17 replies to this topic

[minority]

Hi, I am new here.

My daughter was put on Cymbalta 5 weeks ago today. She has several major illnesses, the most debilitating of them being Bipolar II, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Her psychiatrist has been looking for something to help her with the deep depression that comes with Bipolar so now it was time to try Cymbalta; the added perk was that it may also be helpful for her Fibro. Unfortunately, the side-effects have been quite bad, both physical and mental, so my daughter has decided to stop taking it.

She is usually OK with weaning off medication but she has never had such a strong reaction to a drug, so we decided to go slowly. Today, she will go down to 25 mg and will stay on it for a few days and then maybe go down to 20 mg - we will take each day as it comes. After reading a lot of the posts here, it may seem too fast for some but I am hoping it will be slow enough for her, since she has only been taking Cymbalta for 5 weeks.

Thank you for reading, I will try to post updates about the progress - or the lack of it!

minority

[Ms_M]

Have you talked to the doctor about weaning off it? My doctor (especially his staff) has not been very helpful, but here's hoping her doctor would be. Hopefully some meds or combination will be able to help.

[minority]

The psychiatrist has been away but I finally managed to get hold of her (by proxy) today. She thinks my daughter could just stop taking Cymbalta without gradually lowering the dose but she said it's up to her if she wants to go slower. My daughter said she wants to stop it straight away but I talked her out of it. I think we will compromise - we will lower the dose gradually but perhaps a little bit faster than I had originally planned. That is providing the withdrawal symptoms are not too severe.

We will see the psychiatrist next week as my daughter will need something else to replace Cymbalta, once she is rid of it. Oh joy....

The psychiatrist is actually very good, as is the rest of the team that cares for my daughter. It's just sometimes it's hard to get hold of her.

minority

[MaureenV]

The psychiatrist has been away but I finally managed to get hold of her (by proxy) today. She thinks my daughter could just stop taking Cymbalta without gradually lowering the dose but she said it's up to her if she wants to go slower. My daughter said she wants to stop it straight away but I talked her out of it. I think we will compromise - we will lower the dose gradually but perhaps a little bit faster than I had originally planned. That is providing the withdrawal symptoms are not too severe.

We will see the psychiatrist next week as my daughter will need something else to replace Cymbalta, once she is rid of it. Oh joy....

The psychiatrist is actually very good, as is the rest of the team that cares for my daughter. It's just sometimes it's hard to get hold of her.

minority

Hi Minority,


many people find taking Prozac at the same time as they're withdrawing from Cymbalta very helpful. There's no problem taking the two together, and Prozac is easier to withdraw from later on, if she ends up being on something different again.


Have a look through via the search function for some of the posts.


regards, Maureen.

[minority]

Hi Minority,


many people find taking Prozac at the same time as they're withdrawing from Cymbalta very helpful. There's no problem taking the two together, and Prozac is easier to withdraw from later on, if she ends up being on something different again.


Have a look through via the search function for some of the posts.


regards, Maureen.

Hi, Maureen

Yes, I am aware of the Prozac option; however, I do not think it is appropriate in my daughter's case. Also, she has just come off Prozac before she was put on Cymbalta, because it had stopped working. She needs to start another medication as soon as possible and if she took Prozac now, she would have to come off that first and then have a week's gap before she could do that.

Well, Day 2 and we went down to 20 mg. The side-effects of the withdrawal so far are restlessness and a feeling that things are crawling all over her skin - these come and go and the only time they are a problem is at night, when she is trying to get to sleep. Of course, it is still early on so more side-effects will probably emerge later. My daughter had to come off Efexor last year and that went very well, with no major problems, so I am hoping things will not be too bad for her this time around either.

minority

[minority]

I agree, Debbie, in an ideal world none of you would have to go through this. Alas, the world is far from ideal, so here we are!

My daughter is 20; she got her official diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder 3 years ago (although she was showing symptoms for at least 2 years before that) and ever since then her psychiatrists have tried to find medication to try to make the depression go away. Prozac has been the only antidepressant that had worked but only for a few months, so we are back on the quest.

Day 3 (yesterday) - no recognisable side-effects, the skin crawling seems to have gone for now, so we went down to 15 mg. She has been a little bit irritable for the past few days but that is probably because of other factors, so I cannot say for sure that it is due to the withdrawal. I will see what she is like when she wakes up; the plan is to take 10 mg today.

minority

[cookie]

Dear Minority:
I am not a doctor but it seems to me that cymbalta is not for Bipolar. I could deduce, that antidepressants, could trigger the mania phase. She would need something to stabilize her ups and downs.
I have suffered Severe Depression for 5 years and taken cymbalta for all these years. Now that I am reducing dosage, I´ve felt mood swings. Very high ups and then down. Thing that never happened to me. I was always depressed, and rather be depressed (feeling that I know), than not knowing how will I feel, and having these short extreme ups. I tell you this because if my mood was always stable and now is changing, perhaps your daughter who tends to be Bipolar, the mood swings might become worse. It is good that your daughter is reducing dose little by little until she gets rid of this drug.
Regards
Cookie

[minority]

Dear Minority:
I am not a doctor but it seems to me that cymbalta is not for Bipolar. I could deduce, that antidepressants, could trigger the mania phase. She would need something to stabilize her ups and downs.
I have suffered Severe Depression for 5 years and taken cymbalta for all these years. Now that I am reducing dosage, I´ve felt mood swings. Very high ups and then down. Thing that never happened to me. I was always depressed, and rather be depressed (feeling that I know), than not knowing how will I feel, and having these short extreme ups. I tell you this because if my mood was always stable and now is changing, perhaps your daughter who tends to be Bipolar, the mood swings might become worse. It is good that your daughter is reducing dose little by little until she gets rid of this drug.
Regards
Cookie

Hi, Cookie

Yes, you are correct that taking antidepressants without a mood stabiliser can trigger manic episodes in people with Bipolar Disorder. My daughter takes Seroquel (an antipsychotic) and, although I do not want to think too much about what it's doing to her brain, it has worked well for her in that respect and she has not had a manic episode since she has started taking it. However, Seroquel has not done much for her low mood - as you may know, bipolar depression can be very hard to treat - so that's where the search for additional meds comes in. Cymbalta was just another antidepressant to try and, as I mentioned before, had the potential benefit of being of some help with Fibromyalgia as well. So it is doubly disappointing that it has given her so many side-effects.

I can understand why you do not like the changing moods, my daughter used to cycle every few days and it was obviously very disruptive, especially around her exams. One day she was on top of the world and the next day she wanted to kill herself. In a way, Seroquel has taken the 'good times' away and left her with the low moods, depression and suicidality. I do hope that once you are completely off Cymbalta your mood will stabilise again.

Day 4 - the skin-crawling feeling came back for a bit last night but otherwise she seemed OK, so we went down to 10 mg.

minority

[cookie]

Dear Minority:
Well is good to hear that she´s taking an antipsychotic which stabilizes her moods.
As I mentioned for me severe Depression is terrible, but at least I know what to expect. I even have learned to live with Depression. I can´t imagine what your daughter must feel when one day "she´s on top of the world, and the next day she wants to kill herself". It must be really hard. I think is such an accomplishment that your daughter is down to 10mg!!!!!!. Above all, I think the most beautiful thing is that you as her mom, is researching and getting communication and information in this kind of forum to help her. That is really nice. I wished my family understood a little more about my illness. I am down to 45mg (from 60mg). It´s not that bad, but I feel a little more depressed and have a weird feeling, hard to explain.
The best for you and your daughter,
hugs
cookie

[minority]

Dear Minority:
Well is good to hear that she´s taking an antipsychotic which stabilizes her moods.
As I mentioned for me severe Depression is terrible, but at least I know what to expect. I even have learned to live with Depression. I can´t imagine what your daughter must feel when one day "she´s on top of the world, and the next day she wants to kill herself". It must be really hard. I think is such an accomplishment that your daughter is down to 10mg!!!!!!. Above all, I think the most beautiful thing is that you as her mom, is researching and getting communication and information in this kind of forum to help her. That is really nice. I wished my family understood a little more about my illness. I am down to 45mg (from 60mg). It´s not that bad, but I feel a little more depressed and have a weird feeling, hard to explain.
The best for you and your daughter,
hugs
cookie

Hi, Cookie

Thank you very much for your kind words. I take care of my daughter full-time and I cannot imagine to not care for her. It is heartbreaking to see how much she suffers, when she should be enjoying life to the full, and it is difficult to stay optimistic about her future. However, I am trying to do everything I can to help her get better. I think the Internet is a great tool for research; maybe if your family were willing, they could use it to understand. There are books, of course, but I think stories of real people which can be found on forums like this one can be so much more powerful.

How long did it take you to get from 60 mg to 45 mg? It must seem like forever if you have to go down very slowly, after having been on Cymbalta for a longer period of time. I do hope you will be rid of it in the near future and that the withdrawal symptoms will not be too much to bear.

Day 5 - the skin-crawling remains and the restlessness is back but, again, these are only problematic at bed time. We are on the last dose of 5 mg and that should be that. Then we will see if there will be any after-effects of stopping the drug but I am hoping that there won't.


My daughter says that over the last three days or so, she has felt better mentally. After she started taking Cymbalta, her depression and suicidality got even worse, she also started feeling even more worthless than she had felt before, she lost interest in doing things (being on her computer, watching TV, playing games, reading) - she was just going through the motions. She started self-harming, too, which she hadn't had done for quite a while. Thankfully, this cloud seems to be lifting now. My daughter said that she could cope with the physical side-effects of Cymbalta but not with the mental ones and that's why she has decided to stop.

minority

[cookie]

Hi Minority:
When one is depressed or suffers a mental illness, it is so important to feel the love and support of the family. I´m sure your daughter really appreciates it. How old is she? Yes, it also has been hard for me to see the rest of the people living a normal life and me struggling. However I´ve learned to appreciate little things in life, which I didn´t before my illness. Even though I´ve received psychiatric therapy, I think talking to other people who are going through similar situations, have taught me a lot.

Actually, the period of my decrease has been short. But the dosage decrease has been small. After 5 years taking 60mg cymbalta I decreased to 52mg for a week and then 45mg for another week. The first drop was very easy, the second drop has been harder. What I am doing is keeping up exercise, yoga and healthy diet. This has helped me.

I am glad to hear that your daughter is down to 5mg!! such a small dosage!GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT....It seems that the side effects of cymbalta on her were severe. Hope the restlessness and skin-crawling dissapear real soon.

I send all my good wishes and strenght to your daughter.
Cookie

[minority]

Hi Minority:
When one is depressed or suffers a mental illness, it is so important to feel the love and support of the family. I´m sure your daughter really appreciates it. How old is she? Yes, it also has been hard for me to see the rest of the people living a normal life and me struggling. However I´ve learned to appreciate little things in life, which I didn´t before my illness. Even though I´ve received psychiatric therapy, I think talking to other people who are going through similar situations, have taught me a lot.

Actually, the period of my decrease has been short. But the dosage decrease has been small. After 5 years taking 60mg cymbalta I decreased to 52mg for a week and then 45mg for another week. The first drop was very easy, the second drop has been harder. What I am doing is keeping up exercise, yoga and healthy diet. This has helped me.

I am glad to hear that your daughter is down to 5mg!! such a small dosage!GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT....It seems that the side effects of cymbalta on her were severe. Hope the restlessness and skin-crawling dissapear real soon.

I send all my good wishes and strenght to your daughter.
Cookie

Hi, cookie

Yes, the side-effects were quite bad, she ticked so many boxes on the leaflet's list: nausea, headache, dry mouth, fatigue, sleepiness, dizziness, hand tremors, numbness, tingling of the skin, trouble going to sleep, muscle pain, muscle spasms, hot flushes, chest pain, anxiety, lack of motivation, depression, suicidal thoughts. She already has most of the symptoms anyway, due to CFS, Fibro and BD, they just got much worse.

Day 6 (Yesterday) - 0 mg. First day without Cymbalta. The 'fun time' withdrawals (as someone has described them) arrived yesterday - giggles, laughing out loudly at the silliest things, feeling like being drunk. Also brain zaps. We will see what today brings.

Are you still on 45 mg or is it time for another drop?

minority

[cookie]

Dear Minority:
I am glad that your daughter reached 0mg!!!!!!!!!
It is so good that you described this last symptom "laughing out loudly at the silliest things, feeling like being drunk". Because today, I woke up and started laughing uncontrollably. It was not fun for me. I felt out of control and became really scared and dissapointed. I had never read anyone on this site having this symptom. At least know now it is a withdrawal symptom.

I have been on 45mg this week. On friday I should drop to 37mg. It all depends on how I will feel.

Keep me posted on your daughter´s progress
hugs
cookie

[minority]

Dear Minority:
I am glad that your daughter reached 0mg!!!!!!!!!
It is so good that you described this last symptom "laughing out loudly at the silliest things, feeling like being drunk". Because today, I woke up and started laughing uncontrollably. It was not fun for me. I felt out of control and became really scared and dissapointed. I had never read anyone on this site having this symptom. At least know now it is a withdrawal symptom.

I have been on 45mg this week. On friday I should drop to 37mg. It all depends on how I will feel.

Keep me posted on your daughter´s progress
hugs
cookie

Hi, Cookie

Have you decided to drop to 37 mg? I hope the withdrawal symptoms will be good to you, sorry to hear that the 'good ones' were not good for you at all - I hope that stage has passed by now. My daughter's symptoms have got more colourful in the past few days:

Day 7 - second day without Cymbalta. A bit of the drunk state throughout the day but by night time she started getting quite depressed. The brain zaps had gone.

Day 8 - third day without Cymbalta. Feeling rough from the time she woke up. The mood was still very low, she felt shivery, hot, her chest was very tight and really painful and, boy, did she want to vomit (nothing came out of it, unfortunately). After breakfast, she had to go back to bed and she fell asleep for several hours. She never sleeps through the day as it messes with her night sleep, so this was definitely out of character for her. Later in the day, the chest pain got a little better but the need to vomit remained. So far, this is definitely the worst day since she's started weaning off Cymbalta.

Day 9 - fourth day without Cymbalta. A slightly better day than Day 8, the chest pain remained but was manageable, the sick bowl is still on standby, but she didn't sleep through the day and managed to keep busy with her friend. Her mood is still very low and the 'fun time' has not returned. No new symptoms appeared.

She will be starting Lamotrigine next week, we are just waiting for the withdrawal symptoms to ease off, so we know what side-effects she will be having with that. Hopefully, by then she will be feeling a bit better but, of course, it's hard to predict. She has also started lowering her Seroquel dosage; she had been on 500 mg for a while and she is trying to see if she could manage with a lower dose. She has been on 450 mg for the last two days and so far so good.

So here we are, another day to get through.

minority

[cookie]

Hi Minority

Glad to hear your daughter´s symptoms have gotten more colourful . Good that the brain zaps are gone and she´s also lowering Seroquel dosage. Hope she´s able to overcome last symptoms: (lows, tight chest, wanting to vomit). I am sure your support is so valuable to her.

In my first 2 weeks of dosage decrease I had several symptoms, most of them manageable. Only one day (last Wednesday) was real horrible and unbearable, I was really depressed for half day until I exercised and my mood and symptoms improved.

Yes, I did decrease to 37mg yesterday. Today was a good day, although I´ll have to wait a few days to see if the symptoms appear to make further reductions

Hope your daughter gets better and better
Hugs
Cookie

[minority]

Hi Minority

Glad to hear your daughter´s symptoms have gotten more colourful . Good that the brain zaps are gone and she´s also lowering Seroquel dosage. Hope she´s able to overcome last symptoms: (lows, tight chest, wanting to vomit). I am sure your support is so valuable to her.

In my first 2 weeks of dosage decrease I had several symptoms, most of them manageable. Only one day (last Wednesday) was real horrible and unbearable, I was really depressed for half day until I exercised and my mood and symptoms improved.

Yes, I did decrease to 37mg yesterday. Today was a good day, although I´ll have to wait a few days to see if the symptoms appear to make further reductions

Hope your daughter gets better and better
Hugs
Cookie

Hi, Cookie, how are you doing? It's been a busy few days but here is my latest report.

Days 10, 11, 12 and 13 (up to yesterday) - 5th to 8th days without Cymbalta. The only physical withdrawal symptoms remaining are slight chest pain and sleepiness/tiredness. Mood is still low on and off but sometimes she is so tired that she can't tell me what her mood is like.

Day 14 (today) - 9 days without Cymbalta. She was having heart palpitations today, she does not get them very often so it may be a new symptom, but I cannot be sure, as she has had them before.

Lowering the Seroquel dose seems to be going well so far, it's been a week since she went down to 450 mg and it still seems to be doing the job it's supposed to. She started Lamotrigine yesterday, 12.5 mg for a week and then 25 mg. So now we are watching out for a rash!

Take good care of yourself, won't you.

minority

[MaureenV]

Hi, Cookie, how are you doing? It's been a busy few days but here is my latest report.

Days 10, 11, 12 and 13 (up to yesterday) - 5th to 8th days without Cymbalta. The only physical withdrawal symptoms remaining are slight chest pain and sleepiness/tiredness. Mood is still low on and off but sometimes she is so tired that she can't tell me what her mood is like.

Day 14 (today) - 9 days without Cymbalta. She was having heart palpitations today, she does not get them very often so it may be a new symptom, but I cannot be sure, as she has had them before.

Lowering the Seroquel dose seems to be going well so far, it's been a week since she went down to 450 mg and it still seems to be doing the job it's supposed to. She started Lamotrigine yesterday, 12.5 mg for a week and then 25 mg. So now we are watching out for a rash!

Take good care of yourself, won't you.

minority

Hi Minority,

Cymbalta withdrawal problems seem to me to often be centered on our 'weak' points, making it difficult to tell if withdrawal is causing them, aggravating them or not connected at all.

I had palpitations for 20 years due to chronic low potassium. Once that was solved I didn't have a problem, until Cymbalta withdrawal several years later. Of course, I'll never know if I'd have had them during withdrawal if I hadn't had so many in prior years, but it's something I have seen consistently on this blog.



regards, Maureen.

[cookie]

Dear Minority:

Yes, I have also experienced sleepiness/tiredness. And I have mood swings. It´s been a week since I started 37mg and plan to lower to 30mg this friday. Yoga has helped me a lot with my depression and withdrawal symptoms, if your daughter has the opportunity to try it when she no longer feels tired, it will be awesome.
The heart palpitations that your daughter is experiencing are panic attacks??? or just palpitations??
So your daughter has been 9 days without cymbalta!!! that´s good. Tell her to keep strong!!!!
Hugs
Cookie