After reading about some of the really bad side effects some of you have been put through as you try to break free of Cymbalta, I'm feeling lucky. I went cold turkey about two weeks ago. I had been on 60 mg. for 6 to 8 years or so to treat depression. The depression was diagnosed about 20 years ago and I've been on Prozac, Effoxor, and one other med whose name escapes me over the years.
My depression seemed to be doing so much better and I started thinking (hoping really) that I didn't need the medicine anymore.
So far, I've had (as I call them) brain shivers - just that moment of vertigo/dizziness, or like I turn my head and it feels like my brain took a second to catch up to my head . . . if that makes sense 
I've also been a little more emotional, crying at sappy stories a little, but certainly not to a level that it is bothersome. And that was it. The brain shivers seem to be getting less noticeable and less frequent each day, so that's good news. And again, they seem to have been pretty mild compared to what many of you have had to go through - I feel a little bad complaining about it really.
Suddenly, two evenings ago I was feeling really cold, shivering as I piled on blankets. And at the same time I was clammy and hot, like a hot flash. Now, I am 49, and the hot flash part could be menopause -- I had about a month of very, very mild hot flashes back in October or November that I chalked up to menopause. Then it went away in the winter (OR, it was winter and cold, so any hot flashes went unnoticed in the cold weather?) In my reading here it sounds like a common withdrawal side effect, and they are much worse now than what I had in the fall, so I'm guessing it's a side effect of withdrawal now.
My questions for those who have been down the road are ~ will the hot flashes probably get worse before they get better? What are the guesses as to how long it might last? Any remedies that folks have found to be successful in dealing with these? I've always been the person in the room freezing when others are fanning themselves, so this hot thing is new and not appreciated, LOL!
Thanks for your input, it's nice to find a group who are in the trenches and can share some wisdom on this!
