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Tamra: Generic Cymbalta


Tamra

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Hi- I just joined today to try to find some information to help my fiance as he is not really able to right now. Since I am not the actual person who is trying to get off this terrible stuff (generic Cymbalta), is it okay to spell that out in my signature and include his information (taper, withdrawal, etc.)?  Thanks.

2/1/15- I arrived here today while researching a better method for my fiancé to get off of generic Cymbalta. He started skipping every other morning dose a few weeks ago and began experiencing aches and severe back and hip pain this last week.   

 

- Welbutrin for depression for 10 years.

- Was switched to Cymbalta 60mg in 2013 to aid in managing chronic painful muscle spasms- 30mg in the morning added about a year ago because the 60mg wasn't handling the depression

-Currently taking generic Cymbalta (Lupin pharmacy) 30mg morning and 60mg evening.

The plan is to resume both doses until he is stabilized and begin tapering by one bead in the morning cap each month as tolerated. 

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  • Moderator

Hi Tamra--  Welcome to the group.  Thank you for making the effort to find information for your fiance, having loving support is extremely helpful in getting through this.  I am not a moderator,, so my saying so doesn't make it correct, but I see no problem in putting all of his information in your signature.  Just be sure to point out that you're doing this to help some one else.  I would also suggest that you start a thread in the "Introductions" forum.  More people will see it there (I stumbled on this post by accident) and you can use it for keeping records and asking questions.  Read around the site there is a ton of good information here.

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

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  • Member

Welcome to the site Tamra and fiance,

 

I have included a couple of links from the tapering forum to get you started and have also sent you a message letting you know the new location of your topic. Please let is know what else you need help with. The information on how to create a signature may be reviewed from the link in my own signature.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/283-tips-for-tapering-off-cymbalta-duloxetine/?hl=%2Btapering+%2Bcymbalta

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/?view=findpost&p=17073&hl=%2Btapering+%2Bcymbalta

 

The pinned topic at the top of this forum, the 3KIS, summarizes our best suggestions for safely tapering off any psychiatric drug, not just cymbalta. We look forward to hearing about your fiance's story.

What happened and how I arrived here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4243-cymbaltawithdrawal5600-introduction/#entry50878

 

July 2016 I have decided to leave my story here at SA unfinished. I have left my contact information in my profile for anyone who wishes to talk to me. I have a posting history spanning nearly 4 years and 3000+ posts all over the site.

 

Thank you to all who participated in my recovery. I'll miss talking to you but know that I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, suffering and rejoicing with you in spirit, as you go on in your journey.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Tamra , welcome.   

If you have any specific question or concerns , you can ask them here on your thread.

What's actually going on with b.f. at the moment?

There are lots of people here who want to be able to help you both . . . just let us know how best we can.

 

Fresh

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

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Thank you everyone! I will update my signature this evening after work as I am nearly out of time this morning but in a nutshell- I just found out my fiance was trying to get off Cymbalta yesterday when he woke to horrendous agonizing pain in back back and hip. He has a history of terrible, painful muscle spasms due to multiple injuries throughout his life, including car accident 10 or 11 years ago- Cymbalta was the miracle drug he was switched to from Welbutrin that would treat his depression and help his pain. Now, he is used to pain and deals with it pretty stoically but he was sobbing yesterday morning. He told me he thought it was because a few weeks ago he had started skipping the morning dose of Cymbalta on the casual advice of a therapist he sees once in a while. All this past week or so he has been complaining of aching and generally not feeling well, and I had noticed he was a bit off- figured maybe coming down with something. Now I know why!

 

Anyway, yesterday morning he took a dose of Cymbalta along with a Tylenol w/ codeine and slept until noon and was better, although still felt slight pain. I told him I would do some research and find out what I could.  He is a smart guy but has a lot of life things going on and can get distracted- I generally read the book and give him the synopsis, if that explains anything! So, here I am. From what I've read, bead counting is the way to go and skipping doses is one of the worst things he could have done. The plan today is he is going to start taking both doses daily until he is stabilized again and then he will begin reducing beads. The challenge is few beads in generic pills and he takes two doses- morning and night. That is what we need advice on. 

 

Okay- I've got to run- I feel better already knowing there are those who have been down this road. 

2/1/15- I arrived here today while researching a better method for my fiancé to get off of generic Cymbalta. He started skipping every other morning dose a few weeks ago and began experiencing aches and severe back and hip pain this last week.   

 

- Welbutrin for depression for 10 years.

- Was switched to Cymbalta 60mg in 2013 to aid in managing chronic painful muscle spasms- 30mg in the morning added about a year ago because the 60mg wasn't handling the depression

-Currently taking generic Cymbalta (Lupin pharmacy) 30mg morning and 60mg evening.

The plan is to resume both doses until he is stabilized and begin tapering by one bead in the morning cap each month as tolerated. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Sounds like you're onto it Tamra.   Aches and pains and crying . .  early withdrawal symptoms.

He'll need to stay  on the higher dose for a good month or two before cutting down , cause his nervous system has had a serious shake-up.

Codeine is safe for him to take.    If he's considering anything else , check out the "drug interaction checker"   on    drugs.com   

He may have a few bad days before his system settles , but I'm pretty sure he'll be fine.

Keep us posted ,    Fresh

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

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Thanks, Fresh- we for sure know now that this is not something to rush. I see that tapering beads at a time is the way to go. Our thought is to start the taper with the morning 30 mg dose until it is gone and then start on the evening 60 mg. The challenge I see is that the generic he takes is the one that has 6 beads in the 30mg. So, reducing one bead a month or so, depending on how he does. Has anyone had any experience with tapering multiple daily doses? Also, has anyone been able to successfully cut the big beads? Should I post these questions separately somewhere else?

2/1/15- I arrived here today while researching a better method for my fiancé to get off of generic Cymbalta. He started skipping every other morning dose a few weeks ago and began experiencing aches and severe back and hip pain this last week.   

 

- Welbutrin for depression for 10 years.

- Was switched to Cymbalta 60mg in 2013 to aid in managing chronic painful muscle spasms- 30mg in the morning added about a year ago because the 60mg wasn't handling the depression

-Currently taking generic Cymbalta (Lupin pharmacy) 30mg morning and 60mg evening.

The plan is to resume both doses until he is stabilized and begin tapering by one bead in the morning cap each month as tolerated. 

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  • Administrator

Welcome, Tamra.

 

Lupin is the manufacturer of your boyfriend's generic Cymbalta? He's taking 90mg a day? That's a hefty dose.

 

I've updated Tips for tapering off Cymbalta (duloxetine) to include the "mini-tablets" in generics like Lupin's. There should be 12 "mini-tablets" in the 60mg capsule:

  • If you are taking one 60mg capsule plus any of the other dosages per day (at least 80mg), reduce by one mini-tablet (5mg) from the 60mg capsule per month until you get to 45mg total daily dosage, then switch to brand-name Cymbalta or a generic containing beads rather than mini-tablets. Use the bead-counting method.

So in your boyfriend's case, he could reduce by 5mg a month for 9 months, then he'd be taking 3 mini-tablets from the 60mg capsule plus the entire 30mg capsule for 45mg. To maintain a 10% dosage reduction, he'd then need to switch to a type of Cymbalta containing the tiny beads.

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.

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  • Member

 Also, has anyone been able to successfully cut the big beads? Should I post these questions separately somewhere else?

 

Tamra,

 

Just so you know (in case you missed it in the link to tapering cymbalta I gave you above) you cannot ever cut or crush these beads because they have a special coating to prevent them from getting in contact with stomach acids which will inactivate the drug. You won't get any of the med whatsoever and your fiance already knows how bad he feels when that happens.

 

Any question specific to your situation is always better asked here in your topic. Mods are always reading them and can offer help. (As well as other helpful community members!)

What happened and how I arrived here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4243-cymbaltawithdrawal5600-introduction/#entry50878

 

July 2016 I have decided to leave my story here at SA unfinished. I have left my contact information in my profile for anyone who wishes to talk to me. I have a posting history spanning nearly 4 years and 3000+ posts all over the site.

 

Thank you to all who participated in my recovery. I'll miss talking to you but know that I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, suffering and rejoicing with you in spirit, as you go on in your journey.

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