67 replies to this topic

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Hello. I wanted to update my journey. It is week 28 since I started weaning. I am down to 5mg. It´s been a long journey full of emotional and physical symptoms. It seems that they would have been tougher in intensity if I hadn´t weaned slowly, but still they have been painful. The journey has been full of surprises, there is always a new symptom that I hadn´t experienced before. Sometimes I feel horrible, but then the next day I feel almost normal. There are symptoms that appear, then dissapear for months and then re-appear (such as shortness of breath and difficulty finding words). The emotional symptoms are the ones that scare me the most, but the physical bother me, because they are all new to me. I never had them prior to the medication. My hair is falling like crazy, my skin bleeds easily, my blood pressure is high, I have a constant need to go to the toilet, my ears sometimes do not hear right.....I took the medication for depression not fibro. I have new physical pain: below my right ribs, lungs. This is a summary of the latest months.
At the same time, I have had normal days, when I feel happy, calm and feel things are flowing.

[MedProf67]

Hey all, (yep, I'm Southern). I am also a medical professional who was injured during a routine surgery and put on Cymbalta for pain control, since the repair for the mistake made was by far, a larger surgery than the original. (On that subject, give robotic surgery a little more time; don't be their guinea pig. Do traditional surgery if you have to have any if they suggest robotic. They have not perfected it yet and I am a prime example of that!) At the time I was very resistant to this med. I had what I considered to be a good reason. I am a saved and felt that the less meds the better. (NO, I am not a Christian scientist!!) I was talked into this med by my internal med physician due to having PTSD (she said) after such a traumatic experience (at that time newly married, husband lost job the week after the surgical accident, was out of work myself for 4 months straight, blah blah blah)yes stressed but not PTSD in my humble opinion. I have never, EVER made such a HUGE mistake in my life as when I listened to her and started Cymbalta. Even w/ weaning over EIGHT weeks from 60mg Cymbalta to 30mg then every other day, every 2nd day, every 3rd day, etc I STILL had the most horrible "brain zaps", vertigo, dizziness, nausea, moodiness, every symptom of every poor other suffering person on this site. When I went back to her to try to get something to help (only wanted Zofran for nausea) she treated me like I had lost my mind. She told me that she had successfully weaned hundreds of people off Cymbalta with no problems like I was having. She reminded me that I and my husband came to see her last year. I also politely reminded her that I never wanted to take this drug in the first place. In other words, she treated me like I was lying and paranoid; like so many of us in the medical profession are guilty of doing to some patients. It was a wake up call, let me tell you. She offered me Valium. I said "Absolutely not." She got me the Zofran script and I came home and started on my own research and wound up here and at www.theroadback.org. Between here and "theroadback" I will make it, but let me tell you; I wonder a couple of things when I read these posts. Why is the drug still on the market at all? Why have none of the posters to this site filed a law-suit to get it taken off the market due to the side effects of taking and the severe side effects of stopping? I know I am a Christian and am not allowed to think of suing. The Bible clearly lays out protocols to handle disputes and also lays out why we should not sue our neighbor. So since my present internal med MD states she is a Christian, I have no recourse in that arena. But why has someone else not done it? Just wondering.

I have ordered the supplements and the book from theroadback.org and seriously suggest that all of you do too. It's expensive, but when you compare it to your sanity, is it really expensive? And it seems like a natural, safe way to kick this horrid drug. My sister is pretty much an expert in natural remedies, and she stated she felt that the natural remedies used in theroadback.org were definitely the way to go. Oh and something that I have found that really works for the vertigo, "brain zaps", dizziness and nausea? Original formula Dramamine. NOT THE NON DROWSY kind of this med. I take one at night before bed and it helps me so much. I am taking this until the supplements come which hopefully will be tomorrow.

God bless us all (I sound like Tiny Tim!) and I hope that you all find your way............

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Dear MedProf67:
You say that you weaned over 8 weeks. Does that mean you are off the med??? How long did the symptoms last for you???

[MedProf67]

Dear MedProf67:
You say that you weaned over 8 weeks. Does that mean you are off the med??? How long did the symptoms last for you???

Hey Family Member

Yes I am off the drug and only through prayer and www.theroadback.org and their natural products for weaning have I had the blessing of getting back to who I was before Cymbalta. I am convinced that this is a poison. I had no idea what it was doing to me before I got off of it. The symptoms are STILL THERE 10 WEEKS LATER, but ever since getting the natural supplements that are recommended through theroadback.org they have been severely lessened. Look folks, I did not sleep well for the whole year and a half that I was on this med. I took the Body Calm from TRB Health that theroadback.org suggested? I slept like a baby and have not had the brain zaps, the nausea, am able to eat again, BUT am able to control my appetite ( I gained 30 pounds on that stupid cymbalta and could not get it off no matter what I did in exercise!). I take the supplements during the day of the JNK, the unique E, and the Omega 3 fish oil. At night I take the Body Calm Supreme 20 mins before bed and sleep like a rock.

I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I am a pretty highly trained medical professional, and was severely resistant to trying natural remedy. Lord have mercy on me, I am sooo glad I got my ego in check, got humble and did! I can not say that this will work for everybody and may not work for even one other person other than me. But I will tell you this, it did work for me, I would be divorced now if it did not, and am so glad that I am beginning to be the person that I was before this med a year and a half ago.

So yes, the symptoms are still there; only one to two times a day now, and are going away completely thanks to theroadback.org. God bless YOU in your fight against this poison cymbalta.

[cookie]

Hey Family Member

Yes I am off the drug and only through prayer and www.theroadback.org and their natural products for weaning have I had the blessing of getting back to who I was before Cymbalta. I am convinced that this is a poison. I had no idea what it was doing to me before I got off of it. The symptoms are STILL THERE 10 WEEKS LATER, but ever since getting the natural supplements that are recommended through theroadback.org they have been severely lessened. Look folks, I did not sleep well for the whole year and a half that I was on this med. I took the Body Calm from TRB Health that theroadback.org suggested? I slept like a baby and have not had the brain zaps, the nausea, am able to eat again, BUT am able to control my appetite ( I gained 30 pounds on that stupid cymbalta and could not get it off no matter what I did in exercise!). I take the supplements during the day of the JNK, the unique E, and the Omega 3 fish oil. At night I take the Body Calm Supreme 20 mins before bed and sleep like a rock.

I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I am a pretty highly trained medical professional, and was severely resistant to trying natural remedy. Lord have mercy on me, I am sooo glad I got my ego in check, got humble and did! I can not say that this will work for everybody and may not work for even one other person other than me. But I will tell you this, it did work for me, I would be divorced now if it did not, and am so glad that I am beginning to be the person that I was before this med a year and a half ago.

So yes, the symptoms are still there; only one to two times a day now, and are going away completely thanks to theroadback.org. God bless YOU in your fight against this poison cymbalta.

Hey Med Prof:

I am glad that your symptoms have been lessened by the supplements you are taking, that you are sleeping better, and not have the brain zaps and nausea.



Why did you take cymb. in the first place: Depression or Fibromyalgia????



What alternative treatments/options do you plan to take for your Depression or Fibromyalgia once you overcome withdrawal symptoms???

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I am in WEEK 32, since I started weaning slowly. I am down to 4mg. New symptoms keep on showing. I am having pain in my right knee. It hurts so much it is hard to walk. (I took cymb for Depression not Fibromyalgia). Has anyone experienced joint pain on the knee when quitting???

[cookie]

This is week 36 since I started weaning slowly. My symptoms were manageable until I got to 3mg . Up to that point nutrition and exercise were helping me a lot. I was having good days, in which my mind was more clear, I was getting up earlier, memories and feelings were coming back. I had also bad symptoms but they were manageable.

When I reduced to 2mg. Things got specially difficult and I am getting new symptoms.

I have flu symptoms that won´t go away (I thought I had the real flu, but it has been 10 days, and I do not get better). I have a disconnected feeling in my brain. My arms were shaking today, ankle pains, hard to keep balance when standing up, wounds that won´t heal, crying fits. High blood pressure.



But the symptom I hate the most is the extreme sleepiness and weakness that I am experiencing. All I want is to sleep all day,

I haven´t been able to exercise in 10 days. I hope I have the energy to go back to exercising that helps me so much.

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WEEK 53 since I started weaning. I am taking 1,5mg. I started to have new symptoms. The symptom that bothers me the most is a disconnected feeling in my brain. My brain feels confused and weird. It feels like the blood doesn`t circulate the back of my brain, and my right ear seems "asleep". Talking and comprehending written or spoken language is very difficult. Nausea, diarrea, dizziness, vision problems, sensitivity to noises, facial tics. Derealization, depersonalization, depression. Panic attacks that before medication would last 30 minutes now can last up to 4 hours. The exhaustion is unbelievable. I have to sleep during afternoons.

HAVE YOU HAD THE DISCONNECTED FEELING IN YOUR BRAIN OR THE EXHAUSTION????????