Cymbalta Withdrawal Question

I had been taking 90mg of cymbalta for about a month or so, and I ended up with a manic episode. My doctor told me to immediately stop taking the cymbalta and put me on 5mg of abilify. I believe I am now experiencing cymbalta withdrawal (so far, severe dizziness and body aches) and I'm just confused as to why my doctor would have me completely stop 90mg of cymbalta if withdrawal was a risk. Also, I'm wondering if anyone has any tips to lessen the withdrawal symptoms.

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Only the doctor can give you a definitive answer, but the best guess would most likely be that they were concerned about the medication possibly inducing more manic episodes, which it can sometimes do, according to FDA reports. The only thing that will really lessen the withdrawal symptoms, now, is time.

Has there been any improvement, or change?

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I think I'm definitely improving. I haven't had any of the craziest withdrawal symptoms. So far, dizziness, achiness, fatigue, and nightmares. The worst was day one and its improved from there. Thank you for responding!

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Cymbalta does pretty rarely have a "withdrawal" syndrome, just as the other SNRI Effexor has. It is less common and generally less severe than that seen in Effexor. (Or Paxil/paroxetine for that matter). You should not have been told to discontinue the Cymbalta, without a taper; like 3 days at 60 mg's; and then 3 days at 30 mg's; then discontinue. One exception would have been if you were floridly manic and psychotic, but then you should have been hospitalized. If you were just hypo-manic on the 90 mg's of Cymbalta, in control of your faculties, there was no safety related reason to immediately discontinue it. I would presume that on 90 mg's, there is a higher rate of withdrawal than for those on 60 mg's.

2 More things to consider- A) Many Provider's don't want to take the time, and deal with the hassle of calling in two 3 day prescriptions of the 60 and 30 mg doses. Obviously, that is not someone I would want treating anyone I cared about. B) Not sure from your story, but if you truly have Bipolar DO, antidepressants are all but contraindicated in Bipolar DO. They result in "Activation", rapid cycling, higher rates of hospitalizations, and suicide rates. are higher in Bip There is another possibility, and that is that you have the genetic predisposition towards endogenous Bipolar DO, but it has not been fully expressed. But given the "right" medication, at the "right" dose, you can have an induced manic or hypo-manic episode. There are other ways to treat the depression that occur in Bipolar DO. Right now the conventional wisdom is that you stabilize the mood with a Mood stabilizer, hopefully with one that has shown to have good efficacy in treating Bipolar Depression. That doesn't mean it's never ok to have a low dose antidepressant on board, hopefully briefly.

All brains and CNS's are different, and there are no absolutes when it comes to treating mental illnesses. But please look up the literature on the use of antidepressants in Bipolar DO. Never trust anyone's voice, be they on the internet, or someone new you are chatting with, or even a Provider you are seeing in the early phases of treatment. Best wishes to you!

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