Hi, I'm Christina51

Welcome, Christina! I haven't been on cymbalta, but soon, those who have will chime in with lots of help! Glad you are here!

Hello Christina, I tapered off 30 mg of Cymbalta about 5 years ago. I lowered to 20 mg, then did a cross taper to prozac. I slowly, slowly tapered off Prozac 1 mg at a time. I used a compounding pharmacy for a while but then I would dissolve my tablets and measure. I went VERY slowly toward the end (ie 3.75 to 3.5 to 3.25). Each step was between 2 to 4 weeks. When I got to .5 mg and was having so much trouble I kind of gave up and went back to 5 mg then eventually 10 and a couple years later 15 and now back to 20 mg Prozac (hoping to help w the many symptoms). Which is why I am here. I am currently at 17.5 mg prozac for 5 weeks and fine. I do think what I outlined can be quite successful. It turns out I have a rare disease called acute hepatic porphyria. It make me intolerant to most drugs and my system reacts poorly to tapering off those drugs as well. One of my worst attacks of porphyria was after my doctor told me to stop 50 mg Zoloft cold turkey. Honestly, I have never been the same since. Other than the prozac, I can only tolerate Tylenol. As many of you say, we know more than many doctors at this point. Read into porphyria if you have a chance. My doctor just discovered another of his patients has it after hearing my symptoms and experience with withdrawal. Hang in there and take care!

Hi Christina, Welcome to the community! Yes, I’ve tried this several times before. I’ve been taking Cymbalta for 17 years, and I’m currently taking 15 mg. I’ve already been through several tapering attempts, and I would strongly encourage you to approach this with great caution and patience. In my experience, tapering down to 30 mg can be relatively manageable using the 10% rule. If you start experiencing problems that persist for a longer period, definitely slow down. Below 30 mg, it can become more difficult, and below 20 mg, extreme caution is needed. Start keeping a symptom diary from the very beginning so you can recognize patterns during your taper. Individual bad days don’t matter as much as the overall trend over several days and weeks. Be prepared for the process to take at least 3–5 years, depending on how you respond. Diet and lifestyle also play a major role. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out anytime.