4 replies to this topic

[tiredofcymbalta]

Hi, my name is Deann and I have fibromyalgia. The doctor put me on cymbalta to control it. It is a very expensive medication and after about 3-4 months of taking it I decided to come off of it. I went cold turkey, and I quickly learned that it was a HUGE mistake. I started feeling the brain zaps, which of course freaked me out. I talked to a pharmacist who told me to taper off of it, to start every other day, for a week, every 2 days and so on. It has been 3 months now since I started to wean off of cymbalta, and I can tell when it's time "for my dose". I am down to about about once per week. It is the 60 mg. I have 4 pills left and really don't want to refill my RX but the side effects are just so much that I can't take it. I have had new side effects. I am just learning that they are side effects. I was fine one day, went to bed, and when I woke up I was extremely dizzy. Over the next few days I started feeling a fullness in my ears, ringing, and more dizziness to the point of getting sick.

It was really disappointing. I had my first ever trip to sea world planned with my dad. I had not been to sea world in over 20 years, and i had NEVER been with my dad. I made the 4 hour drive to the location and was in bed most of the night. We went to sea world the next day and after about an hour I had to come back to the hotel. I was so sick and so dizzy that I could not enjoy my first ever sea world trip with my dad who I never get to see because I live so far away from. A few weeks pass by and I am still getting dizzy. I went to an ENT DR who said its most likely an inner ear problem. However, as true as that may be, the more I research the more I know its related to the cymbalta withdrawal.

So now, not only do I get brain zaps, I have dizziness, nausea, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), feeling of fullness in my ear, ect.... its driving me crazy.

I wish there was a class action law suit against Eli-Lilly. If there is let me know, I want in!!!!!

I was not warned about any side effects if I ever came off of this medication. I have learned about them through experience. I am so glad that I decided to just think about it and research "cymbalta withdrawals". I am so glad I found this support group website!

If there is anyone who can tell me how to better come off of cymbalta, please do. And more importantly will the brain zap feeling and dizziness ever end? I am terrified that I will get new and worse symptoms.

Oh those are the physical ones, I havent even mentioned the crying and emotional ones.

please please please help!!!!!!!!

[nursedeborah]

Welcome tiredofcymbalta!

I know just how you feeling, and trust me everything you talked about are withdrawls, and are on the
site I am going to give you http://prozactruth.com/cymbalta.htm

It is a great one to have as everything that comes up you can go to the list, and find it on there, well
I have at least. I have shocks through my teeth, and I have not heard of anyone else having this so I
did look, and there is was! I was so afraid I was losing my teeth or something.

Just know you willl be ok, and yes there is a better way to get offf this crap. Just read many of the posts, and see how some of us have had to do it.

We have opened the caps, and dumped out a portion to slowly wean ourselves down, as doctors are just not aware of the withdrawl symptoms.
Also we are all different, and some have them longer than others. I just read this am on another site where a guy said something like 87 days for
him to stop having withdrawl symptoms, but still gets some now and then.

Check with Houdini, she has been off it the longest that I know around here. Also check out the nutrition section as it tells you what vitamins might help
or that ones that have helped so many others.

This is a great place, full of information, and support. Just be kind to yourself, don't make yourself suffer!

Debbie

[RBHzsdfhs]

Question: How do I "not make yourself not suffer" when I can't control this "brain zap" feeling and it's driving me friggen mad? I'm just curious as I could really use the advice.

Thanks.

[MaureenV]

Question: How do I "not make yourself not suffer" when I can't control this "brain zap" feeling and it's driving me friggen mad? I'm just curious as I could really use the advice.

Thanks.

Hi, the brain zaps are dreadful. My only solution is to wean so slowly that they're not a problem. I actually think they alone would be enough to drive a person crazy.

I HAVE found that they're worse when working on the computer - perhaps the eye movements involved?? Then again, I took careful note the other day when I was driving and they were no great problem then, and you'd think your eyes would be flitting all over the place then too.

With the brain zaps, try as I may, I find my concentration is shot. I make so many stupid mistakes with my work that it starts to look just plain dumb. As I'm self employed, I'm the only one to suffer, but that just adds to the pressure because the work doesn't go away, and at this time of the year I can't take any time off - I work every day from now till Christmas.

So I've accepted that I'm just going to have to wean as slowly as is necessary to minimize them, which at the moment means I'm down to 7.5mg.

It took me a while to realize, too, that when the zaps are happening, I have extra bad tinnitus (which I get a bit of too, like lots of people) and that unlike usual tinnitus times (when I get a bit deaf) I'm extra sensitive to noise - don't want to wear the ipod, people speaking in normal voices sound like they're shouting etc, so I've learnt having silence around me at those times is preferable.


What was your story with Cymbalta?

take care, Maureen.

[MaureenV]

Hello again,


it's a flat one - are they o.k.? I'm a bit of a luddite I'm afraid.

I suspect, too, that when I'm at the computer, I'm also conscious of how bad my work situation is;

When my head seems to get too 'full' of tension (not so much zaps, more the emotional lability that comes with this stuff) I actually go and read a novel, which I find helps, so don't know if it really is the computer or where my head's at at the time.

it's not that bad - I'm just aware that I don't usually have this problem.


I feel for you with the night driving; hope you don't also have the balance problems some have had. I found that that affected my driving. Or how I FELT when I was driving.

(Glad to hear you've got Mersyndol; fortunately I seem to be very 'sensitive' to the relaxant involved, and one is often enough for this purpose. For years I had adrenal based blood pressure problems and had frequent migraines, which always started around 2 - 4 in the morning, so would wake up with them, too late to treat with 'prevention', but leant to recognize how my head felt the night before, and managed to prevent four out of five of them, so I'm a big fan.)

Maureen.