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Starting To Wean Off 160Mg


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#1 Jgfergie

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Posted 22 September 2017 - 04:21 PM

Hi all - my husband and I are writing together.  He is on 120MG of cymbalta (error in thread title that I can't figure out how to edit) and .5mg of clonapin 3X a day and has been since February (8 months).  He went on this after a nervous breakdown brought on by extreme stress from a work project, which he is still trying to complete (real estate project).  He recently started working with a new Psych because we both feel that the cyymbalta at that dose may be keeping him depressed and panicked with thoughts of hopelessness.  Same for Clonapin.  New Psych was appalled that he was on it and on such a high dose and wants him to wean down to at least 60 and then come off completely (same for clonapin).  He is starting to cross taper with 100mg of wellbutrin and he told him to drop the Cymbalta 20mg to 100mg and then will probably want to do same again in two weeks. I think  it is too fast and so does my husband, so after reading here, we counted beads.  He had approximately 205 beads in a 60mg capsule of Cymbalta brand.  So assuming that was about 410 in 120mg, we pulled out 1%, or 4 beads, last night.  Going to do same tonight.  Does that sound right?  he is already taking fish oil and vitamin C, doing acupuncture, energy work and trying to get good rest and hydrate.  What else?   I should also note that he was on 30Mg of cymbalta for about 7 years and stopped cold turkey last September with no side effects - although in hind sight we wonder if the nervous breakdown 5 months later (suicidal thoughts, depression, panic) could have been at least partially attributed to a delayed reaction?  We would love any advice, feedback, support! Thank you!


#2 fishinghat

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Posted 22 September 2017 - 05:25 PM

Hi JGF
 
The nervous breakdown after coming off Cymbalta is not too unexpected although the bad withdrawal symptoms usually start around 5 mg and get worse from there. It is not usually 5 months later but who knows how some meds will react with some people.
 
I am afraid your bead counting may be way off. I had 350 beads in my 60 mg capsule and 310 beads in my 30 mg capsule. They just simply add more filler and less medication to drop the dose. You really need to go to the 120 mg capsule and count them to be sure.
 
160 mg is a ridiculous dose of Cymbalta and I hope he/she had a good reason. Definitely not recommended by the manufacturer. and I agree with your new dr. That high a dose could be causing some of the issues. You may have some hard times ahead though. While I don't have any issues with cross tapering to 100 mg Wellbutrin it does take 6 to 8 weeks to kick in so hang on. You may have some tough times as you change over. Once the Wellbutrin is at 6 weeks you should be able to start dropping your Cymbalta faster.
 

Just a note. Many of our members drop from 120 to 90 for a week and then to 60 for a week and then to 30 for a week with little issues. Then they bead count from 30 mg to 0. If symptoms do occur during this process they go back to the previous dose, stabilize and bead count from there.

 

By the way DO NOT wean off the Klonopin while doing your Cymbalta withdrawal. Klonopin has one of the worst withdrawals for a benzo. Don't make things too hard on yourself. Once you are off the Cymbalta and settled on the Wellbutrin we can help you taper off the Klonopin with little to no symptoms. One thing at a time.

 

Don't hesitate to ask questions or just come back and complain. We have been there and you are not alone.


#3 Jgfergie

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Posted 22 September 2017 - 06:29 PM

Thank you so much for responding.  I mis-wrote - it is 120 MG, not 160 and I am not sure how to edit the post? ok - so we will not even attempt the Klonapin, which is what his new Psych was also advocating.  And we will try going down from 120 to 100 for teh next two weeks and see how that is.  If stable, I will come back with what the Dr. recommends and get your opinion on that too.  We are very grateful for this site and your help.

 

Jenn 


#4 Jgfergie

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Posted 23 September 2017 - 12:27 PM

Hi Fishinghat (or anyone else),

 

So the update today after taking 100mg this morning (down from 120mg) yesterday is that he feels depressed.  More depressed than anxious, which is different and more depressed than usual.  He is also on day 2 of 100mg of Wellbutrin which probably hasn't kicked in yet. He wants to give it another day and see how it goes, but if he still feels this way tomorrow afternoon, we think it may make sense to go back up to 120 and stabilize for a day or two and then come down by bead counting.   If we do that though, I am confused by how to do it.  So I got 205 beads in a 60mg capsule of Cymbalta brand.  Is that way off?  I will count another to be sure.  But if some is just filler, how do you know if you are actually taking out medicine?  And I was trying to find a post about magnesium - I cant remember if I saw a post here about it conflicting with the Cymbalta? Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Jenn


#5 fishinghat

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Posted 23 September 2017 - 01:09 PM

Each little bead has both medicine and filler in it. Where you get into trouble is that some generic brands contain beads different sizes. Some small, some medium and some big. I am hoping yours are all a fairly in uniform size. As far as the number of beads, I have heard of generics with 7 huge beads inside and as many as 600 in other brands. At 200 beads a good beginning would be around 2 beads a day (1%).

 

You dropped from 120 mg to 100 mg and are slightly more depressed. I think that the decision to wait another day to see what happens is wise. Matter of fact, if it is tolerable, you might give it 3 or 4 days. His body will tell him when it is too much to handle.

 

It usually only takes 4 or 5 days to tell how bad a drop will effect you. If he is still doing tolerable after that I would suggest he wait it out until he stabilizes and then drop again. Time will tell. Good luck and God bless.

 

Magnesium  is not an issue with Cymbalta but be aware it can cause severe anxiety in about 1% of the population. I would also suggest you get 'amino acid chelated magnesium' as it is well absorbed and easy on the stomach.


#6 Jgfergie

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Posted 23 September 2017 - 01:23 PM

huge thank you for responding.  The beads were all very uniform, so that is good.  Assuming there are 205 in each 60mg and he is on 120mg, would we do 4 beads a day, which would be 1%?

He was encouraged to hear your response and that this is normal.  We will give it some time and see how it goes, and he is in touch with his doctor too.  Thank you again.

 

Jenn and Steve





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