Crash: Cymbalta hell

[Crash]

I'm laying in bed trying to sleep while my brain is zapping everytime I move my head even a little. The nausea is finally starting to go away. I'm freezing one minute then hot and sweaty. I took a unisom sleeptab which I'm hoping will help me fall asleep. I've had it with drugs. I don't ever want to take anything again. I've even lost interest in drinking alcohol, not that I had a problem. The funny thing is I'm not having any depression or pain now, which is why I was taking cymbalta. I wish I was warned about these withdrawals because it is worse than withdrawing cold turkey from opiates. Anyway, this is my first post. Hopefully I feel better soon. Oh and I did do a quick taper off cymbalta because I had not much of a problem stopping other drugs. This one is pure hell.

[Petunia]

Welcome Crash,

I'm sorry to hear you are having symptoms and difficulty sleeping. What you describe does sound like withdrawal symptoms. I hope you feel better soon too.  I don't mean to scare you, but sometimes withdrawal symptoms can last a while, weeks, months and in some cases even longer.

 

If someone is taking several psychiatric drugs and stops taking them one at a time, what often happens is its not too difficult to stop the first ones because there is some cushioning of withdrawal symptoms provided by what you are still taking, but once the nervous system no longer has any drug support, or in your case, little support, it starts struggling trying to maintain balance. I suggest you stop all tapering for now to give your NS a chance to settle down.

 

We recommend a careful taper off each drug, one at a time, reducing by no more than 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks, this reduces the risk of withdrawal symptoms arising. Please read through this which will explain why:  Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

How long ago did you stop taking Cymbalta? What dose did you stop from?  If you could provide a few more details about how you tapered, it would give us a better idea of what to suggest.

 

You may be able to reinstate a small amount of of cymbalta, stabilize and then begin a slower taper, once we have a few more details we will be able to help more with this, if its something you decide to try.

 

You may want to read through this topic to learn more about it:   About reinstating and stabilizing to stop withdrawal symptoms

 

Thank you for filling in your signature.  I'm glad you found us, please feel free to post whenever you want, there is a lot of friendly help and support here.

 

Petunia.

[Fresh]

Hi Crash , welcome to the site.  You'll get alot of information and support here.

Good job doing your signature.  

 

As Petunia said , withdrawal symptoms from stopping cymbalta too fast can go on for quite some

time . . . the brain zaps will stop and other symptoms will come.  

You're right , it's much worse than withdrawing from opiates because new symptoms can keep coming

up to 12 months after stopping.

 

If reinstating is an option , it's well worth considering.

 

Best wishes ,  Fresh

[Crash]

Thanks for the replies, I'm glad I found this site.

 

I should have tapered slower now that I think about it, but I was very anxious to stop taking all meds after I found out they are probably causing me to get cysts and tumors. I'm generally very healthy, just have some mental trouble :-(

 

I was taking 60mg cymbalta (generic) for about a year. This was after taking other ssri's and snri's for several years. I have been diagnosed with depression since I was a young teenager, I am 46 now. Cymbalta did help a lot for the depression but not so much for the nerve pain I was having from the accident. I tapered down from 60mg cymbalta to 30mg and stayed at 30 for two weeks, no problem. I then went down to about 15mg for one week then stopped because I ran out of pills. It's been about two weeks that I have been off cymbalta. The first week was ok, but the brain zaps, nausea and dizziness started during the second week. I did not know that new symptoms would appear. What should I expect next? I can't imagine it can get worse! I do not want to go back on and start the taper again, I really feel that it's going to cause me to get cancer. I'd rather go through a couple of weeks or months of withdrawal symptoms than get cancer.

 

Also I forgot to mention that I took 3000mg of fish oil last night and feel slightly better today. I think fish oil might have helped.

 

Crash

[Fresh]

I'm so sorry to tell you , but yes , it will get much worse.  

The "hots and colds" is temperature disregulation , that will be around for while.  Usually diarrhea and aches

and pains , flu' like symptoms , come next.

See  Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

[Crash]

I'm so sorry to tell you , but yes , it will get much worse. [/url]

Hey, let's think positive! :-)

[KarenB]

Okay - here's the positive .  You will become an amazingly strong person, able to deal with all sorts of lessons that life throws at you.  You will come to understand your brain, your central-nervous-system, your guts, your heart, and your soul as never before.  You will become beautifuly in-tune with yourself, and therefore able to give yourself the care you need.  You will develop a great empathy for suffering people. 

 

Nice to meet you Crash, and welcome to s/a.

 

No-one ever wants to reinstate when they first get here, but sometimes - in the long run - it's the best way through.  Your system has been through a lot with all the dose and med changes.  Your big aim right now is to stabilise your CNS.  A small reinstatement can help you to do this (no guarantees though).  Then when you've got good and steady for a decent length of time, you can plan a gentle taper with our help. 

 

The initial urgency people have to get the drugs out of their system is very natural.  It's due to our 'fight or flight' response when we recognise danger.  You did a good job of recognising the danger in these drugs.  Now you need to work on easing yourself out of 'fight or flight' mode and into 'let's calmly make the best plan to heal' mode.

 

Have a read of the reinstatement link Petunia gave you, and let us know what you think.  You'll get good support here.  Lets just go day by day.

 

And in terms of the cancer worry, I think that minimising stress is a major factor in avoiding it.  (I do know it has many causes).  Therefore you'll probably want the smoothest path possible. 

 

Hugs,

KarenB

[Crash]

Again, I'm so glad I found thus site. I knew in the back of my mind that antidepressants were like poison but it was helping with depression. I used to take lithium (maybe 35 years ago) and don't recall having withdrawal symptoms. It's the ssri's that mess with my brain.

I'm considering reinstating after reading some things here. I can pick up a bottle of 60mg cymbalta tomorrow. What I was doing to taper was opening the capsule and dumping out most of the medicine. My question is do I need to use the capsule or can I just swallow the medicine inside? I'm guessing the capsule helps delay the absorption.

 

Thanks!

 

Crash

[Fresh]

How were you measuring 15mg worth?

Two options are using a digital jewellers' scale to weigh your dose , or making your own liquid e.g one 60mg

capsule dissolved in 60mg water means you can draw up exactly the dose you want with an oral syringe.

 

See the thread Tips for Tapering off Cymbalta to see what others have done.

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/283-tips-for-tapering-off-cymbalta-duloxetine/

and

How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules

 

You're going to be okay , you should get some symptom relief within 24 hours of re-starting.

 

[Crash]

How were you measuring 15mg worth?

Two options are using a digital jewellers' scale to weigh your dose , or making your own liquid e.g one 60mg

capsule dissolved in 60mg water means you can draw up exactly the dose you want with an oral syringe.

 

See the thread Tips for Tapering off Cymbalta to see what others have done.

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/283-tips-for-tapering-off-cymbalta-duloxetine/

and

How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules

 

You're going to be okay , you should get some symptom relief within 24 hours of re-starting.

 

Cymbalta can't be dissolved in water because the tiny grains in the capsule are enteric coated. I was estimating 15mg by emptying the contents of the capsule and dividing it into 4 piles, each should be 15mg from a 60mg capsule.

 

I found a bottle of Prozac in my kitchen cabinet. Forgot I had it, so I just took 5mg. Tomorrow I will start back on a low dose of cymbalta and Prozac for one week and then stop the cymbalta. I'm hoping Prozac is easier to taper off from.

[Crash]

When I went into detox to get off opiates, they took my cymbalta and didn't let me take it for a week. They said it doesn't cause withdrawal symptoms. I was in extreme withdrawal by the end of the week, not because of opiates but because of cymbalta. Why don't doctors and people in the medical field know this about antidepressants? Even my psychiatrist said that I wouldn't have a problem tapering off cymbalta. This blows my mind. I'll never trust a pill pushing dr again.

[Fresh]

It's slowly becoming more well publicized . . . you might be interested in the "In The Media" section.

 

Crash , I put suboxone into the interaction checker at www.drugs.com , and here's what came up.

Could you add info. about your suboxone taper to you signature , thanks.

 

"Moderate fluoxetine  buprenorphine

Applies to: Prozac (fluoxetine), Suboxone (buprenorphine / naloxone)

Using FLUoxetine together with buprenorphine may increase side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience some impairment in thinking and judgment.

Moderate buprenorphine  duloxetine

Applies to: Suboxone (buprenorphine / naloxone), Cymbalta (duloxetine)

Using buprenorphine together with DULoxetine may increase side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience some impairment in thinking and judgment."

 

 

Because you've been off meds for 3 weeks , 5mg prozac may be too strong , same with 15mg cymbalta.

You could try stabilizing on a lower dose of cymbalta when you get them , between 2 and 5mg may be enough.

[Crash]

It's slowly becoming more well publicized . . . you might be interested in the "In The Media" section.

 

Crash , I put suboxone into the interaction checker at www.drugs.com , and here's what came up.

Could you add info. about your suboxone taper to you signature , thanks.

 

 

"Moderate

fluoxetine buprenorphine

Applies to: Prozac (fluoxetine), Suboxone (buprenorphine / naloxone)

Using FLUoxetine together with buprenorphine may increase side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience some impairment in thinking and judgment.

 

Because you've been off meds for 3 weeks , 5mg prozac may be too strong , same with 15mg cymbalta.

You could try stabilizing on a lower dose of cymbalta when you get them , between 2 and 5mg may be enough.

I've been having those symptoms today. Your right, and I'm stopping the Prozac. Feeling sick today like I took too much pills but I only had 5mg Prozac and 15mg cymbalta. THIS SUCKS :-(

[pinkhistorycat]

It was good..not good to read tbis .coming off effexor..nightmares, sweats, hysterically crying, all hidden. I'm glad I'm not alone as I feel this way as know one knows. Thank u for posting

[Fresh]

It really does suck , but there is safe way out.  We've all been through it , and just want to help you.

It's going to take some time to settle . . . we've probably all done that thing where you want to feel better

quicker so take more of this or add that.

 

To err on the side of caution , you could take 10 beads of cymbalta for the next 4 days and reassess after that.

Or 20 beads , but probably not more than that.  This is powerful stuff , and you have a very sensitive cns.

 

It takes 4 days to get to a steady state in your blood-stream , but hopefully you'll notice the difference sooner.

 

Do you have anyone to help you with meals and stuff till you feel better?

[Crash]

It was good..not good to read tbis .coming off effexor..nightmares, sweats, hysterically crying, all hidden. I'm glad I'm not alone as I feel this way as know one knows. Thank u for posting

And thank you for posting. I have found that fish oil helps a little. For sleep, unisom sleeptabs but not every night. I'm done being addicted to pills. The brain zaps have stopped after two days of Prozac and cymbalta. Main problem now is I'm extremely tired especially in the morning. It's almost impossible to get out of bed. Nausea is still there too but I'm getting used to it. There's a lot of info here almost too much. I won't be able to read it all...

[Crash]

It really does suck , but there is safe way out.  We've all been through it , and just want to help you.

It's going to take some time to settle . . . we've probably all done that thing where you want to feel better

quicker so take more of this or add that.

 

To err on the side of caution , you could take 10 beads of cymbalta for the next 4 days and reassess after that.

Or 20 beads , but probably not more than that.  This is powerful stuff , and you have a very sensitive cns.

 

It takes 4 days to get to a steady state in your blood-stream , but hopefully you'll notice the difference sooner.

 

Do you have anyone to help you with meals and stuff till you feel better?

I bought some empty capsules - so I'll start with 10 beads of cymbalta. I'm dropping the Prozac.

 

Thanks,

 

Crash

[Fresh]

Of course . . . no need for prozac as well as cymbalta.

How are you doing today?

[Crash]

I'm feeling MUCH better today! I think the Prozac set me back a few days. I'm still taking fish oil and vitamin D. Have not felt this good in a long, long time. I'm going to continue tapering cymbalta and then start final taper off suboxone.

 

I know the 10% rule, but once I get down to such small doses, how does it work? It seems wrong to stay on such a small dose for a year while tapering 10% each month. I'm thinking reducing by one bead each week, so I'll be done in 10 weeks. What do the experts here think?

 

By the way, I had blood work done and I have no problems, so that is good...

 

Thanks,

 

Crash

[Fresh]

That's terrific news that you're heading in the right direction . . . you really dodged a bullet there.  

 

I suspect that the experts here will think that decreasing one bead a week is not a very good idea at all.

You've already found out how stopping/decreasing can be okay initially , then the bad symptoms begin.

The point is to avoid a repeat of this last few weeks , and come off them safely without crashing.

 

My advice is to stay on the 10 beads for 4-6 weeks.   You've just had a big shake-up , and your cns will

respond well to a period of stability.

Then when you're feeling well and stable and ready to taper , start off slow.   Go down to 9 beads and

wait 2-3 weeks to see if you get an onslaught of symptoms.   If things remain fine , go down one more bead

and wait another few weeks.  Et cetera.   

 

The point of a slow taper is to allow your brain to stabilize after each drop.

See  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1008-intro-to-antidepressant-withdrawal-syndrome/

 

What is withdrawal syndrome?

 

I'm sure this isn't what you were hoping to hear.  I can't find anything on this site about tapering suboxone. You

might want to start a topic in the Tapering section.  It is advisable to taper just one drug at a time , so if you get

into trouble you know what's likely to be causing it.