21 replies to this topic

[silver9]

I tapered off an 8 month course of cymbalta in Jan-March.  I couldn't do 10% intervals precisely (my doctor thought it was sufficient to use 5 mg pills at a compounding pharmacy).  I went from 60 to 0 over 3 months in fairly even 5-10 mg cuts (using 20 mg pills to make the math work). In the last month, I've had a few bad things happen which were inciting depression / anxiety - but I've also felt extraordinarily messed up.  This list of things was happening all just in the last month, and although I had some of it before - it was far worse than the worst I've ever had it.

 

• Migraines
• No sex drive
• Unbelievable suicidal ideation & extensive / obsessive planning of how it was going to be done & where / when , etc.
• Complete mess / nothing getting done / no focus
• Gained 20 lbs (in three months!) - I've been close to the same weight since college (15 years ago), but recently I have had a craving for food to the point where it's almost like self-injury.  I eat absolute crap food in enormous quantities.  I could easily eat healthy, but instead, I order papa johns...and eat massive amounts (entire pizzas, breadsticks, brownies, etc... and am still hungry, rather, have "the munchies" - it's hard to explain)
• Muscle pain 
• Exhaution / lethary / not moving
• Nightmares
• Insomnia 
• Anger / picking fights w/ people / overreaction to everything / Isolation (it all kind of goes together for me)
• Waking up more tired than when I went to bed
• Migraines and pain in my face / sinuses
• Heart pounding, especially in AM

 

I went to a PsyD during this period to try to "talk through" the issues, and that was horrible.  I ended up hating him.  He told me to "live with the discomfort" and did psych 101 crap about my food issues stemming from a "lack of control" and if i cooked more, I would have more control (did I mention I could barely stand?).  He told me that it was ok to gain weight and I should accept it... and then said I had body dysmorphia.  (I am 6'1 and 210 lbs, 30% fat... used to be 190, 18% fat...this is dysmorphia?).   He also liked to tell me (repeatedly) how "I wasn't special and am too convinced that my problems are unique" - wtf?  Ok, yeah I am not the only person w/ depression, right... but how is that helping??

 

Anyway, today... I opened the drawer to take a klonopin or propranolol  for the racing heart (those have become mostly useless as well since the taper) and I saw the duloxitine bottle there... and I was just like, well - it won't do anything, but I'll take it just to see - I can barely even walk from 1 room to another at this point (no energy, muscle pain). 

 

Within 2 hours, I am 70% back to normal and almost everything on that list is gone. 

 

Am I going completely crazy?  Is that even possible?  2 hours?  Is this the biggest placebo effect on earth?  Am I even crazier now than I was 24 hours ago?  (I can get to the fear that my brain is permanently damaged another time...)

 

I was never even that "normal" on cymbalta.  That's one of the reasons I stopped it.  I had almost no benefit (2 months of anti-depressant effects then nothing - raised dose to 90 - then massive insomnia within days - so I went off).  

 

I don't know what is going on... I just know that the last month has been pure hell, and my body looks like I am wearing a suit of fat... and suddenly, all the pain and clouds over my head and eyes are gone - and I feel like I can actually think and function. 

[fishinghat]

Welcome Silver

 

You are not crazy. Cymbalta hits it peak concentration in the blood in 2 to 3 hours.If that was a 60 mg tablet you will now have to come back down again from there. If it was a 5 mg tablet not so bad. It will give you a little break before things resume.

 

The dr? Oh yea, many are jerks. You just have to keep trying until you find one that is good.

[equuswoman]

Hi Silver

Glad that you're here with us. Sorry you've had such a difficult time. Cymbalta is a horrible drug to come off of. I did it by using the bead counting method. Took me 4 months of slowly dropping beads and made a journey thru hell and back but thanks to the caring, supportive ppl here on the Cymbalta forum I did make it! Welcome and let us know if we can help.

Hugs from TheEQuusWoman

[gail]

Hello Silver,

Wow! What an experience here. Just wondering, how many mg were in that capsule?

And how you are feeling today? Please come back for an update.

PS nothing wrong with going back on a low dosage for a while!

[silver9]

Hey - thanks for the replies.

 

I took another 30 mg today and still feel so much better. I went to the gym for the first time in months.  I didn't binge eat or feel the need to do it.  I was actually laughing about things. It's just so bizarre that a drug could have this dramatic of an effect in 2 days from the state I was in.

 

I felt ok the whole time I was going off of it at 5 mg intervals.  There was no trace of this - then in Feb / March - I was a total wreck.  Within a day, I am basically fine!  This was the  same effect I got on it initially, but it wore off after a couple of months.

 

I don't know what to do - I cannot be in that emotional state again. My brother's life was royally screwed up by antidepressants.  He was in a similar state - like complete fog - no ability to function at all.  And so, I am careful with them. This was the only SSRI / SNRI I ever took.   I can't imagine even risking that kind of feeling again... I felt fine all day today... for the first time in a month.  Not to mention, I'm 20 lbs fatter than I was a few months ago, and if I continued that way, it would be 100 lbs by the end of the year.  I couldn't stop eating... and I couldn't move.  I couldn't work either. 

 

I don't know what to do - just go back on 30 and then wait for it to fail again and raise to 60?  The nightmare I was in... it's going to take a while to recover fully from all the things that happened in that state, but the major emotional component of it is largely gone. 

[fishinghat]

Silver

 

I think you are going to be one of those cases that is going to have to go real slow. It sounds like you are very sensitive to this med.

 

Your body was so desperate it was really happy to se it again lol  Don't give up though. Try dropping 1 or two beads a day and see if that leads to something more stable. If things start to get bad just go back up 4 or 5 beads until stable again. Stay at that level for a while and then start back tapering. Time and patience.

[equuswoman]

Silver,

Hi there. When fishinghat said he thinks that you are going to be one of those cases that is going to have to go real slow....This could be "me" he is speaking of. I was one of those cases..I tried cold turkey even tho it was accidental it sucked. I tried to come off the poison the way that my physician told me to that sucked too. Thus I went to the w.w.w. and began a serious search to find some help to get off this nasty drug.

I'd been on Cymbalta brand name 60 mg every day for 18 months prescribed to me for chronic pain of my lower back due to arthritis. I didn't like the SE that it was causing me especially the short term memory problems, the weight gain from 138 up to 160#. The fog that was in my brain and the problems it was causing me in my intimate relationship with my husband.

Anyhow I found this Cymbalta forum with wonderful ppl on it that helped me to get OFF this drug. It was thismoment and fishinghat who were here at the time I came on board. I admit when I saw in the forum index "bead counting" I thought to myself WTH is "bead counting" ...I had NO clue that there were these teeny, tiny little beads that had the consistency of little "minuscule" packing peanuts and we all know that those packing peanuts have a life all their own!

Anyhow these 2 wonderful, caring, supportive men taught me how to 'bead count'...I began to be quite good at it. At first I began dropping the beads as they had directed me to do. Alas eventho this was a slow way to decrease the number of beads taken per day it proved to be to much for my body/brain to tolerate. Thus I had to ever so S...L...O...W...L...Y decrease only "1" little bead per day. That's all that I could tolerate. If I tried to drop anymore than that my body/brain rebelled on me! I still make the journey thru hell and back but "back" being the key word here because I did make it back with the support and encouragement of fishinghat and thismoment. Of course there were other very helpful forum members here at the time as well.

Even at this very slow go it took me 4 months to wean off the crap drug if memory serves...lol cuz my memory will never be the same but as they say it is what it is at least I'm OFF the Cymbalta s#*t....NEVER to put that stuff inside my body and brain again!

Never a day goes by that I don't say a prayer for the ppl here on the forum. The newbies who come searching for ways to get off this nasty drug, the ones who after having done so have been able to move on with their lives and the ones who have graciously chosen to remain here on the forum after making their journey through hell and back.

It's like our fishinghat said, "time and patience".... it can be done these wonderful ppl here can help you to do it just like that did "me"!

In my thoughts and prayers. If I can help please don't hesitate to let me know.

Hugs from TheEquusWoman

[gail]

Hello Silver,

I can imagine the turmoil here, not knowing what to do, what a dark place!

So here are my thoughts.

Continue on the 30mg, at the same time add a bit of Prozac, like 10 mg, no more. And watch was is going on after a few weeks, 10 mg Prozac is like not much. But, it could help. I say this because your cymbalta poops out, as all anti depressants do for myself. Then, perhaps, beeds by beeds, you count your way down with Cymbalta, with the help of Prozac or maybe Zoloft.

Remember, some of us need to be on something for a better quality of life. Maybe you, maybe someone else. Also, trial and error here, as you do not know what the outcome is, no one does.

I am no doctor here, but, as I said, trial and error. For everyone! Not an easy path.

Sorry, not traditional here, but sincerely thought it over.♥

[fishinghat]

Good advice Gail. That could work as well.

[silver9]

Yeah, my doctor (seeing him tonight) suggested prozac the first time, but I said I'd rather just get the 5mg caps made by the compounding pharmacy and reduce that way.  He thought it was weird, but he didn't mind.  

 

It's just so weird that I never had any symptoms every time I cut 5 full mg, which is (10?) beads.   I would do that every 2 weeks or so.  The horror show really started one full month after I was totally off.  That's what I am worried about I guess.

 

I think I do need to be on something, given my history and family history with depression and other psychiatric disorders.  Cymbalta was actually perfectly fine for 2 months.  I just remember how it helped - and then, little by little, it didn't do anything.  I asked my doctor about an add-on but he didn't like doing that.  We still tried another drug, lamictal, because that worked for me 5 years ago (as an anti-depressant, oddly enough).  It didn't have the same effect this time. 

Cymbalta also reduces the negative side effects of another medication I am supposed to take called pentoxifyline.  I know it sounds weird, but it really does.  I do not take it because it makes me too agitated and moody with insomnia.  When I am on cymbalta, I can take it without side effects - I just discovered by accident.

 

So, I don't know what to do.  I feel like it helped... but then when I was 100% off + 1 month, it was way worse than ever.  But, when I started, I wasn't in the best place to begin with.  

 

I tried counting the beads at first, but they are so static-y and I couldn't really control them.  Even the compounding pharmacist said she hates dealing with cymbalta and pills like it.  I figured the 5mg capsules that they made would be ok.  They said they could go as low as 2.5 mg, but then it becomes too unreliable.  

[fishinghat]

Many, including myself, have tapered completely off the Cymbalta before the withdrawal hit. My started about 3 days of. After that is was a trip to hell.

[TryinginFL]

Hi Silver!

 

I have my own horror story as I went cold turkey off of 60mg that I had been on for about 4 1/2 years.  I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS for anyone.

 

This was in Jan of 2014 and that entire year was my own private hell.  I wish I had known about the bead counting but did not find this forum until I had been off too long to start over.

 

I hope you can avoid this by SLOWLY decreasing those pesky little beads...

 

I wish you the best and please keep us posted - we are always here for you!!

 

LIz

[silver9]

Thanks again for your posts.  Fishinghat, that's interesting that it started after for you too. My doctor (who I saw tonight) said that is actually more common.  I forgot he told me that.

 

So, tonight, he said he thinks that I would be better off on Lexapro starting tomorrow.  I could stay on cymbalta given this newfound recovery from that hell I was in, but the concern we both have was that it stopped working really quickly...and it probably will again.  He thought there wasn't much need to "re-taper" since I only went on cymbalta for three days.  We both think I need to be on something, given my history (I haven't really gone into all of that - but if you look at the list in my original post, I had many components of that before cymbalta & other things).

 

I'm a little worried, though...if lexapro is going to cause problems and I won't know if it is the cymbalta withdrawal and then - I am adding yet another drug into the puzzle and what if I need to get off that and back on cymbalta?   This is what scares me the most - because then you end up in complete A.D. hell without any direction.

 

My insurance was being awful about viibrid and the newer brand drugs. (Tier 3, absurd co-pays).

 

What do you think?  He didn't recommend prozac, for now, due to some mild weight concerns (since I just gained 20 lbs of pure fat) and more interactions with other drugs I am on.

[fishinghat]

Your concern is valid. Are any further changes due to Cymbalta withdrawal or a Lexapro side effect. There would be no way of knowing. I would say this that Lexapro, Zoloft and Prozac are the ones most often used to help battle Cymbalta withdrawal. I would suggest that you go on a very low dose as that may be all you need.

[gail]

Hello Silver,
I can imagine the turmoil here, not knowing what to do, what a dark place!
So here are my thoughts.
Continue on the 30mg, at the same time add a bit of Prozac, like 10 mg, no more. And watch was is going on after a few weeks, 10 mg Prozac is like not much. But, it could help. I say this because your cymbalta poops out, as all anti depressants do for myself. Then, perhaps, beeds by beeds, you count your way down with Cymbalta, with the help of Prozac or maybe Zoloft.
Remember, some of us need to be on something for a better quality of life. Maybe you, maybe someone else. Also, trial and error here, as you do not know what the outcome is, no one does.
I am no doctor here, but, as I said, trial and error. For everyone! Not an easy path.
Sorry, not traditional here, but sincerely thought it over.♥

Hi again Silver,

I am quoting myself, not bad! My thoughts still stand here. Prozac is weight neutral for most.

Stabilize on 30mg crap, then bead count slowly while adding Prozac 10 mg. Prozac is easy to withdraw from because of its long half life. I hate to see people suffer when there is a good chance that this may work! Keep us posted!

[silver9]

Yep, I asked him about prozac first.  I have some other medication I take... and then given that he thought prozac had more interactions than lexapro.  I'm not sure why.  

[gail]

Fishinghat, how could that be???

Silver, I also wonder why.

[fishinghat]

The pdocs I have talked to believe (and research agrees) that Prozac is more likely to fail to work than any other AD. Although I have not seen any research on it the drs say that Lexapro has less side effects and drug interactions than Prozac.

[fishinghat]

Some interesting info. This is based on medical research and is the tables that some of my pdocs have actually used.

https://www.scribd.c...omparison-Chart

[TryinginFL]

Interesting about Prozac - tried it (10mg) last year and my face broke out in a lovely red rash...after only a week

 

 

Needless to say, I discontinued taking it

[Wagtail]

Many, including myself, have tapered completely off the Cymbalta before the withdrawal hit. My started about 3 days of. After that is was a trip to hell.

F/H are you now completely antidepressant free ?.....

[fishinghat]

No wagtail. I am about 60% off the benzos they had me on and I also started on a moderate dose of Zoloft. Once I am off the benzo I will turn my attention to the Zoloft.