blueinbeirut Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Hi everyone. I came across this forum because I was looking for information about tapering off Cymbalta. I have been on this medication for 8 years, and on antidepressants for 15 years. I started antidepressants in high school as I was being treated for an eating disorder. I went through a few different meds (Paxil, Lexapro - and maybe Wellbutrin?, Effexor) and made progress on the eating disorder, but then I became a heavy alcoholic in college. After going through a few treatment programs and being hospitalized for a suicide attempt, I was put on Cymbalta and I have since finished college, gone to grad school, and started a new job in another country (moved from the US to Lebanon).I've been thinking about wanting to taper off of Cymbalta for a few years now. I started with concern about excessive fatigue -- I always felt tired, no matter how much sleep I was getting, and it seemed to be affecting my productivity during grad school. I was willing to put up with the excessive sweating (I used to be the kind of person who rarely sweat), but now I am having difficulty with my concentration and memory. Since these two things are really important to my job as a professor (i.e., my abillity to engage with complex ideas and do research), these effects are really concerning to me. I don't feel like myself. I recently talked to a friend with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology about her personal experience tapering off, and I became a bit more confident about the possibility of tapering off the medication and using other support mechanisms to help manage my depression (which I see as the root cause, and the eating disorder and alcoholism were manifestation of the underlying depression). I would like to start tapering off now, and then see a doctor when I return to Beirut (I'm in the US for the holidays) to inform him of my progress. I was hoping that seeing a therapist, making a commitment to regular exercise, and other support mechanisms will help me manage my depression (which I feel is pretty severe based on my history, but has been relatively well-managed over the last 6-7 years). I have gotten married and my husband is very supportive. We were previously in a long-distance relationship (for 5 years), and having him around all the time (for almost 1 year now) is something that I feel will help me a lot in managing my symptoms, as well. I have experienced some of the withdrawal effects such as the brain zaps and things when I've gotten sick and been unable to keep the medication down, but I haven't successfully weaned down since being on my current dose (90 mg). I believe that this is because I went down too far. I take a 60 mg capsule in the morning and 30 in the evening, and the last time (2-3 years ago) that I tried to taper off, it was by cutting out the second capsule. I was fine overall, but I think my stress and anxiety went up so my doctor recommended that I return to the previous dose. I feel like I'm in a better place with more support now, so I might handle it better, but I've also read the post about tapering, and am wondering if it's just safer and wiser overall to just reduce by 10%. I planned to open one of the capsules and reduce the beads by 10% of the overall dosage, though as I write this I'm thinking it would be more accurate to open each capsule and reduce it by 10%. Any thoughts or suggestions? Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted December 20, 2015 Moderator Share Posted December 20, 2015 Hi blueinbeirut-- Welcome to the group. It is so refreshing to have someone join before they get into trouble. It looks like you've really done some research and are in a good position to start your taper. As you have read we recommend tapering by 10% of your previous dose every 4-6 weeks. We have found this to be a good starting place for most people. That would be 10% of your TOTAL daily dose. Frequently people who split their dose take the 10% out of the smaller of the two in an attempt to eliminate one of the doses. If you are more comfortable with taking the doses twice a day there would be no problem with taking 5% out of each. We have some good information about getting ready to taper: Preparing to taper Why taper by 10% of my dosage? Tips for tapering off Cymbalta (duloxetine) If you would please add a signature block It will make it a lot easier to keep track of how you're doing. Please put your withdrawal history in your signature 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted December 20, 2015 Moderator Share Posted December 20, 2015 I added your name to the title of this thread so it will be easier for you to find. This will be your journal for recording your progress, asking questions, making comments and friends. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
blueinbeirut Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 Thank you! I'll try to create a signature before my next post. Link to comment
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