15 replies to this topic

[femangel]

Hi all. I've been on Cymbalta over 5 years, this is my third attempt at getting off. I was at 90, then 60 for a long time. I managed to get down to 30 for almost 6 months but had to go back to 60. When I am at 30 it's like all the light in the world goes out and I am an angry, sad person. So now my doctor wants me to taper 30 to 15 (eyeballing the beads in half) to zero over the course of a month, while taking 20 mg of Prozac. The bead counting honestly just makes me dizzy at the thought.

I know the side effects will outlast the prozac, I am super duper sensitive and self aware. I am wondering if anyone has tried to mitigate the withdrawal with micro dosing psilocybin? 

[fishinghat]

Welcome Femangel

 

I can find no record of anyone trying psilocybin for there withdrawal. It would be an interesting test as it is a serotonin agonist. Please keep us informed on your progress and if you try the psilocybin. If we can be of any further help please let us know.

[invalidusername]

You should be VERY careful with psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) as it can have adverse effects if the dosage is not right. You need to experiment with these before anything else and are best done so whilst you are NOT on anti-depressants. 

 

Many tests have been done (and shown good results) but they are NOT recommended to be taken along with ANY psychotropic drugs. All of the trials have been EITHER anti-depressants OR psilocybin - but not both.

 

I am not saying they would work as a means of withdrawal, but the dose is not standardised and you need to be careful. 

 

I have had some dealing with this myself in a struggle to come off Citalopram and it didn't end well. My other half has also tried it under my supervision, and again, did not end well. It is not something that will be tolerated by the NHS here in the UK. In fact we would be in a lot of trouble if we went to see the doctor and told him we were taking mushrooms!!

 

Please feel free to ask any further questions - I will do all I can to help.

 

Sorry Hat - forgot to tell you of this little experiment!!

 

IUN

[fishinghat]

No problem

[femangel]

Welcome Femangel

 

I can find no record of anyone trying psilocybin for there withdrawal. It would be an interesting test as it is a serotonin agonist. Please keep us informed on your progress and if you try the psilocybin. If we can be of any further help please let us know.

Thank you. I am also taking a boatload of supplements based on your e-book and my own personal research. 

Have you had any experience or information with using Prozac to help mitigate the withdrawal? I'm down to 30 mg cymbalta today which is where the problems start. Also I'm not sure how to taper from here, we only get 30 or 60 in Canada and my doctor wants me to go to 15mg next.

[fishinghat]

Many members as well as drs switch to a different antidepressant and then wean off that. Most commonly they use either Lexapro, Zoloft or Prozac. The dilemma I have seen on this site is they often don't bring any relief.  My drs tried 6 different meds to try and help my withdrawal before finally finding one that works, Zoloft. Prozac and Lexapro did nothing. I can find just as many success stories on this site for the other two as well. No easy choices here. Just depends on how lucky you feel.

 

Have you considered using a compounding pharmacy?

[invalidusername]

When you say you can only get hold of 15, 30 and 60mg - I assume we are talking about the small beaded variety?

 

If that is the case then you need only bead count and to hell with what the doctor thinks. Just tell him/her that you are staying on 30mg for a while, stock-pile the beads to give you enough to reduce 1mg at a time and then go from there. 

 

There are the "big bead" examples which are typically 15mg per "big bead" and there is little you can do with these short of changing pharma. But if the doctor is pushing you to drop 50% of a dose at a time, then I think it is time to be having words with said doctor and making them aware of the potentials the withdrawal can have - feel free to cite what we have put into the eBook. This is not based on opinion or hyperbole, it is hard fact from peer-reviewed journals and experience of a 10,000-strong member base.

 

IUN

[femangel]

My pills are the name brand, tiny beads. We can only get 30 and 60 mg here so I have been eye-balling by splitting a 30 into 2 halves, not actually counting beads as they are so tiny and I take them in the dark of the morning. 30 mg plus 10 mg of prozac makes me feel great for a day or two, and now all I have is a splitting headache and acid reflux I can't get rid of. 

I think my resistance to bead counting is how meticulous it seems and how long it will take me to get from here to nothing...and also the math, which I find super confusing. I'm a visual learner so all the numbers and percentages just make me want to give up. 

Honestly, this whole thing makes me want to give up and just stay on 60 forever.

[invalidusername]

This is exactly why we are here.

 

Between us, we must have done 100's of plans to work out plans for bead counting. You are by far from the only one, so don't feel bad. The whole process can be quite daunting. I am more than happy to help you out with this and the best thing to do is to make at least a weeks worth of pills in advance and just make sure you keep them marked up so that you take the right pill on the right day.

 

Bead counting can be a very effective method of tapering and withdrawal, which is why we are here, so that everyone can have the benefits of such means of removing yourself off these pills.

 

All we would need is a little more information and can then get a plan together. The best way users have found to count the beads is to empty them out onto a black t-shirt. Something dark and with sufficient friction to minimise the rolling around of the beads.

 

IUN

[femangel]

Thank you both. My fiancé has decided the bead counting would be best for me and he's going to help me with all the math- I just wish I could help him understand what I'm going through. And the slow taper seems like it's going to take forever, I just want to rip the band aid off and be done with it!

Even at 30 for over a week all of a sudden my mood plummets mid afternoon and I go really dark for a few hours. I had to stop the prozac, I was getting unbearable headaches. I'm honestly very nervous to keep going forward with this plan due to winter coming, not having work to keep me busy (which I thought was a good factor) and not wanting to destroy my relationship, But I don't want to go back up in dose and give up. 

[fishinghat]

Lack of patience with this process is a very common and critical issue. I know that if I had to do this again (God forbid) I would plan on a 3 year wean and try to get on with life during that time. Time and patience is your best asset at this time. 

 

As far as your fiancé is concerned you might have him look through some of the posts on this site to get a feeling for what people have been through. In addition, I would be quite willing to share information with him if he would like to contact me. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

[invalidusername]

As far as your fiancé is concerned you might have him look through some of the posts on this site to get a feeling for what people have been through. In addition, I would be quite willing to share information with him if he would like to contact me. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

 

Absolutely. Hat has often suggested this for the partners of those who are suffering, and I think it is a fantastic idea. It is the best way that people such as your husband-to-be can find out just how difficult this can be for those suffering. 

 

Patience is for sure a virtue at these times. I myself am stopping valium, and I know just how you feel, but I have been through too many stoppages to know what the pain can be like. I was up to 10mg to prevent the seizures that came about as a result of the Cymbalta. Fortunately, I have been able to control them a lot more, but I have taken 9 months to drop to 5mg, and have had minimal issues result. 

 

To know that I have a minimum of another 9 months to go wants me to throw the towel in, but I know it will only cause me to go back up again. We are all here for you, so if you feel yourself getting close to the edge, then you also need to have a read though some of the posts on here!! We know just how difficult it can be, which is why people such as Hat and myself feel it is our duty to help people such as yourself so we can ease the burden that you endure as much as possible...

 

IUN

[Luxious]

Hello there, I am new to the forum and am currently trying to get off Cymbalta. I wanted to share my experience with you as I noticed you mentioned using psilocybin to help with withdrawal symptoms.
I have been on antidepressants for 25+years. Severe depression, anxiety and social anxiety. Four months ago I was introduced to the idea of microdosing to help with mental health. After extensive research into the topic I started microdosing every 3rd day while still on the cymbalta. Within 30 days my depression and anxiety was gone. Yes GONE. Completely. The changes in me and my life were PROFOUND.
I have been microdosing for 4 months now. And I feel its time to try to come off of the cymbalta. I was taking 300mg for a couple years. I halved my dose about a week ago. Now I've come off of many different antidepressants over the years so I'm very familiar with how withdrawals go.
I have NOT experienced any brain zaps at all. None. And generally I can feel that my withdrawal symptoms are greatly reduced. The lack of brain zaps alone is worth its weight in gold.
I attribute this directly to my microdosing psilocybin. It has been shown and is being used to help people come off of street drugs and alcohol. Its amazing stuff that everyone should have access to. So long story short- psilocybin is definitely worth looking into to help you. Just please do your research first 🙂

[fishinghat]

Welcome Luxious

 

Great post and I hope the withdrawal continues to go well. Psilocybin occurs in several species of mushrooms. I myself used a supplement which contained some psilocybin but had only limited success. This product however was not pure psilocybin however. 

The bulk of the Cymbalta withdrawal comes as you drop below 30 mg so it will be interesting to see how things go with you after that point. I wish you the very best and please keep us informed as that is how we learn.

[fishinghat]

You might be interested in these links.

 

https://www.cymbalta...bin/#entry97829

https://www.cymbalta...wer/#entry73301

https://www.vice.com...-depression-184

http://time.com/4338...for-depression/

https://thethirdwave...sing-mushrooms/

[invalidusername]

Hi Luxious,

 

Thank you for a great post - I am totally with you, and I am SO happy to hear that this has helped you. There is a lot of evidence to show that psilocybin does indeed work with many situations as you say. It is not a one size fits all, but I would certainly suggest that people research and give it a go if they feel they are able to as you say.

 

The issue with a lot of places is the availability. Psilocybin is not legal in the UK, and the only means by which to get it is from Europe. My wife has tried it, and as she is on such a small dose of anti-depressants, she found it to be quite beneficial. I am on 30mg Citalopram, so I cannot take any dose unless I reduce what I am already taking for risk of serotonin syndrome. One has to be very careful.

 

That said, it is something that I have considered given that I have tried dropping to 25mg and suffered horrendous depression as a result. I simply cannot drop that 5mg without severe side effects. The only way this can be done under guidelines is to do so with liquid Citalopram which of course will not be supplied on the NHS because of cost... and I can't even buy it for myself!!! So what you are saying might be a way forward for me.

 

I am almost through a taper of valium, and once that is out of my system, it will be on to the citalopram. It worries me as my father was on citalopram for 20 years and ended up with Parkinsons's disease, which to the best of knowledge was as a direct result of the the Citalopram. I am 15 years on already, so what with genes and such, it really concerns me that I will end up the same route unless I deal with it asap. So what you say strikes a chord with me.

 

Again, I really happy to hear that you have found success with psilocybin and cymbalta. I feel this is very much the way forward. Needless to say that psilocybin will be licensed under some other named drug and patients will be charged the earth for it just as they did with theanine before prozac came on the scene. 

 

Thanks again, and please feel free to continue your discussion as any information is very useful to many - and to me for sure.