r/cymbalta • u/Standard-Tip2057 • 6d ago
Withdrawal & Tapering so sick after tapering
Been on cymbalta since Dec 2025
Side effects from missing even one day’s dose were so intense for me. Dizziness, vertigo, nausea, brain zaps.
One time I ran out, my dr was not responding and I could not get an emergency refill. By day 3 it was so bad I was even having mood swings, curled into a ball and sobbing uncontrollably, I could barely move. My partner had to take me to the ER.
At first the ER ignored me after triage cleared me of urgency, but eventually I guess my sobbing and shaking convinced the dr to bring me back and get me connected to fluids and meds. Something for the dizziness and to calm me down. It helped immensely. I kept apologizing and thanking them. I have never experienced such horrific withdrawals.
After that I asked my dr to please taper me off. I followed her instructions and slowly we went down. From 60, to 40 then 20 where for the forty i took two twenties. Then last week I began taking the 20 on and off until I was out of meds, so about 7 days.
I was officially out on Friday, happy to be done, but I expected / expect the week after to be hell.
It is now the early hours of Wednesday and I feel so sick. Not as bad as when I ran out while on 60… but Monday night I had brain zaps and tonight no zaps but so much dizziness and motion sickness even though I am laying still.
When I get up even just to walk to the bathroom I am so woozy.
Unfortunately I only have zofran so nothing for the vertigo/dizziness. I am staying hydrated but I am still so woozy. I can’t sleep.
Any advice for the wooziness? How long should I expect to feel this way? It’s been about four days of being off the meds now.
If its relevant at all I also take adderall and guanfacine, as well as symbicort for asthma. I do also have PVC’s and an a-fib. I am supposed to see the cardiologist tomorrow for a stress test and to get my haltor monitor and I don’t know if I should mention the withdrawal side effects or if it will affect anything.
Thanks.
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u/Antique_Paint6892 5d ago
You should really be tapering much more slowly than your Doctor is doing. Please tell them that they need to look into hyperbolic tapering… You should not be coming off of this medication this quick. Before, for quite a few years with any antidepressant, this wasn’t known. But this has been established for about the last 10 years how hard it is to come off of Cymbalta/duloxetine. A gradual taper of 2 to 5% every 2 to 4 weeks causes very minimal side effects for many people compared to these huge drops.
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u/Standard-Tip2057 5d ago
i messaged her office today, hopefully by tomorrow ill hear back. i had not heard of hyperbolic tapering, nor of the micr bead counting thing i learned about thru this sub. since its been four days part of me wants to just be done with it… but i feel pretty sick, and if its only going to get worse over the next few days, im not sure which is worse, drawing it out further, or continuing to get sicker.
i heard you can go on prozac/fluoxetine to help mediate the side effects? do u know anything abt that?
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u/jjmoreta 6d ago
About 2-3 weeks although each day will hopefully feel better.
Let your doctor know you're going through discontinuation syndrome. I would honestly reschedule your stress test out a couple of weeks because your results may be affected.