22 replies to this topic

[AJB40]

I was taking 30mg "Cympoison" for depression.  I'm on day 26 of a 40 day taper... using the -7, -14, -21 etc bead per day taper.  So, starting yesterday, I've been experiencing EXTREME muscle and joint pain.  My body hurts everywhere... fingers and toes included.  I'm taking good quality multivitamins, Omegas with D3, Co Q-10 with L-Carnitine, Sublingual B12, and Melatonin.  Today, I've got Salonpas patches on my knees, shoulders, and lower back and I've taken a 800mg Ibuprofen.  I wish I could bathe in a tub full of Tiger Balm at this point!  Any ideas from anyone?  Thanks in advance!

[lady2882Nancy]

Unfortunately AJB40 that is not an uncommon symptom of tapering off "Cympoison" (like the name).

This is part of the sensory overload that most experience as sensitivity to light, sound and body aches. This "wonder drug" (heavy sarcasm) did more than numb extreme emotions, it also reduces the transmission of other senses which is why things seem too loud and too bright when when withdrawing.

You can go back up a bit in dose to the dose you were taking before the body pains started and stay at that dose for a few days until it eases up (it probably will not completely go away) and then begin tapering again

I have had alot of hot hot baths in the last month and even though you are in pain, exercise such as walking and stretching helps as it will increase the level of feel good endorphins in your body.

I think the idea of a bath tub full of warm Tiger Balm sounds very nice.

I was put on Crapalta (I have a name for it too) for chronic nerve pain so I do understand how you feel.

It doesn't last too terribly long thank heavens and like all the other side effects, will go away.

I hope that helps

Take care of you

[AJB40]

Thanks for the information Nancy!  It's good to know that this will pass... I wouldn't be able to live like this and would probably end up addicted to pain pills and muscle relaxers!  I have noticed the "zombie cloud" has lifted and I was feeling more elated than usual until these new withdrawal symptoms presented themselves.  Now I'm sad and angry again!

[indians86]

I have been off Cymbalta 60 mg for two weeks tonight. When I discussed it with my doctor, he said there was no medical reason to wean off, so I could just quit taking them. I thought it was odd, but I thought perhaps the withdrawal symptoms were for those taking a higher dosage. Now, two weeks in, I still have brain zaps, achiness all over, severe stomach pain, and my emotions are on a hair-trigger! I wish I had found this site earlier to learn how to taper the beads, but now that it's been two weeks I don't want to put any back in my system and go through all this again. The aches and pains were a surprise to me as I wasn't anticipating such discomfort. Does anyone have an estimate as to how long it takes for all the withdrawal symptoms to go away?

[fishinghat]

If you look at the old posts it seems like the first 3 or 4 weeks are the worse and you can even have flair-ups for 8 to 12 weeks. But if you look at those posts you can also tell it varies a lot from person to person. Usually people start having breaks in the withdrawal around 2 weeks (which is where you are). I know it is really tough but you need  to hang in there and get this crap out of your system. Let us know if you have any questions or just want to sound off. We are here.

[AJB40]

Hang in there!  Even though I'm tapering, the withdrawal symptoms are bad but worth it because I want off of this poison!  I also wasn't expecting the aches and pains to be this severe, either.  I feel like my body has aged 20 years!  Last night was horrible... nausea and vomiting with the body aches.  I don't blame you for not wanting to put any back in your system.  On bad days, I have to talk myself out of taking a full pill, knowing that it will make me feel better for the short term.  I can now totally relate to a drug addict must feel.   

I have been off Cymbalta 60 mg for two weeks tonight. When I discussed it with my doctor, he said there was no medical reason to wean off, so I could just quit taking them. I thought it was odd, but I thought perhaps the withdrawal symptoms were for those taking a higher dosage. Now, two weeks in, I still have brain zaps, achiness all over, severe stomach pain, and my emotions are on a hair-trigger! I wish I had found this site earlier to learn how to taper the beads, but now that it's been two weeks I don't want to put any back in my system and go through all this again. The aches and pains were a surprise to me as I wasn't anticipating such discomfort. Does anyone have an estimate as to how long it takes for all the withdrawal symptoms to go away?

[johanna7272]

indians86----KEEP OFF THEM! DON'T GO BACK (and yes, I AM YELLING AS LOUD AS I CAN!)  If you have made it two weeks, you should start feeling better soon!  Awhile ago, I looked through the posts and it seems that consensus is that around 18 days, things get A LOT BETTER!  

 

HANG IN THERE!  You are more than half way there!

[indians86]

Thank you all so much for your support! It is so hard to explain to family and friends how this feels when it is a prescribed drug you are stopping. I know you feel AJB40 about understanding drug addicts! Now when I see the commercials for Cymbalta, I just feel so bad for all the people who will start taking this med and not realize what kind of brutal withdrawals they will have if they decide to quit. Fishinghat and Johanna7272, Thank you for the hope of a silver lining soon! My boss (and good friend) kept trying to talk me into taking them again and slowly weaning off. My biggest fear was going through this all over again later. I'm sticking it out...may go bonkers in the process, but at the end it will be worth it.

[lady2882Nancy]

You hang in there indians86. I am 18 days off and 4 days ago I could not imagine how much better I would feel today.

I couldn't do without my L-theanine for the headaches (it is a natural supplement from a health food store) but I woke up this morning with a clear head.

I still get some zaps and dizziness and the temper is ready to flare as soon as someone irritates me but that is getting better too.

I have some issues with anxiety but I know now that I should have expected it as I had that problem years ago.

Let us know how you feel each day if you have time because it is so nice to share the good stuff.

And if someone gets you mad tell us instead of them, ranting here is great cause you get everyone agreeing with you.

 

Take care of you

[AJB40]

I went to the Dr. yesterday because of the muscle/joint pain... I wasn't expecting anything out of the appointment (pain pills are not friendly to my stomach) but I did want to beg the Dr. to please not prescribe Cymbalta to any other patients.  I explained how to taper to make the withdrawals easier and also all of the nasty withdrawal syptoms.  She said that she had no idea that the withdrawals were that severe!  (Really?!?!)  On the safe side, she is checking for Lupus, RA, etc...   I'm pretty sure I don't have an autoimmune disease but I guess we'll see.  She said it's possible that I have fibromyalgia.  That would really be a kicker... I didn't any medical issues other than depression before I started taking Cymbalta.  I am getting some relief from walking, stretching, and taking 2 Aleve every 12 hours!  It seems to be working much better than ibuprofen.

[lady2882Nancy]

Hey there AJB40

Even though the joint and muscle pain are a pretty common symptom it is good that your doctor is going to do the tests just in case.

I had pain prior to Crapalta put it was in pretty specific areas whereas I am still having some muscle pain in my legs and as you said walking and stretching helps which is usually not the case with fibro pain. Lack of proper sleep can also cause all over body pain and sleep isn't always an easy thing to get enough of while getting off either.

Great that you told your doctor how hard it has been to get off and maybe save a few more people from the usual impossible advice to get off.

There has been an update on discontinuing to the Prescribing Information sheet that Eli Lily issues, but who knows if they actually sent the info out to pharmacies and doctors. There is a link Prescribing Information on the cymbaltadotcom website and it is section 5.7 if you want to let your doctor know. I am going to tell my doctor and pharmacy.

Take care of you

[mgpam]

My hubby is now at day 19.  He woke again today feeling great like yesterday, but yesterday he crashed horribly at 10 am, both emotionally and physically.  He became agitated and enraged at everything, and the musle pain became bad at the same time.  Praying that doesn't happen again today. 

 

He has been having the muscle pain off an on.  During an episode of the muscle pain, he says it is really bad and nothing like ibuprofen or tylenol seems to help at all. 

 

His episode got dramatically better yesterday around 3:00 pm.  Just before the improvement, he did the following: (1) took one Xananx (2) took the multivitamin I gave him, and (3) sat outside in the sunshine.  I wonder which was the key to the improvement?  I don't think it was the Xanax, because his earlier Xanax in the morning did not help at all.  So that leaves either the multivitamin, or the sunshine, or combination of both.  Unfortunately we don't have any more sunshine in the weather forecasts for the next 1.5 weeks.

 

I also spoke with his psychiatrist on the phone yesterday and tried to explain the hell that hubby is going through.  He brushed it off and said it was probably only partially withdrawals, and largely due to prior symptoms reappearing.  HA, what an idiot.  My hubby never had these symptoms before antidepressants.  He wasn't even depressed, not chronically anyway.  At the time he was going through an event at work that was causing a great deal of stress and insomnia.  I was so upset back then that he was prescribed an antidepressant.  It's been a long road back to where we are now. 

[lady2882Nancy]

Good morning mgpam

I hope that you both have a better day today.

You are partly right about the vitamin and going outside. The vitamin helped and it was the action of going outside that helped the most. I have found that walking and gentle stretching helps with both the irritability and the pain. It is too easy to just sit and wait to feel better with all the symptoms we are having because it just drains us mentally and what we really need to do is move around and get our blood moving. It also helps to drain off some of the energy that seems to build up when we are feeling irritable.

I know that there are quite a few posts that say how much getting some exercise helped even though they did not feel like doing any exercise at all.

I know that most of the time I just want to crawl in a dark hole and hide til these terrible side effects go away, but that doesn't help at all.

I was put on a med for anxiety and ended up having an allergic reaction to it so had to stop taking it. The withdrawals from that even though I only took it for 4 or 5 days are the same as Crapalta so I have been set back a few days, but I am determined to get through this despite the renewed brain zaps, headache and dizziness.

I hope the exercise helps him like it is helping me

Take care of you

Nancy

[mgpam]

Hi Nancy,

Hope you had a better day today too.  I'm so sorry to hear about your new med issues and set backs.  Your determination is admirable.

My hubby had a MUCH better day today all around.  So it rings true for us that withdrawals turn the corner around day 18.  For him today is day 19.  He isn't exercising because he is still weak and achey all over, but not bad muscle pain.  Some continuing chest tightenng and shortness of breath but not as bad as before.  And he was in a really good mood all day.  His anxiety did start up a little around 4 pm but that the was the first time all day that he took a Xanax.  I also increased the theanine for him. 

 

Hooray I'm so thankful for a good day. 

[lady2882Nancy]

Hello mg

I'm so glad to hear that it was a better day for your husband. There may still be some rough spots but little by little it will get better.

It is amazing the difference a couple of days can make.

The late afternoon or evening seems to be the time that most find anxiety and irritability creep up on them. I am taking an extra L-theanine at about 3 to try to avoid that. I think that it has more to do with being tired at that point though.

As for exercise, even just getting up and walking around for 10 to 15 minutes and working up to 30 minutes helps.

Don't do anything too strenuous to start with as that can backfire on you, especially when you haven't been doing anything for a few weeks.

With my back I am very limited in what I can do but the walking helps and I try to do some stretches while laying on the bed. Picture me walking up and down my hallway and around the kitchen table lol.

I wish I could go walk outside but we still have too much ice and I don't want to risk a fall. Oh well it has been above freezing during the daytime for 5 days now so it is slowly melting.

Take care of you

Nancy

[fishinghat]

Nancy, you give so much compassion and encouragement to everyone........BUT your weather reports SUCK!!! lol

[lady2882Nancy]

Well it is a balmy 38 F this morning, how can you not like that lol.

[fishinghat]

Real Easy to NOT like that. Anything under 75 F is too bloody cold!!! lol

[lady2882Nancy]

Anything over 75 F is getting too hot!!!!!!! lmao

[Kittencat]

It's hot here in Summer. Perfect the rest of the year. Of course it is So. Cal. They say Light Therapy is a good thing.  Take care all!

[indians86]

Hello, everyone! I have been super busy this week with work, school and a daughter who is expecting her baby any day now.

 

As an update, beginning Monday the body aches disappeared! I was still getting a few brain zaps, but not too bad. As of yesterday, the brain zaps are gone and all other withdrawal symptoms seem to have disappeared as well. As a reminder, I was taking 60 mg for approximately 8 years due to atypical trigeminal neuralgia. Fortunately, I found a new neurologist who prescribed an epileptic seizure med I hadn't tried yet, and it did the trick....thus the decision to quit Cymbalta. I stopped taking it and went "cold turkey", three weeks ago this coming Saturday.

 

It was brutal at times. There were days I reached for the med only to set it down, unwilling to go through the withdrawals again. I'm here to say you CAN do it! The worst feeling for me came at the end of the withdrawals, and then peace entered my life! Thank you all for your support during those final days of symptoms, when I felt they would go on forever!

[fishinghat]

Great post Indian86. Congratulations!!

[lady2882Nancy]

Congrats Indian86

Its always so great to hear that Eli Lily lost another customer and that someone is Crapalta free