Step off cymbalta

Hi y’all been on cymbalta for few years 60mg.

I stopped cold turkey last year it was not a wonderful thing with balance and mood.

Has anyone had long lasting withdrawals from stepping off?

Are the withdrawals finally gone after months or am I permanently altered.

Will there be a void that my body will not be able to fill in it’s own?

Realistically speaking?

I feel like there is little info on this site about people being off meds for a while after using them for years. Most seem to switch to a new pharmaceutical option.

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I’m not sure this will help but I’ve withdrawed cold turkey off two antidepressants for two different diagnoses. One Lexapro for severe depression (On 20 mg a little over 5 years) and two trazodone for sleep (50-75 mg for a little over 3 years).

My acute withdrawal lasted nearly a month off both. I had post acute withdrawal off both. The Lexapro lasted about 6 months and the trazodone lasted longer at nearly a year.

I think I’m okay. I say think because I’ve never slept right again off either. The trazodone was used (prescribed a year later) because of the sleep problems off the Lexapro. I must add in for context, I’m female and I add in middle aging as I’m 53 (sorry tmi) going through the menopausal transition to post menopausal I believe is a factor regarding my sleep.

I’m no longer suffering depression, but I do still have anxiety but mines mostly situational in nature. They say we really have two brains, the second being our gut due to the fact the enteric nervous system relies on the same type of neurons and neurotransmitters that are found in the central nervous system. So in my opinion, because there’s no research or evidence to back my claim, there’s an immense amount recovering the body goes through to restore full balance and cognitive function between both. I believe slow tapers make withdrawal better, but I see many examples of people severely struggling during dose drops as well.

Im hoping others will chime in on your question.

Edit...there’s a web site called survivingantidepressants.org that has a community forum like this one and a wealth of help and knowledge regarding this subject if your interested. I wish you luck.

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Hey thank you for sharing !

I quit opiate painkillers of 8 years overnight with cannabis. And I was fine quitting cymbalta cold turkey on cannabis as well except for the sweating and weird balance issues. I believe they simply frustrated me in knowing that you can’t just “walk away”.

I plan on stepping down, for months if I have to...I’m just curious to know about life after meds.

I truly believe had I been as informed as I currently am, I would’ve never put myself in the hospital and started psych medication. I’m not bashing anyone on meds, but I bash myself over not being able to “walk away” from this decision

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I too was mislead. I wound up in the ER with severe balance and dizziness after quitting and the doc said, I have no idea why you are associating your symptoms with withdrawal, “trazodone is a benign drug”. No joke. There’s little to no help after antidepressants.

I won’t ever do another one, but that’s just me and my personal experience and I do realize they are extremely beneficial to many.

[Staycalm2020]

I got off 20mg of cymbalta a couple years ago after being on it for 5 years. I tried to get off it couple times before I finally did but my mood would get really awful so I had to get back in it before I caused a divorce. My anxiety/depression has been really bad this holiday season so I have found myself picking up a prescription of it today. The first time I started it(brand name cymbalta) there were mild to no side effects. I tried the generic (dulexitine) a couple weeks ago and that stuff had me sick. Got the insurance to approve the brand name so hopefully I can get back on it without the terrible side effects and get my life back on track.