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#1 cookie

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    In the future I would like to stop cymbalta

Posted 16 May 2010 - 12:39 AM

GO TO PAGE 2 (bottom) TO SEE AND UPDATE OF MY JOURNEY
Dear Friends:<br />After reading this site and giving a lot of thought, I recently started to lower my dosage of cymbalta. I have been taking cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, and never thought/considered lowering the dose, until I found this forum and read about the horrible withdrawal symptoms. My doctor thinks that due to my illness and environment I should keep on taking antidepressants for the rest of my life. I must thank you all, for what i´ve learned through this site: I learned that I must lower dosage little by little. 3 days ago I reduced from 60mg to 52mg (8mg drop). I am still deciding how far I will go with the decrease in the long run, deciding if I am going to go off cymbalta (0mg), or I will stop at a lower dose like 5mg or 10mg. It will all depend on how I feel in my journey. What I know is that I am going to do this decrease little by little, maybe it will take me 6 months or more<br />So far (in my 3rd day) my symptoms have been headache and flu symptoms. Have you had flu symptoms???? I do not know if I really have the flu or it is due to cymbalta decrease???

#2 MaureenV

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Posted 16 May 2010 - 02:52 AM

Dear Friends:
After reading this site and giving a lot of thought, I recently starting to lower my dosage of cymbalta. I have been taking cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, and never thought/considered lowering the dose, until I found this forum and read about the horrible withdrawal symptoms. My doctor thinks that due to my illness and environment I should keep on taking 60mg. The times in which he has mentioned of possible dosage decrease, he has talked about reducing from 60mg to 30mg (presentations available in my town). I must thank you all, for what i´ve learned through this site, you helped me decide on my mental health and medication. I learned that I must lower dosage little by little, so reducing "someday" from 60mg to 30mg would be a huge drop, doesn´t make sense. So 3 days ago I reduced from 60mg to 52mg (8mg drop). I also learned through you guys, that it doesn´t make that much sense to count all the beads. That it is easier to count only the beads that I am eliminating. So, I took a whole 30mg pill, and the other 30mg pill I divided by 1/4 and I only counted the 72 beads (8mg) that I had to leave out from the capsule. Thank you so much for explaining that 1mg was equivalent to 9 beads. I put the beads on a plate, they were su jumpie and static. So I took 4 toothpicks to control that the beads didn´t move. Toothpicks have been very useful, since plates are usually round, and with the toothpicks you can put beads in a "square" so its easy to measure and divide portions. I am still deciding how far I will go with the decrease in the long run, deciding if I am going to go off cymbalta (0mg), or I will drop to a dose like 5mg or 10mg. It will all depend on how I feel in my journey. What I know is that I am going to do this decrease little by little, maybe it will take me 6 months or more
So far (in my 3rd day) my symptoms have been headache and flu symptoms. Have you had flu symptoms???? I do not know if I really have the flu or it is due to cymbalta decrease???




Hi cookie,


feeling like you're getting the flu is a very common withdrawal effect.


regards, Maureen.



p.s. something to amuse you: one day during early withdrawal when i had all the beads on the plate I knocked it, sending some flying to the floor. Trying to rescue them all before the dog got to them (she found the little balls flying everywhere very entertaining) made me move quite a bit faster than I usually do!

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Posted 16 May 2010 - 02:30 PM

Maureen:
Hahahaha LOL. I also have a dog, and I am very careful not to drop any beads on the floor.
Thank you for your response.
C.

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Posted 18 May 2010 - 10:02 PM

Dear Friends:
To update you on my progress.....
It´s been a week since I reduce dosage from 60mg to 52mg. Only 8mg I know! but I rather go real slowly. This have been my symptoms this week: headache, flu symptoms, red face, excessive sweating, sometimes my mind goes blank, and I cannot find words to talk, I´m just a little bit more depressed.. I do not complain so far. The symptoms are maneageable. What is important to me is to be able to exercise and do yoga. Because they help me to improve my mood, depression and feel better. How long should I wait to drop dosage again? What dosage should be my next goal?
thank you
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#5 MaureenV

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Posted 19 May 2010 - 12:33 AM

Dear Friends:
To update you on my progress.....
It´s been a week since I reduce dosage from 60mg to 52mg. Only 8mg I know! but I rather go real slowly. This have been my symptoms this week: headache, flu symptoms, red face, excessive sweating, sometimes my mind goes blank, and I cannot find words to talk, I´m just a little bit more depressed.. I do not complain so far. The symptoms are maneageable. What is important to me is to be able to exercise and do yoga. Because they help me to improve my mood, depression and feel better. How long should I wait to drop dosage again? What dosage should be my next goal?
thank you
cookie



Hi Cookie,


Wait until any unpleasant symptoms disappear. I used the brain zaps as a guide, and although most people get those,not everyone does..


It's important in particular with THIS drop that you wait until you start to feel better, that way you will be able to plan drops in future knowing how long before the worst hits, how long before you start to feel better, and how long before you can drop again.

regards, Maureen.

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Posted 19 May 2010 - 07:05 PM

Hi Maureen:
Thank you so much. I´ll follow your advice and keep you posted on my weekly progress/symptoms.
Hugs
Cookie

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Posted 23 May 2010 - 09:23 AM

Dear Friends:
It´s been 2nd week. I´ll update you.
After waiting and waiting, my doctor decided to reduce my dosage from 60 to 30mg. He mentioned that in the future I would take cymb. every other day.
As I told you I had decreased from 60 to 52mg a week ago. An even though my doctor reduced to 30mg this friday, I decided to go slower, reducing only to 45mg. (My plan is to decrease 8mg each time).
This have been my symptoms:
-Sometimes I cannot find words to talk.
-Excessive sweating, I am very hot
-Little bit more depressed
-Vivid dreams
I want to comment on 2 weird things that happened to me.
-The first is that one night I was half awake half asleep and I heard a door closing many times (real loud). There was actually no door closing. The sound also reminded me to a bell ringing many times. Has this happened to you???
-The second, was that this morning I woke up with this strong thought that I wouldn´t be able to walk (real scary).
Any comments??

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Posted 24 May 2010 - 12:40 PM

Dear Friends:
I´ve been down to 45mg for 3 days. And it hasn´t been easy. I can´t imagine what it would have been like if I had dropped to 30mg as Doctor suggested.
These have been my symptoms: My body temperature is messed up (I´m extremely hot),lack of energy, nausea, my mind becomes blank and I don´t remember what I was doing. I feel bad overall, very weak and dizzy. Feel like being in bed all day.
This week I have a visit from my cousin whom I haven´t seen in such a long time. I would like to enjoy her company but I feel terrible.
Any suggestions?
Cookie

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Posted 27 May 2010 - 10:35 PM

Dear Maureen & Friends.
I am doing a decrease chart to plan my weaning. After being on 60mg for 5 years, I decreased to 52mg one week and 45mg the next dropping 7mg aprox each time. I´ve read that once one reaches 30mg, the journey between 30mg to zero is harder than from 60mg to 30mg. My specific question is once I get to 30mg, what should be the dose decrease each time???? to diminish withdrawal symptoms. I am not sure wether to reduce 5mg or 2,5mg???? what dosage decrease do you suggest???
Would like to hear your opinion
Cookie

#10 MaureenV

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Posted 27 May 2010 - 11:15 PM

Dear Maureen & Friends.
I am doing a decrease chart to plan my weaning. After being on 60mg for 5 years, I decreased to 52mg one week and 45mg the next dropping 7mg aprox each time. I´ve read that once one reaches 30mg, the journey between 30mg to zero is harder than from 60mg to 30mg. My specific question is once I get to 30mg, what should be the dose decrease each time???? to diminish withdrawal symptoms. I am not sure wether to reduce 5mg or 2,5mg???? what dosage decrease do you suggest???
Would like to hear your opinion
Cookie



The answer is: depends. If you've got the time and the patience, go a slowly as possible. Not everyone has more difficulty at the lower doses, but it DOES seem to be more a matter of percentages, rather than actual does. i.e. 10% of 60mg is 6mg, but if you drop 6mg when you're on 30mg, it's a 20% drop. Capichi?

My personal strategy was to wait until withdrawal symptoms disappeared each time, which took about four days, then cut in within a few hours of the next drop, and for me it was so consistent it was comparatively easy.

By the time I found this site I had been doing 30mg on alternate days for a few weeks, so tried 15mg per day; most symptoms went but had crushing depression, so increased to 20mg, and felt much better. I think I then went down to 10mg in four stages, then 1mg at a time.

The withdrawal symptoms this way were relatively mild - but enough to let me know that if I went faster, or did a larger drop they would be worse.


regards, Maureen.

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Posted 28 May 2010 - 10:42 AM

Maureen:
Answering your italian question: "Capichi?" Yes, o capito!!!!! I understood.
It´s a matter of percentages!
I like the strategy of waiting until withdrawal symptoms dissapear to reduce.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE
Cookie

#12 MaureenV

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Posted 28 May 2010 - 05:29 PM

Maureen:
Answering your italian question: "Capichi?" Yes, o capito!!!!! I understood.
It´s a matter of percentages!
I like the strategy of waiting until withdrawal symptoms dissapear to reduce.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE
Cookie



oops. Languages were never my strong point. I did 'German for travellers' once, and the only phrase I can remember is the german for 'please speak more slowly' which isn't really much help if you're STILL clueless as to what's being said. :)

ciao!

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Posted 28 May 2010 - 05:32 PM

..

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Posted 03 June 2010 - 11:36 PM

Hello Friends:
It´s been a week since I dropped from 45mg to 37mg. To tell you the truth it hasn´t been that bad.
This have been my symptoms this week:

NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS:
nausea "attacks" when waking up, sometimes while exercising, I´m super sleepy, when I wake up my hands are stiff like cramps, itching, excesive appetite at night. (I´m scared to gain weight while weaning). I have zero patience and some anger. I yelled at people. Hair loss

GOOD SYMPTOMS
I am more talkative (while on cymbalta I was very shy and antisocial).
I actually have more energy and I enjoy things more.

Exercise, yoga, vitamins, omega 3 (from natural sources: soy milk and flaxseed) and diet have helped me lots!!!

What has been your experience with weight and weaning? Have you gained or lost weight???
Do you think hair loss is related to cymbalta weaning??? I am loosing LOTS of hair on my head!!!
I´ve read that there is people who experienced little symptoms while reducing cymbaltas dosage, but when they quit cymbalta /get to cero miligrams then the withdrawal symptoms strike! how has been for you???

P.S: By the way, Last week I mentioned to my shrink that there was something wrong with my temperature, because I was feeling extremely hot and sweating a lot. He said it didn´t have to do with cymbalta reduction

Would like to hear your comments
Hugs

Cookie

#15 MaureenV

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Posted 04 June 2010 - 06:47 AM

Hello Friends:
It´s been a week since I dropped from 45mg to 37mg. To tell you the truth it hasn´t been that bad.
This have been my symptoms this week:

NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS:
nausea "attacks" when waking up, sometimes while exercising, I´m super sleepy, when I wake up my hands are stiff like cramps, itching, excesive appetite at night. (I´m scared to gain weight while weaning). I have zero patience and some anger. I yelled at people. Hair loss

GOOD SYMPTOMS
I am more talkative (while on cymbalta I was very shy and antisocial).
I actually have more energy and I enjoy things more.

Exercise, yoga, vitamins, omega 3 (from natural sources: soy milk and flaxseed) and diet have helped me lots!!!

What has been your experience with weight and weaning? Have you gained or lost weight???
Do you think hair loss is related to cymbalta weaning??? I am loosing LOTS of hair on my head!!!
I´ve read that there is people who experienced little symptoms while reducing cymbaltas dosage, but when they quit cymbalta /get to cero miligrams then the withdrawal symptoms strike! how has been for you???

P.S: By the way, Last week I mentioned to my shrink that there was something wrong with my temperature, because I was feeling extremely hot and sweating a lot. He said it didn´t have to do with cymbalta reduction

Would like to hear your comments
Hugs

Cookie




Re: what your shrink said:


Horsefeathers!



:)


Maureen.

#16 Doob

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Posted 04 June 2010 - 10:25 PM

Hello Friends:
It´s been a week since I dropped from 45mg to 37mg. To tell you the truth it hasn´t been that bad.
This have been my symptoms this week:

NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS:
nausea "attacks" when waking up, sometimes while exercising, I´m super sleepy, when I wake up my hands are stiff like cramps, itching, excesive appetite at night. (I´m scared to gain weight while weaning). I have zero patience and some anger. I yelled at people. Hair loss

GOOD SYMPTOMS
I am more talkative (while on cymbalta I was very shy and antisocial).
I actually have more energy and I enjoy things more.

Exercise, yoga, vitamins, omega 3 (from natural sources: soy milk and flaxseed) and diet have helped me lots!!!

What has been your experience with weight and weaning? Have you gained or lost weight???
Do you think hair loss is related to cymbalta weaning??? I am loosing LOTS of hair on my head!!!
I´ve read that there is people who experienced little symptoms while reducing cymbaltas dosage, but when they quit cymbalta /get to cero miligrams then the withdrawal symptoms strike! how has been for you???

P.S: By the way, Last week I mentioned to my shrink that there was something wrong with my temperature, because I was feeling extremely hot and sweating a lot. He said it didn´t have to do with cymbalta reduction

Would like to hear your comments
Hugs

Cookie

I would ask him to take 30mg for a week and go to 20mg and stop. See how his tempeture regulation is then.
:lol:
Doob

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Posted 04 June 2010 - 10:34 PM

I would ask him to take 30mg for a week and go to 20mg and stop. See how his tempeture regulation is then.
:lol:
Doob


Good idea Doob! LOL
hugs
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Posted 06 June 2010 - 09:09 PM

Dear Friends:
This have been my last weeks. After taking cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, I reduced to 52mg for a week, 45mg for another week, 37 for another week. Those first weeks were OK. I had a long list of symptoms but they were manageable. I was able to exercise, go out and socialize, etc.

This Friday I reduced to 30mg. I have felt a huge difference compared to the first drops. I have felt nausea in the mornings, extremely sleepy, sad, I want to cry (but I haven´t).

My brain feels very weird, as if it was empty or literaly a substance is lacking. I wanted to drop next Friday to 27mg. But maybe I´ll stay at least two weeks in 30mg.
I still have a long journey ahead......

Hugs
Cookie

#19 MaureenV

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Posted 07 June 2010 - 12:58 AM

Dear Friends:
This have been my last weeks. After taking cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, I reduced to 52mg for a week, 45mg for another week, 37 for another week. Those first weeks were OK. I had a long list of symptoms but they were manageable. I was able to exercise, go out and socialize, etc.

This Friday I reduced to 30mg. I have felt a huge difference compared to the first drops. I have felt nausea in the mornings, extremely sleepy, sad, I want to cry (but I haven´t).

My brain feels very weird, as if it was empty or literaly a substance is lacking. I wanted to drop next Friday to 27mg. But maybe I´ll stay at least two weeks in 30mg.
I still have a long journey ahead......

Hugs
Cookie





Patience, my friend. Remember the finish line is out there. Wouldn't you rather get there with your hands in the air, whooping with joy, than crawling over the line?

Believe me, almost without exception, all slow weaners have been tempted to, or tried to go too fast.

At least with Cymbalta if you DO go too fast, reversing the situation usually works well very quickly.


regards, Maureen.

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Posted 07 June 2010 - 03:03 PM

Patience, my friend. Remember the finish line is out there. Wouldn't you rather get there with your hands in the air, whooping with joy, than crawling over the line?

Believe me, almost without exception, all slow weaners have been tempted to, or tried to go too fast.

At least with Cymbalta if you DO go too fast, reversing the situation usually works well very quickly.


regards, Maureen.



Dear Maureen:
Thank you for your -always smart advice-. I will have patience as you recommend. I read on another post, a very smart thought of yours. You said "Some people find that the worst of the withdrawal effects take a week or so to kick in. If that happens to you, you won't know if it was the first drop or the second which caused it". So since I´ve stayed on each dosage for 1 week, I really don´t know if it was the last drop which caused withdrawal, or the former drops, which symptoms appeared later. So I´ll stay on my actual 30mg dose for at least 2 weeks.


I am planning ahead, and I am thinking about my future without cymbalta. I fist took cymbalta five years ago due to a severe depression. From what I´ve read, antidepressants only mask the symptoms of depression they do not really cure. So that means that when I quit cymbalta, there is a probability that my Depression will come back. I want to be prepared and choose an alternative therapy to replace it. I am thinking about homeopathy maybe??? any suggestions??
Hugs
Cookie

#21 EasyGoinGal

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Posted 10 June 2010 - 02:30 PM

WITHDRAWAL BUDDY WANTED
I am so happy to find this site. I tried to go cold turkey. My Dr. doubled my dose when I said I wanted to get off 30 mg. and it was awful. He finally prescribed 20 mg. which I will start today. There is so much info to wade through here. I am wanting a "buddy" to email back and forth when I am feeling changes. Any takers?

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 11:56 PM

Dear Maureen and Friends:
I was away for a few weeks, because I didn´t have access to internet connection.
I´ll try to update you with my progress.
This is my 7th´s week since I started weaning off of cymbalta. Last time I wrote I was down to 30mg. Since I reached 30mg I am reducing 10% each week. So last week I was down to 27,5mg and this week down to 25mg. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

Last week was hard. I had mood swings that would last one day (one day I would feel well, and then the next day I would feel bad). It was hard to remember names of people and places. One day I had stabbing pain in my stomach when I woke up. I had suicide thoughts. They were not strong, very mild, just thoughts. I realized all this withdrawal symptoms were worsened by PMS.

This week has been great so far. As I mentioned I am down to 25mg, and have felt good monday and tuesday. I have been happy, no stomach issues, I am concentrating better, and I am a little bit more sociable. This gives me hope and makes me ask myself why my doctor kept me at 60mg for such a long time: 5 years, if being at 25mg would make me feel the same or even better.

I will keep on diminishing each week 10% and keep you updated.

Any comments??
Hugs
Cookie
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Posted 27 June 2010 - 05:09 PM

Hello:
I am down to 22,5mg. It´s been two days in which my eyes have bothered me. It is very hard to explain, it is not the blurry vision most people describe. My eyes hurt and itch. Today I was reading the newspaper and couldn´t focus properly, the same happened while watching TV. Is this due to cymbalta withdrawal????

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Posted 27 June 2010 - 07:51 PM

Hello Debbie:
Congratulations!!!! being under 4mg is such an accomplishment. Tell me about your symptoms, how have you been feeling?

The thing in my eyes are not exactly what you describe. It is like real pain in the eyes, sometimes itchiness and veins of the eye swollen, sometimes my eyesight and focus feels weird. I went to sleep this afternoon and my eyes feel a little better.

I have another question: Did you have extreme mood swings while weaning???? my mood is so unpredictable. Yesterday (saturday) I felt great. And today (sunday), I feel so low, depressed, anxious. By the way, I was prescribed cymbalta for UNIPOLAR depression, I was always low, so this thing about mood swings is something that I do not know much.
Will these mood swings go away???

Hope to hear from you soon
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Posted 27 June 2010 - 10:41 PM

Dear Debbie:
Thank you for taking the time to give me a detailed answer.

I am so glad, that you are feeling terrific and almost symptom free, although you suffered the classic symptoms and thought at some point that things wouldn´t get better.

I´ve been on cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, and my doctor told me I will need antidepressants for the rest of my life. This is something I do not want to believe. I have read a lot about depression and I am trying to find natural ways to boost neurotrasmitters. I have taken an active rol in my mental health, not only relying on a pill. I´ve found that proper nutrition, vitamins and exercise (yoga) improve my mood and anxiety.

I am also scared sometimes that Depression will return once I am off cymbalta. In theory, Depression should be there because antidepressants do not cure depression but only hide the symptoms. The key Debbie is to have a natural plan prepared so when one gets down to zero mg, one has an additional support. I am figuring out exactly what this natural plan would be. (It could be homeopathy, supplements, accupuncture, etc). I have faith that our body/brains are smart enough to adjust and go back to health. I say this because I felt better last week when I took 25mg of cymbalta than the 5 years I took 60mg.

How bad was your Depression when you were first prescribed with cymbalta??? Mine was really horrible. I was not able to function at all. It was so hard to get out of bed, concentrate, talk to others, eat. I was so low, so dark, so hopeless. Cymbalta helped me lots at the beginning but then it just stopped working.

I wanted to go from 22,5mg to zero in 9 weeks by doing 2,5mg weekly decreases. However, I´ve read that drops get harder once we are at lower doses. I like your method of going down a little each day towards the end instead of doing big drops weekly. I´ll try that once I get to lower doses.

In your case, it will be smart to stay at 1 bead for one week before quitting completely. I wanted to ask if once you got to lower doses you have taken the beads with the capsule or with water???

Keep in touch!
Cookie

#26 MaureenV

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Posted 28 June 2010 - 03:02 AM

Cookie, I am feeling terrific and almost symptom free. I am taking one little grain less each day. At this rate I'll be off in 33 days. The reason I'm weaning so slow is because I was feeling so so bad when I went too fast. I had ALL the classic symptoms from zaps, flu, aches, gut pain, extreme bleeding during periods, dizziness, head fog, etc. The worst in my opinion was the sudden rage. I hated myself during and after I would blow up.

I started at 60 mg. At first I weaned faster but at about 10 mg I had to slow way down. I just couldnt put up with feeling bad all the time. I felt like I would never get better and even thought some of the symptoms were because I just needed it for depression. I now know I don't. :)

For a while I was looking over my shoulder all the time looking for the depression to return. I'm over that now too. I'm a little nervous that some symptoms will return as I get nearer the end. Like today I was feeling a little achy and last night I didnt sleep so well. But sometimes we just feel these things for other reasons. I don't know if its withdrawl or someting else. I guess time will tell. At least I feel stable emotionaly and this month I had a normal cycle.

Hang in there with the mood swings. I think they will get better. Its all a trial and error thing while weaning. I have felt so much better to go down a litte each day instead of having a big drop and staying there for a week. Everyone is different though.

If the eye thing persists maybe a trip to you eye doc could rule out pink eye or some other infection. On the other hand it may very well be a temporary side effect of the withdrawl process.

Congratulations to you for your weaniing this far. Its good to hear about other's journeys.

I have been wondering how other people feel when they get right to the end. The last day I take it I will be taking just 1 little grain. Do you think my body will withdraw from that? Do you think I should take 1 grain for several days and then stop or just the one day? I don't know if anyone out there had weaned as slow as me right at the end. I may be unusual in that way.

What are your future plan for weaning?

Deb




Oh boy do I identify with the rage thing. Each time it happened I would swear that it would never happen again, but it did.

I tried to stop at 10mg, but it was the brain fog (the actual day after the last dose, so had only missed the dose for a matter of hours) which drove me back on before the day was out. I made so many mistakes I reckon I was further ahead at the start of the day than at the end.

I then went down 1mg at a time - about every four days, when all symptoms had disappeared.

I had mild symptoms after dropping the last 1mg; tolerably mild brain zaps lasted nearly three weeks, so you're doing the right thing going right down to the last bead.



regards, Maureen.

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Posted 28 June 2010 - 07:16 PM

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Posted 30 June 2010 - 07:51 PM

This week I am down to 22,5mg (only reduced 2,5mg this week). Comparing to other weeks, I feel that the weaning is getting tougher and harder .

The symptom that bothers me the most (and is new to me) is that my BRAIN suddenly TURNS OFF. It always happens at the same time, around 10:00pm, is a very weird feeling as if my brain wasn´t connected. After a few seconds (maybe 4 seconds), then my brain turns on again. It feels like a chemical reaction, my face feels very itchy, then my brain turns off as if there was no circulation of blood at all in my head. Have you had this symptom? What is it called???

The other symptom that scares me is BREATHLESSNESS or shortness of breath. I cannot breath properly, it´s hard to breath. (this doesn´t last all day, only periods of time)

Other symptoms:
Electrical sensations on leg, neck
Itchiness of eyes.
Overwhelmed by emotions (Example: while I was watching a soup opera, feel lots of emotions)
At night things get worse: itchiness in hands, needles sensations on the body.

I would like to know if you have felt the 2 symptoms I mentioned above (brain turning off and breathlessness)??? which are the ones that make me more uncomfortable. Any advice???

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#29 MaureenV

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Posted 30 June 2010 - 09:08 PM

This week I am down to 22,5mg (only reduced 2,5mg this week). Comparing to other weeks, I feel that the weaning is getting tougher and harder .

The symptom that bothers me the most (and is new to me) is that my BRAIN suddenly TURNS OFF. It always happens at the same time, around 10:00pm, is a very weird feeling as if my brain wasn´t connected. After a few seconds (maybe 4 seconds), then my brain turns on again. It feels like a chemical reaction, my face feels very itchy, then my brain turns off as if there was no circulation of blood at all in my head. Have you had this symptom? What is it called???

The other symptom that scares me is BREATHLESSNESS or shortness of breath. I cannot breath properly, it´s hard to breath. (this doesn´t last all day, only periods of time)

Other symptoms:
Electrical sensations on leg, neck
Itchiness of eyes.
Overwhelmed by emotions (Example: while I was watching a soup opera, feel lots of emotions)
At night things get worse: itchiness in hands, needles sensations on the body.

I would like to know if you have felt the 2 symptoms I mentioned above (brain turning off and breathlessness)??? which are the ones that make me more uncomfortable. Any advice???

Cookie




Had everything you mention except the brain switching off. Maybe that's because it was switched off the whole time? :)

The itchiness I had mostly while actually taking Cymbalta and eased during withdrawal, but it seems some don't get it, others only get it when on, others only get it when withdrawing.

Just as the majority seem to suffer the worst dreams during withdrawal, my worst were while taking it - it was one of the things that drove me to stop.


regards, Maureen.

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Posted 01 July 2010 - 03:13 PM

Had everything you mention except the brain switching off. Maybe that's because it was switched off the whole time? :)

The itchiness I had mostly while actually taking Cymbalta and eased during withdrawal, but it seems some don't get it, others only get it when on, others only get it when withdrawing.

Just as the majority seem to suffer the worst dreams during withdrawal, my worst were while taking it - it was one of the things that drove me to stop.


regards, Maureen.


Dear Maureen:
I hope the -brain switching off- is a withdrawal symptom not something else to worry about. It has happened twice. It worries me since it feels that my brain is not connected for 5 seconds.

Thank you for your response
Cookie



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