cymbalta (duloxitine) withdrawal - Fucking unbearable

[narcomick]

cymbalta (duloxitine) withdrawal - completely unbearable

3 days ago I stopped (forgot to take) my daily cymbalta 30 mg. I had successfully went from 60 to 30 mg. The first day, not much happened. I had skipped a dose so many times that the first day withdrawal no longer occurred. It was only today when it came to mind that I needed to take it again. I was sweating, shivering, too terrified to sleep and too exhausted to stay awake. Then the vomiting started. I must have thrown up 10 times at least today, perhaps 20. That wasn't unbearable. Evening came, and making my way home from a friends, vomiting as I went. Shaking like a leaf. Having to relieve my bowels constantly and struggling just to walk straight, I was hit by the brain zaps. The electric shocks that make you feel like your heart has stopped. Like you're on a plane and it's just stalled. Like you've been tazered or electrocuted but somehow worse than that. I began shaking to the point of tears. Crying, laughing and cursing as I hopelessley swallow a pill. The pill won't kick in for several hours. I struggle to hold it in my stomach as I disolved a clonazepam under my tounge, which does nothing to make me feel better. I laugh and cry and shake and swear, I feel like I've lost my mind. Perhaps I have. I'm screaming. In my own head all of the time, sometimes vocally. Biting down on my bedsheets and clenching my fists and jaw. Hours pass and I begin to feel relief. I say relief but it's not even that, I just feel less like I'm dying and more like I have the flu. My mind starts to come back. I vomit one more time, praying the pill has disolved. Slowly I can take it again. I can see an end to this, but it's not coming today. Only the words of lou reeds 'waves of fear' or the 'junkie limbo' scene in trainspotting can come close to the feeling I had. I've came off codeine, neuroleptics, lorazepam alcohol and nicotine, it's been bad, but this is a whole new level. And all this from not taking an antidepressant? Fuck. How did lily even create such a drug. As I write this, I'm recovering, the effects of this chemical themselves aren't pleasant. But thank god I'm back on it. How I'll ever get off it I do not know. I'm sorry for the rant. But this has not been a good day for me. For anyone being put on duloxitine, just say no. There are so many alternatives. Almost any other antidepressant, I've taken all the big ones. None of them even gave me withdrawal. Why is this substance even legal? Prescribed for everything from anxiety to minor pain. There are much safer alternatives. This is just my rant, just one man's opinion, but my opinion is that no one should have to experience this. Please by all means take prozac or a similar drug if you need it, but no ailment is worth the side effects and withdraw symptoms cymbalta presents. Especially when there are far better alternatives.

Tagged by Xorkoth
substancecode_cymbalta
substancecode_duloxetine
substancecode_antidepressants
substancecode_pharms
explevel_experienced
exptype_negative
exptype_difficult
exptype_addiction
roacode_oral

 

[ovo1024]

Didn't know ssri's gave such bad withdrawals

 

[LucidSDreamr]

you really didn't get withdrawals from the other antidepressants? do you mind sharing which ones? and how long you took them ?

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah I was gonna say, most people report similarly horrible withdrawals from all SSRIs. In fact I have never heard of anyone not experiencing withdrawals from any other SSRI. I've heard they're among the worst withdrawals one can experience.

I think SSRIs are fucked up. They're not even that effective over placebo in clinical trials. Some of them do work for some people but it's really fucked up how you get horribly physically addicted to them. I think they're a mistake, there are better ways to deal with depression, and there have got to be better drugs for it in cases where drugs are really needed.

 

['medicine cabinet']

you sure its not kpin wd? bc you described everything I get from kpin wd. plus I know ssris have wd, but never heard it be that bad.

and I totally agree, ssris are deadly. yeah it sucks being benzo dependent but fuck ssris...

good luck dude, hope you get the help you need.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Yeah I was gonna say, most people report similarly horrible withdrawals from all SSRIs. In fact I have never heard of anyone not experiencing withdrawals from any other SSRI. I've heard they're among the worst withdrawals one can experience.

I think SSRIs are fucked up. They're not even that effective over placebo in clinical trials. Some of them do work for some people but it's really fucked up how you get horribly physically addicted to them. I think they're a mistake, there are better ways to deal with depression, and there have got to be better drugs for it in cases where drugs are really needed.

you sure its not kpin wd? bc you described everything I get from kpin wd. plus I know ssris have wd, but never heard it be that bad.

and I totally agree, ssris are deadly. yeah it sucks being benzo dependent but fuck ssris...

good luck dude, hope you get the help you need.

what legal alternative so you guys suggest? I have an appointment with a psychiatrist in a month because I finally am giving up my decades long reluctance to take antidepressants if thats what I need.

I have avoided it for the reasons you describe and for the fact that I cant trip or roll ever again if i get on them. But depression that interferes with my life and productivity so much and causes me to drink and become addicted to kratom or even do harder opiates seems like no way to continue.

I just would love to stop being depressed and even angry even and be able to go about my life. It lasts for days or weeks on end when it comes and its about 70% of the time its there I would say.

kratom has been doing a decent job at handling it....but now i'm addicted to kratom. dissociatives do an amazing job...but i have to dose them twice a weeks to retain the antidepressant effects, and I just don't have time to devote an entire 8 hours to being fucked up twice a week on dissos.


plus i hate the stress of constantly having to break the law to feel normal. and kratom will be illegal soon so that will be over.


I don't even know if its antidepressants that I need, we'll see. but i've been like this for a decade and just done so much drugs to deal with it and I honestly would love to chill with the drugs but I have to do certain ones which are functional (like kratom) to even be able to function in life.

i've tried complete sobriety for 6 months also, that didn't work

 

[Xorkoth]

Ever tried phenibut? I have a trip report in here near the top of the threads list right now all about it. Could be a really good option, maybe. The TR is really a usage guide too, and a guide to finding your correct dose and getting good effects.

 

[someguyoz]

Cognitive behavioural therapy (or in my case, Dialetical Behavioural therapy, as I have BPD) is the only thing which made any real lasting difference, after more than 20 years on useless antidepressants. Turns out I didn't have any chemical imbalance but the way I thought/talked to & about myself was completely toxic.

 

[narcomick]

Yeah sorry guys, I meant that in my experience other antidepressants are alot safer, and most of them have longer half lives i think, but this is just my experience, everyone's different of course and at the time I wasn't thinking like that. and while I wasn't experiencing benzo withdrawal, I suspect some minor codeine withdrawal served to complicate things, but this was mostly the effects of coming off the duloxitine, I have never experienced withdrawal from codeine before, and I was taking a very low dose before I stopped.

 

[crOOk]

Yeah I was gonna say, most people report similarly horrible withdrawals from all SSRIs. In fact I have never heard of anyone not experiencing withdrawals from any other SSRI. I've heard they're among the worst withdrawals one can experience.

That is odd. Most people I know never experienced any withdrawls when tapering. I never did either except for some restlessness, but I wasn't on them all that long.

 

[Xorkoth]

Well, yeah if you taper, but if you stop taking them after being on them for a while, the withdrawals are severe. There are TONS of reports on this for every one of them on Erowid.

 

[crOOk]

Well, yeah if you taper, but if you stop taking them after being on them for a while, the withdrawals are severe. There are TONS of reports on this for every one of them on Erowid.

There are indeed tons of reports. Judging from my experience with patients, friends, myself and literature reviews, withdrawals as severe as described in some Erowid experience reports seem to be a big exception.

It's important to be aware of SSRI discontinuation syndrome for patients who have them prescribed, but the stress on the negative aspects, especially on this forum, does not do them justice imho. They may not work for some or the side effects may be unacceptable, but many experience very little in terms of side effects or withdrawals and they do work very well for a small percentage of people. They can save these people's lives and have done so hundreds of thousands of times.

Antidepressants can not replace psychotherapy or a change in lifestyle, but they are lifesavers and we should not forget that. Sometimes when all other measures taken fail and antidepressants are well tolerated people can even benefit from being on them for the rest of their lives. The same goes for neuroleptics which have not only saved my life, but that of my best friend who had 3 suicide attempts before reaching full symptom relief as well (with no end in sight after 12 years). But yeah, they do carry side effects. That being said, we will soon see new classes of psychopharmaceuticals pop up which will be more effective and less side effect laden.

EDIT: It's quite hypocritical looking at how recreational drugs of abuse are often advocated here (despite bluelight's mission) while pharmacotherapy with psychopharmaceuticals is being torn to shreds. This is in part due to the addictive power of the former, with medication rarely carrying any recreational potential. You have to justify a drug addiction somehow to sleep at night I guess.

 

[Xorkoth]

Huh that's weird, everyone I know who's been on them is like, fuck, don't miss your dose, I'll never do that again! My impression was that most people report withdrawals similar to the Erowid reports.

I agree they help some people. I just think they're over-prescribed, at least in the US. It's more a matter of the whole medical approach taken here. It's like, someone comes in, hey doc, I'm depressed. Well, here you go, I'll take nice kickback from the pharmaceutical company for prescribing this pill that is a powerful drug. But most of the time someone is feeling depressed, drugs aren't the answer. Usually it's because something in a person's life is making them depressed, that they can change, be it lifestyle changes, or bad relationships, or difficulty working through a traumatic event. In these cases, therapy is appropriate, and self-reflection. IMO antidepressants are for people who are experiencing something clinical in the brain, an imbalance. One of my best friends has major depressive disorder, ever since he was about 15, it just hit him. had a great childhood and everything, great, loving family, great friends. But he is almost always depressed to the point that he wishes he could die. He hasn't ever found anything that makes it go away, yet and it's been about 20 years. He clearly has an imbalance that affects him outside of circumstantial life factors.

 

[Anxiousanxious]

Cognitive behavioural therapy (or in my case, Dialetical Behavioural therapy, as I have BPD) is the only thing which made any real lasting difference, after more than 20 years on useless antidepressants. Turns out I didn't have any chemical imbalance but the way I thought/talked to & about myself was completely toxic.

This message brings me so much hope. Thank you. I've been on ssri s for about 10 years and I can't function without it. Ever since Paxil and the withdrawal. A year of total fucking hell and suicide attempts I just gave up and went on Prozac. I've been pretty good since then... Convinced I'll be on these for the rest of my life. Sorry OP for what you're going through. Consider a very long taper with the Ashton manual.

I just wanted to highlight someguyoz's post because it's so nice to hear of a success story with depression and anxiety and ssri "addiction"...

 

[narcomick]

CrOOk, while many ssris may not present severe withdrawal, there are short acting ones that do. And while mine and others experience may be the exception as apposed to the rule, these withdrawals are still relativley common and severe especialy with snris and short acting ssris, duloxitine for example is renowned for its withdrawal or 'discontinuation syndrome'. Even if the severely affected users are in the minority, anyone on or thinking of taking these drugs needs to be aware that, while having some great benefits, they are not without the risks associated with any mind altering drug, notably dependence/withdrawal, especialy since those prescribing them often tell patients there are no risks or withdrawals, due to lack of knowledge or simply accepting everything the manufacturers tell them as fact. People who sell pharmaceuticals have a drive for profit, and side effects don't pay. They said benzodiazipines and many other things were non addictive, hindsight tells us otherwise. Here in the uk and i suspect elsewhere too antidepressants are far over-prescribed, and that leads to far more harm than good.

 

[seether9171]

That stuff is hella brutal to come off of, brain zips zaps, from hell, used anti motion sickness pills to help some and Ativan

 

[ScottishLass]

cymbalta (duloxitine) withdrawal - completely unbearable

3 days ago I stopped (forgot to take) my daily cymbalta 30 mg. I had successfully went from 60 to 30 mg. The first day, not much happened. I had skipped a dose so many times that the first day withdrawal no longer occurred. It was only today when it came to mind that I needed to take it again. I was sweating, shivering, too terrified to sleep and too exhausted to stay awake. Then the vomiting started. I must have thrown up 10 times at least today, perhaps 20. That wasn't unbearable. Evening came, and making my way home from a friends, vomiting as I went. Shaking like a leaf. Having to relieve my bowels constantly and struggling just to walk straight, I was hit by the brain zaps. The electric shocks that make you feel like your heart has stopped. Like you're on a plane and it's just stalled. Like you've been tazered or electrocuted but somehow worse than that. I began shaking to the point of tears. Crying, laughing and cursing as I hopelessley swallow a pill. The pill won't kick in for several hours. I struggle to hold it in my stomach as I disolved a clonazepam under my tounge, which does nothing to make me feel better. I laugh and cry and shake and swear, I feel like I've lost my mind. Perhaps I have. I'm screaming. In my own head all of the time, sometimes vocally. Biting down on my bedsheets and clenching my fists and jaw. Hours pass and I begin to feel relief. I say relief but it's not even that, I just feel less like I'm dying and more like I have the flu. My mind starts to come back. I vomit one more time, praying the pill has disolved. Slowly I can take it again. I can see an end to this, but it's not coming today. Only the words of lou reeds 'waves of fear' or the 'junkie limbo' scene in trainspotting can come close to the feeling I had. I've came off codeine, neuroleptics, lorazepam alcohol and nicotine, it's been bad, but this is a whole new level. And all this from not taking an antidepressant? Fuck. How did lily even create such a drug. As I write this, I'm recovering, the effects of this chemical themselves aren't pleasant. But thank god I'm back on it. How I'll ever get off it I do not know. I'm sorry for the rant. But this has not been a good day for me. For anyone being put on duloxitine, just say no. There are so many alternatives. Almost any other antidepressant, I've taken all the big ones. None of them even gave me withdrawal. Why is this substance even legal? Prescribed for everything from anxiety to minor pain. There are much safer alternatives. This is just my rant, just one man's opinion, but my opinion is that no one should have to experience this. Please by all means take prozac or a similar drug if you need it, but no ailment is worth the side effects and withdraw symptoms cymbalta presents. Especially when there are far better alternatives.

Tagged by Xorkoth
substancecode_cymbalta
substancecode_duloxetine
substancecode_antidepressants
substancecode_pharms
explevel_experienced
exptype_negative
exptype_difficult
exptype_addiction
roacode_oral

Ive been a lurker for 10+ yrs on here but just registered today so I hope I'm replying right. Cymbalatta withdrawal is horrible. Similar to Pregablin aka Lycria. You are meant to taper but they don't do small enough doses to taper with there for the support group on FB (which is huge Cymbalatta Hurts Worse is it's name) recommends removing beads from each capsule. Starting with removing 2 beads then holding. Listening to your body between drops and keeping a log of your taper.