Cymbalta, which means taking some dose every day, and decreasing that very slowly and evenly.

regards, Maureen.

[nursedeborah]

Hello<
I have read many posts that say Cymbalta must be weaned very slowly. My Dr. has had me decrease it over the last week. 60mg to 30 mg for 7 days. I took it for Fibromyalgia and they thougt is might help if I was a little depressed. He took me off b/c it made me gain substantial weight. All week I have been lightheaded/dizzy and when I turn my head I have this loud ringing in my hear or it could be in my ears I am not sure. I thought it was due to the Wellbutrin but last night was the first night I wasn't to take anymore cymbalta. Today was worse then the other days with the above symtoms-after I took a shower I guess cause I had to move my head I ended up gagging/having the dry heaves over the sink. Then later in the day I developed tic like or seizure like/ weird movementsin my eyes,mouth,face, head and shoulders. I say it was not a seizure as I was alert and I felt this coming. I have had similar symptoms before but not from Cymbalta.

I took 1/2 a pill tonight of the cymbalta b/c this is very uncomfortable and I plan to talk to my Dr. tomorrow.

I just wanted to know if anyone has experienced the odd movements? I think I must be very sensitive to SSRI's I am done I don't want to take anymore of these meds.

Thanks,

Tammy,
First thing I would like to know is how you felt after you took the 1/2?
I remember when my doc cut my dose in half, and on the 6 th day I was so
nuts I had to call him. He told me it was not the drug, but to go back to
my regular dose, I did, and in no time I had the worst of it all go away.

I had already experienced something simaliar when I had forgotten to take
it for a few days, and I got all these awful symptoms, like your talking about.

Maurene is righ on, doc know nothing about this drug, and it's only because
they have not been told the truth about this med by the Pharm Rep's, the side
effects, withdrawls, or how to get someone off of it.

What was taught to me when I got here was to reduce by 10 beads every 2 weeks
but over time someone came and said that they did 20 beads every 2 weeks, and
it worked for them.

We are all different, and must find out what works best for us. I just know I
can't do that large of an amout, and have had to do the 10.

If you want the bead count let me know, and I will leave it for you. It sure
makes it so much easier, and you will be able to control all the symptoms,
and be able to function.

Good luck,
Debbie

Tammy

[nursedeborah]

Thanks for your response-The Dr. did believe me and I will be able to take as long as I like to wean. I had an experience before where I had chemo for Hep c and they make you take antidepressants while on the treatment. I had what looked like regular seizures falling on the floor and and jerking etc-but I was aware and alery and knew it was coming. They put me in the hospital and took me off of everything-my Dr. had to fill out forms for the FDA. That time it was Paxil. So yes he most definatly would belive me. I just wanted to see if others had experienced the same. I guess not everyone has those experiences but I think I am especially sensitive to meds.

Hi,
It's me again, and I wanted to tell you that what you were experiencing was withdrawls, and
to give you a great site to use http://www.prozactru...om/cymbalta.htm

You will just be amazed at all this drug can do to you.

I was just told 2 weeks ago that I have a form of "Sleep Apnea" where my brain no longer sends
a message for me to take a breath. I never had this prior to the Cymbalta, and it's the reason
for my sleeping over the past 3 1/2 years. I will wake up in the am, and on some am's will just
nod out, and then have to lay down, and I won't wake up until 6:00 pm, and will do this for a
few days. The rest of the time I have been so tired I can't do ANYTHING at all, I mean anything.
It cause so many of the same symptoms of this drug, but it's also life threating!!! I am waiting
for the machine to come.

Well I am so glad that your doc listened!!!!! Your very lucky!!!

We are all here for you, and what's so cool is we are teaching the doc's how to get off this drug
so that they can teach their other patient's how to do it.
http://www.prozactru...om/cymbalta.htm
Debbie

For some reason the web sites sre not coming out right it is prozactruth.com/cymbalta.htm

[Junior]

Thanks Debbie-yes I would like the bead count. I feels so much better today then yesterday. I almost feel back to normal-except still lightheaded and headachy. I was very wary of going on medication in the first place because I have had episodes with 2 other meds that had extreme side effects but it wasn't while tapering the medication just while I was on it. I already knew I was sensitive to meds. I figured I would try because my fibro was so bad.

Thanks to you and Maureen for your support. I am sorry you have had to go through this.

Tammy

Hi Sissym

I wouldn't say you are sensitive to anti-depressants. I'd say you are normal. Paxil and Cymbalta are two of the hardest to get off. I c/t'd off C back in August last year (NOT recommended!). That's when I found this forum. I also found another forum - Paxil Progress - and have learned a great deal since then. You would not believe the difficulties people have in trying to get off anti-depressants. Yet most drs still insist that they are not addictive

The bottom line is that they make changes to our brain function..and it takes time for that to be undone.

Kind regards
Junior

[MaureenV]

Hi everyone,

I too have had a horrible time coming off of Cymbalta which I was on for migraines. My neuro told me I could just quit cold turkey since I was on such a low dose (30 mg).

Brain zaps, night sweats, and faint audio hallucinations of what sounds like squirrels in my head added to the normal dizziness, nausea, and general unwellness that many of you have referenced. I have to say that the drug was great for managing the migraines, but I could not stand the weight gain - 20 lbs in 1 year for someone who hasn't ever been outside of 5 lbs of her highschool weight. I never dreamed I would have to break open the Cymbalta capsule like a crackhead to get the squirrels to stop chattering.

My question is this: How long does it take to get completely off of this darn drug? I am down to a fingertip every three days. Has anyone had success getting their metabolism back on track after Cymbalta? How long did it take?

Thanks,

Stacia

I love the way they say 30 mg is 'such a low dose'. I was doing quite well on 30mg,despite some annoying side effects - better than on Lexapro anyway - I had fewer nightmares and actually lost three of the kg I had put on (with Lexapro) in the first three weeks with Cymbalta. Then when my GP was away sick, another doctor said 'oh no, the minimum theraputic dose is 60mg - I can't even give you repeats for 30mg.' (In Aust.)

The side effects were intolerable, and deciding that if I'd felt fine on a 'non-theraputic' dose then I might as well try to come off them. Dropped to 30 o.k., then struck great difficulty doing 30mg alternate days, which is when I found this site.

Just beware that Cymbalta withdrawals have a habit of targeting your 'weak spots' which for you may be migraines.

I'm not sure how many beads are in a 'fingertip', but I know when I eventually stopped completely at 1mg (9 beads) I was tempted to start taking that again and go down one bead at a time to nothing. I still had (very, very mild) symptoms for nearly three weeks.

Although the symptoms were trivial, it just goes to show that my brain recognized the change, so don't feel too bad that you're not off yet - it is more a matter of percentages than actual mg in the last stages.


regards, Maureen.