7 replies to this topic

[MontanaGal]

Hi everyone I am on day 7 of quitting cold turkey. I have spoken with Dr's who get it, and many who do not. I myself am a medic and understand many of the bad side effects that can be experienced by coming off the med the way I did. I was on 60mg for 3 years now and after a bout with my medical insurance and 4 days without it, I decided to finish this once and for all. I have tried, as many others have, to come off this before. They have "weaned" me, given me drugs that will combat the withdrawal's, and many other options. Weaning is pointless as the 1/2 life of this drug makes that a joke, the drugs for withdrawals often can cause seizures and many other severe side effects that are awful. Taking a low dose Prozac is almost like jumping from the pot to the frying pan.
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone, before you decide to quit, you need to have a support system in place. You must let your husband and kids know that you are going to be a raging monster for a bit and to please bear with you. Unfortunately for those of us that work, you really do need to let your boss know. It is important for them to understand what you are about to go through and so they don't fire you when they do not understand. Ideally, you should take time off after about day 3. This is when the withdrawals tend to get bad for the "average" person. Often by day 14 a person is heading for home base. However, after day 7-10 there should be a noticeable improvement or you may have to seek a dr's help. And most importantly, you need to find things to do to keep yourself busy... before quitting, make a list of things that need to be done. Not things that you may hurt yourself on since dizziness and fainting can be an issue. Vacume your curtains, clean your yard, whatever, but have a list. And EAT HEALTHY and drink LOTS of water. You have to flush your system and get your brain to start firing correctly.
Bottom line, it takes time... Stick with it and you will succeed and feel better. But make sure that you are ready to commit and able to handle life without a tool that your body is used to. Have a support system in place, preferably ahead of time, and try to think about how happy you are going to be and how good you are going to feel when it is all done. BE POSOTIVE!!! It will bring out the happy in you!

All that said, I am doing well, I am dizzy and a bit "sea sick", but I am getting happier by the day and the withdrawals are getting better and better everyday. I already feel more energetic and am going to work in my yard today to keep my mind going. I still have a cry here and there, but at the end of every cry I say I am almost there. We are strong people, the human mind is an amazing creation and you all can do it. We all can do it!

[MontanaGal]

* I want to add a side note since I am reading that many of you are still experiencing symptoms a month later. Everyone's body is different, No one person can expect the same thing as any other. It appears the symptoms are consistent, but the time frame can vary widely. Again, I state, be strong, think positively, have a support system in place, and do right by your body (foods and lots of water).

[audie]

Thank you for your story. I am new to this forum as well. I didn't go the cold turkey route, but the weaning process. I had been on 60mg for about 2 years. I've been on many different types of anti-depressants (celexa and lexapro) for the last eleven years to manage anxiety. I tired to quit once in 2004 but coudln't handle the side effects at that time since I was very busy at work. But now I am committed to it. Sick of being on pharmies everyday of my life. Took every ounce of libido out of me as well. I ahve started the weaning process in December. I went from 60 to 40mg for three weeks. Then to 30mg for two weeks, 20mg for two weeks and I am now on the first week of 10mg. I have been on a hard-core supplement "diet": I take lot sna dlots of omega 3s, milk thislte and red clover and even another liver cleanser to help get rid of this garbage rom my body. I drink A LOT of water and eat fairly well. I just added some "greens" supplements too. I also take some calming herbs, especially since I started anti-depressants mainly for panic and anxiety.

Since the 20mg mark, I have been getting very frustrating finger tingling sensations. Like the tips of my fingers are asleep. I am definitely grouchier and very fatigued. I am trying to exercise but some days it's too hard. I get the brain swooshes now as well. I am afraid of the brain zaps, as I felt before either when I tried to quit cold turkey in 2004 or if I forgot to take my cymbalta two days in a row. I just can't wait to be totally free of this stuff. Honestly, bring on those brain zaps cause I just want the process over with and am willing to endure the torture to get to the end!!! Reading everyone's comments gives me hope that I am not alone, that what we are going through is "normal" when you withdrawl from poison. Thank you for your stories again.

[MontanaGal]

Well, on day 10 now!!! I just started noticing that hey, I am starting to feel things I had forgotten about. Hopefully it will help make up for the raging witch I have been to my husband since this whole thing started. I also had tingling in my fingertips, but I guess I didnt associate it with the cymbalta since it was in my right hand only. But how much coincidence can happen is open for interpretation with this drug and now I want to blame the worlds problems on it.. LOL. The dizzyness has not gotten any better for the last 3 days, but it has not gotten any worse either. Overall, I feel a little better every day. Not a lot, but a little and I will take every baby step that happens in this process and give thanks for every bit of it. It means I am that much closer to getting all this poison out of my system. Thank you for sharing your story and I am glad that up to now the weaning has been successful for you. It is a journey coming off this medicine and one that I hope we can look back on and feel that we are better people for going through this journey and know that we are not going to ever have to walk the same steps again. Dont hesitate to ask questions and keep talking, I believe that talking through it helps a person deal with it to some extent. Good luck and stay strong!

[Judy98]

I found this website just in time. I'm not exactly sure when I ran out of Cymbalta. Thanks to not getting the prescription refill in the mail, I was kind of forced into going "cold turkey." I have most of the symptoms of withdrawal as what I found in many of the posts found in here. Coming in here made me realize why I was feeling so miserable. I thought I was dieing before I came here.

[2WheelHorse]

Hi,
I've been going through much of the same as what is described above. I have written two threads somewhere else on this forum which explains my background and experience. Some brief comments to offer. First, I wish the best for anyone attempting cold turkey or sharp dosage reductions. I tried this a few times and ultimately failed. I made it as long as two weeks without taking Cymbalta (120 to 60mg to zero) before suddenly spiraling into despair, clobbered with symptoms. Since then I have adopted the bead counting method and am almost down to zero with minimal withdrawal symptoms. Looking back, I see (for myself) that there was no urgent reason for me to get off Cymbalta so quickly. It was simply my own impulsiveness and impatience which drove me to attempt cold turkey. So, for anyone who hits the wall with cold turkey or rapid dose reduction, there is a way if you have the patience and don't mind the tedious process of emptying capsules and counting the tiny white beads each day. I learned about bead counting on this forum and my pharmacist approves. She has also strongly admonished me against rapid dose reduction. Her question for me was always "why would you want to do this to yourself?” "After all, being on Cymbalta is not life threatening, so why not just do this very gradually?"
BEAD COUNTING METHOD Based on a 60mg capsules containing 200 white beads:
- From 200 beads: reduce each day by 10. E.g. Day1 is 190, Day2 is 180, Day3 is 170 beads..... Etc. Do this until you get down to 150 Beads
- From 150 beads: reduce each day by 7. E.g. 150, 143, 136, etc... Do this until you get down to 100 beads remaining
- From 100 beads: reduce each day by 5. E.g. 100, 95, 90, 85, etc.... Do this until you reach zero! 45 Days gradual journey to freedom from C

So far, this method has been virtually painless aside from touches of lower mood and being irritable at times. For me, much better what I had inflicted on myself by going too fast in the past. This is NOT meant to be critical of anyone going cold turkey. It looks like some people DO succeed. I just wanted to offer something else to try in case any of you hit the wall like I did.

[Popfly]

Thank you all for relating your battles and solutions regarding withdrawal from this drug. Now I know I don't have to go out and spend thousands of dollars trying to figure out what is wrong with my head.
I'm on a very limited income and last month decided to go off Cymbalta to save the expense associated with it. When I told my pharmacist that I could no longer afford it, she quickly said, "you don't need to buy any drug if you don't want to." Obviously she didn't have a clue to the withdrawal effects. Ignorance of this can be very bad for the user.
As I'm writing this, my head is constantly "surging" and driving me a little nuts.
At least now I know I'm part of a large community of those in the same boat... like lifeboat 14.
I'll continue to go slow and learn to deal with these symptoms. Thanks to all of you and best wishes in your progress.

[2WheelHorse]

Hi, sending from blackberry so sorry for any typos. I am now finished tappering via bead counting method. Am very convinced this was most effective for me. Reason is because very gradualtaper gave me time to process the discomfort and not panick. I have too much to lose, could not afford consequences of the bad behavior caused by severe withdrawalsymptoms. Even with gradual method, I've had to manage some low moods and short temper. But so far I've been able to handle with some grace. My wife has been great at tollerating my bad moments. Now I'm wondering what will happen with 0 beads going into my system. I got all the way down to 6 beads. This forum is very helpful. Thanks to all for contributing. I wanted to be careful not to preach about there being a righ way or a wrong way. I think this is different for everyone. This forum gave me ideas and I found my solution here!