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[I'mFalling]

Hello...
I'm a 36yo female and was prescribed Cymbalta (30mg) by my spinal surgeon about two years ago because of severe back pain. At the time, I didn't realize the drug was an antidepressant.

During the two years, I found out the hard way that you can't "just stop." At first I tried to stop when my Rx ran out. I didn't like the idea of being on a daily medication. Wow, that was a horrible mistake that no physician warned me about (they said it was fine to stop taking it if I didn't need it).

My symptoms included severe night sweats, extreme vertigo and headaches (probably others too but the headaches and vertigo were the ones affecting me the worst).

Now, here I am 2 years later and expecting our first child. My immediate concern when my husband & I found out about the pregnancy was the effects of Cymbalta. I'm certainly not an expert but from the internet info I could gather, that Cymbalta is not recommended in the last trimester of your pregnancy. If I felt that horrible trying to stop... I can't imagine how it affects a newborn!!

The team of doctors I saw (general physician, OB, spinal surgeon) all basically had little to offer other than "wean yourself off."
As to how, I got very little info. My GP suggested the every other day method. But as many of you know, that is a TERRIBLE suggestion. I stop one day and as soon as the withdrawal symptoms start, it's time for another dose so it ended up being a horrible cycle.

One pharmacist suggested opening the capsules and putting the beads into apple sauce.

So for the past 1.5 weeks, I have been eye-balling the beads and splitting the contents of each capsule into 2 doses. That worked out fine in that I didn't have horrible symptoms (or I was confusing the symptoms with morning sickness, not sure).
The last few days, I began cutting back to roughly taking a 1/3 of a capsule (which by the way, the beads on yogurt has been a great method for me because I can clearly see the beads and they 'stick' when I pour them). With the reduced amount, I'm experiencing horrible headaches (but thank God not the vertigo).

For those who have successfully weaned... is this too drastic to cut back from 1/2 to 1/3 so soon?

Lastly, I'm in my first trimester so I feel comfort in knowing that I have a few months to successfully get off Cymbalta.
But I guess my real questions (after reading other ppl's posts), can you get off the drug completely without the horrible side effects? If not, how long can I expect them to last???