59 replies to this topic

[DMIAHAWK]

So I have been lurking, reading, trying to decide to sign up. I was only on cymbalta 5 months. Was prescribed for GAD. Went two months on 20 then to 30. First week was hell, major diarrhea and just tired as heck. Started to feel pretty good, mornings were and are still complete hell. Two months in started to go downhill. Dr says need to up dose. Go to 30, week of hell start to feel better. Two months go by and I start to shake, stare into space, and just feel run down. I feel like a medicated zombie. Call Dr, wants to up dose. I get more than a little concerned. Start to investigate online. Omg what the hell am I on now??? So I immediately tell her I want off. Says go down to 20 for two weeks then quit. Alrighty then. Holy hell!! First two days I am alive!! Where have I been? Then wham brain zaps I am guessing u guys talk about. Can't get out of bed. Headaches like I've never felt in my life. This ungodly feeling like I'm going nuts. I'm going through the motions but feels like I am not focused. Is this normal? Would only 5 months on such a low dose cause this? I read all your posts to feel better and finally wanted to ask. I can't sleep, at times hard to breathe. My heart races. It all scares me cause I suffer from panic attacks at night. This isn't helping. Someone tell me it is just withdrawal even if I was only on it 5 months.....sorry for the book I am going nuts....

[DMIAHAWK]

And I wake every morning and my eyes are blood red. Suffer from crazy vivid dreams. Anyone else?

[thismoment]

Dmiahawk

Hi and welcome. No, you're not going crazy, but you are in cold turkey hell. And yup 5 months on Zombalta qualifies you for the full-meal-deal cold turkey withdrawal!

You could consider going back on to your last dosage for a couple of weeks and then wean off slowly over 12 weeks or so. That's an easier ride, but you will still have to endure withdrawal.

Duloxetine is fully uploaded in 6 weeks, so 5 months is well established.

If you choose to stay cold turkey and weather it out, pick up a benzodiazepine for anxiety taken as needed. The first 8 weeks could be pretty tough with some easing toward 12 weeks. It gets slowly better in the following months. We can help if you want to count beads, sound off, or find some answers.

Best wishes. You can do this!

[FiveNotions]

Dmiahawk, welcome! I'm so glad you found us and decided to post!

TM is right, what you're experiencing are withdrawal effects...I also had the dreams...while on the stuff and the first few weeks of getting off....I didn't have the kind of eye problem you're having...I had optic neuritis and a blind spot instead....all that is gone now,, with just a few mild eye issues remaining.....

Also, .I went cold turkey after 7-8 years on 60 mg a day....it was very very hard, but I got through it....mostly because the wonderful people here helped me!

I've been off for 6 months now, and I can assure you that life after cymbalta is worth all the struggle to get off it!

I don't recommend CT to anyone....I think you'd have an easier time....still withdrawal, but not the harsh symptoms you are having, and that I also had....go back on the 30 mg...get yourself stabilized (although it sounds like you were having trouble while on the stuff, too)...then, use the bead counting method...by removing a few beads a day...TM, Fishinghat and others can give you details....

Even if you bead count, have something on hand to help the anxiety....a benzo, hydrocodone, etc....I didn't do that, and I wish I had....

You can, and will, do this! And we'll do everything we can to help you!

[Clara]

Dmiahawk, welcome! I totally agree with thismoment and FiveNotions! You are in withdrawals and it's tough but doable. Hang in there and consider the bead counting if you need to! Prayers and cyber hugs for you!  clara

[Gran23]

Welcome Dmiahawk.  So sorry to hear you've been on the devil drug.  I am new here also.  These people are such a help.  I am using the bead counting and it is much better than CT.  Try to read thru some of the posts on here and learn from these folks.  It has helped me so much having others who have gone thru withdrawal. Hope you start to feel better soon.

 

Gran23 

[DMIAHAWK]

Thank you all so much for the responses, its things like that I am sure are going to help me through. I do have script for xanax, so I do have something to fall back on in the event of an attack. sorry I failed to mention that. I feel like this stuff has ruined my memory. I can be found in a room wondering what I went in there for. Totally feel like I am going nuts some days. Yesterday was horrible, thought I was having a heart attack. I couldnt breathe real well and my mind felt like it was fighting itself. I couldnt concentrate for nothing. Tough for a guy who works on a computer all day. I did read a little on the bead counting, I even broke open one of the 20's I have. I just have couple really good days and think hey I got this beat. Then wham days like yesterday. I AM JUST SICK OF IT!!!! I just want to go to bed like I used to and get 8 solid hrs of sleep, then wake up and have a good day. Been fighting this for a year, tried citalopram and escitalopram before only to have horrible side effect that never went away once starting it. My Dr was so happy I got on the Cymbalta so easy. ugh..........

[gail]

Hello there,

 

Yes, 5 months can do this. Was on it for that duration. When the fourth month started, I thought that I was losing my mind. I was only on 30mg, like you. Panic, anxiety all along, but the fourth month on it was pure hell.

 

Dropped to 15 for one month, could not bead count because symptoms were almost as worst as withdrawal.

 

From 15 to zero. So, 4 months on 30, one month on 15 then off.

 

3 months have passed since, mornings that were pure hell on and off cymbalta have ceased in the last 2 weeks.

 

The bead counting method is a very good way, the best way to do it. Unless you feel so bad on that crap as I did, I felt no choice but to ct from 15mg.

 

Yes for the benzos, use it. You will make it, one way or the other. It is not an easy road, you will see the light eventually, hold on tight.

[fishinghat]

Thank you all so much for the responses, its things like that I am sure are going to help me through. I do have script for xanax, so I do have something to fall back on in the event of an attack. sorry I failed to mention that. I feel like this stuff has ruined my memory. I can be found in a room wondering what I went in there for. Totally feel like I am going nuts some days. Yesterday was horrible, thought I was having a heart attack. I couldnt breathe real well and my mind felt like it was fighting itself. I couldnt concentrate for nothing. Tough for a guy who works on a computer all day. I did read a little on the bead counting, I even broke open one of the 20's I have. I just have couple really good days and think hey I got this beat. Then wham days like yesterday. I AM JUST SICK OF IT!!!! I just want to go to bed like I used to and get 8 solid hrs of sleep, then wake up and have a good day. Been fighting this for a year, tried citalopram and escitalopram before only to have horrible side effect that never went away once starting it. My Dr was so happy I got on the Cymbalta so easy. ugh..........

 

I remember aall of that and more. But it does pass. Time, patience, but most important...don't put pressure on yourself. It only makes it worse. The less stress thee better.

[DMIAHAWK]

Hello there,

 

Yes, 5 months can do this. Was on it for that duration. When the fourth month started, I thought that I was losing my mind. I was only on 30mg, like you. Panic, anxiety all along, but the fourth month on it was pure hell.

 

Dropped to 15 for one month, could not bead count because symptoms were almost as worst as withdrawal.

 

From 15 to zero. So, 4 months on 30, one month on 15 then off.

 

3 months have passed since, mornings that were pure hell on and off cymbalta have ceased in the last 2 weeks.

 

The bead counting method is a very good way, the best way to do it. Unless you feel so bad on that crap as I did, I felt no choice but to ct from 15mg.

 

Yes for the benzos, use it. You will make it, one way or the other. It is not an easy road, you will see the light eventually, hold on tight.

gail, thank you so much! It sounds like I had the same exact experience. Thanks you all for the responses! I will def use the benzo when needed!!

[thismoment]

dmiahawk

 

 "I just have couple really good days and think hey I got this beat. Then wham days like yesterday. I AM JUST SICK OF IT!!!!"

 

I understand. Keep the anxiety down as required and you're going to have to be patient. Everybody's withdrawal is a little different, and you could start to emerge into the light tomorrow. Hopefully that's what happens. However, most of us see 6-8 weeks of rough withdrawal and things lighten up a bit between 8-12 weeks. After 3 or 4 months you start to clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

The sad truth is your withdrawal could take longer than the 5 months you were on the drug. Hopefully that is not the case. 

 

Informed Consent (the good and the bad; what to expect going on the drug and coming off-  like the information you are given before surgery requiring your signature) is something that should be given before antidepressants are prescribed. I would like to see Informed Consent required before any psychiatric drugs are prescribed.

 

You can't speed up the recovery, but you can prolong it by creating unnecessary stress. You just have to be patient-- it's done when it's done. Enjoy the good days when the come, and accept the bad days and know they will pass.

 

The first week or two are tough and the view forward can appear bleak. But it's hour by hour and day by day. Stay busy, stay hydrated, and sound off here on this forum-- it helps.

 

Best wishes!

[DMIAHAWK]

So today is a complete 180. Felt amazing compared to days past. Very wobbly when I get up and continued through most of the day. A few small headaches but actually made it into work rather than work from home!!. still find myself not focusing well at all. Here's to a good day tomorrow.... Here's a dumb question. When can a person safely have a beer??

[thismoment]

After 8 AM.

[DMIAHAWK]

Haven't morning drank in a while. I mean until it's safe to drink cause I know it isn't safe while it's in your system

[FiveNotions]

I started drinking like a fish while on the poison....and I'd been sober...no alcohol (alcoholic family)...for almost 10 years....

The weird thing is that drinking while on cymbalta didn't seem to make me drunk....it just sort of alleviated the malaise caused by the poison.....

As soon as I stopped taking the drug, my desire for alcohol disappeared....right along with cigarettes....I couldn't stomach either one.....and now, staring my 7th month poison free, I still can't drink...don't want to....

The only, and I mean only, thing alcoholic I can stomach...and that actually seemed to ease my stomach during withdrawal....is Guinness stout....but the most I can handle is a small bottle....after that, I'm drunk feeling and sick to my stomach....go figure!

As for cigarettes, I'm "trying" to take up the habit again... mostly to have something "social" to do with one of my best friends who both smokes and drinks....(and now that I don't drink, I'm seeing that he has a problem with alcohol developing)....but I really dislike the taste...

Again, go figure!

Frankly, I'm absolutely loving the feeling of being cymbalta, alcohol and (pretty much) tobacco free.... :-)

[DMIAHAWK]

Just wondered, loved to drink beer and would like to do it again. Totally freaking out today. I just have this uneasy feeling, feel short of breath at times, and the worst of all feel like I cannot focus. Like I am doing what I intend on doing but am not focussing on it. I have never had my vision messed with so much in my life. I am back to feeling like something is deathly wrong.

[air3333]

I have a fear of drinking beer or alcohol while on the medication because of the ravaging effects it has on my mind. This affects my social status as young people love to drink a beer or cocktail. I have had to avoid these events and rarely go to bars to socialize. I feel that the drug has made me a secluded person and cannot enjoy life and socializing. While I don't think my life without cymbalta will be rosy at all, there are alot of effects that I cannot live with, with the drug in my system. 

[thismoment]

DMIAHAWK

 

" I am back to feeling like something is deathly wrong."

 

Get it checked out.

[FiveNotions]

And do not drink!

[thismoment]

FN and a3333

 

When I was on Cymbalta I had a fierce craving for the liquor, and there seemed to be no "enough" button!

 

Maybe you felt this too.

 

I found that the more I drank in an evening, the more charming, articulate, and erudite I became-- it was the strangest thing-- I grew taller, slimmer, and better-looking. But the next day-- on every single occasion-- I was informed that my perception of my enhanced attributes had been in error. Doh!

[FiveNotions]

Ditto here, TN....and it didn't make me hungover which is totally weird....I also did a damn lot of online shopping. :-$

[fishinghat]

Air3333

 

I too don't drink either. Never have. I get a lot of condemnation from my peers. But I figure my true friends would understand. But yes, when going through tough times like these the isolation is a defense mechanism because the more you are in a social environment there is more stress (bad drivers, rude people, etc). With time you will get better and the ability to deal with socializing will get easier. Be patient. This is a long trip.

[thismoment]

FH

 

Agreed; I was one of those bad drivers and rude people. I almost said, "I enjoy who I am now though", but that would put two people in these jeans and that's just weird-- I'm trying to unload the doppelgänger element from my speech. I feel like I am getting to know myself. . . oops, there we go again! Maybe let's not start this one up.

 

FN

 

Ditto on the online shopping!

[FiveNotions]

TM, yeah...and it was weird stuff....why did I need 5 lbs each of avocado butter and coconut butter? And of some other kind of butter that I actually use but now am having a brain fart for it's name.....or 2 sets of burgundy king size sheets....my bed is a single, and my color scheme is yellow....oh yeah, good times!

[thismoment]

FN

 

I hope you're sitting down. 

 

If you look at that shopping list--

• 5 lbs of avocado butter
• 5 lbs of coconut butter
• 5 lbs of jasmine/rose butter
• 2 sets of burgundy King Size sheets

It looks like a plan of sorts. . .

[FiveNotions]

Hahahahshshsha!

The other butter was raw Shea butter from Ghana.....the jasmine/rose sounds better.....if you're gonna get down and dirty, might as well smell good.... :-D

[chrissyl]

I have been on Cymbalta 60 mg for 4 years.  Last year my psychiatrist asked if I was ready to try to wean off some of my meds. I also take lamictal and mirtazapine. Didn't want to. I suffered no side effects from the Cymbalta and combined with the other 2 meds gave me back my life.  This year she has decided it is time to come off Cymbalta.  Her prescription is 7 days at 30 mg then quit.  I've been reading cold turkey is hard as opposed to the counting of beads. My question is although the gradual decrease lessens the severity of the symptoms wouldn't it prolong the symptoms.  I'm thinking I would rather get it over with rather than have the symptoms, though less severe, last longer.

[thismoment]

Hi chrissyl

 

You are right, the slow weaning lessens the severity of the symptoms, but whether or not it prolongs the symptoms isn't clear. Both systems seem to yield similar withdrawal times. Others forum members will add to this I'm sure.

 

I see your doctor is having you quit cold turkey. It would be helpful if the doctor had read the written material by Eli Lilly (the company that cooks the stuff); Eli Lilly does not recommend cold turkey. They recommend a slow, gradual withdrawal with no steps, levelling off as required if symptoms become difficult. (I'll hunt down Eli's terse note on discontinuation, and you can show it to the doctor).

 

Will you stay on the lamictal and mirtazapine?

 

Many folks have quit cold turkey and are doing well, so don't worry. There are a number of them on this forum, and I'm sure they will come on soon.

 

You said "I would rather get it over with", and I understand that. What length of time did your doctor say the withdrawal symptoms might last?

 

Take care.

[fishinghat]

Like TM said, slow weaning has less severity of symptoms but if you are willing to brave the cold turkey go for it.

[thismoment]

chrissyl

 

We all have to do a little research to see what we're getting into.

 

Here's a place to start; it's a link to a note from the FDA on Cymbalta Discontinuation Syndrome.

 

http://www.fda.gov/d...e/UCM172866.pdf