6 replies to this topic

[Vichesse]

How long were you taking C previous to trying to wean yourself. I've been taking it for about a month now, and wand to wean myself off of it because it's not helping my depression and it just gives me headaches and a sour taste in my mouth. Have you come across anyone who was taking it for a short period of time, and needed to wean off? Thanks so much for any assistance and information you can provide!

I was on it for about a year and a half. I started at 30mg and was bumped up to 60mg, which was my maintenance dosage.

I went on it originally to help me with Depression & Joint Pain. It worked and was well tolerated for me. Unfortunately i don't know anyone personally who was on it for a short time and stopped cold. I have a friend who tried it for just a few days, but her side effects were severe and she was unable to take it, being changed to something else immediately - no withdrawal symptoms.

If you haven't seen improvement in a month, and the side effects are bothersome, I'd recommend getting off it before oyu get any further just because it's so tough to do. There have been several posts I've seen that cover short-term users and how they fared in detoxing. Browse the forums and I'm certain you'll find the info you need. Good luck!

[Junior]

How long were you taking C previous to trying to wean yourself. I've been taking it for about a month now, and wand to wean myself off of it because it's not helping my depression and it just gives me headaches and a sour taste in my mouth. Have you come across anyone who was taking it for a short period of time, and needed to wean off? Thanks so much for any assistance and information you can provide!

Hi Jess

Because of the way C and other anti-d's alter brain function, it can take several weeks for them to really 'kick in'. Having said that, I'd have expected some change by now. Maybe Cymbalta just isn't the right one for you?

In terms of the need to wean off.. I was only on it for 19 days - 60mg - and cold turkeyed. I thought I was on a starting dose (stupid dr) and therefore wouldn't have too much trouble. WRONG. From Day 4 I had severe upper abdo pain that my dr thought might have been gall stones. I couldn't eat much, only very bland foods, but I was gradually able to increase to a normal diet. That took about 2 weeks. Then I suffered hypomania - excess energy despite less than normal sleep (5-6 hours per night, broken), more talkative than usual, etc.

I would NOT recommend doing what I did. I've learned a lot since then about weaning off a/ds and the best way is to do it slowly. Another forum I go to recommends dropping the amount by 10% each time and waiting 3-6 weeks to stabilise before dropping it again.

Hope that helps
Junior

[NYirishman]

hello Vichesse,

I am so happy you have prepared the people around you and they are supportive!! I think one of the hardest things throughout my AntiD expierence was the heartbreak of losing so many friends and family. It is very hard to explain your reality to anyone who is not directly effected by it, and for this i have burnt many a bridge to keep things less stressful. ( not the way i would have wanted to handle it but sometimes the less thought out plan is effective immediatly and no so effecdtive long term.)

I do have a weird question, I read so many gain weight on C and this has never been the case for me. I am 6'2" and keeping 200lbs has been the largest chore for me. Currently i am 139lbs which is a very scary low weight for me. Maybe it is will have diff chemistry, but i can remember spendin a whole winter at a gym twice a day to feel amazing and fit only to have to stop in spring and in a months time be right back to the sicklyish size and weight i try to stay away from. I do remember when i was being introduced to dif meds for treatment, ( though i really can't remember to many benifits from them) like klonapin, depakote, ect ect. some of these counter that effect and i was able to keep a healthy weight. Although the adverse effect to being on a med i didnt need was pretty bad, i remember spending days in my chair wrapped up shivering on a hot summer day. when i told the phyc about it she simply tried to switch to a new med without telling me any whys.

If there is anything i can do to help or share expirence on id be happy to, i find being able to talk and listen to people in the same situation has been and will be the best therapy and support for giving the SSNI a boot.


Day 2 back on 30mg and working towards a slow wean.
Paul

[Vichesse]

Thanks Paul -

Yeah I do think chemistry has a lot to do with it. You're also male - I'm female and I think that has a big influence as well. I'm the type of person who easily gains weight on meds - I gained 80 on Depo-Provera in college, despite my active lifestyle. I've never had a tendency toward being underweight - that's my husband and his oldest daughter.

I've noticed through all the different sites I've visited that C seems to have similar effects on most people, though how severe the effects are and how long they last varies greatly. I'm almost back to normal now after a month cold turkey - so there IS a light at the end of the tunnel for those in situations similar to mine where they don't have a choice but to quit abruptly.

[Vichesse]

Thanks for your post....I did write last night to question anyone who may have come through this and is now on the other side, i.e., you!! I've been almost a week off completely, but yesterday was sooooooo bizarre, and as I wrote on the other post, with some family/teenaged son issues going on, wasn't sure which was causing it. NOW I am positive it was the cymbalta......crazy roller coaster ride.....crying over nothing, on and off all day, even during the olympics. I mean, I know it was emotional for some of those athletes, but for me to get weepy with them, give me a break. I'm not that kind of person. Yeah, I'm a Mom who tries to be caring, etc., but this is way beyond caring. Also, flipping out at work at my husband, who I work for, eating too much. So today, I decided to take a capsule from his prescription and take out about 5 or 6 beads put them in a glass of water and take them separately. I wanted to abate any bizarre behavior as I had yesterday. So far, so good. The only thing I am getting without end is the tinnitus.....I've had it for a long time, but it is so much more amplified right now while I am going through this.

But I just want to say again, I'm so glad you wrote your post and I will keep this going to the end til I feel 100 % back to my old self again, happy, peaceful, non-reactive. It'll be worth it once I'm there.

I am so glad that my post is able to help others. All I seemed to be hearing were posts written in despair from those around week 1 of withdrawal or tapering off (which, in my experience is the worst). I was there and it was vicious. There were days I didn't know if I could make it. Keeping a journal of your symptoms and moods is a great way to chart your progress and as you get further out, there will be noticeable progress that you will find encouraging. Keep on talking with others, but more than anything else, "talk" to yourself about what's going on. You'll find the information invaluable and you'll begin to see yourself emerge from the mess Cymbalta made. I've been seeing more and more of my old self coming back and I've decided that my passionate nature that may make me prone to bouts of depression when things get tough is precisely what gives me my creativity and compassion for others. I cannot have the good without the bad and next time it gets really bad I'm going to try adding in more exercise, B vitamins and a better diet in general before I get put on any more meds to carry me through it. Maybe I'll even throw in a support group - any other focus but myself in times of darkness. Anything will be better than going through the things I experienced while on Cymbalta - I just hope that it's not too late to overcome the disaster Cymbalta caused with my GPA leading me to have wasted thousands of dollars on courses I couldn't adequately apply myself to in order to succeed.

Good luck in your journey and please keep us posted!

~V~

[Vichesse]

After only a few months on this vaunted Cymbalta,it was clear it did not engage me as a mood enhancer...(euphemistically called anti-depressant)it simply brought me bouts of lethargia and a confused sense of ennui.,...boredom. Just barely better than the comatose state I was in. My Doctor suggested the intro of Focalin...contending that the speed with the mood stablizers was the needed balance ad nauseum. Now I have speed to cope with my boredom... It was like being horny/ tense, at an overlit checkers championship.
As a bit of backround I must add that I have an active seizure disorder which requires depakotes to minimize outbreaks, and connectively, Severe back problems which are quite often disturbed by seiures... require regular to as needed doses of methadone and on breakthrough periods, additional hydocodrones and muscle relaxers. My zantacs dont matter here.

I told the omnipotent Doc that I am drowning in medicines and will rather feel all manner of pain until/unless I cant handle it then would be glad to add one at a time
1. Seizure meds.(STAY)
2.Cymbalta 60 mg.(Goes, direction of doc is to take for 3 more days and immediately replace with nuvigil 250mgs.

Getting rid of the Cymbalta, staying on topic, is I believe the reason that I feel I am not grounded...right on down to a sense of electrical dicharge senses. An unbalance that is far from 'dizziness...ie, yesterday I felt faint all day, falling/fainting? once and recieved a stab wound on palm. My thoughts are almost manic at times, mawkish at others. Questions like will my life increase to the degree some day that it matters? Then or now? This is all in one day of what I can remember. Is it the adition of the nuvigil. Combo problems? Usually I am not so remiss about charging in to find where the light divines the intentioned resonses and the straightforward known entities. This shit is scary

Woah. This deserves its own thread. BIG issues here with different meds... may want to list it in the tag line. Good luck finding others who can give you accurate feedback based on experience not conjecture! I have no experience with anything other than the Cymbalta and I don't like to guess when it comes to people's health. Good luck!

[Junior]

After only a few months on this vaunted Cymbalta,it was clear it did not engage me as a mood enhancer...(euphemistically called anti-depressant)it simply brought me bouts of lethargia and a confused sense of ennui.,...boredom. Just barely better than the comatose state I was in. My Doctor suggested the intro of Focalin...contending that the speed with the mood stablizers was the needed balance ad nauseum. Now I have speed to cope with my boredom... It was like being horny/ tense, at an overlit checkers championship.
As a bit of backround I must add that I have an active seizure disorder which requires depakotes to minimize outbreaks, and connectively, Severe back problems which are quite often disturbed by seiures... require regular to as needed doses of methadone and on breakthrough periods, additional hydocodrones and muscle relaxers. My zantacs dont matter here.

I told the omnipotent Doc that I am drowning in medicines and will rather feel all manner of pain until/unless I cant handle it then would be glad to add one at a time
1. Seizure meds.(STAY)
2.Cymbalta 60 mg.(Goes, direction of doc is to take for 3 more days and immediately replace with nuvigil 250mgs.

Getting rid of the Cymbalta, staying on topic, is I believe the reason that I feel I am not grounded...right on down to a sense of electrical dicharge senses. An unbalance that is far from 'dizziness...ie, yesterday I felt faint all day, falling/fainting? once and recieved a stab wound on palm. My thoughts are almost manic at times, mawkish at others. Questions like will my life increase to the degree some day that it matters? Then or now? This is all in one day of what I can remember. Is it the adition of the nuvigil. Combo problems? Usually I am not so remiss about charging in to find where the light divines the intentioned resonses and the straightforward known entities. This shit is scary

Hi there

I can't speak for the other meds as I am not a doctor but it would be unlikely there would be an interaction. That's why only Drs can prescribe medication. Because they know these things.

As far as Cymbalta withdrawal is concerned, what you describe is classic withdrawal. Unfortunately it seems that few Drs fully understand the difficulty many have in getting off a/ds (not just Cymbalta) and tell people to wean in ways that just don't work. Going cold turkey is even worse! The drug companies themselves warn against that!

You didn't say how long you've been off Cymbalta but my recommendation would be to get back ON it and wean slowly. You CAN get off it successfully but it takes time. The problem is not getting the drug out of your system. It chemically alters your brain function and it takes time for that to return to its pre med state. Most find it much better to wean slowly. One recommendation I've heard is to reduce by 10% each time and wait 3-6 weeks before dropping the dose again. That way you can stabilise before reducing further. It also allows a better quality of life.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.
Junior