116 replies to this topic

[downtongirl]

I did not tell him I had tried tapering Cymbalta from 60 - 30 mg two weeks ago and when he asked me how Cymbalta was going I said well it still makes me anxious for about 3 hours after I take it.  He suggested I add back gabapentin (which I quit taking mid June) and cut Cymbalta from 60 - 30.  Has anyone ever used gabapentin to taper off of Cymbalta?

[FiveNotions]

Nope...this sounds like a question for Fishinghat....I'll check the archives here to see if there've been any discussions of this...

[FiveNotions]

Well, I was right that FishingHat has experience... also, according to the wiki article I've linked below, gabapentin has a brutally short half-life...5-7 hours... which is much worse than our beloved crapalta's 12 hr approx. half life....

https://www.cymbalta...ntin#entry30288
https://www.cymbalta...ntin#entry40229

And, it looks like CymSik also has some experience with gabapentin (aka Neurontin)...

https://www.cymbalta...ntin#entry43024

Wiki article...

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Gabapentin
Gabapentin (Neurontin) is an anticonvulsant and analgesic drug. It was originally developed to treat epilepsy, and is currently also used to relieve neuropathic pain. It is recommended as a first line agent for the treatment of neuropathic pain arising from diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, and central neuropathic pain.[3]

Gabapentin is also commonly prescribed by physicians for many off-label uses, such as treatment of restless leg syndrome, anxiety disorders,[4][5] insomnia, and bipolar disorder.[4] There are, however, concerns regarding the quality of the trials conducted and evidence for some such uses, especially in the case of its use as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder.[6]

[fishinghat]

Also, FN, the FDA has warned that gabapentin has been linked to pancreatic and liver cancer. Most drs here have stopped using the product.

[downtongirl]

Oh gracious fivenotions...what to do!

[TryinginFL]

I was on Gabapentin (formerly Lyrica) and Crapalta at the same time - also went off both cold turkey at the same time!  That was the 3rd week of Jan. Don't know if this could have compounded my problems. 

[FiveNotions]

uh, heck yeah, TFL ... you were in withdrawal from two wickedly hard to get off of drugs... wow!

[ShadyLady]

TFL, same here on the Neurontin & Cymbalta! I stopped it at the same time after reading the leaflet in mail order meds pkg. I never read those as I 'trusted' docs advice! I don't even want to look up the combo effects & piece together a possible new scenario of side effects/withdrawal related problems...

DG...did you have any withdrawal symptoms when you stopped the Gabapentin? What dose were you on? I am so skeptical of 'off label uses' now:(((. Am I understanding your post to say the shrink told you to take it for anxiety? Sorry, lots of questions, I am just astonished daily at some of the drs. scripts/advice for this &/or that without even a pause:(((( of possibly compounding the already existing issues we are dealing with the C-word drug!!

[TryinginFL]

OH, crap!  I'm going to take a Hydrocodone - painful massage therapy today 

[ShadyLady]

TFL...I'm sorry you're in pain:((( from the massage today...I think you mentioned to me that it was helping, so today must have been too hard with the hands of the massage therapist? We seem to mirror many of the same problems;/. My 'cocktail' meds, as of today, are;
150mcgs Synthroid, 1mg Xanax @ bedtime(started taking it around 7:30pm as I read somewhere:/ it was more effective for sleep @ that time:-s) and 2-10/325mg Percocets taken at different times depending on severity of pain (mostly excruciating leg cramps). My brain does flip flops each day wanting to wean off and/or stop another drug toward an rx free life & move toward a homeopathic way of managing the various chronic conditions I live with. But, too much too soon will only aggravate this already paralyzingly slow discontinuation off the C word mess!! Day 18, btw;)

The real pisser?! I can't stand the taste anymore of my daily alcoholic beverage of choice:(((( So, check off another crutch of trying to get through this madness!! Goodbye, Jack&Coke, it's been real nice knowin' you daily for so long;) but I am going to have to meet someone new, not sure yet who,to hang out with @ 5o'clock now as you & I aren't getting along anymore:((((

[FiveNotions]

Looks like you're on the post-Cymbalta wagon, Cym....

This whole crapalta and booze thing just fascinates me .. I was sober, in recovery, for 18 years...18, I repeat ... until I started on the poison...then within just a few months, without so much as a second thought or concern, I was back to drinking like a fish again... then, last December when the first awful day of withdrawal hit, I immediately became unable to stomach booze...didn't want any...except for Guinness stout, a half bottle of which seemed to help my nausea... and, here I am just starting 8 months off, and still zip zero nada interest in booze ... back to being in recovery and sober ... again, with the exception of a Guinness once in a long while... it's like those 7-8 years of drinking never happened... total head banger...

So many of us here have the booze/Cymbalta stories ... I've never researched this ... but intend to...fishinghat or thismoment, do you have any knowledge about this?

[fishinghat]

I have never found anything in the medical literature.

[FiveNotions]

it's the serotonin monster yet again ....

Ninety-three cases of alcohol dependence following SSRI treatment
http://iospress.meta...563026683862km/

New onset alcohol dependence linked to treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
http://iospress.meta...45t611812g8021/

Alcohol Cravings Induced via Increased Serotonin
http://ecommerce.dru.../MRalcohol.html

Serotonin and alcohol intake, abuse, and dependence: Clinical evidence
http://www.biologica...0630-0/abstract

[fishinghat]

WOW Good job FN!!!

[FiveNotions]

I just started this as a new topic over in "Cymbalta in the News" ....

Man, serotonin.... an excess or lack thereof .... is behind just about every body/mind function .... disfunction...

[TryinginFL]

Wow is right!  I was right there with you both on the booze!   Drank scotch and water for years every day starting at 5...

Pretty much switched to wine after starting the poison drug.  Can't remember NOT having anything alcoholic every day - when I went out it was Apple Martinis!  Now I can't remember when I last had a glass of wine.

 

CymSik - my "cocktail" consists of 2 meds for high blood pressure, carbidopa-levodopa for restless legs, hydrocodone for break through pain from fibro and arthritis (usually don't take more than 3/wk but RX is for 1/day) and alprazolam (Xanax) 1 mg sometimes 2/day - that's what RX is for, but often take only 1 - for sleep.  The anxiety is wearing down - finally, but can occasionally still drive me nuts

I have also managed to get off the trazodone.  Feels good to have gotten off 3 meds this year - probably will be it for a while now!  I think my body is missing the trazodone regarding the sleep issue.

 

The massage is to loosen the fibro-weary muscles that today were really in knots!  Have a couple of tender points that are worse than the rest - such is life!  I am told that the exercise is a good thing, but this often happens the day after my aqua fitness...

 

Take care and you have my thoughts and prayers,

Liz

[ShadyLady]

FN...whhhooaaa...18 yrs sober & then, 'Bam!', right??? Crazy...read the last link you posted as,the first 2 wanted $27.50 ea. to read them! I have to back away at times as the emerging info from the links you post & my own feeble research blows my mind & takes me down another road of rage & anger at the side effects & withdrawal that I didn't consent to from being on & more importantly, stopping the crap! Never thought there could be any correlation between my drinking career that started after beginning CYM treatment:( haha...
Now it lies in ruins, a good thing in the bigger picture, but little consolation in seeking comfort for the symptoms that accompany this discontinuation/withdrawal, whatever crap:(. UUURRRGGGHH. Huey Lewis must have been getting off SSRI/SSNRI's when he wrote the song ' I Wanna a New Drug'

[downtongirl]

Cym...I took 300 mg 2 times a day for 5 weeks then went down to 300 mg one time per day and quit.  I did experience some increase in anxiety and some restless legs for about 2 weeks but it subsided.

[MichB]

Here's a weird one. I dare not research as I'm afraid I don't want to know. Years ago I was trying lexapro. I was in my 3rd week and remember wanting to smoke cigarettes non stop. I planned everything I did around smoke breaks. I was obsessed! I got off that drug right away.

The past week I've had some very positive days. Almost giddy that the nausea doesn't hit me til later in the evening and I've had a bit of success stopping my migraines when they come on. Today was a good day. It hit me that I was wanting cigarettes real bad. Then thought about it and realized that every good day I've had I've wanted to smoke so bad!!

I do not drink. Wish I could at times I miss the days of getting trashed and giggly. With my migraines, I know if I drank I'd have a 3 day hangover from hell so I stay away!!
Hope my good days don't lead to me becoming a smoke-aholic again. I will pay closer attn now. 🚬

[Clara]

Great info, FN! Thanks! Yay, TFL, you're doing great decreasing meds! So happy for you! I agree Cymsik, about the Huey! I just DON"T want a new drug! Scared of it ALL these days! Our world is in a huge mess these days with over medicated people! Now it's the kids with all the ADHD stuff. ARG!!! MichB. stay strong! God bless all!!!

[downtongirl]

So I went back to psychiatrist last week for my med check and this time his suggestion was to split my Cymbalta dosage by taking 30 mg in the morning and 30 mg in the evening.  I told him AGAIN that when I tapered off of Cymbalta a year and a half ago I did it by adding Prozac while tapering off of Cymbalta.  He just ignores that.  So...what is the bead counting taper plan for 60 mg generic.  Thanks in advance for your help!

[thismoment]

How many beads in the capsule?

[downtongirl]

6 pellets

[Amysgarden]

Amazing about the alcohol thing. It was getting kind of bad for me, and I was starting to worry about liver damage, but couldn't put the brakes on the alcohol. Still drink some, but it's not like it was. Weird and disturbing

[thismoment]

DTG

 

Where are you at now?

 

I'm sorry I missed the 6 pellet response. If I had to taper off that I would remove one pellet per month over 6 months.

[DoneWithCrap]

I guess this is the place to jump in with my question.
I went to my psych prescriber on Thursday and she thinks I'm tapering too fast. I agree since I'm having so many symptoms. I'm at 32 beads down from 320 in a 60mg cap which puts me at 6mg. I had planed to remove a bead a day an be done in 31 days but now I'm going to only drop a bead every 3 days.
I asked her if I could go back on Topamax to help with the migraines and zaps. She reminded me that I went off Topamax because I was still having migraines and I was always in a fog which I blamed on the Topamax. She wrote a script for gabapentin instead.
I'm supposed to take 100mg for 3 days then 100mg twice a day for 3 days then 100mg 3 times a day and stay at that dose.
I haven't fill the script yet because I keep getting too fatigued when I'm out and just want to get home. My husband said he will go get it for me today.
Should I try it or will I be adding fuel to the fire of my hell?

[FiveNotions]

whoa, Renee.... hold off taking it until FH and the others can weigh in on this ... gabapentin is another doozie of a drug, if I recall ... I think FH posted on it several months ago ... I'll see if I can find the link to that... BRB (be right back, I'm becoming very "millennial" and "texty" in my terminology, aren't I )

[TryinginFL]

Isn't  Gabapentin a generic for Lyrica?  I remember that was what I quit cold turkey when I quit the crapalta...   both at the same time!

[FiveNotions]

Can't find FH's post, we'll have to wait for him to arrive here ...

First off, it has an even shorter half-life than Cymbalta ... 5-7 hours ... and I found comments on other forums that it's a bitch to get off of ... one person even worse than Cymbalta!

 

It was developed as an anti-epilepsy drug .. then pushed for off-label uses ... there have been a lot of lawsuits as a result of the off-label uses and resulting injuries/harm.
 
Here's some info from the Mayo Clinic ...
 
Link to gabapentin (Neurontin) side effects...
http://www.mayoclini...ts/drg-20064011

Gabapentin precautions
http://www.mayoclini...ns/drg-20064011

Gabapentin interactions with other meds and supplements
http://www.mayoclini...ng/drg-20064011

From the Wikipedia article (note: Wikipedia is not an authoritative source, but good for "quick and dirty" searches / info)
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Gabapentin

"Gabapentin (Neurontin) is an anticonvulsant and analgesic drug. It was originally developed to treat epilepsy, and is currently also used to relieve neuropathic pain. It is recommended as a first line agent for the treatment of neuropathic pain arising from diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, and central neuropathic pain."

"Gabapentin is used primarily to treat seizures and neuropathic pain. There are, however, concerns regarding the quality of the research on its use to treat migraines, bipolar disorder, and pain." [emphasis added]

"Gabapentin is also commonly prescribed for many off-label uses, such as treatment of restless leg syndrome, anxiety disorders, insomnia, and bipolar disorder. There are, however, concerns regarding the quality of the trials conducted and evidence for some such uses, especially in the case of its use as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder." [emphasis added]
 

[FiveNotions]

TFL, gabapentin is the same as Neurontin ....

 

Lyrica is the same as pregabalin ... according to Wikipedia (again, not authoritative, just "quick and dirty") it's "the more potent successor to gabapentin/Neurontin.

 

If you went off that cold turkey along with the Cymbalta, it's truly a wonder you didn't kill yourself ... I'm dead serious ... no freakin' wonder you're still have effects ... wow!