Sidhe13 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Hi. I am 27 years old and I have been on antidepressants for about 8 years now. I am currently on Cymbalta 90mg. I recently had abnormal LFT and after some thought decided i am sick of taking pills to combat problems that are possible being caused by other pills. The goal is to be off all medication. Cymbalta, Nexium, antihistamines, strong pain killers....once i have my clean slate then i will reassess what i need to be taking. I have previously taken Aropax, Lamatrogine, Fluoxitine, Seroquel, Lexapro...i think that is all of them... I have always been prone to withdrawls from skipping a dose but Cymbalta is by far the worst i have ever experienced. If i am late by just a few hours, i am in trouble. Brain zaps, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, confusion and loss of depth perception, cramping tummy and diarrhea, tingling all though my arms and legs....just absolute hell! I wish i had known about this before i started taking it! I am usually a bit more on-to-it about checking out any new medication! My only excuse was i was completely sucked in by the 'new wonder drug' that would treat my depression and fibromyalgia, and dazzled by all the fancy letters attached to this doc's name...i was obviously having a very slow day!! ???? Link to comment
Frustrated Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 oh we all wish we had known about the withdrawals before taking them! I was put on for mild anxiety and fibromyalgia. I tapered off in 2 months which was WAY too fast. I am 5 and a half months in and still suffering. I suspect most of my issues are withdrawals and NOT fibro at this point. If you have the opportunity to taper 10% every 4 weeks then do that. You will save yourself alot of agony. OH! Welcome haha. 2002-put on amitryptiline for fibromyalgia. 10mg.2004-stopped abruptly. Didn't think it helped.2006 approx.-put on Paxil for mild anxiety 20 mg.2007 upped to 40 mg. not sure why.2011- tapered from 40 to 10. went nuts and went back to 20mg2014- tapered from 20mg to 0 from April to The end of June.current meds- Metformin(type 2 diabetic) and low dose aspirin.Take multi vitamin and vit b12, vit. D and magnesium. 5 months off Paxil. Still suffering.recently added 1.2mg of Paxil to alleviate withdrawals.(Nov 30)Dropped to .9mg because having symptoms from reinstatement.(dec 23)<p>taper to .76mg-.8mg (Feb 3) approx. weight .010 to about .008-.009 on scale..6mg (march 19th.) .5mg(April 19th).4mg(April 27th).2 (June 27th) 0mg. done taper at beginning of August. Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted December 27, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 27, 2014 Hi Sidhe-- Welcome to the group. As you have already figured out you are sensitive to reductions in your medication. This tells me you need to go really slow in your taper. There is a ton of good information in the Tapering forum, all the "pinned" threads are worth reading. I would also recommend reading tis one http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/283-tips-for-tapering-off-cymbalta-duloxetine/ Being so sensitive, when you start to taper there is a variant of the 10% method that may make things easier on you. It is called the Brassmonkey Slide Method. Essentially it is dropping 2.5% a week for 4 weeks and then an additional 2 week hold. this gives a drop of 10% over 6 weeks. By dropping the smaller amounts you sorta sneak up on the symptoms and it seems to make them less severe. Best of luck on your new journey. 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 Emeritus mammaP Posted December 27, 2014 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted December 27, 2014 Hi Sidhe13, welcome to SA. Cymbalta is a very nasty little drug and not easy to get away from as you have discovered! I agree with Brassmonkey that a slow taper might be better for you than the 10% we usually recommend. Read through the thread that BM provided, and this one too on slow tapering. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2878-micro-taper-instead-of-10-or-5-decreases/ It is important to listen to your body as you taper, and hold at the first sign of any withdrawal symptoms. Link to the 3 KIS Keep it stable, keep it simple and keep it slow. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6632-the-rule-of-3kis-keep-it-simple-keep-it-slow-keep-it-stable/ It will help us if you list the medications you are taking in your signature strip, here is how to do that. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/ **I am not a medical professional, if in doubt please consult a doctor with withdrawal knowledge. Different drugs occasionally (mostly benzos) 1976 - 1981 (no problem) 1993 - 2002 in and out of hospital. every type of drug + ECT. Staring with seroxat 2002 effexor. Tapered March 2012 to March 2013, ending with 5 beads. Withdrawal April 2013 . Reinstated 5 beads reduced to 4 beads May 2013 Restarted taper Nov 2013 OFF EFFEXOR Feb 2015 Tapered atenolol and omeprazole Dec 2013 - May 2014 Tapering tramadol, Feb 2015 100mg , March 2015 50mg July 2017 30mg. May 15 2018 25mg Taking fish oil, magnesium, B12, folic acid, bilberry eyebright for eye pressure. My story http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4199-hello-mammap-checking-in/page-33 Lesson learned, slow down taper at lower doses. Taper no more than 10% of CURRENT dose if possible Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted January 1, 2015 Administrator Share Posted January 1, 2015 Welcome, Sidhe. Please do read the link Brassmonkey gave you about tapering Cymbalta. Also, you may wish to put ALL the drugs you take in the Drug Interactions Checker http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.htmland post the results in this topic. This can help identify side effects you're feeling now. Thank you for that information, Brassmonkey. Your slide method is something like Micro-taper instead of 10% or 5% decreases You might want to add it to that topic for others to consider. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now