Starting to taper/hopefully

Hope all goes well. If you do switch over to liquid, you'll want to do a gradual crossover: https://taper.community/thread/3516b46d-50b6-4048-9abc-533356b74afe Keep us posted!

Hi Ale, I’ve also tried tapering several times. I’d be really interested to hear how you tapered each time and at what point you ran into problems. Maybe you’d like to tell us a little more about your experience.

I’ve typically done my tapering on my own with 20 mg Deluxe teen capsules. Because the smallest denomination is now 10mgs, I actually would go down by 10 mg at a time. The first few times I lowered my dosage by 10 mg’s every two weeks. then finishing by taking the lowest dosage every other day. Two years ago was my last attempt where I did this in four-six months. I gradually reduced my dosage by 10 mg every two weeks and then the final 10 mg I reduced by skipping a dose every other day. Needless to say every single time I’ve done this I’ve ended up in a deeper depression, with huge bouts of anxiety (which I’ve never had off of meds) and a feeling of deep melancholy. I was convinced that this was just my normal brain; that I would have to live on antidepressants for the rest of my life. But now that I have discovered that those are actual withdrawal symptoms from coming off of Duloxetine/Cymbalta, It gives me hope. I’m willing to take as long as I need to in order to come off this wretched drug that I have unnecessarily used for almost 2 decades. No doctor ever mentioned to me that antidepressants should not be taken for longer than 6 to 12 months. No doctor ever questioned why I was taking it or if I should come off. I have gone to so many different doctors throughout the years due to my constant moving around and they all just kept prescribing refills, no questions asked. I think it’s a real detriment to the medical field that they are not training doctors to help people come off of these drugs that are making our mental health crisis worse.

Hi Ale, I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this, but I’m also so glad that we found each other here. Thank you for sharing your story with us. It reflects my own experience so closely. Yes, exactly this kind of approach pushed you into severe withdrawal again and again. I know what it feels like to be trapped in those intense states of anxiety. It can take away so much of your quality of life. It’s really frustrating how poorly healthcare systems around the world seem to handle this issue. What surprises me most is that these medications have been around for such a long time. Whether we’ll ever be completely off the medication, or exactly how long it will take, I don’t know. Based on what I know today, I’m still expecting the last 15 mg to take me around 3–5 years if everything goes well. But maybe we can at least reduce it to the lowest dose possible while remaining stable, without putting our bodies through unnecessary stress.

Ale, do you remember why you were originally prescribed duloxetine?

Yes. I moved back from overseas and had to readjust to life here and just had a real hard time with it. It was obviously situational and so my psychiatrist and therapist should have tried to take me off after 3-6 months. Little did I know that the terrible feelings i experienced when trying to wean off were not relapses or that i was just “chemically imbalanced” but it was severe withdrawal. Nobody knew anything. I feel like most depression is either situational or lifestyle related.

I think I will try bead counting instead of liquid. Too expensive to go through compound pharmacy and your stomach acid can cancel it out. I’m not willing to experiment with any of that while simultaneously trying to taper. Do you count beads? Any advice?

I hope this helps. I have had similar difficulties tapering. I’m going to get the medication compounded. I had a consultation with a tapering specialist and referred to a prescriber and compounding pharmacy all who have more awareness of the issues than regular GP’s and pharmacists.