Hi! I am so happy I found this group! I thought I was literally going crazy but now I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I was on 60mg of Cymbalta for 4.5 months and decided to stop taking it because of the lethargic, apathetic feelings I was having. I don't want to say the drug was completely horrible because in some ways it did help, but in my opinion the side effects were not worth it as I am a person who doesnt feel comfortable taking medication of any kind. I even have aversions to simple medications such as tylenol, aspirin, etc. as I don't like chemicals of any kind in my body. Needless to say, taking this medication was a huge step for me. I have been off for 2 weeks now and the 1st week I had the "brain zaps" as I have seen mentioned many times on here. It seemed to happen most when I moved my eyeballs (as strange as that might sound) and the nausea was also a persistent problem. I thought I was through the worst of it and although the brain zaps are gone I feel extremely moody, almost bipolar. I have the severe "highs and lows" I have heard associated with that particular disorder which I have never had before. I yell all the time and get mad at the drop of a hat and it's very disturbing. Soon after these episodes I will feel as happy as I can be and then something small will set me off. It's emotionally draining trying to keep up with my constant mood swings and I pray this does not continue. I am terrified my brain had been permanently altered. Please tell me this is simply a withdrawal symptom and will go away soon. I also gained 8 pounds in the first 2 weeks I started taking the medication. This may not sound like a lot but I am only 5'0" and am a strict vegetarian and run 2 miles per day 4 times per week. Putting 8 pounds on my small frame in such a short amount of time was very disturbing because I was not doing anything different than what I usually do as far as diet and exercise go. I was briefly thinking about going back on the medication as I would rather feel apathetic than like an emotionally unstable head case. I have children and for their sake I need to create a more stable environment for them. I definitely related to a post on here where a woman was crying over the Olympics because I did the same thing. This emotional roller coaster is extremely overwhelming and I'm sure the anxiety of not knowing when this will end is adding fuel to the fire. Also, after 2 weeks off of the medication I am already starting to lose the weight. Anyone with any advise to offer is truly appreciated!
Hi Jennifer,
All of your symptoms are absolutely typical withdrawal symptoms.
Cymbalta is a drug which should be tapered slowly - it alters the way our brain works temporarily and needs to get back to normal, which it can only do slowly.
The best way is to slowly reduce the dose over time, which can be done by opening and dividing the contents - which nearly all of us have done in order to get off.
As you've now been off for two weeks, you almost certainly won't need to go back to 60mg - in fact it's best not to, because you then introduce that dose to your body and have to taper way down from there.
No one can tell you what sort of dose will make your symptoms disappear completely, but i'd hazard a guess that 30mg per day would be sufficient. If you've only got 60mg capsules, you get get clear gelatine capsules and visually divide the contents of the 60mg into two of those.
Once you've taken that dose for long enough to know if it's sufficient for you to feel o.k. - should happen within a few days, you can think about tapering down from there.
With the slow taper, there is no need to suffer these symptoms to any degree. You take as long as you need to get off completely.
regards, Maureen.
