Cymbalta Withdrawl

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Wow! I had NO idea what I was in for with this medication. If anything is too good to be true... it usually is!
I started this medication back in September for fibromyalgia symptoms. It was like a miracle. The day after I took it, I woke up almost pain-free and without the "fibro-fog" I had had for the past 10 years.
Well, to make a long story short, I joined a gym recently, and began thinking more of the holistic approach to pain management. The side effects of Cymbalta, although I have never experienced any of them except the difficulty sleeping, scared me (especially the liver damage). I had already decided to stop Cymbalta,when my lovely insurance company decided it didn't want to cover it anymore and I would have to pay $200 a month if I wanted to continue it. Well, to me, this seemed like a sign that now was the time to do this. That was a couple of weeks ago.
Now, I'm no stranger to these type of medications. I knew I had to taper off... not stop cold turkey. So, I took my last 60mg, then took the 30mg for a week, and when I fell asleep one night without taking it, I decided that this was the time. That was 3 days ago. NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I HAVE ANY CLUE THAT I WOULD LITERALLY BE GOING THRU WITHDRAWAL! My doctor never warned me what it would be like to stop this medication. I am dizzy, occasionally nauseous. I'm hot, then cold, then hot, then cold... I've experienced these "brain-zaps" that folks talk about. I'm angry and tired... stupid little things set me off. I wish I had a punching bag at home. Everything feels surreal. When I turn my head, my head is there, but it takes a second for my brain to catch up. My dreams at night are crazy... very vivid.
I have been trying to go to the gym, which seems to help a little. And I've been trying to drink a lot of water, hoping to flush this crap out of my system faster.
But, I have to tell you, after reading a bunch of notes from forums, I'm scared! Some of these folks trying to get off of this medication are months out and STILL experiencing side-effects.
Is anyone else out there on the same page as me? Maybe a little farther along with their detox? I really want to know how long I can expect to have these symptoms... and when I will start to feel "normal" and "inside my body" again.

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@KitKat73,

I truly feel for your situation. You're definitely taking the right approach by being open to holistic alternatives for pain management. If I could suggest anything that might be of help in so far as detoxing your body quicker and perhaps more efficiently, it would be to start juicing dark leafy greens and eat a variety of fresh fruit/veggies daily.

Another option is Activated Charcoal, which has some incredible detoxing capabilities. According to Dr. Al Sears, MD. he wrote an article that spoke of:
"Most poisons in your body are attracted to charcoal, even prescription drugs. Since your body reacts to most prescription drugs as toxins (that's why there are so many side effects to meds), activated charcoal taken orally will often adsorb prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs, too. The activated charcoal will fight the poisoning from a medication overdose. That's why every emergency room carries it. It is also used in many different detox programs to help absorb the chronic accumulation of drugs in the body. And prescription drugs which tend to be toxic will be absorbed and removed by activated charcoal."

This may be something you'd want to do additional research on, but I think it would prove to be a useful tool during your detox.

I hope this helps!

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Hiya KitKat,
I must have missed your reason for quitting the Cymbalta but that isn't all that important. What is imp. is your W/D symptoms. I take it to help deal with the. anxiety and neuralgia caused by my cancer (CRPC) treatment . Like you, it worked like a miracle, I've been on it for 6 years now. My only prob is that I get the same awful W/Ds as you describe. Very loud tinnitus, peripheral neuralgia, anxiety. All of this just by missing 2 days! I'm Rx'ed 90mg+ 2.5 mg of the anti-psychotic Abilify.
Before my psychiatrist Rx'ed me the Cymbalta I was having suicidal ideations every half hr. so I feel that I had better stick with what works. BTW, this cancer is about 90% terminal so, like with the heavy dose of opioid analgesics I'm also Rx'ed, my only hope is to continue my current drug regimen.
Your post helped me understand my situation soo much better as I wasn't sure that the symptoms you described so well were indeed from the Cymbalta. I wish that I knew of something besides a slow taper or perhaps a pill change to something that was easier to stop taking but I'm no Dr. The pill change is a possibility though. I wish you the best of luck and the least of pain . . . Q

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Q, I'm not sure I posted why I decided to quit it!!! My head isn't working that well right now! ;) I have 2 young children and the list of side-effects scare me... liver damage in particular (even though I have not actually experienced any). I feel like my myalgia can be managed with the right exercise, stretching, and vitamins. I will stick with my plan to ditch the stuff... which definitely doesn't sound like a wise choice in your situation! But, I can defintely tell you the symptoms I've had after getting off this crap are NOT fun! And I can confirm if I even missed the medication by a couple of hours, I started to get a kind of "fuzzy" feeling in my head. Best of luck to you!!!

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4

I took Cymbalta 60 mg for 8 months for advanced osteoarthritis of the spine. Constantly nausea, tired (I could nap for 5 hours) but the worst happen so slowly. It was like embalming fluid for the brain, I had trouble making out a grocery list, balancing a checkbook, spelling was awful. I guess I'd rather live with the pain than to lose my focus. It's been 4 weeks and I am slowly improving but I hope the damage isn't permanant.

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1 week after stopping Cymbalta. I am STILL experiencing side effects. Anger, weepiness, dizziness, fatigue, and probably the WORST side effect: a kind of "disorganization" of the brain. I have LOTS of thoughts and compiling one that is cohesive is very difficult. I PRAY that this does not last forever. If it does, the drug manufacture will be seeing a HUGE lawsuit, that is for sure!
I do think, though, that for the most part, even thought the syptoms are there, they have lessened. I have learned a very big lesson from this: NEVER TAKE A MEDICATION WITHOUT KNOWING THE SIDE EFFECTS FROM TAKING IT, AS WELL AS FROM STOPPING IT!

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6

I've been coming off 60mg of cymbalta and this is prob my 100th time trying to be free of it.Ive started taking 2- capsules of charcoal detox to help with the withdrawals and drinking lots of water and I gotta say this is by far the most stable I have ever been coming off cymbalta.Today is the first time for dexoting but my 3 day off cymbalta.I also take a teaspoon of organic coconut oil daily along with fish oil that I believe has helped.

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