Been on Cymbalta 30 mg for 4 yrs. Have tried mult times to get off from Cold Turkey to every other day to delaying time of dose every day. Due to half life of drug none of them worked. Brain zaps galore, crying jags, profound flu like feeling. Here's what I did that worked. Got some empty capsules at Nutrition Store for abt $3 for 200 empty caps. I counted out one cap of Cymbalta 30 mg just to get an idea of how many are in one cap. Its >250 beads. They are HARD to count. Don't even try. You will need about 1 1/2 hrs to do this and it helps to have some extra hands to hold the empty caps because those beads are SMALL and wiggly. I divided 7 caps into halves, reducing the dose by approx 50%, I divided 7 caps by 1/3, I divided 14 caps by 1/4, reducing dose by 75%. So I ended up with 14 caps with a dose of approx 22.5 mg, 14 caps at approx 15 mg, 21 caps at approx 10 mg, and 14 caps at approx 7.5 mg. I followed this regimen and am down to the 7.5 mg dose. On a scale from 1-10 my symptoms have been a "2" whereas when trying to stop before I'd say my symptoms were an "8". Hope this helps. Good luck to you!!
i am tapering off this cymbalta in two weeks .... what can i expect.. it has caused me to gain weight... i am so depressed about the weight.... i tried before and nearly went crazy coming off them.. i had to go back on..but i m so sick of weight issues....
I have been on it for a long time, and have noticed the difference in me the last year or so, and now reading more about it, its like omg its the drug, I am getting off it, but how, help, I basically have me, myself and I
I really need some help, I have been on cymbalta for many years, was on 30 mg, then they put me up to 60 mg, last year i went down to 30 mg myself, and was ok. ILately i feel so brain dead, like im walking in a fog, i cant think straight, i forget all the time, mood swings, somedays i have forgotten to take it, and i can tell because i get dizzy, but when i look back on the day i forgot, my mood wasnt as bad. Could it be the drug making things worse
Wow. I tried to go cold turkey, Doc said I could and my boyfriend was able to without problems, and I thought... hey... think positive! Maybe it will be OK! Mind over matter! O M G! I was AOK for 3 days then today it was full on hell. Vertigo (I can imagine others call it brain zaps, but to me it just feels like a "whoosh" in my head) -- I could handle that no problem, but feeling agitated and restless, and unable to think, and throwing up, and aching all over like the flu. Wow is all I can say. Needless to say I took my Cymbalta and now 6 hours later I'm starting to feel OK. I don't really care how long it takes to get off, I am going to go SLOW. I've come off other antidepressants over the years and never had ANY problems. Just adding another voice to the choir that this problem is so very real.
Arieln is correct! This is the first time that I've seen someone else post somthing similar to what I tried. The doctors don't have a plan to wean a person off of Cymbalta. I was on 60mg and the doctors said I could cut back to 30mg. WRONG!! The withdrawls were just as severe as quitting cold turkey. I tried both. I started weaning off by opening the capsule and counting the granules. There are 200 in each capsule. I removed 10 granules from each capsule per week. Week 1 = 190 granules. Week 2 = 180 granules. And so on... After 4 weeks of this, I began shortening from 7 days at each step to 5 days at each step. This worked for me. There were times when I still got bad headaches, but nothing like the brain zaps I had before. It takes time and patience, but it's totally worth it. I was on Cymbalta for chronic lower back pain. It really works, but the side effects and withdrawl symptoms are not worth it. It causes sexual dysfunction in men. For me, I couldn't orgasm.
I took 90 mg Cymbalta daily for well over 5 years. I gained 50 lbs on the medication, which made my BP and cholesterol levels out of control, and was even more depressing than what I initially had been; so, I decided I'd almost rather be half-crazy than unhealthy. I have cycled on and off of antidepressants my entire adult life (I am 44) so I am aware there are withdrawals with each cycle-off.
Because I had been on the medication so long and my dosage was so high, I tapered myself very, very slowly - backing down to 60 mgs for a month, then down to 30 mgs for a month, then I began to skip days with the 30 mgs until I finally laid them down all the way.
Its been almost a month since I have taken any Cymbalta. I have the standard withdrawals symptoms: the hypersensitivity with sight and sound; the nausea and diarrhea; the headaches; irritability and short fuse; sleep interruption and irregularity; "checking out" from time to time (kind of daydreaming); and, thoughts of hopelessness, suicide and overwhelming indecision and confusion.
However, (and I'm assuming because of the longterm usage and high dosage), I have experienced some quite different withdrawal symptoms as well, which most often manifest themselves when I am trying to get quiet for sleep at night: itching all over and especially the soles of my feet; cramps in my calves and feet; and, a store of nervous energy that doesn't present as clearly during the day that makes me feel like I could kick my legs in a swimming motion for hours on end and never tire. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode if I don't get out of bed and exert some sort of energy to alleviate it.
I am giving myself, from years of experience and being quite frank, til the end of the year to be completely free of the drug on the inside and to begin to see my body physically adjusting on the outside. Of course, the withdrawal improves over time. I still have really bad days even now, a month out, but I can surely tell the symptoms are lessening in frequency and severity even now.
I would never suggest to anyone to go off of any antidepressant nor antianxiety drug cold turkey. Never. Ever. Always consult your doctor if your medication is not working for you. If you don't feel your doc is listening or taking you seriously, find another doc who will. Depression, anxiety and the drugs that treat them, are nothing to play around with.
And if you feel the hopelessness or suicidal tendencies, don't wait for someone to tell. Call 911 right then and ask for assistance. Right then. Unless it is rooted in the reason you're depressed or stressed to begin with, it is just a passing adjustment while your body accepts the fact that you've taken its crutch away.
Good luck to everyone. My advice before you spend an entire adulthood on meds like this is to get into some real therapy with a good counselor who really cares - and find out why you need the drugs to begin with. Many times if we can address the problem, reprogram the way we react to it, we can deal with life on our own, without the drugs. But if not, hey, that's okay too....
Hi, I just thought I would chirp in here. I've been working on a self-administered weaning plan for about three weeks. I've been on 60 mg for a couple of years, and I'm feeling like I am ready to be off of it. However, I cold-turkeyed on Paxil once and discovered that wasn't a very good idea, so I am weaning off Cymbalta.
What I am doing so far is splitting my 60 mg capsule in half and taking 30 mg each day. That has gone pretty well, except for a couple of occasions when the headache and nausea struck big-time. On those occasions, I took a 60 mg capsule and those symptoms abated. Even with that, the number of mg I have taken over the past three weeks is down, and I'm doing pretty well.
I'm also taking 5-HTP tablets. It was my intention to switch from a prescription aid to a non-prescription aid as part of the withdrawal process. Get off prescription drugs is the first goal. When I can go more than a week without the headache and nausea, I'll further reduce the daily dose and see what happens.
I, too, am coming off cymbalta, GRADUALLY! After reading your post I looked for the product you mentioned getting at Sam's. They had nothing, and couldn't remember ever having it. Do you remember the name. I would like to see if I can get it elsewhere. Thanks.
The 5-HTP tablets helped my as well. I'm now off the Cymbalta and still taking the 5-HTP a few times a day.
Hello Everyone,
I have been off Cymbalta for 3 weeks now and I am now, just now, starting to put the peaces back together. I'm loving on my kids little by little more each day, but mostly faking it till I make it. Family is so important to helping one feel like they're not crazy. So family members reading this, be suportive even when the person detoxing becomes a mean person. Hang in there, I took the med for about 6 months. I stopped cold turkey after weening myself down to 30mg. I tried to work, and pretty much creeped everyone out because my behavior was all over the place like a roller coaster. If you can afford to take a leave of absents from work for a month, that would be ideal before detoxing. You're not gonna want to eat or talk to anyone when you are off of cymbalta. After 3 weeks I still have the brain zaps. I do not know how long this will go on??? People will try to help you, but they don't understand, so try to understand they just want you to get better but keep your distance from those who make you feel bad or toxic because you yourself is toxic. Yes you will want to kill them and it sucks! No caffiene, drink allot of water. Don't over work yourself physiclly, but keep your mind busy organizing or doing things that are constructive. Stick to your faith. I keep a journal to write down how I'm feeling and I see a counselor once a week. I also write with a sharpie on my bathroom mirror positive afrimations. Sorry for my bad spelling. I know its terrible. Love and peace to all. I know what you are going through, I'm going through it toox I'm 33, business owner, and cliente taker, father of 3 girls, and husband. I'm just taking it day by day.
I've tried several times to quit this terrible drug but was never succesful. I'm only on day 2 without it and the brain zaps and mood swings are already bad. I can't imagine going weeks like this but I'm determined this time. I can no longer afford this drug. I wish my doctor would have never prescribed me this drug 5 years ago. I wish you the best. I'm also 33 and a mother of 1.
I'm so sorry! You will get through it, you may cry allot but you will clearly get through it. Journal and see someone. And see your doctor and try to be off meds and see how you feel for awhile. i'm no longer going back to anti-anxiety meds again. My family says I am myself again. I'm praying for you and your family.
you are not alone....day 3? i think of withdrawal from 60 mg. and, all in all, doing better then any other time I have tried to stop it (but, it's still hell). I encourage everyone to report this poison and it's effects.
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Just wondered how you are doing???