31 replies to this topic

[schmb01]

Wow, that is quite an ordeal that you have been through.

As for the lack of success stories here, if you read through the threads, they are here. I'm one of them, and have been off of Cymbalta for over 4 months. Many people stop in for awhile, get through the worst, and then don't post again, which is one reason you don't see a lot of other success stories. Also, most people here are like you, new to the process of getting off of this drug, and struggling and needing support.

Since you don't want or need advice, I will spare you too much detail. There are things to help you, as you may have seen on other posts. The range from medication to supplements/nutritional ideas.

It is wonderful that your wife is supportive, but if you find that you need some solace from others that have experienced what you are going through, this is a great group of people too.

Best of luck on your journey~

[Momoftwo]

Glad you stopped by to update us. Please let us know how things go with the prozac. I am considering this option as I go down as well. Hang in there! Keep us posted.

[Jenofhearts]

Hugs to Divine... I am sorry you have had a bad day after a good one, but like you said it is just a part of the process. There will be more and more good days than bad, this I am sure of:) Try to remember the good ones, I know it is hard when they are few and far between. I am glad you were able to get some sleep, it is the best thing when you are feeling low, and I really feel for the people that don't have access to a drug to help them sleep, thank god for Valium! I know the horrible feeling of waking up in a bad state of mind, I have it everyday, I can usually shake it after an hour or so, just a rotten feeling though.
And the dizziness, faintness and disorientation is the worst! it is the withdrawal but it can be debilitating for sure, that's when I go lay down and put in a movie.
Just stay strong, and rely on your wonderful wife, she married you for a reason..it is called love:) and I am sure she wants nothing more than for you to feel good again, hang in there and lean on her, I am leaning the hardest I ever have on my hubby of 27 years, he is in it for the long haul no matter what and I am sure she will be there for you as well!
Please take care and treat yourself gently right now, you have gone this far and you will make it!!
All the best to you and your wife,
Jen

[JennyLynn]

Thank you for all your posts! I hope you keep, keeping tabs! lol
I took my last dose of Cymbalta Wednesday night after being on it a year. So far I have been super dizzy. My head feels odd. Is that what brain zaps are? Friday and Saturday were the worst so far. Even when I missed a dose I would feel like this. I hate it! My doctor should have never put me on it. I don't think my issues called for such a strong drug. I wanted to stop taking it a long time ago but I was afraid of the with draws since even missing just one dose would make me feel so bad. I hated to think about what it would be like to quit. Then I read a lot and understand that there isn't much difference from weaning off and stopping cold turkey. So I figured the sooner the better. I will get off of it and I will treat my slight depression and mild anxiety in other ways that won't include a prescription. I am doing all the research and learning all that I can. Knowledge is power! And I want power over my own body. I want to be in control, not these with draw symptoms.
I accidentally found something that helps a lot. It is L-Theanine. It is an ingredient in the Berry flavor Amps made by Mt.dew. It is NOT in any of the other flavors. It seems to help with the dizziness and groggy head feelings. I am doing what research I can. My plan is to conquer depression and anxiety with natural methods. L-Theanine is also found in Tea and mushrooms. Although I haven't found what mg is in those two. Here are some sites I looked at. Of course there is tons of reading to do here. I haven't read everything on every site. All in good time.
If anyone drinks the berry (focus) amp, please let me know if it helps you at all during your withdraw symptoms.
May God bless us all and help us through this. HE sure wasn't the one that gave me them pills...but I pray He helps me get them out of my body for good!

http://web-us.com/l-...ety_reducer.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine
http://www.drugs.com...l-theanine.html
http://askville.amaz... ... d=10166964

[Jenofhearts]

Divine, It is so good to "see" you so up beat and happy!!!! It gives me so much hope:) You are so much younger than me I have no idea what music you are talking about but dats' ok:) Whatever makes you happy, that is all that matters! I do know how it is to want to find a certain thing and can't remember where the hell it is, but the Lovecraft will turn up, just don't look for it You seem like such a nice man, I doubt your wife wants to be on a pedestal, just having you happy and feeling well is all she wants I am sure:) but hey! put her up on it if you want, more power to ya!!
I have been doing some serious thinking of how I am going to get off the 20mgs a day, I see so many posts about going the prozac way and I think I would like to try that...however, I have a very nice doc but I think she is not very informed about this evil drug, in one of my other posts I mentioned that she didn't even know that Cymbalta came in a 20mg until I told her, her nurse actually called my pharmacy while I was on hold and came back and said the doc was surprised it came in that dosage! I am afraid if I mention the prozac way she might get confused, however, I am willing to print out a bunch of posts from here to show her it can work.
The other way is to just tell her I want to stay on 20mgs and get enough of it to do my own weaning with the help of my hubby (smart engineer type to help me count the micro beads:) I was thinking of going down to 10 and then 5 and then off. If you have any advice on that I would much appreciate it.
One more thing, I have not left the house since Aug. 3rd, I was becoming very agoraphobic on the Cymbalta and I am a bit more so now, just because I am more dizzy and off balance, I feel tremendous guilt over this... I think I will have to slowly re-enter the world at large in small steps. I was so changed by this med, I was a full time active person, went everywhere, tolerated crowds and now just going to the corner drug store is a daunting thought... I feel like I have come to a plateau on the 20mgs so maybe it is time to cut it back, it has been 2 weeks.
Anyway, let me now how things are going, I lurk here often :geek:
Best to you,
Jen

[Jenofhearts]

Quick update, I got so sick of worrying about not getting out I made myself go with my hubby for a drive, we stopped and got a snack and ate it in the park and I also went into a shop!! A baby step but I will take them where I can get them. On the flip side I had a whopper of a headache when I woke up today, I always have a headache lately... and lots of sharp head pains during the day.
Jen

[JennyLynn]

Antihistamines DO help with the withdraw symptoms. I tried it this evening. I am not getting a brain zap every time I move.

[mokincaid]

Hey Divine, Man I can totally relate to what u are saying and feeling. I have actually made a list of the people I want to take out when I get ready to go. I dont really think that it will happen but its kind of a cathartic exercise. I cant give you any advice. Youve read my posts. I'm about as fucked up as a football bat. I hope it gets better for you and the rest of us. I guess every one of us has some basic problems or we wouldnt have wound up on this MFCSSOBPOS drug. We should try not to take it out on others. I know this but cant seem to help it. When the rage comes on I cant shut my mouth so I wind up apologizing a lot. I called my brother yesterday in MI. He is trying to find a remote cabin that I can rent maybe up in the UP. Then I can take my dog and a few guns and just isolate myself for a couple of months. oddly enough I am never short or mean with my dog. well, whatever, just try to maintain and hang in there. MOK

[mokincaid]

I so understand that one. I had a cop pull me over for running a stop sign that was only 25 feet from another stop sign and u could see for literally 1/2 a mile. In my opinion I maintained my temper although he apparently didnt think so. He told me I needed to control my temper. My response was a little bit uglly I told him I was cause if I wasnt I would have pulled him through the window and bashed his head on the steering wheel. He backed up before he handed me the ticket. lol. anyway they've never done anything FOR me they've only done things TO me so I dont like em anyway. Keep it between the ditches and take care of yourself. MOK

[Jenofhearts]

Oh DC, I am so happy you are feeling better:) That is wonderful! The "rage" seems to be a huge issue from what I have been reading on the forums, I am hoping to bypass that emotion altogether.. heh. With this drug it seems no emotion is left unchecked, in an over the top way..arghh
I am waiting for the day I can stand, shower, shop, well do just about everything a person needs to do WITHOUT dizziness, ,it is awful. I truly think my anxiety and panicky feelings are because I am so dizzy, I am afraid of it, feels like I am losing control. For the past 3 years or so my life has been completely put on hold just from the dizziness alone. Oh gosh I am so out of it right now, I just can't type anymore, I just wanted to give a shout out to ya:)
Best as always,
Jen

[JennyLynn]

I am so glad to hear that you are doing better. I actually thought of you today because yesterday I felt pretty good and then I woke up this morning feeling great! And I remembered that we were on the same day. This is the 10th day for me as well. I have had the brain zaps through out this whole ordeal. I only felt a few mild ones today. Nothing to stop me from doing anything. I don't feel nearly as grouchy. I haven't thrown up at all in days. I am getting through this! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know now that I have to treat my nerves and then there is NO depression. I hope you continue to keep doing well!

[iliao93]

Haha, DivineChemical you sound so much like my son, the more I read what you post! His favorite saying use to be "wish I had a rocket launcher". He moved to Darwin, Australia about 10 years ago as the states got to him so much he couldn't take it anymore! We are close but having gone so long without seeing him is hard. Any way thank's for "you" !
Bobbie

[iliao93]

Heh, go ahead and blame me, I'm a Momma I can take it Now don't you feel better? A good rant is sometimes just the thing to clear the air & your head! Thank's again....I'm almost through my first week of my "new taper" and feeling like I just might survive it and even better like I might want too!
You be good to yourself...you here?
Be well,
Bobbie

[JennyLynn]

Same day!? Cool! It's like we're drug buddies! WOOT!!!

...will you be the Courtney Love to my Kurt Cobain? [/quote]

Only if you will sing me to Nirvana.....

[JennyLynn]

Hello! So I am wondering how you are today DC. My emotional state is great. I am glad that I stopped crying. One really good thing that has come from all this is the improvement in my marriage. My husband has been so supportive. He said I was back to the real me and this is the woman he fell in love with nearly 10 years ago. I see a change in him too. I am thinking that it is like a cause and effect thing. He was teasing me that he would rather I be mean once in a while than a zombie. But I have the Ativan to take if I have an episode. Which I only take as needed and therefore I don't get addicted to it and suffer any withdrawals from it. So if I get stressed and hateful I can take one of them and then I don't get mean to anyone! This is WAY better than taking Cymbalta everyday. My husband also found a product called Stresstabs. It is a supplement that also has an energy blend. So I am going to try taking natural measures to control my stress and anxiety. Controlling those two factors eliminate depression for me. I am still having these friggin brain zaps though! I can't make them go away! They are not as strong or as frequent but still here and still bothering me.
What an awesome coincidence that you brought up lucid dreaming! Just the other day I had done some reading about it. I really thought there was no way I could ever do that even though I LOVE to dream. Well I remembered some of the tips that I read about. Although I didn't have a lucid dream I KNEW I was dreaming and I pinched myself in my dream and it didn't hurt...and i remember thinking "yeah this is a dream" lol and I remembered that when I woke up. But that is all that I remember. I don't suppose that is a lucid dream but it was VERY cool to know that I was in a dream.
There are so many good things that are happening all because I stopped taking Cymbalta. I hope that you are doing good today. Thanks for responding to me. All the support that I have gotten from my friends, family and even strangers, is what has pulled me through this.

[iliao93]

Yah, it's the unexpected crap that really socks it to us. You need to be sure to eat, I know I forget too. I keep instant breakfast and protein powder on hand as I can usually get that down even if I'm not hungry or I'm sick to my stomach. If you have to write yourself sticky notes or set an alarm to remind yourself to eat, do that ! Hard boiled eggs are good to keep in the fridge also, when your feeling good boil some up( I do a doz. at a time) and peel them to keep for a quick protein fix. Smoothies are great too especially with protein powder or an ins. breakfast & any fruit. You don't even have to have fresh fruit, I always forget and it rots which really upsets me. I just buy frozen, like blueberries( hi anti-oxidant)strawberries or whatever you like... you get the idea. Hey if you like Reeses PB cups you can take a chocolate ins. breakfast, pb with milk and make a great drinkable version, even throw in a bannana . The muscle bulders web sites are a great resource for finding tips on stuff like this, believe it or not :roll: Oh and I almost forgot...honey! The perfect food...add it to the smoothies. My husband is type ll so I buy agave nectar which is almost as good as the honey & really healthy.
Give yourself some energy for your body and the energy for your music will be there!
Be Well,
Bobbie

[Jenofhearts]

Hey DC,
Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better, one step at a time right.. we cannot let this bastard drug beat us, we are higher on the food chain
Best.
Jen

[Attorney_Victim]

Hang in there...my whole July 4th holiday weekend was spent in bed (or on the toilet) going through the worst of withdrawals, so I can relate! Although you didn't get much pleasure out of these weekend days, just remember, you made it through each of those days...and they are withdrawal days that are done and never have to be dealth with again! Now you are 3 days closer to better health!!

[Jenofhearts]

DC, Going into a Walmart is enough to send even the best of us into a frenzy, my daughter is "normal" even gets a bit panicked when she shops there. I applaud you for even stepping in the door! I actually used to love to shop before the evil drug got it's hold on me, right now going out the back door is enough for me, sad isn't it... this drug took away so many pleasures in my life. I was very down today too, as you read in the other post I started out bad, seems to set the "tone" for the day. I have missed out on a few holidays that most people go crazy for, it was Harley Davidson's 100th something anniversary here in Milwaukee all weekend, there was so much to do, great bands, lots of partying, but where was I? covered up in bed dealing with some pretty raw emotions. I figure the fun stuff will always be there again and I will enjoy it someday soon. I set my alarm to be sure I wake up on time to feed the monster I hope it starts me out in a better way, and I am going to for sure look into a pysch doc for help on Tuesday, I need the help of a pro, I think it is best for me. I am such a ninny, I have so much fear in my gut it makes ill, maybe "they" can help me through this.
Thinking of you and everyone on here, thanks for your support as always,
Best,
Jen

[marbles]

this message is for sad cat .I am just curious as to why your name is sad cat ....silly question , just curious ; as it makes me think of a sad cat. :? Caught my attention right away as i love cats.

[iliao93]

Hang in DC, started my next to last taper and all I can do is sleep & cry. Nausea is back with a vengeance & headache from hell. To really top it off I spaced about Labor Day & forgot to call my doc for my pain med refill and almost out. Trying not to freak but this crappy FM makes it hard to rebound from any stress at all let alone this struggle with Cymbalta.
So DC...I know you can do this, with all your dealing with you give me hope.
Keep up the good fight my friend.....Bw Well,
Bobbie

[Attorney_Victim]

DC,
Hang in there with the Prozac...10mgs was probably way to low for you. I quit Cymbalta from 60mgs cold turkey, and my dr started me at 20mgs, with instructions to go up to 40 after 1 week if I felt I needed it. I ended up staying at 20mgs for about 5 weeks and then stopping it with my dr's permission. I'm about 4 weeks off the Prozac now, but I wish I had stayed on it a little longer because some of the withdrawal symptoms (especially the brain zaps) have come back. So, don't quit the Prozac too soon!

[JennyLynn]

DAY 34:
Hi everyone! I know I have been a terrible poster lately. Sorry!
I am doing really good. Most of my symptoms are gone. I am however back to my old self. I get so irritable! I hate that about me. Helping me be nice is the ONLY good thing that Cymbalta did for me. By nature I have no patience, I get annoyed very easy and tend to get snappy with people. But I am working on it. I am taking the Stress tabs everyday. They do help a little. I take my Ativan when I need to. And only when I NEED to. I am not about to get addicted to anything else. I still have mild funky brain zaps once in a while if I don't take a Theanine pill. If anyone is having these awful brain zaps PLEASE get a bottle of Theanine. It is the ONLY thing I have found that makes the brain zaps go away. Make sure it is made by Suntheanine. Otherwise you take the chance of it just being tea extract. I bought my bottle from Vitamaker. There are many online stores that sell it and even on Ebay. Theanine also promotes relaxation. I strongly encourage everyone to at least read up on it. I have some links that I posted on here somewhere! lol
30 days ago I didn't think I would make it through this nightmare. Today I am feeling great!

[iliao93]

DAY 34:
Hi everyone! I know I have been a terrible poster lately. Sorry!
I am doing really good. Most of my symptoms are gone. I am however back to my old self. I get so irritable! I hate that about me. Helping me be nice is the ONLY good thing that Cymbalta did for me. By nature I have no patience, I get annoyed very easy and tend to get snappy with people. But I am working on it. I am taking the Stress tabs everyday. They do help a little. I take my Ativan when I need to. And only when I NEED to. I am not about to get addicted to anything else. I still have mild funky brain zaps once in a while if I don't take a Theanine pill. If anyone is having these awful brain zaps PLEASE get a bottle of Theanine. It is the ONLY thing I have found that makes the brain zaps go away. Make sure it is made by Suntheanine. Otherwise you take the chance of it just being tea extract. I bought my bottle from Vitamaker. There are many online stores that sell it and even on Ebay. Theanine also promotes relaxation. I strongly encourage everyone to at least read up on it. I have some links that I posted on here somewhere! lol
30 days ago I didn't think I would make it through this nightmare. Today I am feeling great!

Hi JennyL, I've been awful on posting too I'm on my first week Cymbalta free. The first five days lulled me into a false sense of comfort! Then Saturday hit and the zaps, emotionality, irritability, pain and all of "IT" hit me smack in the face! Naturally my family members sensing my vulnerable state (all both of them) decided to show their asses :roll: ! Hey...why should I get a break, unless I'm holding everyone's hands and being ever so careful of their feelings, in other words kissing ass...well then I'm just a horrible, bad, selfish, mean person :!: . Well I digress...but got that spewed out of my system.... :oops:
I am very interested in the L-Theanine..and know all supplement manufacturers are not equal. I think you get what you pay for in most cases. Don't misunderstand me please...I don't think they have necessarily have to cost big bucks to be good...just that usually producing quality usually isn't cheep. Anyway I was doing some searching and ran across this:
http://WWW.jigsawhea... ... anine.HTML
Would you give it a look see and tell me how it compares to what your taking?
Thanks Bunches

[mspat08]

Hi.mspat08 here..so glad 2 hear ur doing ok..and even better to hear that ur in Tx.Im in San Antonio...not to worry :? ..things will be ok..what type of music do u play?Im loving "los lonely Boys" personal favorite....Stay safe and positive.God Bless u....

[mspat08]

Hi.mspat08 here..so glad 2 hear ur doing ok..and even better to hear that ur in Tx.Im in San Antonio...not to worry :? ..things will be ok..what type of music do u play?Im loving "los lonely Boys" personal favorite....Stay safe and positive.God Bless u....

[JennyLynn]

Hi JennyL, I've been awful on posting too I'm on my first week Cymbalta free. The first five days lulled me into a false sense of comfort! Then Saturday hit and the zaps, emotionality, irritability, pain and all of "IT" hit me smack in the face! Naturally my family members sensing my vulnerable state (all both of them) decided to show their asses ! Hey...why should I get a break, unless I'm holding everyone's hands and being ever so careful of their feelings, in other words kissing ass...well then I'm just a horrible, bad, selfish, mean person . Well I digress...but got that spewed out of my system....
I am very interested in the L-Theanine..and know all supplement manufacturers are not equal. I think you get what you pay for in most cases. Don't misunderstand me please...I don't think they have necessarily have to cost big bucks to be good...just that usually producing quality usually isn't cheep. Anyway I was doing some searching and ran across this:
http://WWW.jigsawhea...Com/products/l_ ... anine.HTML
Would you give it a look see and tell me how it compares to what your taking?
Thanks BunchesBe Well !?
Bobbie

HI! I am so sorry I haven't been on here. I clicked the link but got nothing. I wish I would have got on here sooner. I am taking 100% theanine made by suntheanine.

[iliao93]

The link some how ended up mangled so here it is again:
http://WWW.jigsawhea...cts/lAnine.HTML

I just wondered how the price compared to what you pay. I ended up ordering the suntheanine from vitacost:
http://www.vitacost....rom-Suntheanine

[JennyLynn]

I just paid 15.00 for a bottle of theanine. 60 caps. of 100mg off of an Ebay store. There are good deals through there. I know that they have done wonders for me. I hope with all my heart that they do good for you too!

[JennyLynn]

O and I got a deal with free shipping. I saved like 1.44 from what I paid the first time. I just know that they work well for me. Please let me know how they work for you. I am excited and hope the best!