6 replies to this topic

[yowza]

I have been reading these postings for 6 months and feeling so defeated. But it was comforting to know I was not alone, although there are rarely success stories. I want to share my success with others to spread hope, you can do it. I have done it, really. I haven't felt well in months and here I sit with a clear mind and a "normal" feeling body. It can happen, don't lose hope!

I started Cymbalta 30mg to treat depression in January 2010 (30 pounds ago) after starting and stopping a myriad of other antidepressants without luck (but with plenty of side effects). My psychiatrist dubbed me "side effect girl" as I have experienced everything from the normal sexual side effects to my thyroid almost completely quitting on me. I can't say that Cymbalta is a poison, it truly helped my mood in a time that nothing else was helping, but I have come to a time in my life that my stressors have ebbed and I am able to cope with alternate methods.

I attempted to come off the medication through the "step down" method, from 30 to 20mg. This made me violently ill. I felt as if I had the flu, my skin hurt and I couldn't even sip water without immediate diarrhea. I remember thinking "I mean, how bad would it be to take this medication for the rest of my life?" It was misery, and I was in a hotel room in Pittsburgh, PA. I was truly frightened of getting on my flight home as I felt I would literally poop my pants during take off. I called my psychiatrist and immediately stepped back up to the 30mg and scheduled an appointment with him the following day. At this appointment we drew blood that indicated my TSH levels were dangerously low. At least now I had an explanation for the 20% increase in my body weight.

We started 20mg of Prozac to counteract the serotonin withdrawal I was experiencing. As I titrated up on the Prozac and remained on the 30mg of Cymbalta I felt elated, I had no negative emotions, no sex drive, no desire to move from my couch, no appetite, nothing. This is fine if I were an unemployed person, yet I have a job to do on a relatively dangerous psychiatric unit in downtown Kansas City. I have to be alert and I must say my defenses were down because the overload of antidepressants were causing me to have no feelings, fear being a feeling I am used to having at work and was not experiencing at this time. After two weeks on the Prozac we decided to step down from 30mg of Cymbalta to 20mg. It took about 24 hours for me to become ill: vertigo, diarrhea, nausea, inability to concentrate, inability to form sentences, brain zaps, you name it, I had it. So, I stepped back up to 30 mg to fight these immediate side effects.

It was at this point that I consulted my coworker who is a pharmD. She helps us change and combine medications for our psychiatric patients on the unit. She had noticed a change in my behavior and, as she knew what I had been attempting, she put the pieces together. She advised me to increase Prozac to 40mg for a week and again attempt to step down the Cymbalta. Who would have thunk it, a doctor of pharmacy knowing more than my psychiatrist about the effects of medication and how to change things for the better. I can't say that I had zero side effects, but gosh darnit it was a hell of a lot better than it had been my two previous attempts at titrating down on the Cymbalta. I stayed at 40 of Prozac and 20 of Cymbalta for 3 weeks and then quit Cymbalta altogether, remaining on the Prozac. Again, side effects occurred but were not debilitating, as they were before. I could work out again, but I didn't feel like eating. My nightmares came back in full force (did I mention my nightmares previously? They were wretched and left me sweaty and gasping for air). But I was doing it. I was on the Prozac alone for roughly 5 days when the side effects of taking 40mg of Prozac daily began to get to me. I won't go into these in detail but definitely read up on them prior to taking/stopping Prozac so you won't be surprised.

Here was my timeline:
October 1-Step down from 30 to 20 of Cymbalta without success
October 6- Start 20mg of Prozac (with a promise from my psychiatrist that I would be unmedicated and feeling better by Thanksgiving)
October 20- Step down from 30 to 20 of Cymbalta, again unsuccessfully
October 21- Begin 40mg of Prozac for one week
October 28- Step down from 30 to 20 of Cymbalta (success!!!)
November 11- Quit Cymbalta completely. Side effects happened but nowhere near what I had experienced in the past
November 29- Ended my Prozac due to side effects from this medication (dilated eyes, high blood pressure, increased heart rate. My coworker actually sat me down and asked if I was okay because I was apparently acting "like a crazy person, and you look pretty crazy too.")

Here I sit, enjoying coffee with my dog and the Today Show. I can concentrate again. In the time it took me to compose this I didn't once stop and wonder what I was doing. Might be TMI but I poop normally again. I have lost 6 pounds since stopping the medication and I am having blood work done again next week to check my thyroid, but the return of my appetite and weight loss suggest it is normal again.

Please don't lose hope. This medication is helpful in times of need but I would never suggest anyone take it due to the side effects. I hope this post helps at least one other person. And I must say thank you to all of those that have posted here, this website truly kept me working toward my goal of stopping my Cymbalta. Please spread hope to others as you can. Let's continue to support each other because we are not alone in this battle.

[Foggytop]

Congrats, its nice to see some positive posts like this one and not only postal posts which is how some folks feel. As the guy in Airplane says, I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. I have been on Cymbalta for atleast 5 years. Have tried to wean off 60 mgs three other times and always get to the same point and quit quitting. I am beyond the first two days this time, on day three. Love the brain zaps characterization, its weird and wild and makes life a little more interesting than it was last week. I stopped chewing tabacco habitually and chronically over the past two weeks and am now tackling cymbalta. We'll the brain zaps are unique to cymbalta withdrawl and I just cannot yet decide which is worse, or more difficult to withdraw from but I do want to be free from addictive substances by the start of 2012.

Does anyone else experience a throbbing intense sense of awareness and clarity and then withdrawing/ pulling out of focus both optically and mentally? The cymbalta withdrawl is more varied in its side effect than nicotine or caffeine, I have experienced that. Its fascinating. I have not yet experienced the rage although when I get an email or message that raises my hackles a little the zaps really go off like fireworks but its controlable if you can just wait a second before responding.

Last night I did not have awefully violent dreams for the first time in 3 nights, that was nice. Weird yes but not violent which was always a nice reminder that I had forgotten to take my Cymbalta over the past five years, the few times a year that happened. I will not miss that....if I succeed.

While the drug cocktail weaning that you went through is interesting and is something that my Doc suggested, I just did not want to replace one with another and get caught up visiting the doctor weekly to discuss my feelings, etc. Hey, life can suck, life can be great. Stick with it.

I do thank the lord that I can excercise and that has been my savior so far. Actually, its an hour a day on the rowing machine beating the hell out of the zaps, etc. that is helping the most.

Over and out. I hope to post some more. Thanks for listening.........

[sunnydaze]

I'm new to this site and it's nice to know that I am not going crazy after 2 days without cymbalta. will chat later.

[Bamygyrl2011]

I have been taking Cymbalta 60mg for 10 months now for anxiety and I have decided I don't want to take any type of antidepressant medications anymore. About 2 years ago I was taking a mood stabilizer (Lamictal) and 3 other antidepressants and I quit cold turkey. I do not remember having any bad side effects (I am sure there were some) but I was in a great place in my life. I do remember the side effects from missing doses of Lexapro in the past and it sounds as if the withdrawal symptoms from quitting Cymbalta may be the same but more intense. I am going to take 10 granules out of my 60mg capsules starting tonight and go from there. From the stories I have read on this forum I am "terrified" of stopping cold turkey.
I will try to check in to give some feedback on how this plays out. Glad I found this website!!! I hope everyone who is trying to stop taking this medication succeeds!!!

[Che]

I'm new to this site and it's nice to know that I am not going crazy after 2 days without cymbalta. will chat later.

i wonder how u r getting on now - i am on day 5 without cymbalta (only coz my friend took it off me so i couldnt relapse!)

[jason105]

whats up everyone, taking 60 mg of cymbalta for only 5-6 months wanted to come off the meds so my dr. gave two weeks of 30 mg and then wanted to put me on 40 prozac for awhile. i've decided to stop takin everything and the side effects r pretty crazy. thankfully i googled cymbalt side effects and found this forum. brain buzzing i knew i was feeling something and thats a good term for it. i hope that everything gets back to normal or atleast the way i was before takin the meds. saw some good advice in other posts so thanks for posting your experiences.

[Marciarita]

I am new to this site and am thankful I found it.

I have MS and Fibromyalgia along with early osteo-arthritis. So, every doctor wanted me on the new great drug of the week, Cymbalta.

I had samples but just put them in my cabinet...... I was not depressed....

But then, I went through a bit of a "down time" and grabbed those samples of Cymbalta, knowing any of my doctors would prescribe me some if I liked it. Well, it got me through my little rough spot, but after over a year now at 30 mgs, I really wanted to get off of it (and to think they wanted me on 60 mgs minimum, Ugh).

By accident, I did not put a Cymbalta in my Saturday night pill organizer dealie.... I had a new bottle I just did not get up and get it - thought, no big deal, I can miss a night (I organize my meds every Sunday).

Well, woke up on Sunday and my head felt clear..... my thoughts anyway. In fact, I decided to just go ahead and quit the Cymbalta, got me through my sadness. But I wasn't feeling all that good. Went to my pool where I do a workout (only reason I still have some function, IMO), but I started to go down fast..... ended up sitting in my wheelchair hugging their porcelain crowns.

OK, I thought, I must have food poisoning. Had a temporary break in the "yucks" and got to my van and made a little emergency "barf bag" and drove home. Do not ask me how I got home - I was fading fast.

This long story leads to the 3rd day without Cymbalta and finding out that what I was going through, the head zaps, swooshes, headaches, achiness, nausea, diarrhea, etc. - was withdrawal from Cymbalta. OMG, thought I was going to die at times I felt so bad.

Got a hold of my doctor who had his nurse call me immediately and told me to get to an ER and that the next time I come in he would help me taper off this drug. I did NOT go to the ER but did have some Klonopin and a husband who went and got me a Smoothie to keep me hydrated, I am also, for now, back on this dang drug.

I've been reading stuff all over the internet, this by far being my favorite because it is people telling their real stories, and this is a drug that should be considered a Schedule II drug (along with Morphine and Cocaine). I am shocked the FDA approved this drug but I guess they didn't look at the withdrawal symptoms in studying this drug.

I have been on SSRI's before (Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor XR) but have NEVER, EVER experienced anything like I did with this Cymbalta.

Anyhow, I'll be back, not just lurking, to give an update as to how in the world I'm going to get off this stuff, I mean, how is my doctor going to taper me off. He did, after all, tell his nurse to tell me to take a pill immediately and that he would taper me off properly... whatever that is.