5 replies to this topic

[myheart_forever]

[list][/list]hi everyone, let me first say i think it's great that there is a discussion board such as this available online. i think a lot of us would be lost without the support of others who are going through or have gone through cymbalta withdrawal symptoms. also, i have to say that i've seen several of you that do focus on the fact that we CAN get through this and that it isn't necessarily as bad as we make it out to be. i think it's important for everyone to remember that while the side effects are hellacious, we can get through this and we have to stay as positive as possible.

my question is did any of you experience diarrhea or extreme nausea when coming off of cymbalta? i've been taking 60mg once a day for 8 months and have begun weaning myself down to 30mg every other day and will then stop completely in two weeks (this is all with my doctor's approval.) however, the first day without the medication i spent much of the night in the bathroom with horrendous diarrhea and a feeling of true death! it has been roughly four days since then, but today i'm back to having the slight diarrhea and severe nausea. the biggest part of me feels that i may just have a flu bug and the timing is just extremely poor as it has popped up while weaning off of cymbalta! it's hard for me to believe that a medication for depression would have a side effect related to bowels and stomach nausea, you know?

regardless, i'd love to hear if anyone did happen to have these particular side effects. i do have the withdrawal side effects that i've heard others talking about - brain zaps, lethargic, loss of appetite; i was just curious if the diarrhea and stomach nausea has plagued anyone else? God bless you all for your help!

[robyn_amber]

*raises hand* I had the nausea, and it was vicious. Seriously, I felt like I was going to hurl all the time. My stools were soft, but not to the point of hershey squirts. It took a few weeks for teh nausea to go away. And the soft stools were only about one week, I think. Keep hanging on! ^.^

[myheart_forever]

thank you for your responses! it helps to reassure me that the nausea/diarrhea is a symptom that many people have experienced. it is hellacious, but now that i know so many of you have beaten it i know i just need to stay strong.

and greybeard, i agree with you about the every other day method. i dread every other day (the day's when i don't have the drug in my system), because i feel so horrendous. i would like to say that it doesn't help, but i can safely say that when the "day without cymbalta" comes and it's my time to take the next 30mg, i'm craving it because it seems to be the only thing that takes away the brain ticks and nausea. do you think this could just be psychological? i'd like to just quit cold turkey, because i can't help but feel that prolonging the weaning experience is making me worse :/

i have to laugh/grit my teeth when i recall my doctor telling me that any withdrawal symptoms i experience are PURELY PSYCHOLOGICAL. he stated that the nausea, brain ticks, etc. are just in my head and that there aren't any withdrawal symptoms. can you believe that? it angers me now because i, and so many others, can clearly see that it is NOT just psychological.

[schmb01]

If you continue the every other day, you are just postphoning the inevitible, which is when you will have to stop altogether. I would suggest that instead of skipping a day, reduce your dose by emptying some granules out, (you can get empty ones at health food stores) stay at that dose for a few days, then reduce it again, and then go to zero. You will likely have some withdrawal effects, given that you have them now on your off days, but if you read the nutrition section, you will find some great tips to help smooth it over a bit. (Omega supplements, etc) Some have had success using Prozac or Celexa to help as well. Like Greybeard said, you are just going in and out of withdrawal now, and that can take a toll as well.

Just know that you can do this, you can get off of this, and that there are people here that will guide you, or just listen to you vent. You don't have to do it alone.

Babby

[myheart_forever]

Thank you to everyone for responding and your support. I stopped cold turkey, but by the third day I could hardly function, so I started taking the medication again :/ Thankfully I have a doctor's appt tomorrow though and plan on asking for Prozak since several of you have said you had wonderful results from it. However, if he doesn't give me prozak, I'm going to ask for some sort of anti-dizziness/nausea medication to help me somehow. I truly feel lost in all this, and I hate that since I started taking the medication again I feel FABULOUS. But I trust I'll get through this. We'll see how tomorrow goes!

[Attorney_Victim]

myheart_forever,
I hope your recent doctor visit went well. This drug causes nasty withdrawal! Go easy on yourself during this difficult time and always remember that it does get better!!