Fibromyalgia Community

By the way, I messed up when registering and Jacob1023 was not supposed to be my screen name and now I can't change it...sigh...fibro fog...gotta love it.

The only wisdom I have is try replacing it with another drug, in the middle of the day.. ie/ I was taking Baclofen 4 times a day and felt like it was not helping the way I needed it to.. So I talked to my neuro.. We replaced it in the middle with Skelaxin at 2-3 doses.. kept 1-4 with the baclofen..
The skelaxin does such a nice job that I take it 2 time's a day and the baclofen is all but gone ..kept it as a booster if needed

Ali

No advice here but wanted to say, Welcome!!! :D This is a great place, Ive only been here for a couple of weeks and everyone is very helpful and welcoming. Its great to be in this together with people who know what its like

I hope you find the right answer and good luck

Sorry.. I forgot to welcome you.. SO....

Welcome, we are glad you are here.. this is a mixed M/F group though the men tend to be quieter..There is a lot of knowledge here and we share it willingly.. and gladly. We also use the board as a place to vent our emotions... share our joy and sorrows.. and there is always some one here to see your post and help if they can.

I'll let Mimi and cece tell you how to use the tool box and other resources they have been here much longer than I

We all hope you will stick around and read and post as you feel.. in a while you will get familiar with us and see that sometimes we just like to have fun..

Ali

Cymbalta is an Anti-depressent. Removeing it from your system after you have been on it for years may cause Depression. Your brain chemicals have adjusted to the additional help.
I had to increase my Cymbalta to 90mg, once per day. I also found a difference between taking one 90mg pill, one 60mg 30mg and three 30mg pills. 90 was too strong and 3x30 was not enough. I take one 60 one 30 each day.

I still have pain. But it's HAPPT PAIN, instead of CRAPPY PAIN.
I posted on "Theory or not" discussion about medications. Please read too.

There is NO magic pill yet.

Hello Andrea...and welcome.....MiMi in NC....I can not help you on getting off of Cymbalta....I tried it and could not take it...

But I would like to share something with you.....I would encourage your to ask your doctor to check your Vitamin D level....if you have not already done so.....a simple blood test but so very important to all of us....low Vitamin D can cause pain within itself....and low Vitamin D is common for a lot of us FMers.....there has also been a lot of research on this which connects it to other illnesses as well....

You might want to review the post titled "sharing your toolbox"....you can find this at the right under Resources.....there will be another link in blue when you click on Member Toolbox.....this post was started by one of our nurses here, Nana B..(Booch) and has a lot of good information by some of our members who have tried things and found them to help....a lot of good "tools and tips" on how to help your FM pain.....

I am sure that there is something out there that will help you....you just have to find it....which takes a trial and error process to do....

I have learned how to "control" my pain by taking vitamins and supplements.....but I do take Pristiq for depression.....I am not sure that this helps me like it did in the beginning....I think that medicines do not work for a long period of time for us FMers....or that seems to be the case for some of us...

Take care and good luck....


MiMi

Hi andrea and welcome

I take 60mg of cymbalta a day and when I need it I also take a 50mg of Tramadol. I typically only take one or two a day. It helps very much with the pain.

Sometimes its a combo of medications.

In the past I had to wean myself off a med that couldn't be quit suddenly. What you are doing sounds reasonable. My dr told me to cut the dosage for about week, then cut it more for another week. Take 1 once day, skip a day. Do that for about a week, then stop altogether, But, that formuale may not work for you. Just realize it will take awhile to get your brain to accept that you no longer have the med.

Good luck.

Jim

You may want to research and see if there is a "cross-over" drug that can help you come off the Cymbalta. I had to get off Effexor, an experience which some have likened to heroin withdrawals. I tried just taking 1 quarter less of one of my two doses per day, and became debilitatingly ill. So I researched and found out that I could start taking Prozac at the same time, then slowly wean off the Effexor. I was able to get off the Effexor with very few side-effects, although it still took 4-6 weeks. Then, because Prozac has a really long half life, I came off it and had no withdrawal symptoms. I don't know if Prozac can do the same thing with Cymbalta, but it's something to look into. Many doctors are willing to do something like that, but I've found they don't usually offer up the information, and they almost always believe the withdrawals are not as bad as people report. I found the Prozac solution by reading other people's experiences with getting of Effexor, in various online forums. Hope it goes well; it's frustrating to feel imprisoned by a little pill.

HI Andrea,

Your plan is reasonable. I also had to come off Cymbalta and had mapped out a plan like yours. However, there were some other circumstances that came up, so I ended up going off much faster, less than a week total. It was fine. I had "brain zaps" for a few weeks where it literally felt like there was a current of electricity in my brain, but that went away too.

Go at the pace that seems to be working for you, keep your doc in the loop and if you have trouble with it, then get in to see the doc asap to find other solutions.

Good luck and welcome to the board!

Aimee

Hi Andrea... Welcome to our family... I didn't take cymbalta very long... but I had trouble with it... took me 3 weeks and they put me on prozac within the first 2... I can't remember exactly when.... it was a little easier... you have a good plan I think... I think it is much better then the doctor who told you that you could do it quicker... remember to rest... and I forgot to mention,.,, I do feel that prozac does help fm... I stayed on it and feel much better... but every one is different... didn't take right away...

I am also now on neurontin... I think I am finding my mixture lol... I have several problems but one stomach med helps my siesure... and the siesure med helps my weight... and on and on... yeh I do take one med to counter act another med... nothing if perfect lol...

hope you too can find the right meds that help you and be careful... get plenty of rest and be good to yourself daily... do something you enjoy... something fun sr something you deserve... come back and let us know how you are doing...

bless you... love... jan/angelldakota

Hi and welcome...I am cece...glad you are here...

I am on Cymbalta and have been for about 1 and 1/2 years...so I don't have much info on getting off. Just keep in touch and work with your doctor as far as cutting back.

Sharon, is a nurse...if she checks in, might have more advice..

Yes...read the section of tips...especially the toolbox and Vit.D.

Jump in anytime.

cece

My husband was on this drug for a couple of years, then had successful hip replacement surgery and no longer needed it as part of his pain management program. My doctor told us to just taper him off. We cut his pills in half for one week, then did them every other day for one week, then stopped them. I think he was on 30 mg. a day. If he had been one 60 mg. a day, I would have gone to 30 mg. daily for a week, then in cut the 30 mg. pills in half for a week, then the same halves every other day for a week, then stopped them. he had no symptoms at all this way. We are all different though.

Discuss this with your doctor.

Take care, Annette

I tapered off Cymbalta about 9 months ago. I was taking 120mgs for fibro pain. I tapered to 60 mgs for 2 weeks then just stopped completely. Withdrawl was REALLY bad for me. I should have tapered to 30 & maybe even replaced it with something else but I think this just prolongs the agony.In addition to the normal fibro pain, I felt like I had the worst case of the flu for 5 weeks. Even worse were the brain zaps that were so uncomfortable that all I could do was cry which made them worse-they lasted for about 4 months. At first they were constant & very strong but with time became less freqent and less severe. My advice would be to ween off very slowly under a Dr's care. Cymbalta is one nasty drug! Hang in there, you will get through it.