15 replies to this topic

[fatandtired]

I'm a 30yr old woman. It recently occurred to me that I've been on some sort of antidepressant since I was 20yrs old. The past 5yrs I've been taking Cymbalta -- first 20mg, then 30mg. While this dose might be lower than others, initially it worked very well at helping me deal with anxiety. I initially started antidepressants because of anxiety and mild depression. Over the years, I've been on so many different meds -- Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft, Effexor xr, lastly Cymbalta. I certainly do not have the same life issues today as I did 10 yrs ago, so I'm wondering if I even need the stuff? What is my personality actually like when not held under water?

I've suffered the following side effects over the years: weight gain (up 20+ lbs since starting Cymbalta, no change in eating habits and exercise does little to nothing to get weight off); constant fatigue -- no one should sleep as much as I do. I sleep about 10-12hrs a night on average and often use my lunch hour to nap. I have NO energy, ever. I'm always tired and feel I might be sleeping my life away, literally.

All this being said, I did my research (big thank you to the members of this site) and met with the doctor today. In order to wean me off of the 30mg of Cymbalta, the plan is: 20mg of Cymbalta + 10mg Prozac for 2 weeks, then 10mg Prozac only for 2 weeks, then no more pills. Honestly, I felt as though I may have somewhat guided the conversation with my doctor based on my research. For example, he initially suggested I do the every other day method. I told him this wouldn't work because if I miss my morning does of Cymbalta, by 2pm my hands are numb and tingling. Due to the short 1/2 life of Cymbalta I thought this would make me much more uncomfortable. I have to work and be productive!

If it's of any value to anyone else, I've decided to document my weaning experience. I'm also very open to suggestions and recommendations from others concerning foods to eat/avoid, vitamins, ways to naturally sedate myself, etc...

Day 1:
Took 20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac abou 3 hours ago. So far, so good. I'm avoiding caffiene, so that's probably the biggest effect I'm feeling at the moment. I broke down and had 1 8oz glass of diet coke. Since caffiene is a stimulant, I'm trying to slowly cut back during the weaning process. I'm really tired, but what's new there? I just remembered that I need to take some Omega 3. I've also read it's best to avoid processed food, so lunch consisted of a grilled chicken salad. Wish me luck as I start this journey! Again, I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
FatandTired

[cookie]

Dear FatandTired:
I also want to "take a break" from antidepressants. In my case I think the only way to know if I really need them is to stop for a while.

It is curious that you mention the CONSTANT FATIGUE. I thought I was the only person that slept 12hrs a night!!!!! I guess we are 2 now!!!! Since I started weaning slowly, my fatigue is worse. I slept the whole afternoon from 2:00pm to 6:00pm and woke up tired!!!!!! It seems that although I sleep, I do not regain my energy. My sleep is not refreshing enough

It´s good that your doctor was listening to your research.

I found that nutrition and exercise has so much to do with mood.

I started eating healthy, and lost much of the weight gained while taking cymbalta. I eat lots of veggies and fruits, fish, nuts, skimmed yogurt. I do not eat sugar or artificial sweeteners. I only eat complex carbohydrates. I try not to eat processed packaged food or drinks. I rather make my own fruit juice. It´s great that you quit caffeine intake! I did too. Caffeine usually gives us an instant “up” but then an instant “down” too. Caffeine is not good for anxiety.

If you make the right choices on nutrition, the food should provide you with all the nutrients and you won´t need to buy supplements. I think that nutrients that come from food, are absorbed easily by the body than the supplements.

For example I get the Omega 3 from (salmon, flaxseed and soy milk) instead of a pill.
I am just taking a good multivitamin which includes B vitamins.

I also started exercising regularly (5 times a week) which I hadn´t done in the last 10 years. I walk 40minutes everyday and go to yoga classes, which I found to be excellent to reduce anxiety, and improve mood.

Hope this helps
Cookie (tired!!!!!!)

[fatandtired]

Cookie - Thanks for the response and info. It sounds like we can really relate. How far along are you in the weaning process?

Day 2- 20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac
Feeling fine today; however I did drink last night. I plan to signifigantly reduce alcohol intake during this process. I didn't get off to a good start. I went shopping last night and stocked up on natural and organic foods. I was successful in avoiding soft drinks today. I had one small cup of coffee this morning. Let's see how it goes tomorrow!

[TNK94]

I have been trying to wean off Cymbalta for over a month now by deleting so many little beads from the capsule itself. I have all the extreme side effects as you all have had and still deal with them each and everyday, also losing each piece of myself,life,family and job as I cannot function. I have done my best to try and find every herb possible to add to my system as I delete this evil med to lighten the load of the side effects. It has not been easy at all!! I am not sure what any of you have done besides try and delete this evil drug from your system, but if I may try to lesson your load and add some suggestion to help anyone out, even if it is to reach out to just one of you I will continue trying and telling you all that I have been doing. I am NOT at all trying to lighten the side effect of this drug or say I have none of these side effects that anyone has described because as you know, no one knows how you live everyday as if you are literally in HELL as we do with any one of the side effects morning or night. I thought it was bad when I was up with one of my four kids due to a nightmare OMG!! I HATE going to sleep due to such vivid dreams and nightmares I have when I whirl from vertigo into sleep.

Anyways, I will do my best to be positive for you all as we all know this is needed right lol. I have added in many herbal things that you may want to try and it has lessoned some of the side effects as I detox from this evil drug.

Fish Oil = depression, brain stimulation, healthy heart.
B6 = helps out with both the vertigo and mood swings.
Ginko Biloba = Vertigo, brain function
Vinpoctine = Vertigo
Phenagren (prescription for nausea but will make you tired.)
Zofran (prescription for nausea that you can take while at work and not feel sleepy.)

The BIGGEST thing I have made a change to detox from this evil med is I went to the herbal store and I am now doing a full body cleanse called "FIRST CLEANSE", by RENEW LIFE. DO NOT do the one from GNC as this will put your body into a complete shock and they say it may just shut down. Use an HERBAL STORE full body cleanse. When you go in let them know you are wanting to detox from the Cymbalta, they will help you out. I am now on Day 3 and yes I feel the Vertigo like no other, as for the reason I researched the Vinpoctine as of today to try and stop the spins, but nothing like in the past when I tried to quit cold turkey of this evil med.
Not sure what will work for you, but I am not willing to wait out months for this to go away, I want my life back!! I am all siked for this herbal cleanse to detox from Cymbalta asap. I am done crying, raging, sitting in my room to feel safe from the world outside. I REFUSE to feed that monster (Cymbalta) inside me wanting more drugs. I pray often that this will not only flush everything out but that when I am done all my friends and family will still want me!

If I am able to help just one of you with a symptom or two by mentioning these herbs to you, this will bring a smile to my face as I am lost in my own world searching for a way out also!! Good Luck!
tnkmemmott@hotmail.com
Kelly - TNKM94

[cookie]

I have been trying to wean off Cymbalta for over a month now by deleting so many little beads from the capsule itself. I have all the extreme side effects as you all have had and still deal with them each and everyday, also losing each piece of myself,life,family and job as I cannot function. I have done my best to try and find every herb possible to add to my system as I delete this evil med to lighten the load of the side effects. It has not been easy at all!! I am not sure what any of you have done besides try and delete this evil drug from your system, but if I may try to lesson your load and add some suggestion to help anyone out, even if it is to reach out to just one of you I will continue trying and telling you all that I have been doing. I am NOT at all trying to lighten the side effect of this drug or say I have none of these side effects that anyone has described because as you know, no one knows how you live everyday as if you are literally in HELL as we do with any one of the side effects morning or night. I thought it was bad when I was up with one of my four kids due to a nightmare OMG!! I HATE going to sleep due to such vivid dreams and nightmares I have when I whirl from vertigo into sleep.

Anyways, I will do my best to be positive for you all as we all know this is needed right lol. I have added in many herbal things that you may want to try and it has lessoned some of the side effects as I detox from this evil drug.

Fish Oil = depression, brain stimulation, healthy heart.
B6 = helps out with both the vertigo and mood swings.
Ginko Biloba = Vertigo, brain function
Vinpoctine = Vertigo
Phenagren (prescription for nausea but will make you tired.)
Zofran (prescription for nausea that you can take while at work and not feel sleepy.)

The BIGGEST thing I have made a change to detox from this evil med is I went to the herbal store and I am now doing a full body cleanse called "FIRST CLEANSE", by RENEW LIFE. DO NOT do the one from GNC as this will put your body into a complete shock and they say it may just shut down. Use an HERBAL STORE full body cleanse. When you go in let them know you are wanting to detox from the Cymbalta, they will help you out. I am now on Day 3 and yes I feel the Vertigo like no other, as for the reason I researched the Vinpoctine as of today to try and stop the spins, but nothing like in the past when I tried to quit cold turkey of this evil med.
Not sure what will work for you, but I am not willing to wait out months for this to go away, I want my life back!! I am all siked for this herbal cleanse to detox from Cymbalta asap. I am done crying, raging, sitting in my room to feel safe from the world outside. I REFUSE to feed that monster (Cymbalta) inside me wanting more drugs. I pray often that this will not only flush everything out but that when I am done all my friends and family will still want me!

If I am able to help just one of you with a symptom or two by mentioning these herbs to you, this will bring a smile to my face as I am lost in my own world searching for a way out also!! Good Luck!
tnkmemmott@hotmail.com
Kelly - TNKM94

Dear Kelly - TNKM94:
I am so sorry to hear that you have suffered withdrawal symptoms –everyday- even though you weaned slowly from the drug.
At the beginning of weaning, my symptoms were manageable, but now that I am down to 19mg they have been harder and I decided to stay on this dosage for a while.
I´ve read on this site, that if one goes too fast, or makes big drops, one can have the risk of suffering symptoms -all the time- That´s why people here suggest to wait for symptoms to subside before making further drops.

Thank you so much for the information on the herbal things that you have tried to help detox.
I have some comments.

-Concerning Fish Oil, I totally agree that it helps with Depression because it has omega fatty acids. However I rather get omega from food than from a supplement, because it can be absorbed easily. Flaxseed, salmon and soy milk are sources of omega fatty acids.
-I take B-vitamin complex.
-Concerning Vinpoctine, Phenagren, Zofran, it will be useful if you gave us the -active ingredient name- and not the brand name, because there are people on this site from different parts of the world and brand names can change from one country to the other.
-I read that there is a risk of seizure if Ginkgo Biloba is taken with antidepressants.

The ideal thing would be to have professional support before taking any supplements. The other thing to take into consideration are the possible interactions these supplements might have between them. What happens to me if I take too many meds or supplements is that I won´t know which medicine/supplement is helping me with a specific symptom or giving me a side effect.

In which dose are you on now??? Or are you down to zero already?

Thank you again for sharing, and I hope things get better for you

Hugs
Cookie

[cookie]

Cookie - Thanks for the response and info. It sounds like we can really relate. How far along are you in the weaning process?

Day 2- 20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac
Feeling fine today; however I did drink last night. I plan to signifigantly reduce alcohol intake during this process. I didn't get off to a good start. I went shopping last night and stocked up on natural and organic foods. I was successful in avoiding soft drinks today. I had one small cup of coffee this morning. Let's see how it goes tomorrow!

Dear FatandTired:
I am down to 19mg from 60mg. It has taken me around 11 weeks by doing small drops weekly. During the first drops the symptoms were manageable. Things started getting harder. So I will stay at 19mg for a while.

FatandTired please reduce your alcohol intake. If you take alcohol while taking cymbalta there is a risk of liver problems.

Hugs
Cookie

[fatandtired]

Cookie - Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. Maybe there's a difference in the dramatic dosage drop, even though you are doing it very slowly?

I'm on Day 5 of my weaning process:
20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac
Cutting down from 30mg Cymbalta
Today I feel REALLY tired and HUNGRY! I slept 10 1/2 hrs last night and still feel tired. I want a nap, but too much to do. On my way from dropping the dog off to the vet, I did a naughty thing...stopped by McDonalds and got a breakfast meal. Ate it all, still hungry. Again, how is this possible? I'm a 5'2" 30yr old woman.

At this point, I'm not dizzy...just tired and hungry. I'm also taking Omega 3.

I read that you should be careful with taking a bunch of herbal products while still on Cymbalta b/c of negative interactions....might want to research. I think the herbs come into play once you are completely off of Cymbalta.

FatandTired

[cookie]

Dear Fatandtired:
Things are getting better this week, since I stayed at the same dose.

Concerning your weaning plan, I hope the prozac "neutralizes" the cymbalta drop from 30mg to 20mg (which seems big to me). It took me several weeks and drops to go from 30mg to 20mg. You have the Prozac aid. Lets see how it goes.

Yes hunger has been a withdrawal symptom to me. The first weeks I was extremely hungry. Now I am not hungry all day and I get hungry at night. It is important that you watch your nutrition. If you have cravings it is better that you grab a fruit.

Yes I think the same as you, that herbs play once you are completely off of cymbalta. The reason why I do this, is because if I take only cymbalta then I will know the symptoms come from the weaning. If I take to many herbal meds, plus cymbalta I would not know if it is cymbalta which is causing them, or the herbs or the combination of boths.
So I rather look for herbal alternatives once I am off of cymbalta

Hugs
Cookie

[cookie]

Day 6 of weaning from 30mg Cymbalta:
Took my 20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac today. Not feeling 100%. I feel that slight numb feeling in my hands. I have experienced this feeling in the past after a few hours of forgetting to take my Cymbalta. I also feel a bit cloudy in the head. Still hungry! I'm eating organic and healthy foods (significantly increased my fruit intake). I also took 1000mg of Omega 3 after breakfast...now burping up fish oil, gross!

We'll see how the rest of the day goes. I'm still exceptionally tired.

FatandTired

Dear Fatandtired:
I've also had that numbness in my hands specially when i go to sleep.

If you don't like to be burping fish oil you can get omega 3 from proper nutrition. For example soy milk, flaxseed or salmon.

Hugs
Cookie.

[fatandtired]

Day 7 Weaning from 30mg Cymbalta
Took 20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac

Not feeling so well today. Slightly cloudy in the head, but actually cloudy in the body. I had to lie down because I felt weird and a bit light headed. I ate poorly today. Cravings got the best of me and I had fast food for lunch, which I'm sure is not helpful.

Tomorrow I'm thinking of dropping my does to 10mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac. Doc wants me to do 2 wks at 20mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac, then 10mg Prozac....but based on things I've read on this site I think the drop from 20mg Cymbalta to no Cymbalta is too significant. Do you guys think I should do the 10mg first?

Thanks for the advice on getting the Omega 3 through foods. I'm a realist and know I won't get it from a healthy diet, so it'll be pills for me.

FatandTired

[fatandtired]

Day 8 Weaning from Cymbalta 30mg
Took about 10mg Cymbalta and 10mg Prozac

So I decided to go against my doctor's recommendation and cut the 20mg dose in 1/2 for this week. He wanted me to go from 20mg to 0. I read a lot of info on this site about the # of beads in each pill. How in the world did you guys count them?? In th US they are basically clear. I couldn't count them so I just tried to take what appeared to be half.

Started out feeling a little wound up today...now no ability to concentrate. I'm purposely stepping down on Fridays so that I'll have the weekends to adjust.

I'm also very tired and hungry...what's new. I noticed yesterday that I am also increasingly irritable and my patience is shot, so I'm trying to be proactive and realize it's me and not everyone else.

FatandTired

[cookie]

Dear Fatandtired:
When I started weaning, my first drops were "easy". It got way more difficult once I reached 20mg. So I decided to reduce just one miligram to 19mg and to stay at least a month on that dose.

I think it is better that you took 10mg of cymbalta instead of going straight to zero. However for me going from 20mg to 10mg is still a huge drop. At least you have prozac support.

Tiredness, cravings, irritability are withdrawal symptoms. I know that feeling of having patience shot. If your symptoms do not allow you to function maybe you could ask your doctor a way to go slower.

If it is difficult to count beads, then just count the beads you are taking out from the capsule and re-close it with the remaining beads. For example take 20 beads out from the capsule the first drop, 40 beads the second, 60 beads the third, 80 beads the fourth, .....etc.


hugs
Cookie

[fatandtired]

Dear DeterminedtoStop,

I think you are making a great choice in getting off of Cymbalta. As you can tell by those who've posted here, it's not easy and quite uncomfortable. Though in the middle of withdrawals, I remind myself to look at the situaion objectively -- I will be so happy once I get through the present discomfort.

Day 14: LAST day of Cymbalta -- consumed approx 3-5mg Cymbalta/10mg Prozac (weaning from 30mg/Prozac)

I feel horrible!! Brain is very zappy and I feel a bit out of control...almost like experiencing my life in 3rd person. I've developed a horrible sore throat and sick stomach the past day or so.

Tommorow begins my first day of Prozac 10mg only which the doc wants me to take for 2 more weeks to help withdrawal. Mind you, I suggested this to him as opposed to the other way around. He wanted me to go from 30mg to 20mg for 2 weeks then nothing. I knew enough from personal experience and reading on this site that that was a recipe for disaster. I still feel like a disaster but not as bad as cold turkey and no Prozac support. I really feel like I've doctored myself in this scenario.

I have zero ability to concentrate; however once I'm in the zone, I'm good to go. Being very busy with work has been pretty helpful. I experienced insomnia the night before last, although all I want to do is sleep and eat....same things I hated about taking Cymbalta in the first place (hence the name FatandTired). I've gained 20lbs in the past 2 years; however I've gained a total of 40lbs collectively over the years of taking anti depressants. So, if you're a person who cares about their weight -- anti-d's are NOT for you. None of my clothes fit and it really sucks.

Ok, enough rambling. Back to work. Thanks for all the support I receive here. No one in my life can identify with what I'm experiencing, though my sweet husband is trying really hard to show compassion. I'm lucky.

FatandTired

[seeingthelight]

Hi Fat and Tired,

I was wondering how your detox journey was going? I can really relate to your journey as I have been on anti-depressants almost the same amount as you have and am the same age. After reading your posts I was considering going on 10mg of Prozac as i ween off the cymbalta. I'm at about 15mg a day. Were you able to let go of them completely?

Hope your doing well.

[gettingthroughit]

I have reached this discussion after wondering whether Cymbalta is responsible for my inability to write. While I'll admit always having been an easily disappointed writer, it seems my ability to concentrate and find the words has become nearly paralyzed. Hoping that my interest is not too far off-topic, I wonder if any of you has had similar squelching of your creativity?

[gettingthroughit]

I completely agree with you. I too am having trouble with cognitive issues. I am a photographer and have been stuggling tremendously to direct my clients and be creative in my work. I never had these issues prior to taking Cymbalta. This has all been since weaning off Cymbalta. I took my last dose of approx. 2mgs 2 weeks ago. I am hoping that this will get better soon, as I feel my work will suffer from it. It just makes me so angry that I was never informed of what this drug would do to me!