What Winners Do

When I first entered into addiction recovery for an opioid addiction (Oxys) I was still on Cymbalta which had been prescribed to me for anxiety and depression.

After a while of being in recovery I wanted to try life again without the help of any kind of medication. I talked to my doctor about it and we decided that I would taper off of Cymbalta.

I started having severe withdrawal symptoms. Zapping in my brain, nausea, no energy, canker sores in my mouth...there are more but those were the main ones.

My primary physician was unaware that Cymbalta would cause such severe withdrawal symptoms which really pissed me off. A doctor should know about anything that they are prescribing to people.

I just wanted to get some feedback and see if others have experienced this.

windysan

My friend had the same brain zaps coming off benzos. I think you have to come off of it really slow.

Done_With_It

I had this with Effexor. I had those zaps all over my body, it was horrible, I still have them a year later. It took awhile, but I did get off of it.

I was pretty mad about it also.

newsandi

I am in the process of weaning myself off of Paxil because I stopped the opiates and wanted to see if I really need to be on anything. I read a lot about the w/d and the zaps and things and it totally freaked me out. But fortunately for me I have not have any. I was on a extremely high dosage compared to the research I gathered and didnt want to take a pill anymore. I have not seen my doctor yet, have appt this Satuday, to let him know where I am at in the milligrams and get a smaller dosage from him. I need to get off of these and then determine if I have depression or if it was just active addiction causing me my problems...................

windysan

weird how everybody is different.

drugs scare me.

Done_With_It

I've heard that it doesn't happen with Paxil Sandi, let me know if it does, my doctor gave me that, but I don't take it.

newsandi

I cant remember what forum I was on about Paxil and their w/d. Lots of people were sharing their experiences and they were talking about some type of electric shocks that felt in their heads and things. I think I just googled Paxil withdrawals or something like that. The more I real on this forum, the more I am concerned that us patients know more then these doctors do.

Done_With_It

Oh really? and he told me they were none, it was a temporary drug so it didnt' have any. I wasn't worried cause I didn't take it long but he still gives it to me. He doesn't listen to me.
Thanks.

ccgirl2

Her'es how I look at it. Most drugs will tell you not to stop abruptly. I think most, if not all drugs, if taken for any extended period of time can cause w/ds or side effects. JMO

What Winners Do

newsandi - I feel ya on the whole seeing if you actually needed the antidepressants or not. That is pretty much why I decided to get off of the Cymbalta.

What Winners Do

ccgirl2 - the thing is...I didn't stop abruptly. I tapered down. I followed the directions that my doctor gave me. Now, if he is not able to provide the correct way to taper down which would let me avoid the most severe of the withdrawal symptoms...there's a problem there.

I just feel like there is not enough information available about the withdrawal symptoms so when people are starting to take this drug they have no clue what they will need to go through to get off of it.

hopefully tryin

I took Cymbalta for about 2 weeks. Once it started to kick in, I had the WORST dry mouth. I just could not even stand it. I ended up taking myself off the Cymbalta. Im not taking anything now and I feel that I am doing ok. I have some paxil but for some reason have not really been consistant with it. One thing that I was on for about 1 yr and tapered off and really did not have many w/d's was Lexapro. The lexapro also helped the most. Have a friend who was also on lexapro for general anxiety and she did great with it as well.

MNGirlyGirl

I had the same experience with Lorazapam. I was told it was addictive but not that there were withdrawals. I was stupid not to put 1+1 together, but I really thought the doc was saying that people abuse it to get high. It just made me sleep -- and that's all I wanted. Once I get weaned off this junk, I will not touch it again.

Good luck and please contact your doctor about how to withdraw.

peanutbutter

Cymbalta made me feel like I was coming out of my skin. Like the feeling you get after you've been speeding for 24 hours. My teeth were grinding, couldn't eat or sleep, and everything was in the distance. I called the Dr. and explained, and he said, "Oh, I must have given you too much, take half the dose!" I threw the bottle away, and found another Dr. Good luck to you.

krisssy

After an Opiate detox, I was put on Cymbalta and Abilify. I am still on the Cymbalta. When i stopped taking the Abilify, I had terrible withdrawal-severe anxiety, no energy at all. All in all, I couldn't function. It has been about 6 weeks, and I am finally starting to feel better.

4everchanged

I have been on Cymbalta and Buspar, since last August. I was put on it for anxiety issues, plus was told it would help with pain, since it supposedly has some form of pain medication in it. I have been on percocets for over 4 years for a chronic pain problem, however....I am going to be getting off the percocets very soon. I have read where Cymbalta is VERY hard to get off of. I am not sure what to expect, but, I figured I am going to try to get OFF all three meds at the same time. If I have to deal with W/D why not do it at once?? Although, I did get some wonderful advise from this board that said....NOT to stop BOTH at the same time. So I am still a bit torn....Good luck, and thanks SO much for this posting, it is very helpful. So glad I stumbled onto this site, the people here are awesome!!!

Aysha

I didnt have any withdrawl from Cymbalta but I know I had some very serious side effects from taking it.
I stopped taking it.

Leo_the_Cat

I remember having zapping when I stopped taking effexor without tapering off.

I take Cymbalta now; I was not making it without an anti-depressant.

I had side effects at first but they diminished.

hairgirl

A few weeks ago, I was taken off my Cymabalta by my recovery nurse.I had a very hard time with it, being very depressed and anxiety ridden.My psyc. doc put me back on, saying that she didn't agree with taking me off of it.I feel 100% better.I have begun to accept that my psychological problems will be with me for the rest of my life, my mother suffered from them as well.I know that I will need to be medicated for it indefinately.It is pretty obvious to me that when not being treated, I was self medicating, which is what brought me here-I don't want to make those mistakes anymore.