14 replies to this topic

[Caresy]

Hello everyone,

I have been on this devil drug called Cymbalta for less than 3 months and I cannot get off of it. My doc prescribed it when I was very stressed about a back injury that I have since had surgery for. Now I want to stop taking this and I feel like a junkie! I dropped from 60 to 30 mg no problem at all, and then tried to quit cold turkey. Boy that was a mistake. Nausea, headache, dizziness, brain zaps that extend through my whole body and panic attacks.

I have gotten off all of the other medication which is addictive that I was prescribed no problem, but this I can't shake.

I have found that gravol helps with the nausea but the rest is just awful and I can't do it on my own I don't think.
I have read the weaning posts and think there are some great ideas in there that other people are having success with and I am going to sleep on it to decide what I am going to try for me.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences and ideas and for the creators of the website. I've had 2 docs tell me that Cymbalta is non addictive and I am not experiencing these side effects from trying to get off of it.

I will update here, I think I will need to to have a place to vent and share with people who understand!

C.

[cookie]

At least you were on the medication for less than 3 months. I´ve been on it for 6 years (the last year trying to quit it)

[ExCymbaltaUser]

Caresy,

my doctor told me the withdrawal effects were an indication that i needed to stay on the medication. to that i asked him if he was going to pay the $650/month to buy it for me as my insurance stopped covering it.

i think the docs have a vested financial interest in keeping us on this crap. i have an even larger number of mental health care professionals telling me that i do NOT need medication.

in my opinion, even people who may need the relief the drug may provide, do NOT need all the negative side effects. cymbalta IS physically addicting, and anyone who says otherwise is either misinformed, uninformed, or is just outright lying.

if you can go back on the cymbalta so you can taper slowly you will experience less negative side effects. cold turkey is going to put you through hell, and may make you suicidal. it's a gamble.

there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and you can get through cold turkey. but why go that route if you don't have to? my cold turkey was sheer hell, and i would not wish that upon anyone.

either way, hang tough, and know there is hope to get through this which ever way you go.

[Caresy]

I agree that cold turkey will not only make me suicidal, but truly end me up in the hospital.

I've decided to use a similar method as JRDN posted by removing a few milligrams at a time. I counted the beads in my 30 mgs capsule this morning and there were 280. Maybe because I am in Canada we have a different amount.

So today is day #1 where I will drop to 27mgs for 5 days, then drop an additional 2mgs on day #6 for 5 days. Using that pattern and assuming I tolerate this well I will drop 5mgs every 10 days. I know I will have to probably slow the process down near the end, but I have to try something!!!

[ExCymbaltaUser]

so glad you can taper slowly!! good luck!

[Caresy]

so glad you can taper slowly!! good luck!

Thanks!!

Well phase 1 is complete - today is the 5th day down 3mg and tomorrow I go down another 2mg and will be at 25mg. Yesterday, day 4 was the worst for symptoms, but I could handle it. So far today I am symptom free.

One thing I found that helps me with the brain zaps is a very cold cloth on my forehead for about an hour or more - my husband had a bowl of ice watter that he kept re-cooling the cloth off with and that helped a lot. Has anyone else had success with this?

I wish I was done with the drug now, but at least I am on to the second part of my plan. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will keep working for me!

C.

[Caresy]

Phase 3 starts today down to 22mg. So far I've only had mild brain zaps, some bareable headaches, and insomnia, then periods of extreme exhaustion and some teary-ness. Nothing I cant handle. I've found that a little choclate heps when the brain zaps are bad as well as a cold cloth on my forehead while laying and resting for a bit.

Here's hoping going down 3 more mg today will not be any worse than it has been!

C.

[Caresy]

Today I go down to 20mg. Yesterday was a terrible day for the emotional mood swings which I haven't experienced yet, but it was so bad I have to think this is a side effect and not just regular hormone level changes which usually hardly affect me. I'm a third of the way there!!

[Wanttofeelbetter]

Hey there~!

I would really like your help in telling me how to use this method....I too am on 30 mgs. So if there's roughly 300 balls inside the pill, how many = 1 mg? 10 right?
So I reduce by 20 balls every 7 days? Please let me know if I have it right-if you want to know my last attempt, here's my story

What do you guys think about this?

I have a question for you...I was on 90 mgs of cymbalta and I weaned myself off. I had been on it for over 3 yrs and I wanted to see how life would be without it (plus i saw a scary documentary about how anti-depressants can reduce your brain's ability to make serotonin-silly, i know =)
My withdraw symptoms were being nauseous-all the time and the worst thing was that I was more depressed than I already normally ~! I mean extremely depressed w/some angry nasty outbursts and sometimes suicidal-thinking I should be dead on a daily basis- (even on a 2 wk cruise!). This went on for 3-4 wks - then I couldn't do it anymore

I started taking 30 mgs again and, well, the suicidal depression and daily breakdowns stopped. I thought I was just one of those people that had to be on this stuff forever. But- now, out of no where I can't have an orgasm at all and this was NEVER EVER, never ever a problem in the past 3 yrs I was on it. But now, on a much lower dosage, this is what I get-no satisfaction. I cant understand it. So, I think I have to try and stop taking it again. I also gained 40-45 lbs when I started taking it and well, if I knew I would lose some weight just by stopping this med, that would be great incentive as well-how long does it actually take to lose the weight anyway?

Anyway, I am scared to feel that way again. It sucked. It was like having the worst PMS every f'in day. I wanted know if any of you felt extra depressed when you stopped, and if so, how long did it take ....b/c I am not sure I could handle another 3-4 wks of that - should I just keep taking it and have an orgasmless life?
Also, what the heck should I do now-any advice? Just leave well enough alone? switch to another one?
Any suggestions are so greatly appreciated~!! Nicole

Today I go down to 20mg. Yesterday was a terrible day for the emotional mood swings which I haven't experienced yet, but it was so bad I have to think this is a side effect and not just regular hormone level changes which usually hardly affect me. I'm a third of the way there!!

[Caresy]

Update!

I thought I would let everyone know that this method has really worked for me - down 5mgs every 10 days by going down 3mgs for the first 5 days and 2mgs for the next 5. I am currently down to 6mgs a day - I have slowed it down at the end because I was starting to get more brain zaps and headaches in the last little bit, but hopefully in 19 days I will be done!!!

I have been virtually symptom free since dropping to 17mgs a day - I found that going from 30mgs to 17mgs was the hardest, I still had symptoms but they were manageable.

Has anyone found after dropping by compounding your own capsules that once you got down to like 1 or 2mgs and then stopped that the symptoms were bad? I just want to know what to prepare myself for.

Thanks!

Carolyn

[Caresy]

Hi Nicole, no that is no way to live. Several of us here have dropped down by compounding our own meds to slowly - that is the key, slowly - going down. I found from 30 to 17mgs was the hardest with still having symptoms but it was nothing like when I tried to go cold turkey. Don't do that. I have been dropping a little bit of weight slowly as I go down, but it is slowly.

You will have to open your capsules and count the beads - it is a pain but you have to do it - it seems there are a different amount of beads in different areas, I am in Canada and I have 280 beads per 30mg capsule which means 1mg=9.33333 beads. I usea calculator to figure it out every 5 days. Math was never my strong suit!

Good luck!!!

Carolyn

[CindiEponabri]

my doctor told me the withdrawal effects were an indication that i needed to stay on the medication.

My doctor told me the same thing, which tells me that she isn't going to be very helpful in helping me get off it. Especially since her husband, another doctor in the practice, had insisted that I needed to be on another medication for the rest of my life. That was after they all (all the doctors in the practice) have tried to get me to take four other medications that I didn't need, so I totally agree with one of your other comments...

"i think the docs have a vested financial interest in keeping us on this crap."

I have even been "misdiagnosed" of illnesses and put on meds that I never even needed. One made me so sick after just one week, that it took me three months to recover. I've read about people who have had this same thing happen to them after taking Cymbalta.

[Caresy]

As of today I am down from 3mg to 1.5 mg. I find it funny that I have the same withdrawl effects on this small small dosage that I did when I was weaning down from 60mg. The crap really must mess up your brain bad. I decided to slow down my weaning process at the end here because I am having the same side effects on such a low dose. So i will go down to .75mg after this then nothing. So hopefully 10 days from today I will be clean of Cymbalta.

[suz112]

I'm glad I found this site as well. I had no clue how much Cymbalta was making me suffer. My personality, sex drive, and health have all gone to the dogs and I didn't realize it was from this "Devil Drug" as you call it. I weaned off it slowly and then the bad headaches started, brain fog, dizzy and on and on. For 6 weeks I had my Dr checking for a sinus problem when we suddenly made the "Cymbalta" connection. All my physical problems we caused by stopping it. 1 day after starting back on it I could start to function some.
I hate being hooked on this and not sure where I'll go next. I just wanted to chime in and say I'm glad I'm not alone in this anymore. Nobody understands how bad it is...on or off of the stuff.

[Caresy]

I'm glad I found this site as well. I had no clue how much Cymbalta was making me suffer. My personality, sex drive, and health have all gone to the dogs and I didn't realize it was from this "Devil Drug" as you call it. I weaned off it slowly and then the bad headaches started, brain fog, dizzy and on and on. For 6 weeks I had my Dr checking for a sinus problem when we suddenly made the "Cymbalta" connection. All my physical problems we caused by stopping it. 1 day after starting back on it I could start to function some.
I hate being hooked on this and not sure where I'll go next. I just wanted to chime in and say I'm glad I'm not alone in this anymore. Nobody understands how bad it is...on or off of the stuff.

You've found the best resource here Suz, we all know what you are going through and what you will go through as you go off of it. Ask any questions you need to and everyone here will be here for you to help!

Carolyn