NewEnglander: Cymbalta withdrawal and mouth/tongue issues

[NewEnglander]

Hey everyone!

 

Like my signature says, I spent 6 months on Cymbalta: 3 months at 20mg and 3 months at 40mg. I then did a 3-month taper by counting beads from the capsules. Most of my taper went really well: I didn't notice much of anything until near the end.

 

When I had about 20% of the beads left to go, I started experiencing really annoying mouth and tongue symptoms that were new to me. My jaw started clenching (particularly at night), and my tongue began pushing/scraping against my teeth. Often, my jaw feels like it's clenching around my tongue. Relatedly, I sometimes catch myself swallowing all the saliva out of my mouth--it's almost involuntary, but not quite. Because of the tongue scraping, my tongue is often a bit raw/"burnt"-feeling and I'm not tasting things as well as before.

 

These issues began about 8-9 weeks ago, and I've been off the Cymbalta now for 6-7 weeks. I may have finished the taper a bit quickly because I was impatient to come off the meds.

 

I never had any symptoms like this before the Cymbalta taper. The swallowing and tongue scraping remind me of what I've read about tardive dyskinesia, but can this really happen after just 6 months on a relatively low dose of Cymbalta? It seems unlikely. For now I am just waiting it out (I guess?), and I know many people have much worse withdrawal symptoms, but these problems are still quite frustrating!!

[FireflyFyte]

Hi NewEnglander,

 

Welcome to SA. Please summarize your drug history in your signature. You can follow the instructions at How to Summarize Your Drug History in Your Signature. You may need a computer in able to do so.

 

While developing tardive dsykinesia is rare related to anti-depressants, it's not unheard of but usually resolves on its own. We have a section on the condition at Tardive dyskinesia, dyskinesia, dystonia, extrapyramidal, or involuntary movements.

 

Are you experiencing any other withdrawal symptoms?

 

Thanks,

 

Firefly

[NewEnglander]

Hi! I'm sorry, I thought I put my drug info in my signature and by mistake put it in my "About Me" section instead. Should be updated now.

 

My symptoms aren't like what I've read about Tardive Dyskinesia--I don't have exaggerated or jerky movements. But maybe they count anyway? I guess the only thing to do is to wait this out, even if it could take some months?

Yes, it's the only withdrawal symptom I notice but it's really worrisome to have my tongue constantly feeling raw and my mouth feeling like I burn it every day! I'll check out that thread. Thank you!

[FireflyFyte]

10 minutes ago, NewEnglander said:

Hi! I'm sorry, I thought I put my drug info in my signature and by mistake put it in my "About Me" section instead. Should be updated now.

 

Thank you, appreciate it.

 

10 minutes ago, NewEnglander said:

My symptoms aren't like what I've read about Tardive Dyskinesia--I don't have exaggerated or jerky movements. But maybe they count anyway? I guess the only thing to do is to wait this out, even if it could take some months?

Yes, it's the only withdrawal symptom I notice but it's really worrisome to have my tongue constantly feeling raw and my mouth feeling like I burn it every day! I'll check out that thread. Thank you!

 

You can use the search function to look for "burning mouth", "raw tongue", etc. to see if other people have experienced similar. Withdrawal symptoms can range widely.
 

If the symptom is tolerable, I would advise waiting it out but you can also talk to a doctor to determine if it is unrelated to withdrawal. 

 

[NewEnglander]

Thank you! I actually just found some reports of people experiencing symptoms like mine (jaw clenching, tongue pushing up against teeth, general burning mouth) that faded over time. Looks like it's some kind of nervous system reaction.

 

I think this is very clearly related to withdrawal, so I will "tough it out." My symptoms are very annoying, but still tolerable at the end of the day. I really appreciate the sanity check on this! I bet you get a lot of these around here.