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30 Answers
SE
Serens
20 Jan 2020
See your physician before trying to get off of cymbalta. It can be dangerous.
Votes: +0
SA
Sabra1
7 Oct 2018
I have been on Cymbalta for 13 years ( 120 mg). We have tried 3 times and I had suicidal thoughts and the zinging in the head. My naturopathic Doctor is putting me on Avena Sativa and Glycine. My doctors and I are going to take at least 2 months to wean me off. The Herbs have been successful with other patients. I have gained 50 pounds on this drug and have exercised to a point of damaging a shoulder, knee, umbilical hernia and neck and I had a private trainer walked 5 miles a day. I weigh exactly the same even though my calories are 1200. So it's time, but they need to help me. Being on this so long it no longer works and I get the brain zingers everyday.
Votes: +0
LI
lizvelezlopez
27 Sep 2018
I took Cymbalta 60 mg for 6 years, for depression, and I am now 15 days Cymbalta free and I am feeling pretty good. I did patiently and slowly. It took me 9 months to do so. When I asked my doctor for his recommendation on how to do it, his plan was similar to the one you posted. I wasn't convinced, so I looked online and did my research... but all I mostly found where horror stories and I was super scared. Until my husband just told me: "... don't read those... You need to read the success stories". So I looked for those. There are not many out there, but I did find some. And I made my own plan, and shared it with my Dr. and I started tapering in January. This is how I did it: PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT A DR. AND THIS IS JUST MY STORY, NOT A FORMAL RECOMMENDATION.
1- January: I went down from 60 mg brand name to 40 mg generic. Why do they always want to make you go down from 60 to 30 mg... just take 2 20mg pills a day. The first week was the hardest of all. I felt the nausea, the headache, some brain zaps here and there, the anxiety and the irritability. But they were manageable. And the day I was not feeling so great, I would have a glass of wine or two... those helped me... I stayed on 40 mg for until I felt stable on this dosage.
2- March: I went down to 30 mg. Same thing... This step down was not as bad... it took me a few days to adjust. Important for me: acknowledging that I was going through a process. Had a headache, took ibuprofen, had heartburn, took some pepto, etc. I did the simple things that make me happy or give a me a quick boost: read a book, listen to music, went out for some sun. It helps. After 3 months I was going to go down to 20 mg... but I didn't feel stable enough yet... so I listened to my body (and to my husband :-) ) and stayed on 30 mg for another month.
3- Jully: Went down to 20 mg. This one was the easiest step down. I didn't feel that bad... but the worst part was coming... which was to stop... So I stayed on it 2 months.
4- September: I decided that if I was going to be completely off by the end of this year, I need to make my final move now... so I started with Plan A: taking the pill every other day planning to continue extending the days until I was ready to be off. What I felt was withdrawal symptoms every other day for a week. So I said, nope.. this is not working. Time for Plan B: Counting bead as recommended by many forums. So I was watching a video of someone doing this, counting over 360 beads a day... and honestly I got a little upset. And I just said: I do not want to count beads. The thought of going through such inconvenience made me feel even more dependent on this medication. God bless those who have the patience and will to do it. I just don't. So I went on with Plan C: just stop taking it completly.
5-September: 9/12/18 was my last pill. I made my plan for eating clean, nutrition plays a big role in my emotional well being, the better I eat, the better I feel. I planned for a short walk outside in the mornings, probiotics, and detox teas. And I talked to my 12 and 7 yr old kids. I told mommy was going to stop her daily medication and because of that my body was going to feel different for a while. That I was probably going to be irritable for a while, and to please excuse me in advance if I was not patient enough. I also asked for their help in being patient with me. I am doing all that, but the withdrawal symptoms still hit me the hardest so far: nausea (that has been the hurst), diarreah, headaches, anxiety, and irritability. But nothing that did not allow me to function normally. The bad anxiety went away in 4-5 days. The rest is easier to deal with. I have had very little brain zaps. Nausea is worse if I have an empty stomach, so I snack some almonds or fruit, every two hours.
6- I am now on day 15 and the symptoms are pretty much gone. Not once through this journey did I ever thought of going back. I am celebrating this milestone. I am off Cymbalta and I feel good.
Votes: +1
WI
WildcatVet
27 Sep 2018
That's exactly the problem with forums such as this one... almost the only people who post responses are negative and often exaggerated. The people who have followed doctor's orders and weaned correctly are now busy living their lives and not posting on forums. Which is not to say that some people don't truly have severe difficulties, but always try to remember that, like with side effects, they are the vast minority. Wildcat (One who's been there and done that with multiple medications over many, many years)
CI
cindy-59
8 Oct 2018
Hi everyone. I have already commented once on here but I have to comment again. I am very disheartened to have to keep reading answers like this one above. First; if I would have followed my doctors' orders about how to get off Cymbalta I would have ended up in the Intensive Care Unit at my local hospital. My doctor had/has no clue how to slowly taper off this medication. Actually I have gone slower with my taper than most people I've heard from have. And believe me when I say there are thousands of people going through this. I honestly believe there are even more than what is accounted for. I know for a fact that more people are realizing the dangers of this drug and others like it every month. It took me years to realize that it was the Cymbalta doing this to me. Second; I would love to be out busy living my life and not be in the state that I am in from taking this poison (imo)! I have absolutely no energy to go outside my home let alone be busy at doing something.
I have already missed 10 years of my life because of what this drug has done to me. It makes me so sad to think of all the time I've missed with my children and grandchildren. My husband and all my friends have gone on with life without me. Thirdly; I am not and have never exaggerated about what has happened to me! It has been a nightmare without having to add on anything. Lastly; one of the main reasons I post on here is to warn people of the dangers of these types of medications so they will not have to go through what I have. It is certainly not just to be negative. So please; I beg of you to be more sympathetic with your words and your opinion about what is the exact problem with these forums. I believe we have a real problem when people have no empathy for others and what they are going through.
TO
Tobuy
15 Sep 2018
I really want to know these exact answers myself.
Votes: +0
IN
Inactive
15 Sep 2018
Go to the Facebook group Cymbalta Hurts Worse
TE
Terry567
7 Aug 2018
Hi my name is scared and afraid. My doctor had prescribed me cymbalta back in 2013.I have been having some weird sign effects to it. My memory is going my mind goes blank. Im standing at the subway to go to work and i forget why im there. The med makes me think violently. However i dont react to it. The world seems to hate me. How can i get my life back.Which i know deep down inside its not me.I have been on it for a long time but desperatly want to be myself again please help scared and afraid.
Votes: +0
CI
cindy-59
7 Aug 2018
Hi Terry567. I know exactly how you feel. I have been taking Cymbalta for 8-9 years and it changed who I was. The weird side effects and all. The best advice I can give you is to go slow. I started to text out the instructions for doing the right tapering but I couldn’t finish it. I’m tapering right now and I think I went down too fast on my last taper and it’s hard for me to think. Please go to Facebook and search for the group ‘Cymbalta Hurts Worse’. Join the group and you will find all the information you need to help you to safely taper off this drug. They are helping thousands of people right now. Me being one of them. With that group and Drugs.com we will get through this nightmare together. Please take care and I wish you the best. Cindy
LM
LMD92
5 June 2018
I’m also on 60mg My doctor gave me prescriptions for 30mg and 20mg Directions: 1-2 weeks: 30mg (am), 30mg (pm) 1-2 weeks: 30mg (am), 20mg (pm) 1-2 weeks: 20mg (am), 20mg (pm) Then come back for a check up. I’m sure it continues in the same way after that.
Votes: +0
CY
cymbaltaslowtapergal
17 May 2018
Hey! Head on over to Cymbalta Hurts Worse for a slow taper method that will possibly save you from dangerous withdrawals. The recommended taper is slower than what is available by Eli Lily. In fact you can remove beads at a 10% rate and hold for 2-4 weeks then remove 10% from that next dose and so on until you're off. The taper takes longer, but has far fewer withdrawals and keeps you safer (lower risk of seizure). The drug tends to fight harder to stay in your system depending on how long you have taken it, why you took it to begin with, and even your gender. Many people have to go slower that the 10% drop. This is more of a marathon taper than other drugs, but very possible if you are tedious with bead counting (or measuring with milligram scale) and consistent.
Votes: +3
KS
ksmoga
8 May 2018
. I have been on Duloxetine (Cymbalta) for two years. I was taking 60 mg capsules once a day. I had plenty of 30 mg capsules from the start up period. I asked my doctor to give me some 20 mg capsules. I first went to two 20 mg capsules a day. This was no problem at all for me. If you start to get some withdraw symptoms you can start with alternating the 60mg and 40mg every other day. Which ever mg you want to take do it for 10 days. I then went straight to 40mg every day for a week, then 30mg for a week. Then I went against my own rules and went straight to 30mg ever other day. This gave me some side effects such as; Nausea, pounding headache, very loud ear ringing and hot flashes. I then started taking 20mg every day for 10 days. Then I tried to take 20mg every other day, it gave me the side effects again. This next procedure can be used at anytime in the withdraw cycle since it’s exactly want your body needs.
I took a 20mg capsule at 5:00am Monday, I then waited until I started getting some side effects before I took the next one; Tuesday at 6:00 pm. I then waited until side effects and took my next one Wednesday at Midnight then Friday at 7:00pm then I was waiting for some side effects and I never took another one. This is how my body needed to withdraw from Cymbalta. Everybody is different. I did the same procedure to get off Xanax and I have zero withdraw side effects.
Votes: +1
DE
Deano8888
30 April 2018
Reading the responses to this question have been somewhat of a comfort.
I have been on all types antidepressants for years. The only ones I haven't been on are the MAOIs, and Duloxetine has been by far the worse drug I've ever taken to try and get off.
Reading the suffering of others has helped (if you know what I mean).
My psychiatrist told me I could get off these drugs (90mg daily) in 4 days! He told me that people don't get withdrawal from Duloxetine. This is a lie. For me, it's been the worse hell I've ever been through. Nightmares, increased anxiety by 10,000x, depression, dizziness, nausea, lack of appetite, mood swings, and serious suicidal thinking. Brain zaps and panic attacks.
Most Drs (especially in the UK) will tell you these drugs only come in 30mg increments. This is a lie. This drug comes in 10mg increments. They cost more for the NHS (or if you pay private) but don't let the Drs fob you off. Come off this drug as slow as possible!
As many have mentioned, you can open this pill and get the tiny beads from inside out. So it is well worth investing in some micro scales from Ebay/Amazon and measuring out your own pills. Start by calculating the beads out and take out 1mg at a time if you have to.
Does anyone else feel the drug companies are highly irresponsible in not providing these drugs in smaller mg increments to help people get off their products?
Votes: +1
IN
Inactive
30 April 2018
Yes, I do feel they are negligent, but until the medical community realizes how a rapid taper affects the majority of patients, nothing will change. Many support groups online have found ways, and will instruct you how to do microtapering, using a milligram scale, or liquid titration. These methods have been of great help to me in getting off all the pharmaceuticals. We have to be our own advocates because the medical community gives out such poor advise in how to taper off. But then their purpose is to prescribe meds, not to help us get off of them. I tell my doctors now that’s why we need the online support groups - the help of those who have successfully gone before us!
GI
gibsonman08
25 Feb 2018
Hi... Everyone of the kind folks that have responded are spot on! You must be really careful on this one. It's not a slam dunk. Definitely do it with a professional by your side. I personally am using a psychiatrist because I don't trust a regular MD to be on top of the process of quitting a psychotropic drug... They're just to powerful...
Thought I haven't started my withdrawal campaign yet, I will be titrating down by opening the capsule over a large plate or bowl, and then I will remove a number of the tiny beads inside. Probably 10 to 15 beads at a time and staying at that dose for a number of weeks. This way I lighten my dose slowly and carefully therefore minimizing any "brain zaps" etc! One smart fellow here suggested that I have a formula compounded at the pharmacy, but alas it cannot be done because Cymbalta is a slow release medicine. But that's OK, I'll just count the little beads instead.
Best of luck to you... Be careful and Stay Strong!!!
Votes: +1
LA
last flowers
24 Feb 2018
My doctor has me going from the 60mg I am currently on and doing 30 then 60 then 30 then 60 and so on. For a couple of weeks or less if I do not feel any side effects. Then 60 / 30 / 30 / 60. and so on. Just watch for side effects and go with it that way. When you get down to 30 a day do every other day, then two days until the side effects are gone. It sounds like a good plan.
Votes: +0
IN
Inactive
25 Feb 2018
That’s awfully fast. Many, many people find it can take a year or more to taper off this drug. Doctors take us off too fast, then prescribe more meds for our issues, rather than accept the fact that we are going through withdrawal.
TE
Teena Boggs
9 July 2017
I have tapered down as per doctors direction. I'm suffering with dizziness, memory loss, sweats, and brain zaps. How long after last dose does the symptoms start to ease?
Votes: +0
TS
Tsuluzo012
29 April 2017
I've been trapped on Cymbalta for 4 Years now. Causes me extreme brain fog, headaches, physical muscle aches constantly (I never had pain issues before cymbalta) Irrational aggression. One of the worst meds ever made. Here is the way to get off of it. break open to capsules, in each 30 mg capsule there are 6- 5mg little pellets. go down 5 mg every 2 weeks until you reach 10mg dose. Then cut the tiny 5mg pellets in half making 2.5mg doses. Go 10mg-7.5mg-5mg-2.5mg-0mg, 1-2 Weeks on each dose. It takes a long time, but I have currently successfully reached 10mg from 90mg. It is possible, and it is necessary to go down 2.5 mg at the end. I have tried going from 10-5-0 and even that is miserable. I would recommend taking pellets inside of capsules, because i'm not sure if taking just pellets increases absorption rate. The withdrawal is hell on this, and that's the only way to avoid the misery.
Votes: +0
TS
Tsuluzo012
25 Feb 2018
Hey everyone, hope you all are successful at quitting cymbalta. Figured I would add and update. I have been off of Cymbalta now for about a year. I weaned using the process in my comment above and made it through. The first few month off of cymbalta were filled with aches pains and general depression. It was rough, but I have been able to remain off of it and my mental health has mostly retured to pre cymbalta. Hopefully that offers hope for those struggling.
MO
Mommy42975
26 Feb 2017
I've been on 90 mg of Cymbalta daily for close to 10 years for depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. I take a 60mg and a 30mg together because they don't come in 90mg. When I refilled my script last I was informed my insurance will no longer cover my 60mg script. I've been fighting with them for 2 weeks. I was told by the insurance co that they felt my dosage was too high, but they were reviewing it. So, I was taking 3 of the 30s a day waiting for them to approve coverage, then I started taking only 2, hoping to wean myself off, because it was taking longer than predicted to resolve the insurance issue and i was afraid I'd run out. I got sick on the lower dose, but not horribly. Well, as of yesterday, I'm totally out of pills, and still no answer from insurance company. I'm so sick and can't stop shaking and crying, not to mention the pain in my body.
Seriously considering the ER right now, but I'm afraid they'll think I'm a junkie looking for a fix because well that's how I look right now... and how I feel. Any ideas?? Anyone? I'm desperate.
Votes: +2
SH
Shikaakwa
26 Feb 2017
First make certain your Doctor is writing the prescription with an option to fill it with the lesser expensive formulaic and then pay out-of-pocket. Once you have recovered from the immediate emergency, work through the Insurance issues clear headed. An ER visit will cost you more than filling the (generic) prescription with cash. Communicate with your Doctor about the Insurance issues so the paperwork may be handled appropriately.
GR
GRAMYBEAR
31 Jan 2017
Please promise me that you will ask your doctor to take you off of it VERY slowly. It's not only one of the hardest prescriptions to get off of, but dangerous to do yourself. Please let us know how you are doing! Hugs
