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Mental Health Coming off duloxetine/Cymbalta

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SixBuckets

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Jan 21, 2015
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It's balls. It's utter balls.

I don't have a question or a story, I just needed to share how balls this experience is. I've spent the last month and a bit stepping down my duloxetine to nothing. I'm two weeks post my final step down (as in, I have not taken duloxetine for two weeks) and I am STILL getting brain zaps when I move my eyes.

Shout out to anyone else who's done this successfully.
 
I came down from 90mg/night to zero over about a month and a half - so around two or three weeks for each 30mg step down.

It wasn't as bad as coming off Effexor (NEVER AGAIN) and I haven't experienced any increase in pain and anxiety at all, so I guess it wasn't really doing anything for me anyway. If I'd started having symptoms, I would have cracked the capsules and stepped down in < 30mg intervals.

There was a bit of a rush as I needed to come off the duloxetine before I could be prescribed tramadol for my pain - my doc wasn't comfy giving me the script for tramadol until I was clear of the duloxetine.
 
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Jeez mang. No wonder your ballsin out. That should have taken you at least 6 months. As long as you are doing okay...but protracted withdrawal is real thing.

Know SNRIs are a bitch. Props.

Hope you start feeling better soon.
 
Well i never took Cymbalta but way back before i was diagnosed as having Bipolar disorder i was put on Effexor which is a similar drug except Duloxetine is a more potent Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor then Venlafaxine is. I was only on it for maybe 6 weeks or a little longer and as this was way back before pharmaceutical companies had to acknowledge that these meds had a very severe discontinuation syndrome my doctor told me it was okay to stop taking it cold turkey. I had more then enough of the anxiety, drug induced anorexia, rapid and sometimes violent mood swings, suicidal thoughts and the complete inability to have a orgasm i was more then happy to chuck the rest of the pills in the trash.

Within maybe 2 days the withdrawal symptoms set in full force and as i had no idea that effexor even caused withdrawal symptoms (this was back before i had the internet) i honestly thought i had something serious wrong with me. The brain zaps i got every time i moved my eyes was the worst symptom but the mood swings, insomnia, anxiety, out of nowhere projectile vomiting, Depersonalization and derealization, dizziness, suicidal idealization, the feeling that i was going insane and severe headaches where not fun either. Even though i was only on this drug for maybe abit longer then 6 weeks i experienced these acute withdrawal symptoms for a good 2 weeks and some of the symptoms lingered for atleast a month. This was only at 150mg's a day as well i think so i would hate to see what it's like coming off a high dose after a extended period of time.

I found certain things to help such as Dimenhydrinate, Diphenhydramine (i imagine Promethazine would work as well or better), Benzos and of course Cannabis. As Tramadol is also a SNRI i would imagine that it would also help the withdrawal symptoms. It sounds like you tapered too fast but if you have been off it a few weeks it would be worth toughing it out if you could.

I know it's hell getting off SNRI's so good luck to you :)
 
I'm on cymbalta myself, am on 60mg. Have been on anti-depressants the last 4 years but still haven't got the balls to get off as I hate the brain zaps. Will be doing it over the summer period when I have 2 months off work though.
 
Good to see you around noonoo. Have you considered starting a slow taper sooner? If you do it slow enough, you should have minimal discomfort. It can be dangerous going off of SNRIs that quickly and I have seen it mess people up for a long time. I like to just get it over with too, but I really fucked up my last taper and paid for it dearly, still am a year later. Maybe go down 10 mg a month to get down to a lower dosage?

You are really supposed to do it slower than that, but I understand people wanting to do it faster. Just be safe man.
 
SixBuckets said:
There was a bit of a rush as I needed to come off the duloxetine before I could be prescribed tramadol for my pain - my doc wasn't comfy giving me the script for tramadol until I was clear of the duloxetine.
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Just out of curiosity, why was your doc uncomfortable mixing them? I've combined those two without difficulty in the past.
 
paranoid android said:
Well i never took Cymbalta but way back before i was diagnosed as having Bipolar disorder i was put on Effexor which is a similar drug except Duloxetine is a more potent Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor then Venlafaxine is. I was only on it for maybe 6 weeks or a little longer and as this was way back before pharmaceutical companies had to acknowledge that these meds had a very severe discontinuation syndrome my doctor told me it was okay to stop taking it cold turkey. I had more then enough of the anxiety, drug induced anorexia, rapid and sometimes violent mood swings, suicidal thoughts and the complete inability to have a orgasm i was more then happy to chuck the rest of the pills in the trash.
Click to expand...

Effexor remains THE WORST discontinuation I've ever experienced, and I've lost track of the number of different meds I've tried. I honestly thought I was going to die.

I know it's hell getting off SNRI's so good luck to you :)
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Thank you!

noonoo said:
I'm on cymbalta myself, am on 60mg. Have been on anti-depressants the last 4 years but still haven't got the balls to get off as I hate the brain zaps. Will be doing it over the summer period when I have 2 months off work though.
Click to expand...

Good luck!

silverwheel said:
Just out of curiosity, why was your doc uncomfortable mixing them? I've combined those two without difficulty in the past.
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There's a risk of serotonin syndrome, as they both work as SNRIs. It's a small risk, but everyone involved in my treatment was super cautious about medication because no one wanting to be responsible for treating a comorbid psych/pain patient if something went wrong.
 
SixBuckets said:
Effexor remains THE WORST discontinuation I've ever experienced, and I've lost track of the number of different meds I've tried. I honestly thought I was going to die.



Thank you!
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Yup Effexor was the worst med I've ever come off period and that includes all the Opioids I've been on. Even kicking a insanely high IV Dilaudid addiction a few years back paled in comparison to coming off that shit. Hell the time i ran out of Clonazepam while i was on 6mg's a day for years wasn't as bad ffs
 
I wasn't even on Cymbalta for longer than 3 months and came down gradually from 60mg. You managed to sum up how bad I felt - there was no words. Palpitations and brain-zaps were not fun on top of the comedown/spaced-out/anxious feelings (I was paranoid I was having mini-seizures or something had to double check online) but they went away eventually after about 2weeks. They really should warn folk before starting treatment shouldn't they. In contrast, just came off of a TCA called Lofepramine with minimal effect - give or take the odd panic/sweating etc for a good few days but nothing like the Cymbalta, horrible so it was - hope you are getting there!
 
Ugh, I hate to think what I'm in for if I tried to get off it. But tbh I'm not sure I should to begin with, I've been lucky that cymbalta had a very significant positive effect on my depression with no side effects of note. And I have no reason to think I wouldn't become depressed again.
 
It's been another couple of weeks and I feel much better. Brain zaps are mostly gone. Still no anxiety or depression, although my psychiatrist warned me to give a fair while before making that call.

So far, so good!
 
That is wonderful news, six buckets! I experience idiopathic brain zaps and they are very disconcerting. I'm so happy that you are feeling strong. :)<3
 
The first time I had ever experienced withdrawal was after being weened off Risperdal Consta 37.5mg, onto Invega 6 mg. I waited, albeit very impatiently, for the Consta shot to get out of my system. When the injection finally wore off, I made a drastic decision to quit taking my Lithium Carbonate (600mg) and my Invega. I was fine for about a week and a half. I had gotten almost all of my psychic abilities back, but suddenly I began having panic attacks. Figuring out caffeine was responsible for most of my panic attacks, I cut that out of my system but I was still a train wreck.

Months passed and I was having trouble with food. It started out as really bad anxiety whenever I would eat something. That escalated to panic attacks whenever I would eat something. Finally, when I realized I could no longer even drink water without feeling it was killing me, I reached out for help and was eventually prescribed Risperidone. Before the Risperidone, though, I had once again lost my psychic abilities... the irony sunk in.

Being reintroduced similar medications to what I had been on before, I was slowly brought back to a healthy state. Though I long to be able to read minds and properly do Tai-Chi again, it's better that I get back to that point safely. But I think I know how you guys feel.
 
^Sounds like you have a very good grasp on what you needed to do. Staying fluid in your thinking and weighing when you do and do not need medication is a delicate balance. I give you lots of credit for your self-awareness.
 
How long were you on it over all? My sister been on it 10 years, at 20mg a night, she is having a hell of a time. Any suggestions?
 
ConanTheAccountant said:
How long were you on it over all? My sister been on it 10 years, at 20mg a night, she is having a hell of a time. Any suggestions?
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I've been on cymbalta (duloxetine) for 10+ years too, and have tried to come off it a few times but failed because the withdrawals are so bad!! So I truly understand what your sister is going through. From my understanding, it is best if you do a long slow taper off cymbalta. I have also heard that switching to a different antidepressant such as prozac/lovan that has a longer half-life can make it easier to taper down and quit. She MUST speak to her doctor about doing that though.
 
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