Just Documenting My Withdrawels
#1
Posted 28 January 2011 - 09:58 PM
#3
Posted 01 February 2011 - 12:09 PM
Since you decided to document your withdrawal, and my timing is about the same, I decided to share. This the second time I stopped. I have been doing 60 mgs for about 2 years. I was going to taper again, as I did the first time, so for about 10 days I went from 60 to 30mgs an was going to start going the alternate day, then every third day, route, I did the first time, about 3 years ago. But after 8 or 9 days @ 30 mgs, I felt horrible, extreme GI symptoms, cramping, abdominal pain, and lethargy, I figured what the hell and went cold turkey last Friday, 5 days ago. The first two days were fine, Saturday my band even played a concert and I felt great. Sunday, 3rd day cold turkey, it was like I got hit by a train. The GI symptoms are severe, like a killer case if irritable bowel syndrome, I am literally double over trying to type right now. I am having bouts of anxiety and sadness, chills, all sorts of stuff going on. I knew this was all going to happen, the great mystery will be how long it lasts. Right now I would say its like a very bad flu, and I know its not the flu, because I had a shot.
This is being made somewhat more bearable by the fact that I live in New England, we are in the midst of an epic snow and ice storm, so I am totally housebound, so I don't have to feel guilty about hunkering down and not having to go out. Its impossible. My only misgiving at the moment is that I have a limited script for Xanax and nothing else. If possible I would have laid in a couple of weeks worth of valium, its longer lasting, and I would have heavily numbed out the 1st week of this. For me any benzo at all helps, if only to get to sleep.
So I am at day 5 or so with you. I will share what's going on. This is karma in a way, about 20 years ago I went through something similar with a women named Amber in another place and just maybe we helped out each other a bit. If you can please post updates, I am curious to see how long it takes you to get clear.
shanti
#4
Posted 01 February 2011 - 01:13 PM
#5
Posted 04 February 2011 - 09:18 AM
#6
Posted 04 February 2011 - 03:53 PM
Hello all I was on Cymbalta for 4 months, started at 30mg then to 60. the Dr gave me a week of 30 and said stop after that. He NEVER mentioned withdrawal symptoms. I honestly thought i was getting very sick, until I looked into if there were any withdrawal side effects. the dizziness, brain zaps, constantly feeling sea sick are somewhat bearable compared to the hell at night. I take Xanax and Remeron at night to sleep and i just lay there, night sweats twist and turn all night, it’s horrible and I am exhausted all day. Can anyone tell me that at least at some point this does go away? Everything I have been reading seem similar but no one has said it does at some point pass. Does anyone have any tips to getting some sleep, i am almost at the point of desperation.
- Nanny and like this
#7
Posted 04 February 2011 - 04:05 PM
#8
Posted 05 February 2011 - 04:31 AM
Hello all I was on Cymbalta for 4 months, started at 30mg then to 60. the Dr gave me a week of 30 and said stop after that. He NEVER mentioned withdrawal symptoms. I honestly thought i was getting very sick, until I looked into if there were any withdrawal side effects. the dizziness, brain zaps, constantly feeling sea sick are somewhat bearable compared to the hell at night. I take Xanax and Remeron at night to sleep and i just lay there, night sweats twist and turn all night, it’s horrible and I am exhausted all day. Can anyone tell me that at least at some point this does go away? Everything I have been reading seem similar but no one has said it does at some point pass. Does anyone have any tips to getting some sleep, i am almost at the point of desperation.
Hi dave,
my name's ainsley and i have just gone off cymbalta 4 days ago after taking them for about 6 months too and i would never have started taking them if i had known how terrible it was going to be to withdraw. i have spewed basically constantly and i had to go to hospital to get rehydrated. i thought i was getting really sick too and they misdiagnosed me with the gastro. my dr. mentioned i might have a "mild spaced out feeling"... but that is probably the understatement of the century because i feel so dizzy and nauseau it's like an out of body experience.reading what you wrote about your experience was oddly helpful to me, just i guess to know that this feeling is real and not just me being melodramatic or something. i hope you'll let me know how things turn out for you and i really really hope you can get some sleep soon.
ains
#9
Posted 05 February 2011 - 04:36 AM
i hope you're feeling better. i hope someone will post when they are feeling better so we can have some idea of how long this is going to last. i'm in my 4th day of hell and i really need to know i'm going to be able to think straight soon. this is a real drag on not just me but my poor family and my lovely housemate and my long suffering boyfriend. i'd love to be able to tell them when i might be able to reemerge from under my doona or empty my own spew bucket. thanks
ainsley
#10
Posted 05 February 2011 - 03:16 PM
hey amber,
i hope you're feeling better. i hope someone will post when they are feeling better so we can have some idea of how long this is going to last. i'm in my 4th day of hell and i really need to know i'm going to be able to think straight soon. this is a real drag on not just me but my poor family and my lovely housemate and my long suffering boyfriend. i'd love to be able to tell them when i might be able to reemerge from under my doona or empty my own spew bucket. thanks
ainsley
Ainsley,
Don't lose hope. You will feel better. I stopped 2 weeks ago and have felt great but it took a long time and with a few bumpy spots. If you look through the forum you will find that people have used different methods to get off this drug with differing results. I had to wean VERY slowly because I couldn't stand feeling crappy. I also added Prozac at the end of my wean and kept on my usual dosage of Wellbutrin.
You are 4 days out going cold turkey? It's up to you if you think that you can continue to feel that bad for a bit more or want to go back on at a lower dosage and do a slow wean. Both ways aren't easy.
Have hope!
All my best,
Pam
#11
Posted 05 February 2011 - 06:06 PM
ains
#12
Posted 05 February 2011 - 06:38 PM
Pam, thank you so much for writing to me. It really means a lot to me. One of the worst things about this is feeling so alone inside my head for so long. My family and friends have been really supportive but they can't really understand what it's like. I feel so sea sick and the brain flashes are almost unbearable. I'm not even sure my doctor knows this is a real thing or that she would believe how bad it feels if I told her. I'm so nauseous and physically sick i had to go to the hospital last night to be rehydrated... How can coming off a perscription medication be so bad you have to get a drip just to keep fluids down? I never knew it was going to be like this. My doctor wants to start me on a new pill called Pristiq but I'm afraid of going through this all again. I got some diazapan from the hospital last night to last me a week and hoepfully by then it'll be out of my system. I did a ween from 90 to 60 to 30 over the last fortnight but this is the 5th day with nothing. I feel like such a junky, reeling for a hit. Any other suggestions of foods or suppliments that might help would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
ains
I don't feel like I should be giving advice when I am in so much pain myself, but here is something I found out. Taking this medicine makes your blood sugar go all over the place. I found that if I cut out sugar and white bread etc, drank PLENTY during the day and ate something that would be absorbed slowly into the blood an hour before bed, the night sweats stopped. It may be a coincidence but doing this means your blood sugar doesn't rise during the night and so you don't release as much of the stress hormone cortisol. So I read. I don't know if this is reliable, but it did seem to make a difference with the night sweats.
#13
Posted 05 February 2011 - 09:34 PM
Pam, thank you so much for writing to me. It really means a lot to me. One of the worst things about this is feeling so alone inside my head for so long. My family and friends have been really supportive but they can't really understand what it's like. I feel so sea sick and the brain flashes are almost unbearable. I'm not even sure my doctor knows this is a real thing or that she would believe how bad it feels if I told her. I'm so nauseous and physically sick i had to go to the hospital last night to be rehydrated... How can coming off a perscription medication be so bad you have to get a drip just to keep fluids down? I never knew it was going to be like this. My doctor wants to start me on a new pill called Pristiq but I'm afraid of going through this all again. I got some diazapan from the hospital last night to last me a week and hoepfully by then it'll be out of my system. I did a ween from 90 to 60 to 30 over the last fortnight but this is the 5th day with nothing. I feel like such a junky, reeling for a hit. Any other suggestions of foods or suppliments that might help would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
ains
Ainsley,
Pristiq is in the same class as Cymbalta and works on both serotonin and norapenphrine (sp?) like Balta does. The only way that I was able to get off the Cymbalta was doing a very slow wean and adding Prozac at the end. I took about 3 months to get off completely. There were times over the past few years that I was up to 90mg. Dropping from 90 to 60mg never seemed to bother me but once I dropped lower than that I started to feel withdrawal symptoms.
In addition to my slow wean and adding Prozac I added Omega 3, Flax Seed, increased my water intake and tried to exercise as much as I felt that I was able to.
I did have to take a few days off of work over that period since I was feeling bad.
I read everything that I could on this board and others and tried to figure out what was working for others and what I could do to help. It's not an easy journey....AT ALL.
I hope that your Dr. is able to help you through this and get you back on your feet. No one should have to suffer from depression but we certainly shouldn't have to have all these problems getting off the medication either. It's like adding insult to injury!
Pam
#14
Posted 06 February 2011 - 03:14 AM
I do think drinking a lot of water helps with the stomach cramps but there are just so many symptoms I feel like as soon as one subsides another one gets worse. I also heard that something called 5-HTP might be helpful to me...anyone know anything about that? My housemates dad swear that L-Theanine stopped his panic attacks... they both have freakishly names like antidepressents which i've recently grown a well placed mistrust for but are apparently naturally occuring amino type acids. As you can see i'm sort of clutching at straws. i hope everyone else is doing ok today. hang in there. ains
#15
Posted 06 February 2011 - 09:28 AM
ok my boyfriend has just been sent out with just about the weirdest shopping list ever, 8 lucozade, flaxseed, fish oil, calcium suppliments LSA (a lot of people have told me this is good) and wholegrain everything.
I do think drinking a lot of water helps with the stomach cramps but there are just so many symptoms I feel like as soon as one subsides another one gets worse. I also heard that something called 5-HTP might be helpful to me...anyone know anything about that? My housemates dad swear that L-Theanine stopped his panic attacks... they both have freakishly names like antidepressents which i've recently grown a well placed mistrust for but are apparently naturally occuring amino type acids. As you can see i'm sort of clutching at straws. i hope everyone else is doing ok today. hang in there. ains
Ainsley-
Good for you boyfriend to help you! I sent mine out a few times to get me some 'feel better' helps.
I am not a Dr. but I would not take 5-HTP or L-Theanine right now. Anything that effects the serotonin in your brain that you take could interfere with the Cymbalta. You could end up getting really sick. Just my advice.
If you are still taking the Cymbalta at 30mg you might want to add in the supplements, healthy eating, exercise and just wait until your feeling a bit better before dropping again. I am a huge believer in small, steady drops.
#16
Posted 20 February 2011 - 02:49 AM
I told my doctor I was tired of being numb and sleeping through my life. And now I sit here typing at 1:30 in the morning. I do have a prescription for lorazepam to help with the anxiety and have only taken two so far since I began tapering. I understand it is addictive and don't want to develop a dependency on it or any other drug.
The vertigo is there but bearable. When I move my eyes or head left to right quickly I can feel it. Also I feel these twitches on my face and nose. My ears ring and concentrating is very difficult. My emotions are all over the board. And I want to do 10 things at the same time. I have to be very deliberate and take one step at a time. Do the next right thing.
Ainsley, remember that nothing is forever and that bad situations get better. There is always hope! And you will get better.
Reaching out is a great first step.
#17
Posted 17 March 2011 - 07:34 PM
#18
Posted 25 July 2011 - 10:19 PM
Hello Dave,Hello all I was on Cymbalta for 4 months, started at 30mg then to 60. the Dr gave me a week of 30 and said stop after that. He NEVER mentioned withdrawal symptoms. I honestly thought i was getting very sick, until I looked into if there were any withdrawal side effects. the dizziness, brain zaps, constantly feeling sea sick are somewhat bearable compared to the hell at night. I take Xanax and Remeron at night to sleep and i just lay there, night sweats twist and turn all night, it’s horrible and I am exhausted all day. Can anyone tell me that at least at some point this does go away? Everything I have been reading seem similar but no one has said it does at some point pass. Does anyone have any tips to getting some sleep, i am almost at the point of desperation.
I am weening myself from the dreadful med too. at night I take Remeron and two Tramadol I sleep well all night, can't stop the dreams from coming, but it sure beats not getting any rest. My doctor said it is important to get rest. I hope this help. Thanks
#19
Posted 26 July 2011 - 06:23 AM
#20
Posted 26 July 2011 - 06:27 AM
Hello Dave,
I am weening myself from the dreadful med too. at night I take Remeron and two Tramadol I sleep well all night, can't stop the dreams from coming, but it sure beats not getting any rest. My doctor said it is important to get rest. I hope this help. Thanks
I know how you feel....I just posted below,,,I didnt know what was wrong with me,,,and felt like slicing my wrists last night before I went to bed...Then I woke up after taking my 120mg dose and feel much more clear headed,,,,I need to get off as well...im scared of this stuff!
#21
Posted 26 July 2011 - 09:08 AM
#22
Posted 26 July 2011 - 01:07 PM
#24
Posted 27 July 2011 - 10:10 AM
Thanks to everyone sharing, I realize that my stomach problems have to do with the withdrawal also. I was about to go to the ER the other day because of my stomach. Glad I didn't, just another medical bill I don't need. I hope that this is it. I have laid it on the Lord to get me through this, and I know He will. I hope and pray each of us can kick this in the butt. They should never give this to anyone unless it's something you'll be on the rest of your life.
#25
Posted 17 August 2011 - 02:49 AM
I also tried getting off it once before doing the usual way the dr tells you - and it was not pretty. I know from experience that getting off a drug the SECOND time is even harder, so I am doing it VERY gradually. Staying on 60 mg and introducing 30 mg one day a week - then the next day will do it 2 days but not 2 days in a row, etc. Had to write it down so I don't forget. Will see how it is going after a few weeks to see if I have to modify it or not. I already couldn't sleep at night - insomnia is part of fibromyalgia for which I took the cymbalta (and pain associated with it). But the new problem tonight is that I feel like my skin is crawling, or that a hair is continuously brushing against different parts of my skin. I haven't seen that mentioned in any of the posts and am curious about it. I am using lots of lotion, so it is not because of dry skin, especially in the summer.
I am new so don't even know how or where to post a reply. Would someone let me know if this is how to do it or not?
Thanks.
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