Cymbalta withdrawal nightmares
Common Questions and Answers about Cymbalta withdrawal nightmares
cymbalta
I have been taking 60mg of Cymbalta for Fibromyalgia for about 6mos. now. I decided to have my doctor take me off of the medicine b/c I wanted to try a more natural approach....5-htp. My dr. suggested I drop down to 30mg for 1 week (which I did) and then take 30mg every other day. I just started this process and I feel god awful. I skipped Monday night and all yesterday I had what they call brain zaps (thanks to google), horrible nightmares, fatigue (I'll deal w/ this one), and nausea.
I stopped Cymbalta cold turkey 1 month ago.. I had taken it for 5-6 months... The brain zaps, what you are describing as electrical shocks running thru your body and brain, lasted for 3 weeks. Now I'm brain zaps free. The withdrawal torture can last for 1 month maybe a bit more depending on how long you've been on the medication.
Only took Cymbalta for 3 months but had side effects of being off balance lightheaded feeling like I am walking in a boat now I being taken off the drug and having nightmares the sweats headaches anyone had this experience with this drug?
I cannot diagnose your current symptoms but it certainly could be that you did experience a withdrawal reaction to Cymbalta.
In my patients with similar reactions I would expect that these symptoms may take 7-10 days to clear but certainly close follow-up with your physician is necessary,
In my patients, when I attempt to wean my patients off cymbalta, I will sometimes have them reduce just one dose a week (ie take 60mg 6 days a week and 40mg once a week).
I hope you feel better!
How long does it take for the withdrawal symptons to go away? I got off Cymbalta 5/31 and had severe reactions, my dr put me on Prosac for six weeks, it helped. But I have been off Prosac since 7/25 and am still having some pretty bad withdrawal symptons. Head and body aches, electric shocks, paranoia, my feet hurt really bad, it's hard to walk on them and my ankles swell every day. Does it ever get any better?
I was on Cymbalta for a little over a month. How long will I experience withdrawal symptoms such as brain zaps and dizziness?
I haven't taken Cymbalta or Paxil, so I can't give a personal withdrawal experience for those specific drugs. However, I have taken other SSRIs and SNRIs, and while the withdrawal effects can be really unsettling and uncomfortable, they do decrease in severity and eventually go away with time. I wonder whether the tremors are a side effect from starting Paxil, or a withdrawal symptom from weaning off the Cymbalta, or both?
some people have very uncomfortable symptoms, and others have none at all. Starting the Cymbalta may reduce your withdrawal to some extent, as Cymbalta is a serotonin (and norepinephrine) reuptake blocker, and some of the withdrawal from Tramadol comes from changes in serotonin activity. The withdrawal is not 'dangerous', so do your best to avoid concentrating on them. Distraction is one thing that can help reduce withdrawal symptoms.
I'm guessing you're suffering Effexor withdrawal, not Cymbalta withdrawal. It's not impossible to get a withdrawal from a short stay on a med, but unlikely. Sometimes a med just affects someone more profoundly than one would expect. But given you just came off Effexor, that being one of the hardest meds to stop taking and one that can have long withdrawals, I'm guess you didn't successfully stop it slowly enough to prevent withdrawals.
It's not the way I would do it, especially since they're different classes of medication, cymbalta being an snri and Paxil an ssri. Further, if you take both at the same time, you won't know if something you feel is a side effect of Cymbalta or of withdrawal from Paxil. Both are very difficult for many to quit. If it were me, I'd want to quit the Paxil slowly, tapering down, getting through any withdrawal before starting another strong med like cymbalta.
Is it possible that my rash that I thought was from Cymbalta is actually a withdrawal symptom of it? I have been trying to get off Cymbalta because of the rash, but it seems to be getting worse. Maybe I have this all wrong...
As a pharmacist with BPII, I am not sure why you should be taken off Cymbalta. And yes, these withdrawal symptoms you experience are common. I have had what I call "swimmy head." The half-life of Cymbalta is not that long. I would not be in agreement with ever other day dosing. If stopping Cymbalta, ask your provider to help taper with Prozac. That can be taken every other day with okay results.
Cymbalta and Lamictal is a good combo.
Would you recommend stopping Effexor and switching to Cymbalta? Will Cymbalta reduce the withdrawal effect? My daughters were both recently put on Cymbalta, and their depression is much better, and they claim they are "thinking more clearly".
Thanks for your input.
Since beginning the Lexapro, I have had several very vivid nightmares/terrors. They are so awful, I fear going to sleep, and after I have one, it takes at least an hour to get myself to try to return to bed. I was taking Effexor 150mg just prior to starting Lexapro, and was told to stop it before starting Lexapro which I did, but could there be lingering Effexor in my system causing these nightmares?
Is anyone out there on Cymbalta? My Dr. switched me today and I am so afraid of the side effects. Ive been on Lexapro for the past 3 years but feel I might be immuned to it. He added Wellbutrin but it made me extremely anxious.....
For personal experience I can tell you that Cymbalta does cause withdrawal symptoms (abstinence syndrome). I was on Cymbalta for 6 months as prescribed for my Psychiatrist, after that I decided to do some research about possible withdrawal symptoms because my bad experience with lexapro in 2005. I found that Cymbalta can cause severe symptoms from withdrawal abruptly.
i have tried several....effexor, celexsa....but this i only took about 5 days. after two nites of severe nite sweats, i was drenched, the third nite...nothing. Thought this was great....that's when the diarrhea started. Didn't connect it, but after 4 days saw doc again...gave me half dosage to take to wean myself off. everytime i would take any dosage the diarrhea would start...finally just stopped taking it.. the withdrawal symtoms were scary...
So I have to ask, are you stopping the med because of peer pressure from a friend as it seems? Or do you truly feel no need for the med or is it the drug cost? Many people use these drugs for long periods of time without issue. All the drugs in this category have those withdrawal symptoms to some extent.. It depends on how quickly your drop your levels, what your symptoms are going to be. What was your dose and where are you at now?
All the recommended protocols I've found suggest completely tapering off the old drug before starting the new one so you can tell if you're suffering withdrawal side effects or side effects of the new drug. It's very hard to tell if the new drug will work or not if you're feeling strong side effects which might be the old drug and have nothing to do with the new one.
Recommended
