12 replies to this topic

[Jessicaleigh]

Hi everyone,

 

I have been on 90mg of cymbalta for around 6 years. I started my tapering process by reducing my dose by 10mg per week. This was very successful, and I didn't really experience withdrawal symptoms. I did have worsening headaches, but this could be because I suffer from migraines and the cymbalta may have been helping them.

 

I got down to 20mg and stayed on that for around 10 days. I thought I would try stopping cold turkey, since my tapering in 10mg increments went well and I am anxious to be finished with this nightmare of a drug. My last dose was last tuesday and I am MISERABLE. I am having headaches and dizziness, some brain whooshes (not quite like the brain zaps I experienced when missing a few doses at 90mg), irritability and waves of crying, but the worst is this nausea. It doesn't help that I have a severe phobia of vomiting. The nausea is constant, but also seems to get worse in waves. I could probably deal with the rest if it wasn't for this nausea. 

 

Is this inevitable? Even with slow tapering by counting beads, is it even possible to do this without the pain?

 

I have zofran from the last time I had a stomach bug, but I have been afraid to take anything. I've also seen some info about supplements, but I don't know where to start. I currently take 1,000 mg of krill oil for omega 3s.

 

Should I call it quits and go back to 20mg before counting/weighing beads, or is it going to get better?

 

[invalidusername]

Hi Jessica and welcome to the forum!

 

You did very well to drop so quickly after so long on the Cymbalta, but your impatience was indeed your undoing! Everything you have listed here is textbook withdrawal. Now the problem is that people think in terms of mg when they drop rather than the percentage they drop by. When you dropped 30mg to 20mg, you went down by 33%, but dropping 20mg to 0mg was 100%. This is a huge jump! That 10mg drop gets larger the closer you get to the zero. The worst thing you can do is go quick at the end as you risk screwing up all the hard work, and unfortunately this is what you did my dear...

 

So, we do need to do some damage control. If you are in a very bad way, then reinstate the 20mg now, but I would suggest to try 10mg for around 4-5 days and see if you stabalise on that first. But from this point you DO need to start counting those little sods of beads. Its a rite of passage that we have all been through! There is no benefit in going quick here. You could stick where you are at cold turkey and feel sh*t for 3 months, or you could go back to 10mg and bead count for 3 months. It is the same amount of time, but you will feel so much better going this route.

 

Omega 3 is a good option, but make sure you are getting a minimum of 2000mg of combined DHA/EPA, otherwise you will get no benefit from it. This is well documented. Getting this amount each day will help you. Apple Cider Vinegar would serve you well too. Ginger is an age-old tincture for nausea too. If it is that bad, forget the Twinnings tea, and get yourself some raw root and make some tea with some potency.

 

Hopefully this is enough to get your started. My friends will be along in the morning when they wake up. I am the proverbial night-shift here as I am nocturnal, but you will meet the others soon.

 

Nice to have you here and wishing you all the best,

 

IUN

[fishinghat]

Welcome Jessica

IUN has pretty well summed things up and has steered you in the right direction. I might also refer you to a thread called Summary of Cymbalta Withdrawal in the Medical Support Section. It is a summary of the things members have tried as well as a lot of good medical info and tips. You might browse through there as you have time. I am sure you will have questions so don't hesitate to come back anytime. You are not alone in this.

[Jessicaleigh]

Hi IUN and fishinghat! Thank you both for the response. 

 

I ended up caving and taking 20mg on Thursday night. By Friday I felt much better, but still feel a little "off." Queasiness, some dizziness, sleepiness, and of course headaches which may or may not be withdrawal. I am hoping I will feel somewhat normal soon. I plan on staying on 20mg until I feel better, then beginning to taper down. How do I begin counting beads? Does anyone weigh the beads instead? I just don't know where to start. I am also going on a trip to italy at the end of may; i think maybe i should hold off tapering until then. thoughts?

[invalidusername]

No harm in caving in the way you did, especially if you felt better for it. You will still feel a little off until the blood levels settle which should be in the next day or two. Headaches are a very common symptom, so I'd put those down to withdrawal too. 

 

Bead counting is simply opening the capsule and removing the appropriate amount of beads. We usually ask you to count the number of beads in each capsule (can be between 100-300!), and from there consider how many beads to remove each day. Weighing beads is also an option if you can get some micro scales.

 

Regarding your trip - just see how you feel. I'd say that you will feel better in a few days, but we always recommend to stabalise, which means having no symptoms for at least a week before dropping further.

[KathyInFL]

Welcome JessicaLee! I weighed the beads, I didn't have the patience to count... Read over my thread, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

One thing, when I got down to about 10 or 12 beads I had to start counting because that few beads did not register correctly on my scale.

Good luck. If it were me going to Italy next month, I'd still wean but very very slowly!

[Jessicaleigh]

Hi Kathy! Thanks for the reply.  I really want to get off of this ASAP but I don't want to be sick for my trip.

 

I have scales at work that can handle a minimum of 0.1 mg, so I may have to weigh my beads in there on the DL. When you made your doses, did you buy extra capsules to fill or did just use the ones that came with the prescription? I'd hate to waste all of those beads with no capsule to put them in! 

 

Right now I am at 20mg. What is a good amount to drop by? Down to 15mg or 10mg or should I do a less drastic drop?

 

Thanks!

[invalidusername]

"I really want to get off of this ASAP"

 

We all did, but this is not the way to go. You have been on this stuff for 6 years and the last part really must be done slowly. Some have successfully gone as far as the last 10mg before bead counting, but I really don't suggest you try this. You can think of dropping 5mg over the course of a month perhaps, but this would be done by dropping a bead each day (or whatever the equivalent is for your capsules). Do not 5mg in one step!

 

"I'd hate to waste all of those beads with no capsule to put them in!"

 

Regarding the capsules, you need acid resistant (enteric) coated capsules (NOT the regular kind). These are special capsules which survive the stomach acid and get correctly absorbed in the liver. You can get them from Amazon, eBay or specialist pharmacies.

[fishinghat]

IUN is very right. A 5% drop can be devastating and the effect last months. You need to drop Absolutely no more than 1 bead a day and U would consider even slower if I was down to 20 mg.

[KathyInFL]

I saved the extra beads to use so I didn't have to fill my prescription as often. Cymbalta in the US is expensive!

I weaned from 60mg over almost 2 years... Slow and steady wins the race. Someday I'm going to go through my thread and figure out my drops so I can see how fast (slow) I really went.

[Jessicaleigh]

Okay, maybe I should abandon the weighing idea in favor of bead counting. But doesn't each capsule have a slightly different number of beads depending on the weight? Maybe it is negligible? I'm going to read through some of the threads. Thanks everyone for the responses and talking me out of moving too quickly! I am trying to plan everything out while I stabilize on 20mg.

[invalidusername]

Glad you are thinking slow Jessica - believe me, it is for the best.

 

Potentially each capsule may have a different number of beads, and it is negligible to those of whom are not super-sensitive. These are few and you will soon know if this applies, but for now I'd stick to the one bead per day to keep things simple.

[fishinghat]

Jessica

The FDA allows a 10% difference in dosage from one capsule to the next. That is a significant amount when weaning off Cymbalta but it applies whether you are talking weight or number of beads.