5 replies to this topic

[Cse70]

First the good news:

I am down to 8.5 mg (from 60 mg in March)!

No brain zaps! No depression or anger

No visits from Mr Scratch (panic attacks)!

Now the bad news: every bone in my body aches! I haven't hurt this bad since chemo 10 years ago!

Any advice, as always, is greatly appreciated!

Cse70

[thismoment]

Hi Cse

 

Very good news! Good work!

 

Consider slowing down your tapering some; drag it out over these last 8 mg-- maybe add a few weeks to the timeline. The body aches are pretty standard and will come in waves-- a few days of aches and then it will go away as mysteriously as it arrived. A couple of weeks later it re-appears and hangs around for a couple of days then goes away. This wave-action will broaden and lessen, becoming less frequent over time.

 

Hang in there and go slow; there's no rush, especially near the end.

 

Take care.

[Cse70]

TM,

Thanks, I think I will stay at 8.5 mg an extra week or two. I coughed all night and woke with the body and sinus aches. Is the flu or Cymbalta w/d? Regardless, I plan on laying on the couch all day and watching TV.

[thismoment]

Cse

Flu-like symptoms are very common in withdrawal. This isn't really flu season, but you never know-- it could be the flu.

[LauraM]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but I can so relate to the title of the post. I posted to this site back in January when I first started to wean off  this poison. I was just getting ready for an extended trip to AZ with my dad. I had horrible side effects from withdrawal and I didn't want to ruin my trip, so I went back to the dose I was on (120 mg daily for several years). Well,  here I am again...my trip was AWESOME, but I had an appt with my rhuematologist when I got home. We agreed I should stop taking sin-balta in a controlled step down program. She promised me I would be off this med in 5 weeks, with little or no side effects.  Does anyone else hear the alarms sounding?!?!?!? Midway through week 5, I was down to 30 mg every other day. I would have good days while on the med then aweful days when I was off of it.  I do want to say, my insurance wouldn't pay for the brand name unitl my doctor's office said it was medically necessary. But, I digress. Something I do a lot of lately!!!!!!!

 

So , how does this all tie into the title of the post? I have chronic pain syndrome. 24/7 pain.  When I went off sin-balta - I expected the nerve pain to return (part of me had almost forgotten how bad it really is) and after reading through this site, I found more things that might happen. I do not have "brain zaps' instead I have whole body zaps. It is so disorientating to me that I question my ability to drive most days.

 

Afyer a week off of it, I can no longer wash my hair in the shower, the pain in my neck and shoulders made it all but impossible. I can't add 2 + 2 and make it come out to 4. Most days, I only know my name cuz it is on my ID  I am trying SO hard to get through this, but, I snap at my husband a rock in my unstable wro\ld!, threaten to kick our dog and forget the most important things wh

[thismoment]

Laura

I'm sorry that you are struggling so.

Unfortunately your doctor set you up to suffer: A "controlled step-down program" is a controlled descent into Hell. The doc had you fluctuating in and out of withdrawal throughout-- it's the worst thing he/she could have done aside from prescribing outright cold turkey.

A proper withdrawal from 120 mg would perhaps be a reduction rate of .6 mg per day over 200 days. There should never be steps in the regimen. Paraphrased, Eli Lilly (the manufacturer) recommends withdrawal be done by gradually reducing the medication without any steps. Should symptoms become difficult, the patient stops reducing the medication and stays at the last dosage until symptoms stabilize. Then the patient continues to reduce, but may use a slower rate. It's in the pamphlet given to physicians.

Your weaning program was super-fast, and you are still in withdrawal-- and judging by what you say, you will be struggling for some time to come. Can you get some massage therapy for the neck and shoulders? It would help a lot.

You could talk to your doctor about reinstating on duloxetine to a level where you're stable, and then weaning off properly over 5 or 6 months in a slow linear taper with no steps. The symptoms will tell you if you're weaning off too fast-- if symptoms are overt, slow down on your weaning and extend the timeline. Of course we want to be off this neurotoxin as soon as possible, but why suffer when suffering can be minimized by simply withdrawing more slowly.

The cognitive gaps will begin to fill in over time and that will all come back; don't worry. If you continue as you are, you'll just have to put in the time and push through-- it WILL begin to improve.