4 replies to this topic

[hairgirl]

Hi I have been reading everyones experiences on getting off Cymbalta and would like to share my own. I have been on 60mg of Cymbalta for about four years and would desperately like to be off. I opened the capsule and started taking out the beads a few at a time then putting the cap back on and taking it. I still have some side effects but I can live with them for now. I am now down to 9 beads in the capsule. I have been doing this for about a month. Right now the only side effects I have are feeling tired and a little nausea and foggy. I know it still sounds like a lot but I have quit before and had the brain zaps or waves and felt horrible and went right back to taking cymbalta. I refuse to do that this time. It is very tedious work counting the beads. I pour them on a tupperware lid which is red so you can see them good and use a toothpick to count with. I do this every night after dinner.

[Lundeliz]

Hi hairgirl,

You may be one of the very lucky ones who has minimal effects getting off Cymbalta. But one month is a very short taper. I count beads much the

same way you do. Remember if withdrawal gets bad, you can always go back up in dosage, stabilize, then start a slower taper. Good luck to you,

I wish you success getting off!

[cookie]

Cymbalta helped me in the worst moment of my life. 6 years ago I was hit by severe depression, and cymbalta lifted my mood and energy. It worked for the first year, but then its efficacy wasn´t the same. Then the side effects were more than the benefits. I gained 50 lbs, has blinding headaches, didn´t care for anything, zero sex drive, I felt my life was in pause. I started weaning slowly, and started losing weight naturally, headaches went away, I had more energy. In the process of tapering I had a long list of emotional, and physical symptoms which I never had before the medication. I think most people will tell you that the drug worked while they were taking it, but once you try to stop you realize how much harm it has done to you. In my case (now that I am a very low dose), I have all this symptoms I never had prior to the medication (hair loss, joint pain, tinnitus, stuttering, difficulty finding words) and the symptoms for which it was prescribed worsened (depression, social fobia). Everybody is different and drugs affect every person differently

[Jupiter]

I wish I'd found this site before following my Dr's weaning plan; I've experienced some of the withdrawal effects I read here; there's one I wonder if others feel and its most concerning to me.
(for reference I was on 1.5 yrs up to 60mg; I weaned over a few months and am now 3 weeks completely off)

I experience a sensation of continuing to move when I stop moving. Its almost like sitting on a rock and watching a creek run below you and suddenly feeling as though you are moving and not the water!It is brief but unexpected and very concerning to me. I've been in 2 accidents (scrapes) so far as I drive for work; this combined with the irritability and often easy rage I feel is making me regret I ever took this med. I felt this way when I was late on my dosage while on it; its sort of a dizziness; and I really hope it goes away. Has anyone had any experience with this? is this the "brain zaps" I hear mentioned?
Thanks

[SusanP]

I was on Cymbalta for 11/2 years for fibromyalgia and after two weeks developed leg pain. I had numerous tests that were negative. Meanwhile my pain got worse and I ended up walking with a cane. I also got very sick. Just about that time the commercials started stating that Cymbalta could cause muscle stiffness. I called my doctor and told him this and he told me he had never heard of this. This made me angry and I told him I wanted to discontinue the drug. My leg felt like it was being ripped apart by a garden claw by then. I was on 120 mgs and he backed me down to 60 for a week and then 30 for a week and then stopped. My 18 month decent into HELL began. I was hospitalized with atrial fib, I cracked a molar from teeth grinding and had to have it pulled, two suicide attempts, feeling "out of body", abdoninal pain, vision changes, extreme mood swings, headache, sugar cravings, weight gain, vertigo, muscle pain and stiffness, and a trip to hell for myself and my family. I almost lost my life and my family.

I urge everyone to google Cymbalta Martha Rosenberg and you will see that if the FDA had been doing their job, Cymbalta should never have been put on the market.

I ended up with permanent muscle damage in my leg and pulmanary hypertension and Eli Lliy continues to rake in billions of dollars every year and gets more people hooked on this poison. This drug is worse than heroin.

That's my story.