question about quitting ssri and how it will affect my suicidal thoughts

[chuerdhmproton]

Hi. Not sure if these kind of questions is allowed to be asked here, but MODS feel free to delete if this is not allowed since it is not strictly related to CTB.

So, I have decided to quit Cymbalta on a self-devised tapering process, I'm quitting it without doctors advice (I hate doctors, especially psych doctors).

I've been on cymbalta 60mg since last May, so I would say my body has been super dependent on it by now. For example one time I went two days without it and started getting really bad withdrawal effects.

I also have a lot of side effects from Cymbalta and I barely feel improvements from taking this dumb shit.

Here is my plan to taper off:
take 60mg once every two days for two weeks
then take 60mg once every 4 days for two more weeks
then after one month, I aim to stop completely

If anyone has the related medical knowledge, please tell me what I will be experiencing. I ain't a little bitch so I will do my best to endure mild to medium levels of withdrawal effects, but I am just a little bit afraid if the withdrawal effects become too severe to the point of needing to see a doctor.

Lastly, how will this all affect my suicidal levels?

I welcome all kinds of opinions so tell me what you think, I don't even mind if you call me stupid (because most people will say it is stupid to quit meds without help from a doctor)

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[AnxietyHangover]

Taking it infrequently doesn't seem like a good idea in my opinion. You should lower the dose gradually, going from 60 to 30 then 15 I guess...

 

[chuerdhmproton]

Taking it infrequently doesn't seem like a good idea in my opinion. You should lower the dose gradually, going from 60 to 30 then 15 I guess...

yeah I figured, your response makes a lotta sense definitely. The thing is all I have is 60mg pills, I'd have to see a psychiatrist and ask them to give me other dosage pills, which I really don't feel like doing for now. But I will definitely consider it, if withdrawal gets horrendous in the upcoming days, I will see a psychiatrist. Thanks for your reply!

 

[AnxietyHangover]

yeah I figured, your response makes a lotta sense definitely. The thing is all I have is 60mg pills, I'd have to see a psychiatrist and ask them to give me other dosage pills, which I really don't feel like doing for now. But I will definitely consider it, if withdrawal gets horrendous in the upcoming days, I will see a psychiatrist. Thanks for your reply!

Can't you split them in half? Most pills can be split in half, they have like a mark in the middle of them.

 

[dialogos]

My mother takes duloxetine but not that high. Its only 30 MG's. Its supposed to enhance the effects of serotonin and dopamine (naturally occurring chemicals in our brains) so the withdrawal symptoms isn't from duloxetine itself but from serotonin and dopamine effects not being enhanced. It should be only taken at sleep time. Try it at 30 MG's every 2 days. This actually helped my mom a lot. She changed from being paranoid, angry, toxic to being normal but again, low dosage

 

[Ligand]

yeah I figured, your response makes a lotta sense definitely. The thing is all I have is 60mg pills, I'd have to see a psychiatrist and ask them to give me other dosage pills, which I really don't feel like doing for now. But I will definitely consider it, if withdrawal gets horrendous in the upcoming days, I will see a psychiatrist. Thanks for your reply!

You should definitely not try to split the cymbalta as all cymbalta is in capsule form. Your method for tapering will likely not work very well but it is better than nothing. If I were you, I would wait until I saw the psychiatrist and get them to prescribe tapering dosages. If not, the withdrawl will likely be quite bad. But YMMV

 

[chuerdhmproton]

Can't you split them in half? Most pills can be split in half, they have like a mark in the middle of them.

my pills are capsules, so if I open it the inside is probably just powder?

 

[AnxietyHangover]

Ah they are capsules, didn't know! Then you will need to go to the psych doctor to get 30mg capsules. As Ligand said, don't split capsules.

 

[dialogos]

my pills are capsules, so if I open it the inside is probably just powder?

Same but my mom's had granules in them. Just approximate half its easy then save the rest for next time.

my pills are capsules, so if I open it the inside is probably just powder?

My mom's had granules in them. Just approximate them, guesstimate a half, save the rest for later. Its not a dangerous drug in these tiny amounts. At first my mother was so paranoid, so I had to mix her duloxetine in ice cream. When she became rational after two weeks, I explained what I did. She's taking them voluntarily now.

 

[deepblack]

...

Damn, sry offtopic, but I just saw your signature.
R.I.P. Layne!

 

[deepblack]

If anyone has the related medical knowledge, please tell me what I will be experiencing. I ain't a little bitch so I will do my best to endure mild to medium levels of withdrawal effects, but I am just a little bit afraid if the withdrawal effects become too severe to the point of needing to see a doctor.

Lastly, how will this all affect my suicidal levels?

I've taken antidepressants since the year 2000 (not constantly). A whole variety over the years, including Duloxetine (Cymbalta) for a short period, also Venlafaxine, which I think is similar to Duloxetine, for a longer time. And a number of other usual suspects like Citalopram, Fluoxetine, Mirtazapine, also Lithium and whatnot.

I think you can only find out yourself what you will be experiencing. For instance, I never experienced any withdrawal effects, at least not physical. So I my case I never came anywhere close to a point where I'd have to see a doctor because of it.
And as for affecting your suicidal level, you need to judge that on your own while you're lowering the dosage. If you're starting to feel bad, stop reducing for a few days and see how it goes. Only you can judge that, even a doctor can only judge the situation from what you are telling him.
I can't remember that I ever experienced big differences regarding suicidal level, and I sometimes even stopped taking the meds from one day to the other.
But human beings are certainly very different, and that's why you probably need to find out yourself.

 

[Tesha]

I'm not a medic, but I've withdrawn from lots of psychotropics over the years. Stopping abruptly is a definite bad idea, so your plan of tapering is a good way to go. However due to dose and length of time, I think your initial plan is still too abrupt. I would strongly suggest speaking with the prescriber and getting a managed taper plan in place.

Withdrawing too quick isn't about how much you think you can handle the side effects. I came off a stupidly high, long term dose of benzos abruptly and managed to 'survive' the psychosis, seizures, sweating, nausea etc. but, I was left with memory loss, worsening depression, increased suicidal ideation, limb/nerve pain etc. Had I done a slower withdrawal the likelihood of these occurring would've been less. I wanted to prove to myself how strong I was. I screwed myself up further instead.

I wish you all the best for coming off them.

 

[Kasumi]

I can only speak about my own experience, I'm on duloxetine since about 2 months now, and I'm on 120mg now, so far it does nothing for me so I suppose I'll be quitting it in a few weeks.

I had some mild headaches and nausea for ~3 days every time I increased the dose and it made me really tired for about a week after going from 60mg to 90mg.
Now it messes with my sleep so much that I can't get more than ~4h of sleep at night without taking 50mg of promethazine solution.

And I also have some abdominal problems since about a week or two, and I'm wondering if that might be related to that as well.

Generally I would recommend you tell your psychiatrist that you want to quit it, they can't stop you from quitting, and tell them u need the 30mg capsules.

I also believe to remember that it said on the included paper that you can open the capsules up and sprinkle the contents over food, so if getting 30mg capsules is doesn't work for you you can try doing that.