Earn cash as you plan. Get a $20 gift card for every 200 points with The Knot Rewards
Wedding Etiquette Forum
![[Deleted User]](/)
[Deleted User]
member
anyone ever successfully stopped taking cymbalta?
i'm following doctor's orders - i did a half-dose for about a week and a half. it was monstrous. i'm now on day 6 of none at all and i don't know how much longer i can take these fecking brain zaps before i hurl myself off a bridge.
any success stories? this is torture.
any success stories? this is torture.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: anyone ever successfully stopped taking cymbalta?
I went from 60mg, to 40 for 4 days, and 20 for 4 days. My whole body hurts, I feel "slow" (like it takes me a very long time for my brain to catch up), my night sweats, which existed before I tapered off, have become nightly--and awful, and I have this awful pins and needles feeling through out my whole body, constantly.
I've read reviews from others coming off of it--and had I known in advance, I would have never started it.
I agree with PP, though, that maybe it's just too fast of a reduction for you.
Just call me "Brothel"
And betrothed, I'm disgusted with most of the comments that you have posted. I don't think I've ever read such judgmental comments in my life. I'm so lucky that the girls I speak to on theknot are nothing like you...I would've never come on here for ADVICE if I would've encountered a big a bitch as you. I genuinely feel awful for your children or your future children, and I think it would be irresponsible of YOU not to invest in their future therapy sessions starting now. Because trust me when I tell you honey, they're gonna need it. ~jcaruncho2010
my read shelf:
[QUOTE]It's hard to describe, but my zaps are normally accompanied by a tingling sensation in my tongue.
Posted by salt78[/QUOTE]
I think I know what you're talking about. I may have actually experienced those, but I never thought of them as "zaps," just a weird thing going on inside my head.
the brain zaps - how to describe? it's like a very brief zzzzz that screws up my vision, sounds like static, and radiates down to my hands, making my hands numb. it only lasts for a second but they keep happening. for that second it's very disorienting and feels like what i'd imagine a seizure feels like (not that i actually know). usually accompanied by more sustained lip numbness.
i thought yesterday it was tapering off a bit, but came back today with a vengeance. this is fecking torture.
but i feel like if i cave and go back to my half doses, i've endured the past 6 days for nothing.
how is it legal for doctors to prescribe this crap? holy shiit.
I tried 6 months without any and I was crying all the time and had zero motivation, so I started Lexapro. We had discussed trying for a baby this year and I don't know how to deal with the horrible withdrawal again.
I had inquired about Cymbalta and was told it was as bad as Effexor to get off of....Effexor and Paxil are supposed to be the hardest.
Did it help you? Do you feel ready to stop taking it?
[QUOTE]oh - i've been having night sweats too. hadn't even thought that could be related. and when i'm awake it's like i'm hot i'm freezing i'm hot i'm freezing. ahdfjk;ahljas;jd
Posted by daffodil_jill[/QUOTE]
This is what I hate the most---I'm not sure if it's related or not, but since I went off the meds (on xmas eve) I just assumed the increase was related to the meds. I've had to turn on the heated blanket in the middle of the night, despite being sweaty, because I'm so cold. And this morning, I was sitting on the couch shivering--but was sweating at the same time.
Cymbalta = Crack. I swear.
[QUOTE]oh - i've been having night sweats too. hadn't even thought that could be related. and when i'm awake it's like i'm hot i'm freezing i'm hot i'm freezing. ahdfjk;ahljas;jd
Posted by daffodil_jill[/QUOTE]
I had night sweats sometimes while on the medication. Then there was this time when I decided to try to go off of it myself (dumb), and I got the hot, then freezing thing too.
[QUOTE] Did it help you? Do you feel ready to stop taking it?
Posted by saschaduran[/QUOTE]
I'm sure this was directed at daff--but, I thought it helped. I was taking it for fybromyalgia--and within days of being on it, I noticed I was more alert, less run down. I never really thought it helped with my overall pain, until I stopped taking it--and my body felt like I had been run over by a semi. I had to stop taking it for fear it was making my other health issues worse.
Despite how much it may have helped--I'd never take it again. The withdrawals are just not worth it.
This is my second round on Lexapro and I've had no problems whatsoever. When I weaned myself off it the first time, no issues. I really like Lexapro and I'm happy with it.
I'm glad Lexapro is working for you, Capri. I've been planning to ask my doctor if she thinks it's an option for me.
Coco...it is definitely my favorite of the 3. With the others, if I forgeot a single day I started having withdrawal symptoms. I had absolutely no adjustment period going on this one (usually I have to taper on them), and I felt that it has helped me so much, yet seems to have the least side effects and feels mild.
I have only cried a couple times, and at an appropriate moment. I no longer get agitated or lose my patience or feel so angry. I don't feel such a feeling of dread when a stranger tries to talk to me, but I still need a lot of alone/quiet time. I feel much more peaceful overall and it has REALLY helped me not obsess over things.
ETA: I ditto what Sascha has said about the anxiety, anger, etc. I am really calm and light-hearted. Also, when I don't take it daily, I don't suffere from headaches or experience depression-like symptoms. I don't obsess, I just deal with things as they come. It's so freeing.
Sascha and Capri - thanks for the helpful information.
Sorry, I kind of threadjacked for a little while. I'm done now.
How many days have you missed? I've always been worried about forgetting because I don't want to have any symptoms.
I forgot to take it when I went away for 4 days but nothing happened.
Sorry, I can ask my doctor about it though
I started taking Omega-3 vitamins a week or so before stopping.
I do not excerise like I should, but I started exercising before I started.
Once I decided to go for it, I opened a capsule (wrong I know) and I took half of the pill for a few days with applesauce. The next day I took the other half. After a few days of doing that I started taking 1/4 of the pill until it was done.
During the whole process I continued to exercise which kept me happy for some reason. I also was in a good point in my life. I just got my captain's license, BFF got married. Overall I was just in a happy place in my life. (I met DH right afterwards)
Now I'm not sure if anythiing I did helped or not. I'm just glad I did not have any side effects that I read about.
i was thinking after we settled into the house i may want to stop them, just since the big external pressures were over with, and i don't want to stay on the stuff forever. figured sometime soon was as good a time as any.
then, a few weeks ago, i ran out of refills and my doctor's office was being completely incompetent about getting a refill to my pharmacy (repeated phone calls and being assured it would be done that day, yadda yadda). so i ended up being without them for 2 days and it was horrifying. i mean, it was worse than a fecking nightmare. at that point, i decided i no longer want to take something that would do something so terrible to me if i didn't take it.
so, like rachel - even if it did help, i don't ever want to go back on this shiit because the withdrawals are so wretched. it's poison.
I felt the same way after going off effexor, about never wanting something that would make me that sick. But then the sadness of family losses hit me so hard during my 6 month engagement and for the 6 months after that I reconsidered and tried the Lexapro.
Linda's tips sound good. Since you are halfway through getting off of them, just try to suffer through the rest and see how you feel in a couple weeks. I know it is hard though.