15 replies to this topic

[MissJenny]

Hello Everyone. Glad to find this site as I now know I am not alone.
I am a 28 year old female and I am currently coming off of 60mg of Cymbalta after being on it for 2 1/2 years as a preventative for migraines. I gradually started to lessen my dosage from 60mg. I began by going back and forth between 60/30 mg for 10 days. Then I went down to 30mg for a week. Next I stated taking 30mg ever other day. Now I am trying to take it every two days and I am going crazy. I have that horrible dizziness and fatigue. I have that cloudy feeling where you can't think straight and I can hardly get anything done.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to lessen your dosage without horrible, horrible withdrawl? I was hoping someone could share a success story from coming off of it.
Thank you!

[cookie]

Dear MissJenny:
Sorry for my late response!

I am not a doctor. What I will say is based on what I´ve learned through this site, and my own experienced weaning off of cymbalta.

From what I´ve read here, the every other day approach to quit cymbalta is not that good because of the life of cymbalta withing the body. It is better to take a certain dose of cymbalta everyday than it is to alternate days.

I took cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, and started weaning slowly, by doing small drops each week. It´s been 10 weeks and I am down to 19mg. It is not that I haven´t had withdrawal symptoms, but at least they are not as severe as the symptoms people who stop fast go through. Take a look into the site, there is a lot of posts/threats explaining how to reduce dose and wean slowly. So maybe you could take a certain dose of cymbalta and start weaning from there.

It will be ideal to have your doctor´s supervision through this weaning process.

Hugs
Cookie

[MissJenny]

Dear MissJenny:
Sorry for my late response!

I am not a doctor. What I will say is based on what I´ve learned through this site, and my own experienced weaning off of cymbalta.

From what I´ve read here, the every other day approach to quit cymbalta is not that good because of the life of cymbalta withing the body. It is better to take a certain dose of cymbalta everyday than it is to alternate days.

I took cymbalta 60mg for 5 years, and started weaning slowly, by doing small drops each week. It´s been 10 weeks and I am down to 19mg. It is not that I haven´t had withdrawal symptoms, but at least they are not as severe as the symptoms people who stop fast go through. Take a look into the site, there is a lot of posts/threats explaining how to reduce dose and wean slowly. So maybe you could take a certain dose of cymbalta and start weaning from there.

It will be ideal to have your doctor´s supervision through this weaning process.

Hugs
Cookie

Cookie,
Thank you for your response. It was very helpful to know that going off and on a day with the dosage hasn't been beneficial for others. I have read through a bunch of posts and I was starting to feel as though there wasn't much success coming off of the medication. You mentioned you have slowly come off and are now down to 19mg. I had always thought that the smallest dose is 20mg- clearly that isn't true? What are the smallest doses this pill comes in? I have managed just to get to 30mg with many issues and was thinking that my weening process would end there before I cut it out completely. If I could get lower and lower doses that would certainly make a difference! Please let me know.
Thank you again!

[cookie]

Dear Miss Jenny:
The smallest dose is 20mg
Through this website I learned that one could adjust dose by taking beads out of the capsule, there are threats/posts explaining how.
Dropping from 30mg to zero, is a huge drop. That is why I decided to wean slowly dropping 2,5mg weekly. The hardest part was when I dropped to 20mg. Since I didn´t feel well I decided to stay on that dose for 2 weeks, and plan to stay on 19mg for 4 weeks.

Hope this helps
Cookie

[Kristen]

Hi MissJenny!

Here's my story: I was told at 18 that I have a chemical imbalance in my brain and that accounted for my depression. So since then I have been on numerous meds for depression. I have been on Cymbalta for about 6 years now and I think it's time to detox. I have always been well within my weight/height range, but since I've been on this medication I have gained 45 pounds. I have also lost interet in sex, am constantly constipated and am hot all the time. I had a total hysterectomy 4 years ago and my doctor keeps telling me the weight is because of the hysterectomy. Not going with that thought. The weight gain started before that. The thing is, I exercise 5 days a week and I am not loosing the weight. I believe4 the time has come to get off this stuff and get back to having energy and back into some nice looking clothes.

Anyway, I have read about the weaning process (KrisAnn)and I am ging to go for it. I was on Paxil and I thought I was going to kill someone or go insane when I went off of that, so I am very concerned. I don't want to get back to anxiety attacks and that sort of thing.

I was currently taking 60 mg. so I think, to make me feel ok about this that I'm going to try a 5% step down and see how that goes. I have no real time frame to get off this drug, I just want to do so with as little side effects as possible.

I have gone down by 5% (for me 27 balls) and it is going well. If I have NO symptoms after a couple of days at that level, then I have gone down another 5%. At this point I have only had two moments of anger and one headache that didn't last very long (about 30 minutes). I am now down 20% in a weeks time. If you have read through these posts, then you can see why I am seriously knocking on wood.

I know that the side effects can hit me at any time, but I am trying to be very aware so that it will affect my family at a minimum. If and when the side effects crop up, I will stay at that level until they subside and then go down another 5%. I have started yoga and that is helping me to focus and be aware.

Keep posting and you'll find lots of support here.

[MissJenny]

Dear Kristen and Cookie,

Thank you both for your responses. Every time I read the numerous posts on here I get very discouraged. It makes me feel better to know that other people understand what I am going thru because i feel like everyone thinks I am crazy when I tell him about my withdrawl. This week, I decided to go off of the 30mg and see how I did. It was HORRIBLE! My symptoms got so bad that I went back on. I am now thinking about staying at 30 for a while then maybe going down to 20mg and possibly try the bead method that you both have mentioned. My only concern is(an forgive me if I missed this post somewhere) the capsule is specially designed so that the drug doesn't disintegrate in your stomach but pass through and be digested through your intestines. Does the bead method change this concept in any way?
It's interesting Kristen that you mention the loss of interest in sex and being hot all of the time. I, too, have those same issues, as well as being extremely fatigued all the time. I have actually noticed some weight gain more recently, too. Finally, it is all coming together for me.
Thank you!
Jenny

[cookie]

Dear Kristen and Cookie,

Thank you both for your responses. Every time I read the numerous posts on here I get very discouraged. It makes me feel better to know that other people understand what I am going thru because i feel like everyone thinks I am crazy when I tell him about my withdrawl. This week, I decided to go off of the 30mg and see how I did. It was HORRIBLE! My symptoms got so bad that I went back on. I am now thinking about staying at 30 for a while then maybe going down to 20mg and possibly try the bead method that you both have mentioned. My only concern is(an forgive me if I missed this post somewhere) the capsule is specially designed so that the drug doesn't disintegrate in your stomach but pass through and be digested through your intestines. Does the bead method change this concept in any way?
It's interesting Kristen that you mention the loss of interest in sex and being hot all of the time. I, too, have those same issues, as well as being extremely fatigued all the time. I have actually noticed some weight gain more recently, too. Finally, it is all coming together for me.
Thank you!
Jenny

Dear Jenny:
Yes, it is difficult to “normal healthy people” (friends/family) to understand what we are going through. That is why this website has been a lot of support for me. At least I know that there are other people who are going through the same situation and do understand.

Dropping from 30mg straight to 20mg sounds like a huge drop to me. It took me 4 weeks to do it, by doing 2,5mg drops weekly. If you are planning to do the bead method, consider doing smaller drops.

About the concept “the capsule is specially designed so that the drug doesn't disintegrate in your stomach but pass through and be digested through your intestines”. The bead method shouldn´t change this concept as long as you use the SAME cymbalta capsule and just take out beads from the capsule to adjust dose. I´ve read on this site that people put the beads in empty gelatine capsules bought at the drugstore. Although I have bought empty gelatin capsules I didn´t dare to replace cymbalta capsule, because I am not sure they have the exact same specifications/ingredients. I tried asking other users of this site, but haven´t gotten any answer yet.

I also have lost interest in sex. 

Hugs
Cookie

[Candace]

I just this moment joined. I must get off this medicine; it is wreaking havoc on my body. I tried once or twice but the horrible side effects sent me right back. This time I am determined. I feel so angry with the attitude of the doctors; there seems to be no interest in helping one get off the med; only to get you on it. Well, anyway, I have to ultimately take the responsibility for my health. I have read the many comments and realize how helpful this site will be. I just opened a capsule to find the little pellets are all different sizes (Eli Lilly, 60 mg.).

Has anyone tried to taper off by setting a time schedule wherein you continually move the time you take the capsule by very small increments each day? Would this work? For example, week one take at 9:00 pm, week two at 9:30 p.m. and so forth. Or would this take forever?

Any advice would help; want my life back.

Thanks.

[cookie]

I just this moment joined. I must get off this medicine; it is wreaking havoc on my body. I tried once or twice but the horrible side effects sent me right back. This time I am determined. I feel so angry with the attitude of the doctors; there seems to be no interest in helping one get off the med; only to get you on it. Well, anyway, I have to ultimately take the responsibility for my health. I have read the many comments and realize how helpful this site will be. I just opened a capsule to find the little pellets are all different sizes (Eli Lilly, 60 mg.).

Has anyone tried to taper off by setting a time schedule wherein you continually move the time you take the capsule by very small increments each day? Would this work? For example, week one take at 9:00 pm, week two at 9:30 p.m. and so forth. Or would this take forever?

Any advice would help; want my life back.

Thanks.

Dear Candace:
It is sad, but I also had to “take responsibility for my health” and start doing my own research.
My 60mg capsules were always identical. Always had the same size and number of beads. However I´ve read on this site people who had differences between 60mg caps.
No I haven´t tried “.....week one take at 9:00 pm, week two at 9:30 p.m. and so forth...”. What would be the purpose of this???
Hugs
Cookie

[Rory]

Dear Candace:
It is sad, but I also had to “take responsibility for my health” and start doing my own research.
My 60mg capsules were always identical. Always had the same size and number of beads. However I´ve read on this site people who had differences between 60mg caps.
No I haven´t tried “.....week one take at 9:00 pm, week two at 9:30 p.m. and so forth...”. What would be the purpose of this???
Hugs
Cookie

Hi Candace, firstly I just what to say thank God I found this site, I stopped taking this drug completely on Saturday (I was on 60mg), and it's been hell on earth, I am now trying to get an appointment with my doctor to look at a safe way of coming off this.
This drug has left me completely fatigued and unable to focus properly, so I decided to stop taking in on Saturday, as I'm out of work and need to be able to focus on finding a job.
Anyway, I can't really think straight, and have forgotten my point, but I hope you get well soon.

Rory

[Lost and Frustrated]

Dear Kristen and Cookie,

Thank you both for your responses. Every time I read the numerous posts on here I get very discouraged. It makes me feel better to know that other people understand what I am going thru because i feel like everyone thinks I am crazy when I tell him about my withdrawl. This week, I decided to go off of the 30mg and see how I did. It was HORRIBLE! My symptoms got so bad that I went back on. I am now thinking about staying at 30 for a while then maybe going down to 20mg and possibly try the bead method that you both have mentioned. My only concern is(an forgive me if I missed this post somewhere) the capsule is specially designed so that the drug doesn't disintegrate in your stomach but pass through and be digested through your intestines. Does the bead method change this concept in any way?
It's interesting Kristen that you mention the loss of interest in sex and being hot all of the time. I, too, have those same issues, as well as being extremely fatigued all the time. I have actually noticed some weight gain more recently, too. Finally, it is all coming together for me.
Thank you!
Jenny

[Lost and Frustrated]

I first started taking anti-depressants when I was 14 years old. I started off with Lexapro and after my second year in college I felt depressed again (when I think about it now, I think that it wasn't because the meds werent working, but because I hated the school I was going to and missed my family, which many people experience) but of course my pdoc decided that I should try another medication, Cymbalta. I weaned off Lexapro just like she ordered without any problems and started on Cymbalta. I have been on Cymbalta for 3 years now and I don't think I can contribute my better mood to the medication, but to me changing schools and finding an amazing supportive boyfriend. I have always been an athlete (working out 5 days a week) and I noticed I started to gain weight slowly every year. I went to my gynecologist a month ago and the weight has added up to 40 lbs !! I feel like no matter what I do I cant stablize my weight, I decided that this is one side-effect I cant deal with (I have also experience increased sweating, loss of energy, and insomnia since I started taking Cymbalta, but decided that I could try and deal with those). Recently I told my pdoc I wanted to wean off of the med because of the weight gain and to see if I can live without taking an anti-depressant in the first place since I haven't in 8 years. I tapered off the medication just like I did with the Lexapro, going from 90mg to 60mg for 2 weeks then 30mg for two weeks and 8 days ago 0mg. I started getting the migraines/brain zaps when I went down to 30mg, but contributed to them to having my menstrual cycle. I called my pdoc 5 days after completely stopping because I couldn't handle the emotional mood swings I was having, not knowing that these could be caused from withdrawl I thought that I really need an anti-depressant so I told him I needed something else. He has started me on Wellbutrin 150mg 4 days ago and he lightly mentioned that some of these mood swings could be caused from the withdrawal, but they will Definitely go away in a day or two. Boy was he wrong! I went online yesterday and found all these sites talking about everyone experiencing the same awful withdrawal side effects as me (migraines/brain zaps, nausea, nightmares, sweating, etc.) it is reassuring to hear that I am not the only one, but no one hear really talks about ways to combat the withdrawal instead of really really slowly weaning by opening up the capsules. Now I am about to graduate from nursing school in 3 months and I know that this is REALLY REALLY not safe!!!! These capsules are encoded which allows them to be released slowly into our blood streams. Without the capsule, the beads can cause havoc on your mucus membranes and stomach lining, and it is also being released to fast into your blood stream which has even caused overdose in some people. I called my pdoc yesterday to tell him off these horrible withdrawals and he simply said that he has "never heard of this happening to anyone before" he tried to make up several excuses as to why these symptoms could be happening such as electrolyte imbalance from working out and as went as far to suggest that maybe these are just side effects of my depression (PS I have had physical side effects from depression before and none include massive constant migraines and awful nausea to the point where I want to lie on my bathroom floor waiting to vomit). He started to suggest that I go on different medications to try and combat this, I shot down that idea immediately because the point is to get off the medication not go on 10 more !!! Well, after this looooong story I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to try and deal with the withdrawal symptoms besides opening up the capsules. Some articles suggest a wide variety of herbs and vitamins, have any of these worked for anyone? I am on day 9 or 8 I can't even remember anything anymore and I just want to try and push through this before I have to start up school again. So frustrated and I don't know who to believe or trust, especially because my pdoc doesn't really seem to believe me and just wants to prescribe more pills (what a surprise!). Thanks again, Glad you guys are out there too !

[MissJenny]

Dear Lost and Frustrated:
I am sorry to hear you are feeling bad, too. My withdrawl got so bad that I went back on 30mg. (I was originally taking 60 for 2.5 years) The brain zaps were non-stop and I felt disoriented all of the time. I am so sick of dealing with getting off the drug I just want to make this process end more quickly. I think, from my understanding of the posts, that the bead method requires you to take out the beads inside and close the capsule back up and take it that way. However, I feel the same way you do in finding a remedy that will help to ease the symptoms more naturally. Hopefully, someone will be able to provide us with answers.

Jenny

[cookie]

I first started taking anti-depressants when I was 14 years old. I started off with Lexapro and after my second year in college I felt depressed again (when I think about it now, I think that it wasn't because the meds werent working, but because I hated the school I was going to and missed my family, which many people experience) but of course my pdoc decided that I should try another medication, Cymbalta. I weaned off Lexapro just like she ordered without any problems and started on Cymbalta. I have been on Cymbalta for 3 years now and I don't think I can contribute my better mood to the medication, but to me changing schools and finding an amazing supportive boyfriend. I have always been an athlete (working out 5 days a week) and I noticed I started to gain weight slowly every year. I went to my gynecologist a month ago and the weight has added up to 40 lbs !! I feel like no matter what I do I cant stablize my weight, I decided that this is one side-effect I cant deal with (I have also experience increased sweating, loss of energy, and insomnia since I started taking Cymbalta, but decided that I could try and deal with those). Recently I told my pdoc I wanted to wean off of the med because of the weight gain and to see if I can live without taking an anti-depressant in the first place since I haven't in 8 years. I tapered off the medication just like I did with the Lexapro, going from 90mg to 60mg for 2 weeks then 30mg for two weeks and 8 days ago 0mg. I started getting the migraines/brain zaps when I went down to 30mg, but contributed to them to having my menstrual cycle. I called my pdoc 5 days after completely stopping because I couldn't handle the emotional mood swings I was having, not knowing that these could be caused from withdrawl I thought that I really need an anti-depressant so I told him I needed something else. He has started me on Wellbutrin 150mg 4 days ago and he lightly mentioned that some of these mood swings could be caused from the withdrawal, but they will Definitely go away in a day or two. Boy was he wrong! I went online yesterday and found all these sites talking about everyone experiencing the same awful withdrawal side effects as me (migraines/brain zaps, nausea, nightmares, sweating, etc.) it is reassuring to hear that I am not the only one, but no one hear really talks about ways to combat the withdrawal instead of really really slowly weaning by opening up the capsules. Now I am about to graduate from nursing school in 3 months and I know that this is REALLY REALLY not safe!!!! These capsules are encoded which allows them to be released slowly into our blood streams. Without the capsule, the beads can cause havoc on your mucus membranes and stomach lining, and it is also being released to fast into your blood stream which has even caused overdose in some people. I called my pdoc yesterday to tell him off these horrible withdrawals and he simply said that he has "never heard of this happening to anyone before" he tried to make up several excuses as to why these symptoms could be happening such as electrolyte imbalance from working out and as went as far to suggest that maybe these are just side effects of my depression (PS I have had physical side effects from depression before and none include massive constant migraines and awful nausea to the point where I want to lie on my bathroom floor waiting to vomit). He started to suggest that I go on different medications to try and combat this, I shot down that idea immediately because the point is to get off the medication not go on 10 more !!! Well, after this looooong story I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to try and deal with the withdrawal symptoms besides opening up the capsules. Some articles suggest a wide variety of herbs and vitamins, have any of these worked for anyone? I am on day 9 or 8 I can't even remember anything anymore and I just want to try and push through this before I have to start up school again. So frustrated and I don't know who to believe or trust, especially because my pdoc doesn't really seem to believe me and just wants to prescribe more pills (what a surprise!). Thanks again, Glad you guys are out there too !

Dear Lost and Frustrated:
I have always thought there are 2 types of Depressed people. The first group is the people who are chemically depressed, they have imbalances in brain neurotrasmitters. The second group is the people who are chemically balanced, but the environment (family, work, school) are making them depressed. Since you say that you hated school and your mood improved when changing schools, that made me think you belong to the second group. And “maybe” you don´t need antidepressants, but to work in the way you think, and the way you see your environment.

I was also always thin. With cymbalta I gained 52lbs. And became even more depressed because of being overweight.

I didn´t have insomnia while taking cymbalta. I am having insomnia now that I am weaning off of cymbalta. I fall asleep at 3:00 at night. Mood swings have been another withdrawal symptom. Mine went away.

You say that “no one here really talks about ways to combat the withdrawal”. The thing is that people on this site are not doctors. All we can do here, is share experiences, and kind of do “trial and error” to see if what has helped others can help me. If doctors and psychiatrist who have the scientific knowledge do not know ways to combat withdrawals, then it is harder for us “patients” to know. From what I´ve read on this site, when doctors hear withdrawal symptoms, they increase the antidepressant dose (thinking depression is coming back), or they give additional medicine for each additional symptom.

I am very interested in knowing more about why opening the capsules is not safe. I even asked in another post but didn´t get an answer. What I´ve been doing is opening the capsule, taking some beads out and reclosing it. What does it mean that the capsules are “encoded”???

Again I am not a doctor, but it seems to me that your weaning was pretty fast and the drops were too big. It has taken me 11 weeks to go from 60mg to 19mg by doing small drops. I´ve had my real bad weeks, but found that if I gave my body and brain to adjust to new dose, the symptoms would get better.

The way that I know if something is a withdrawal effect is this “strategy”. After I started weaning, every time a symptom appears I try to remember if this was a symptom I had when my Depression began and I wasn´t taking antidepressant. If the symptom is new, then it is withdrawal to me. For example when my depression began, most symptoms were psychological, they were not physical. For example the migraines. I never had severe migraines in my life prior to cymbalta.

What has worked for me has been healthy nutrition and exercise. I do not take herbs or supplements (only a multivitamin with Bcomplex). I always try to get nutrients from food and not pills, because I feel they are absorbed better. For example I do not take a omega supplement. Instead I eat flaxseed, salmon, soy milk. Concerning exercise, it has helped me so much to improve my mood and decrease my anxiety.
Hugs
Cookie

[Candace]

Dear Candace:
It is sad, but I also had to “take responsibility for my health” and start doing my own research.
My 60mg capsules were always identical. Always had the same size and number of beads. However I´ve read on this site people who had differences between 60mg caps.
No I haven´t tried “.....week one take at 9:00 pm, week two at 9:30 p.m. and so forth...”. What would be the purpose of this???
Hugs
Cookie

Thanks Cookie for your response. If I had known what I was getting into when given this prescription I would have run the other way. I once took myself off Elavil cold turkey many years ago and went through hell with that. I thought I could do it again with Cymbalta, but this was much worse.

My reasoning with the the above method I guess is to gradually increase the time between doses until eventually the body doesn't need it. I don't know. I feel like I'm trapped now and have to accept the constipation, low sex drive, flat feeling. I don't feel like I have emotions anymore;can't even work up a good cry. Kind of like a zombie.

I wonder if natural seratonin supplements while tapering would ease the pain. Or is that too much like playing doctor?

Candace

[cookie]

Thanks Cookie for your response. If I had known what I was getting into when given this prescription I would have run the other way. I once took myself off Elavil cold turkey many years ago and went through hell with that. I thought I could do it again with Cymbalta, but this was much worse.

My reasoning with the the above method I guess is to gradually increase the time between doses until eventually the body doesn't need it. I don't know. I feel like I'm trapped now and have to accept the constipation, low sex drive, flat feeling. I don't feel like I have emotions anymore;can't even work up a good cry. Kind of like a zombie.

I wonder if natural seratonin supplements while tapering would ease the pain. Or is that too much like playing doctor?

Candace

Dear Candace:
Oh I see...gradually increasing the time between doses.....
During weaning my emotions are not flat anymore. On the other hand I have extreme emotions! anger, wanting to cry.

Umm I am not a doctor but I feel that taking serotonin supplements while tapering would not be good, because you are already taking cymbalta which works on serotonin, and if you add another supplement that works to increase serotonin, maybe you could have too much serotonin, or serotonin syndrome.

I rather not take anything (other than vitamins) while weaning. If you take supplements you won´t know if the symptoms you are having are from cymbalta, or the supplements, or the combination of both, or the interactions between supplements. Just my opinion.

I will start supplements when I am completely off of cymbalta.
Meanwhile I´ll get the nutrients through proper nutrition. Example omega 3 from salmon, or flaxseed or soy milk.

Hugs
Cookie