8 replies to this topic

[Nishan]

Hello,

  I am a  28 year old male and have been on cymbalta for 8 years.  I was initially precribed 30mg for depression/cutting.  In a few months my situation got worse (suicide attempt) and I ended up in the hospital involuntarily for a week.  There, I was prescribed the anti-convulsant Lamictal (lamotrigine) as a mood-stabilizer at 25mg.  In the coming years I went up to 120 mg of cymbalta and 200mg of lamictal until feeling feelings was a cute and distant memory.  I got tired of living like that, and also being dependent on drugs for my well-being.  I talked to my (shitty) doctor and in our stimulating 3.5 minute appointments he opined that he had no problem with me going down.  For about the past year I have weaned down to 25 mg of lamictal and 30 mg of cymbalta, the doses I started on with very little difficulty.  I was feeling good, and like maybe I wouldn't even notice going off my medication more than I notice If I didn't have coffee in the morning.  My emotional problems have pretty much subsided in my mind, and I was now an adult, not a 20 year old child.

  My insurance company stopped covering cymbalta, so even if I wanted the shit I would have to pay retail price, and I cannot afford it.  This was the initial reason for me deciding to go off now. Maybe it was a sign that I should go off now.  I'm getting married at the end of June, and the thought of being medication free was nice so here I am 5 days later crying for no reason.

  I have reached out to several therapists and am awaiting their response, because I know I can't do this on my own.  I feel like I have about a decade's worth of tears to cry. Almost ten years of screaming and throwing and breaking and hyperventilating about nothing feels like it's found it's way back to me.  My poor fiancé is in hell as I am lashing out at every. single. question; of which there are many while you are planning a wedding.  I feel SO irritable, to the point i can feel my jaw clenching at the sound of my fiancé's inquisitive "Nishan???".  I love her so much and she is so excited about our upcoming wedding, but my insanity is clouding the experience and not allowing her to feel the joy she needs to and should be feeling.  I'm having the hardest time concentrating on anything.  For instance this has taken me a half hour to write, and I don't even know what i'm saying.  I feel sort of like my mind is detached and I get to tune in here and there, but the reception is really bad.  Like i'm in a dingy waiting room at an auto mechanic trying to watch judge joe brown, but the picture is grainy and the sound is bass-heavy and inaudible like the adults on the peanuts.  I'll be in the middle of a fight with my fiancé, and completely forget about what I was JUST saying, or what she was just saying.  My body feels strange and shivery, especially when I turn my head from one side to the other.  My stomach is all sorts of screwed up. I'm angry, and my dog seems worried about me.

 Again, this is a cold turkey quit from 30 mgs.  I am still taking the prescribed lamictal dose.  I am trying to be safe about this but suffering just seems to be part of the gig when you want to get off powerful drugs.  I know that talking to a therapist about all of this is the better way of going about things, but she hasn't called back so there.  If no one reads this that's ok, I guess it just feels good to write some of this stuff out.  If there are, 

   Is there anyone out there who has taken lamictal alongside cymbalta? 

   How long until the withdrawal stops?

   How have you managed (improper) anger and irritibility with loved ones?

   Is this all a bunch of bullshit in my head?

thanks,

   Nishan

 

[fishinghat]

Hi Nishan

 

My sympathy and compassion on your situation. There are many on this site that will come along with advice. What I can tell you is that your story is very common here. I would even say those are classic symptoms of Cymbalta withdrawal. My symptoms were nearly the same. It is also common for the last little bit of medicine to give the worse symptoms. How long they last depends on age, weight and time on the drug. Your age is definitely an asset. The hard core symptoms usually last about 6 to 8 weeks past your last medicine dose. Then symptoms slowly fade over the next 2 to 12 months. Some even last over a year. I would not predict that long of a situation given your age but you cam plan on at least a few more months. It is a shame that you can't get anymore brand name pills as most on here have used a method called bead counting to control the last of their withdrawal. With bead counting you open the pill and take out a few more beads each day. This gives the individual more control over their withdrawal. There are many on here that had to cold turkey as well and I am sure they will chime in later and give you some tips on that process.

 

I would strongly recommend that you let your girlfriend know exactly what is going on with you and the symptoms you have and the possible duration this may last. She deserves to know and if she really loves you she will understand and help give you support during this rough time. You may even suggest that she read some of the postings on here so she can see for herself that this is the withdrawal and is not the way you act. Plain and simple, it is the medicine and not you.

 

We are here whenever you need us, even if just to vent. We have all been there and help in anyway we can.

 

God Bless

[thismoment]

Nishan

I agree with fishinghat. Also I offer my sympathy for your difficult situation; I too have impacted relationships with rage associated with discontinuation from Cymbalta.

If it were me, I would get back on Cymbalta 30 mg immediately and plan to wean off slowly over several months. Your 8 years of exposure is significant with respect to the length of discontinuation as my friend Fishinghat has said, but it is also significant concerning your ability to re-instate successfully if you leave it too long.

The pharmacy should give you a week's emergency supply until you see the doc (if you decide to re-instate and wean off slowly).

I wish you all the best.

[Nishan]

Thank you so much.  Your response is so thoughtful and astute.  Telling you it made me cry would under most circumstances be a complement but everything is making me cry the past couple days.  I will take your advice about talking to my fiance about exactly how i'm feeling later tonight.  Again thank you so much.

[Nishan]

Thank you thismoment,

   I think I'm willing to stay the course with my quit.  Things are rough right now, but I feel like if it doesn't get considerably worse, I can deal.  The problem is making sure my partner can.

[TryinginFL]

Welcome Nishan!

 

We're happy that you have found us!

 

You will find much support and caring on this site.  I went cold turkey off of 60mg in Jan. 2014 and it has been a hell of a year!  I was on it for over 4 years, but am much older than you.  Those in the "over 50" crowd have a much harder time it seems.

 

You have just received some helpful information from FH and TM - please consider going back on this crap and bead counting off.  You will suffer much less and be in control of your own tapering.  I know that it will be costly but only briefly.  We can help you to do this if you decide to go that route.  You can check out Bead Counting - How To Do It under the forum Are You New Here?

 

Please come back to let us know if we can help you and I am so sorry to hear of the situation you are in with your fiancée.  I know that she will try to help you if you explain what you are going through and that it is the drug "raging" and not you!

 

We are here for you - feel free to ask questions or rant - whatever you need to do!

 

Liz

[Nishan]

Thank you Liz,

   The thought of opening up another bottle of that stuff makes my stomach turn.  I remember a doctor once said something to me about "counting the beads" and I laughed in their face that that was an actual suggestion from an actual Medical Doctor.  I'm not poo-pooing the practice as it obviously makes total sense and works.  Would the problems with this drug have been eliminated if they offered 15 10 5 mg doses?  I am really surprised that coming off 30 mg is still this intense.  I thought I knew what it was like when i missed my 120mg dose a couple days in a row, but this is worse. 

    Thanks again,

Nishan

[thismoment]

Hi Nishan

In order for someone to wean off successfully there has to be control right down to 1/10 of a mg, and counting the beads is the only way to do that. If Eli Lilly made a liquid form of Duloxetine that would work too and-- be much easier-- but they don't. Therefore the most accurate and finely-controlled dosing is only to be found in counting the beads each day over several months. That's how we do it.

Your cold-turkey journey has just begun, and it will surely get much worse. The range of your emotions in cold-turkey discontinuation could cause irreparable damage to relationships-- and you can't ever take any of that back.

Your character (how you behave) will evolve over the next few months, and while it may not be as you would hope, it is what it is. Once you settle down some, CBT and Mindfulness therapy can certainly help give you strategies to cope with some emotional extremes.

I weaned off over 42 days but that was far too short. 100 days would have been much better. I nearly drove everyone I love away. They're not gone, but they are farther away than when I started.

If I went cold-turkey now, I would take a 6-month recuperative vacation away from everyone I don't want to lose.

Take care.

[lady2882Nancy]

Hey Nishan

 

Glad you found us and whenever you need to rant just come here. Lord know I ranted enough on here but at least everyone understands.

A few basics for you

Drink lots of water to stay well hydrated, limit caffeine and alcohol

Take a good Vitamin B complex and omega 3 and magnesium

Exercise as much as you can to get those feel good endorphins moving

At least the Lamictal should even you out for the mood swings fairly quickly.

 

You are in for about 9 to 13 more days of rough going but then things will even out and improve quickly. If it doesn't then get some help especially if you are having some major mood swings. Right now you are riding out the changes from lack of an antidepressant and that can be rough. You may even need to add a very low dose of another antidepressant to get through just make sure it is one with a long half life so you can get off it easily later.

 

That's all my advice. Cymbalta made me suicidal too so I take Epival (mood stabilizer) and I took a low dose of Zoloft to deal with the Cymbalta withdrawals for a brief time but I don't take antidepressants anymore.

 

Hang in there, it does get much better