26 replies to this topic

[thismoment]

How long does it take to withdraw from Cymbalta? As we all have read on this forum, it varies between individuals, and it depends on what you mean by 'withdraw'. Many people don't have nasty symptoms.

 

To say you have withdrawn from Cymbalta might mean the symptoms are tolerable, or it might mean you are withdrawal-symptom-free. The withdrawal can be a long low-angle slope, where progress comes slowly. Some people will progress faster for a variety of reasons that may not be readily apparent. 

 

It's difficult to discuss withdrawal from Cymbalta if you are taking other similar medications at the same time, either for an unrelated medical problem or as an aid to withdraw from Cymbalta. It may be impossible to determine which drug is causing a particular symptom. 

 

Some sufferers have received criticism for still having withdrawal symptoms after 2 or 3 weeks off the drug. For me, at 3 weeks into weaning, I was just getting into 5 days straight of brain zaps! If you are part of the support team, please bring your compassion and your patience; this struggle takes an unknown length of time.

 

For those who are just researching Cymbalta withdrawal, please note that it is counterproductive to give yourself a deadline to be withdrawal-symptom-free. It takes the length of time it takes, and you need to focus on the process and let the goal emerge as the product of that process. You can only do it by connecting this moment to the next; you can't leap into the future.  With luck, you may be one of the people who don't suffer a difficult withdrawal.

 

I took 30 mg a day for 2 years, and weaned off the drug by counting beads (each 30 mg capsule contains approximately 300 beads). I reduced by 7 beads a day- I lost count a couple of times- but finished in about 45 days. I wrote a log which I posted to this forum titled, There is Hope. 

 

Six weeks in I ate the last 7 beads, and by then I was feeling ready to go to work on getting better. There is a threshold of time (probably a number of weeks) when you are in the trenches, at war, and struggling mightily. Only after you come out of this grappling, can you contemplate the re-build, the cleaning up, the levelling off, the repairing of relationships and returning to function.

 

It  took me most of a year to get feeling normal again. But normal for me is a little 'different' than I remember back when this journey started; I think the longer one is away (on the drug), the more modified your new normal might be.  Be strong and best wishes!

[equuswoman]

thismoment: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the above post! I have saved this as an email 2 myself so that I will be able to find it as I will be going thru this withdrawal process beginning Thurs Nov 7th. I know already that I will be going back 2 look at this message of HOPE! The ppl here on this support forum are some of the most helpful ppl I've met in a very long, long time. May God bless U and all of us here as we take this hopeful journey to regain what ever it has been that we have lost along the way! EquusWoman

[OverIt]

After almost 10 days off the drug and screaching at my husband again today, followed by tears, I decided to look up the symptoms of quitting Cymbalta, which led me to this site.

Have been on it for too many years to count, so I knew it wouldn't happen overnight, almost threw in the towel and started again, until I found this site and started reading the posts.  By the way, I was looking for info to help my husband understand, thought he was the one that needed it.  See how muddled the thinking is?

[fishinghat]

During withdrawal the cymbalta really effects your cognativ e skills and short-term memory. You will become very unsure of yourself, hard to focus, paranoid about your health and lack confidence. IT DOES GO AWAY THOUGH.

[thismoment]

Overit, fishinghat is right.

 

The withdrawal can have a destabilizing effect; you may doubt your sanity and have seemingly uncontrollable emotional excursions. It does go away!

 

You've been off 10 days- is that cold turkey or weaning?

 

The feeling of wanting to throw in the towel and pop a capsule comes and goes.  You are not guilty of planning any of this behaviour, but it's part of this journey and it can be difficult for loved ones to comprehend. Yes, recommend this site to those who would be on your support team; they need to understand what they are looking at.

 

There was a metaphor, an kind of image that constantly re-appeared in my mind during withdrawal from Cymbalta, and it's this: Ulysses and the Siren's Song. The Siren's song was the call of Withdrawal to surrender the quest and take a pill- give it up and be free of the pain! I was Ulysses tied to the mast and forced to listen to that song, and I told myself I can't get to those pills because I'm tied to the mast, I'm locked in this struggle and I will get through! 

 

Best wishes. Stay strong.

[Ape]

It s good to know what to expect. I am a very insicure person I hope quitting the cymbolta won y make me worse

[thismoment]

Neuroscientists tell us that all experience changes our brain. While we readily acknowledge that events like physical trauma, emotional suffering, abuse and war will change our brain, it's also true that more subtle interactions like simply being immersed in a culture changes the brain.  

 

Ingesting experimental chemicals and living the new emotional perspective they create is truly taking you on a divergent path and changing your brain. Hopefully it's a better path, and often for a while it is. But if it becomes something you can't live with, you've got to get off it. That's how it was for me, and that's how I learned to love bead-counting.

 

Here's the point: I am in a much better place now than I was on Cymbalta, including when I was bead-counting. But I also know that I didn't end up in the place I imagined. All that new history changes your brain, and you can't go back to a snapshot from an earlier time.  The place I landed after getting off Cymbalta was like waking up in a somewhat familiar room. It's roughly furnished- nice enough- but still it's a fixer-upper. There is  a lot of work to be done. Clean the place, tidy up, hang some nice artwork, find a couple of green plants, some paint, a new rug, and pull the draperies wide open to let the light in, the cleansing sun. 

 

I'm free, but I've got to keep moving to shore up my tender foundations: stay fit; eat sensibly; put judgement aside and not be afraid to be sad, and happy. I need to take the hands of those who stood by me, and look into their eyes and say thank you.

 

Your landing spot may be a little like mine- a beautiful yet somewhat unfamiliar island that needs a little work and attention- tender love and care to boost it and keep it healthy and growing. But isn't that what a normal life is? Life is a fixer-upper!  And I am waiting for you to make the crossing. That's me waving my arms and jumping up and down on the beach; keep swimming! Stay strong!

[fishinghat]

Thismoment, you hit it right on the head. Just to be clear, when you say 'the brain changes' you mean physically and chemically. As we experience life our brains change shape and our neurotransmitters also adapt and change. We are the sum of our experiences and with what we have all went through with Cymbalta....well I am afraid you are right., we will not come out as our old self but rather a new person.

[billk]

Thank You, Thank you for the words of encouragement and giving me the comfort that I'm not alone.  I have weaned off of 30mg after 2 years and it's been a daily struggle to adapt to the symtpoms and maintain my sanity. As someone posted earlier, doctors are of no help whatsoever.  Mine was surprised to learn that I was even experiencing withdrawals after weaning off with a half-dose after 5 days. Said something like, "Gee, you must be really sensitive."  I guess I'm not the only one.  What keeps me going is the undrstanding from all of you that I'll eventually "feel" normal again. Frankly I'm still scared of waking up. But I'll make sure to take better care of myself and know I'm not "too sensitive".

[fishinghat]

I have talked to my drs in length about the lack of knowledge most suffer from. They just assure me that they simply have NO time to keep up with the hundreds of research articles that are written each month in their feild. There is a large amount of info out there on cymbalta withdrawal, symptoms and recovery but the drs are simply not aware of it. My new psych dr starts taking patients at 7:30 am and takes his last one at 7:30 pm. It is no wonder that they can't keep up with things. Research shows that around 20% of cymbalta patients suffer these kind of protracted symptoms. I was shocked at my new pdoc (my old one just retired) when he was well aware of this research. He also assured me now that he is in private practice he will NOT be able to keep up with the latest research!! What a waste and we all suffer because of it.

[Quiltinglady]

I, too, have been on Cymbalta for years and am now wanting to retire within the next couple of years and be completely free of meds.  I am  now on 60 mg per day along with 20 mg Celexa.  I was going to drop from 60 to 30 mg daily but after reading this post, I will go through the hassle of counting.  Safe and sure is better than losing my job and possibly worse.  Thank you all for your honesty and postings. 

[fishinghat]

Quiltinglady, welcome.Slow and steady wins the war. Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

[thismoment]

Fishinghat you do good work! Yes I believe these SSRIs and SNRIs change the brain permanently.

 

The brain is a physical system that conforms to physical laws like every other physical system we encounter in the universe. Scientists confess that while knowledge about the brain continues to grow, much about how the brain works is still a mystery. The brain is 80% water and the remaining 20% is composed of an extraordinary physical and biochemical architecture; it's a kind of marvellous biological CPU. 

 

As you sit quietly on a chair, your brain is changing slowly with the passing of each moment.  Of course we can increase its rate of change, quality of change, and we can alter its course via our behaviour. Perhaps getting an education would be considered a method of positive brain change. Perhaps playing a sport that gives you multiple concussions would be considered a choice that yields negative brain change. The jury is still out on what ingesting SSRIs and SNRIs do to the brain long term.

 

"Much about how the brain works is still a mystery." That's true. "Much about how SSRIs and SNRIs work is still a mystery." That's true too.  But millions of times a day we combine these seemingly conflicting pieces of data.  We close our eyes to the outcome, which necessarily must be equally mysterious! 

 

One of those outcomes is a changed brain; how could it be otherwise?

 

My perception is that I have a changed brain following this experience. Perhaps that is due to the fact that my 'perception' was parked for a few years, and like putting on an old pair of boots after a couple of years, it feels familiar and different all at once. There is no data anywhere to prove this, it's just how I feel. But how I feel is who I am. My brain is me and I am my brain.

[fishinghat]

Thismoment, Ahhh but there is data available!! First it was discovered that Ativan (lorazepam) actually changes the shape and chemistry of the Gaba receptors that Ativan works on. It is believed that is one reason the withdrawal is so bad. Tests have shown that this receptor takes MONTHS to return to its original structure. Several other neurotransmitters have been subsequently studied with most having similar results.

 

There have also been several studies of peoples brains using pet scans. During the tests, each participant was given daily "training" on one specific subject (eg science, math, art, etc) and a final pet scan is performed. For example, those who worked on math were shown to develop more convulutions and nerve synapses were changed as well in the area of the brain that processes math. Similar results were obtained for the other subject areas.These results have lead to websites that claim they can "exercise" certain parts of the brain and help them develop. I believe one of these sites is called "Luminosity", spelling may be wrong.

[thismoment]

Fishinghat thanks for that.  There is a current Japanese study that show SSRIs physically change the brains of mice. I will look it up.

 

The down-the-line results still are not in because maybe it's all too new (and profits are too high).

[fishinghat]

Your right, it is too new. What they will know in 20 years will probably make our current methods terrible.

[fishinghat]

I found one article about how cymbalta chemically changes the neuroreceptors when treating depression.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3362535/

[thismoment]

Fishinghat that's a good read, thanks.

 

One of the complicating and compounding issues is taking several drugs at once.  You mentioned Ativan, which is often prescribed for anxiety when coming off Cymbalta- but in the long run the patient has to deal with withdrawal from Ativan as well, and it's a long one. And Prozac is often just dropped in as an aid to gently slide off Cymbalta. Then you have to kick Prozac.  It's all nasty stuff and none of it is 'easy' to get rid of.

[Checkthegate11]

Ugh. Am I done with this hell yet?

For two weeks, I was tapering off 20mg, taking out 5 beads a day. I got to around 30-40 beads left and I just couldn't take it anymore.

I've been cold turkey for around a week now, and it's been horrible. Less horrible than going cold turkey before tapering, but tapering just the same.

The brain zaps are slowly dissipating but they're still there. I'm perpetually teetering on the brink of a nap. I'm grouchy, depressed and raw nerve. Pretty much like a grizzly bear at all times. And I'm having body issues, loss of confidence and motivation. I don't feel like myself AT all.

How long am I going to have to deal with this??
Any tips on how to handle everything??

I'm 26 years old and I feel like I'm 80. So miserable.

[thismoment]

Hi Checkthegate11.

 

At a week you're not out very far, and it would be easy to re-instate to where you are comfortable, and then after a week or so begin a slow taper. Taper off to zero over a few months. Advise your physician.

 

You are having rough withdrawal to be sure! You say you don't feel like yourself- I know what you mean (been there). And in reality, you're not the self you used to be- there have been physical changes up there, and your brain is struggling to heal, to repair itself.

 

It's impossible to say how long it will be until you feel comfortable. Maybe 2-3 weeks. Maybe less. Maybe more.

 

There are other strategies like utilizing a longer-acting drug like Prozac (SSRI) to help you descend the choppy steps of the short half-lived Cymbalta. But that's more drugs, and it doesn't appeal to me.

 

There's also the Ulysses approach where your are metaphorically tied to the mast while passing through the waters of the siren song: Check yourself into a facility that deals with withdrawal- a proper Detox facility. This is what I would have done if the thought had occurred to me, but it didn't.

 

Best wishes with this- This is probably the most significant battle you will ever fight in your life: you're fighting for your brain. 

[fishinghat]

Thismoment is right. Most people when they get down to 20 beads or so start tapering at 1 bead a day. If you want to stay with the cold turkey you probably have another 4 to 6 weeks left with a slight improvement beginning in another 2 weeks. I must stress though that this varies a lot from one person to another. Best of luck and let us know how you are doing.

[Checkthegate11]

Well the problem is I don't have insurance right now....so I can't get any other drugs or do anything medical!

I'm just scared I'm not going to be the same person when I finally get clean of this stuff....do you guys feel like you're the same people again??

[fishinghat]

As far as permanent changes..yes. The longer you are on a ssri or snri the more changes it can make to your brain and neurotransmitters. Some of these changes heal with time and others do not. In talking to the old timers they suggest you give yourself one or two years before you decide if you are the same person or not. Now that doesn't mean you can't be happy once the withdrawal is over it only means that your character and emotions may have changed and need to be adapted to. Only time will tell.

 

God Bless

[thismoment]

Checkthegate11

Following the experience of being on this drug, and then battling through withdrawal, I'm not the 'same' person- but I'm similar. And what I've been left with is perfectly serviceable.

Everything changes your brain- even someone whispering in your, even petting a kitten for a few minutes. And ALL these changes are physical: when you learn something there's a physical change that takes place (we don't download and upload data consisting of ones and zeros). The Cymbalta physically changed your brian, withdrawal physically changes your brain, and just the passage of time physically changes your brain.

So don't worry about that. There will be minute changes that you will feel, and that's normal. What we do worry about, however is an overt symptom created by the drug that does NOT go away. I'm 16 months off Cymbalta and still waiting for a couple of symptoms to go away.

And no, nobody is ever 'told' about this possibility, but it IS in the fine print from the manufacturer.

[Akk]

I was surprised when I read these postings, having missed them before as I checked out this site. Feeling not so great on my 3rd full day w/out any cymbalta and thinking that I should be feeling better, it was serendipity that I found these today. I am in the trenches, unsure. I need to shake myself and get back to my swimming. I just feel paralyzed at times. Tomorrow, the pool.

[fishinghat]

Akk, you are at a tough spot right now but are aboout to turn the corner. In a couple weeks things will slowly start getting better. Hang in there, releif will come.

[equuswoman]

Just finished reading all these posts. 

Thanks everyone!