55 replies to this topic

[ErikaB]

I am using the slow wean method of removing beads. I'm on day 3 and its not too bad.

[lady2882Nancy]

I stopped taking Crapalta for 3 reasons.

3. It gave me severe extreme diarrhea (I lost 10 pounds in 11 days and was so weak I could hardly stand);

2. It made me extremely depressed (I sat and cry every afternoon);

and the most important reason

1. It made me feel so worthless and useless that I became suicidal.

[Mark2112]

I've been on AD's for over 10 years. Switched to Cymbalta from Prozac during my divorce about 4 years ago. Never really experienced any of the "benefits" this "miracle" drug was supposed to offer. So my Psychiatrist just kept upping the dosage. Started at 60 to 90 to 120 (he even suggested going all the way up to 150). Noticed I was becoming very apathetic about everything and still had no motivation which Cymbalta promised to improve. I finally had enough when I found out I was going to be an Uncle for the first time, and I felt nothing. Been weening off for the past month and finally I'm not taking any more pills. It's been 3 days since my last dose and the withdrawals are bad but I'm coping. I'm so thankful I found this site, reading peoples stories has been really encouraging. It's a relief to see other people with similar issues and how others have been dealing. Just hope I can stick with it.

[fishinghat]

Welcome to the site Mark and you hang in there. It will get better.

[claire26]

i stopped taking cymbalta after feeling worse than i had ever felt before in a really dark place, i told my doctor on 3 seperate occasions,i had suicidal thoughts, she sent me away with extra meds on top of the cymbalta i have been on anti deppresants for 10 years, and never felt like this, i had only been on cymbalta a few months and noticed i felt worse not better, then it was like a dark cloud, i took an overdose and tried to end it all, cymbalta made me try to take my own life!! im now going on 5 weeks cold turkey as i took the ovedrdose 6 weeks ago, and the doctor wanted to increase the dose after it, there was no way i was taking anymore never mind a higher dose, so i went cold turkey from 30mg, and i would never touch it again, i look at my 2 little boys now one is 10 and the other is 3 and my fiancee and cant beleive i done what i done, i would never want to be without them, it sounds mad but it was like i was possesed and soemthing made me do it, as i would never have done it, im suffering bad with the withdrawals, but my mental health is so much better i feel me again, and happy, if i could just get rid of the withdrawals my life would be great, but these are getting me down real bad at the moment .

[equuswoman]

SE of short term memory loss, NO libido anymore, horrible sweating and hot flashes etc on and on and on...

I just want OFF this poison...I will succeed no matter how long it takes me 2 do so!

May we continue 2 help one another on this wonderful forum as we travel down this road together! 

[AaronSD]

I have been on cymbalta 60 mg twice - 2 yrs (2006 and 2007) and 3 yrs (2011 - present).  Discontinued the first time because I felt it was making me emotionally numb and anti-social and the second time because (1) it causes mild sedation and (2) I am on ritalin and latuda as well and want to minimize the number of meds.  Ritalin is the best anti-depressant I've tried and latuda stabilizes my mood pretty well, so cymbalta may be redundant.

[thismoment]

AaronSD- hello.

 

What will be your tapering-off plan for the 60 mg?

[AaronSD]

AaronSD- hello.

 

What will be your tapering-off plan for the 60 mg?

Well,  I reduced the beads in my 60 mg caps by half 4 days ago and plan to stay at that dose (30 mg daily) for a month before making another dose change.  I stopped 60 mg cymbalta in early 2008 (cold, replaced with 1,600 mg SAM-E) and found it took about a month to feel the full effect of eliminating the med.  I figure I can completely stop the med if I do well at 30 mg daily for a month.  I may change my plan though...one of the members recommended tapering by 1% per day for 100 days.  I'm at day 5 and feel OK (had to increase ritalin by 5 mg though to deal with fatigue and brain fog at work) and will reevaluate at day 7 and 14 before changing the plan.  If I have to keep increasing ritalin to feel OK at work, I will probably change to a slow taper method. 

 

After reading the horror stories on this site, I am becoming increasingly convinced that the fact that I'm now on cymbalta, ritalin and latuda may be connected to having taken cymbalta 60 mg daily for two years (2006 - 2007).  After discontinuing it in early 2008, my life became increasingly hellish - terrible depression and increasing anhedonia.  I felt like I was living in a burnt out landscape although I was living in San Diego.  Pristiq 100 mg was a bit of an improvement, but I eventually had a major breakdown in 2010 and was put on Abilify 15 mg.  The abilify stabilized my mood but made my energy level (which has been low all my life) even lower to the point that I had to change to an easier (and much less lucrative) job.  This naturally made my lingering depression worse and I was eventually put on cymbalta 60 mg again (in addition to the abilify).  The high dose of abilify and the resulting weight gain led me to develop metabolic syndrome (not to mention the throat swelling that caused me to gag whenever I brushed my teeth), so I replaced the abilify with latuda 40 mg when it became available.  Latuda is a better medication (fewer side effects), but I was still experiencing so much sedation from the latuda that it was putting me in danger of loosing my job, so my psychiatrist put me on ritalin (after trying wellbutrin and being denied provigil by my insurance).  Ritalin kept me employed, but the latuda was still so sedating that I had to lower it to 20 mg daily.  Thankfully I am stable at that dose and am now sailing smoothly at work.  Now that ritalin is lifting my mood and latuda is stabilizing it, I hope I can reduce if not eliminate cymbalta once and for all.

[Tbird]

I hate taking/depending on a lot of medication.  If you look at the different medication commercials that come on television, they are for one illness, but the side effects that they name off causes you to say, "What the HeLLO?!!!"  The risks are far more greater in some instances.  I never wanted to be the one who had to take medication for the rest of my life, but that is exactly what has happened to me (not Cymbalta but Toprol XL and Simvastatin (HBP and High cholesterol) ).  I really need my meds because these withdrawals are beyond debilitating.  I hated feeling volatile, irritated at everything, having outbursts, experiencing anxiety attacks (thinking I was dying just from the symptoms), depression, so forth and so on.  I'm in tears now because I think it's so unfair that we have to suffer these things.  Some of us have medical insurance to get our meds or to see a doctor when we are not well.  Some of us don't.  I am on Share of Cost, Medically Needy, and they treat me like crap.  NOBODY wants to see me.  I have called around and either they don't see you until you meet the share of cost or they don't accept Medicaid as primary insurance.  So I am screwed!  I was always the outside person looking in because I had insurance.  Now I can truly feel the pain of those who were less fortunate than me, at the time.  It surely humbles me. 

[Itsgot2go]

I stopped because:

I couldn't get a refill before the withdrawal kicked in hard.

I decided I hated the fact by body is chemically addicted to Cymbalta.

And every time the doctors office screws up a refill the withdrawal gets worse.

[FiveNotions]

Yep, pretty much the same reasons for me.

[Amysgarden]

Was working on tapering, planned to start bead counting this fall when my outdoor job was less demanding. Tired of being dependent on a drug that was hell any time I missed a dose or the pharmacy screwed up the refill. Terrified of the idea that if the SHTF with a natural disaster or emergency, I would go into severe withdrawal and be basically useless to my children at a time where they would need me more than ever. And my OOP cost went way up at the beginning of this year with the continuing insurance policy cutbacks. (Like tripled the cost,). But with husband retiring and switched med insurance to state-funded.....without giving me any sort of heads up.... I was suddenly caught with no way to transfer my prescription from the insurance-mandated mail-order pharmacy to something local without running out. So I was caught flat-footed, lost my primary doc, psych retired, no way to get prior authorization for the transfer, and no time to get into this assigned clinic to get a new doc. The sudden withdrawal from 30mg to nothing sent me into a rage, and I refused to jump through any more hoops to be addicted to this drug. Day 11 for me, and I'm not looking back.

[FiveNotions]

Amy, I seem to have run out of "likes" already today ... but I "like" what you just said!

[Neesee]

I started taking it for Fibro pain, and it worked great. After about a month I started suffering from depression, anxiety. My dr upped my dose to 60 mg (since it also has is an antidepressant). I became more depressed, more anxiety and even suicidal. My blood pressure which has always been 110/70 started shooting up to stroke level. He wanted to up my dose to 120 mg. I decided on my own to stop taking the drug. I'm shocked he couldn't see the adverse effects the drug was having on me. He offered no advice other than don't stop taking the drug suddenly. I'm in the process of finding a new doctor and weaning myself off.

[brzghoff]

I started taking it for Fibro pain, and it worked great. After about a month I started suffering from depression, anxiety. My dr upped my dose to 60 mg (since it also has is an antidepressant). I became more depressed, more anxiety and even suicidal. My blood pressure which has always been 110/70 started shooting up to stroke level. He wanted to up my dose to 120 mg. I decided on my own to stop taking the drug. I'm shocked he couldn't see the adverse effects the drug was having on me. He offered no advice other than don't stop taking the drug suddenly. I'm in the process of finding a new doctor and weaning myself off.

 

 i know that doctors will suggest upping a dose if you feel more depressed, anxious, suicidal, etc. dumb idea but they do it anyway since thats the primary reason C is prescribed. but upping the dose because your blood pressure is high??? that is not only nuts, but sounds like malpractice. even doctors totally duped by big pharma reps know that all SSRI/SSNRIs are linked to high BP - its right in the lit they give you with your 'scrip!

 

 

[FiveNotions]

Neesee, welcome! I apologize for not greeting you sooner, I've been "off the forum" for a bit trying to figure out how to work 2 days a week and stay rested ...

 

Crapalta has caused some people to commit suicide, it is known to increase depression, especially in those who don't have it... for whom it's prescribed to treat other conditions... like fibro (you), neuropathy, etc...

 

You're very wise to be getting off it ... !!!  And you doc is an ignorant asshat ... most of them are ...

 

Crapalta is also know to cause hypertension ... it definitely gave me high blood pressure and tachycardia. I told my GP I thought it was this poison causing it, and he told me "that's not possible." So, like an idiot, I believed him. He sent me to a cardiologist, who tested me in every possible way, and didn't find anything. They just put me on a couple of new meds, and blamed it on my "family history."

 

Now that I'm off, the bp has pretty much normalized, it's a bit "borderline," and the tachycardia appears when I'm having increased anxiety (thanks to crapalta) ... and, I was able to stop taking those unnecessary heart meds ... I'm now taking clonidine for anxiety, it's "on label" use is as a bp med but used off label for anxiety. That seems to take care of the borderline bp, tachycardia and, definitely, the anxiety ...

 

I hope you're bead counting, and slowly. I'll go back to catch up on your earlier posts.

[getsetgo]

I want to get off cymbalta because:

I hate being so dependant on it! If i miss just one for a few hours I suffer for it.
I don't like the apathy I feel towards life.
I have started to notice how many areas of my personality its affected. And I don't like it!!
It's dangerous. I've taken some crazy risks with my personal health and safety due to the apathy towards consequences.
It's adversely affected my reputation. I'm now seen as argumentative, unreliable and lazy. This is not me!
I'm the heaviest I've ever been other than at full term pregnancy! This I could deal with without the other stuff. I'm sure this is because I crave alcohol like mad, and then drink a bunch because "meh, why not" and eat way more than I used to because I never feel full.
I'm supposed to be doing rehab exercises every day to improve my injuries but I'm always feeling too tired or just simply can't be bothered so I don't do it.
I want to get back in control of my life!

[thismoment]

getsetgo

I hear you. What you have so clearly detailed is why I had to get off the stuff. After I went through what you have described, I experienced one more level of mental disintegration-- my emotions flat-lined and I was left with two choices-- withdraw or die.

I withdrew.

[getsetgo]

Wow thismoment. Good choice! I've had fleeting feelings if a similar nature but luckily so far tht hasn't persisted.

[NyAnneCat]

I stopped because my husband and I want to start trying to get pregnant with our first child. It's been about 4 days without it and I am miserable. 

[TryinginFL]

Welcome NyAnneCat!

 

We're happy that you have found us!

 

What dosage were you on and was it the brand (Eli Lilly) or a generic?  How long were you on it and what for?  Are you taking any other meds? 

 

My first thought since you have only been off 4 days, is to say to get right back on and we will help you to form a weaning plan. 

 

Will continue in a minute..

[Mimi9]

I was required by neurosurgeon to stop several drugs prior to a Myelogram. Due to an office error the most important drug was omitted from my list and the procedure had to be rescheduled. By the time the 48 hours post myleogram resumption of medication could occur I was so deep in withdrawal I knew I could not get back on such a powerful drug. So I cold turkeyed from 60 to 0 three weeks ago. Proud to say I have not hurt anyone including myself, but it's been close. Couldn't make a sentence or name an object for several days, got zero sleep for several days and the drenching sweats and intense itching are still going on. I'm using essential oils, bland foods, steam sauna and liver detox teas but I'm nowhere close to normal yet. This drug should be outlawed.

[fishinghat]

Welcome and well said Mimi9.

 

There are some things that  ight help you including omega 3 high in EPA and DHA, vitamin C and for sure stay hydrated. If the emotions get to bad you might try some original Benadryl. It can help but may make you sleepy and of course be sure and check to see if it is compatible with your other medication.

[Mimi9]

I already customarily use 2 g vitamin c daily with krill oil and black cumin seed oil. Been using Benadryl at nighttime but too sensitive to it to use for daytime unless zombie is my goal. Massage therapist helps.

[LeVana]

only for the sake of completeness if somebody also gets in trouble:

after corona i reacted paradoxical against duloxetine after 10 year use without problems. had to quit abruptly. living hell.