I was prescribed cymbalta back in 2011 for panic disorder. It didn't help all the way, but it helped some. Had been on 60mg/day. At one point was on 90mg. Tried to go off a few times but the symptoms were overwhelming. I desperately wanted off because of its effects on my libido, creativity, and general mood.

Finally with a proper taper and support from a program of CBT, I am off. Four months of reduction. I took 50mg for a month, 40mg for a month, 30mg for a month, and 20mg for a month. I went off on June 6.

Each reduction I felt pretty good for the first week. The second week was hardest, and the third and fourth weeks were sloping back to normal.

Same pattern when I went from 20mg to 0mg. It was just all a little heightened and more difficult.

On July 6 (a month off) I felt really good. Today I'm feeling relatively okay, but I feel like the symptoms are increasing a little bit and there is some new stuff occurring. Read on...

The panic has been returning over the past two or three weeks, but I am optimistic that I now have the cognitive and mindfulness tools to handle it. It just seems weird that I'm still dealing with this after a month and a half of being totally off it.

Symptoms of withdrawal I experienced:

• nausea (not very strong, increased a bit but now mostly gone)
• vertigo (not strong at first, but has been increasing over the past few weeks)
• palpitations (more frequent at the beginning, less frequent/noticeable now)
• brain "zaps" (more frequent at the beginning, mostly gone now)
• a "pulling" or "lifting" feeling in my head and arms (sort of like my head or arms constantly wanted to float up or were tied to a balloon. A general wooziness/drunk movement feeling (there at the beginning of the withdrawal, really increasing over the past few weeks)
• chest pains (I think these are mostly panic and overthinking induced, fairly steady throughout the withdrawl)
• numbness/tingling (associated a little bit with the "pulling/lifting" feelings
• irritability (ongoing, but getting a little better I think)
• lack of focus (ongoing, but getting a little worse I think)
• panic-induced shortness of breath (ongoing, with a decrease in major episodes but an increase in minor episodes)
• bursts of crying (this is pretty new over the last few weeks)
• nocturnal panic (this is pretty new over the last few weeks)

As you can see it was pretty bad. What's mostly left is that almost constant "pulling" or "lifting" feeling. Also new episodes of what I would call "micro vertigo" where my field of vision suddenly seems to jump or there's a big "shift" in my brain where I feel for just a tenth of a second that I'm gonna pass out or something, but it's followed by a rush of warmth or tingling and of course I don't really pass out.

Anyway, tell me it gets better, please! Again, I'm confident that I can deal with this with the tools I have and a little bit of support from my therapist. But it would help me so much to know that I'm not alone and maybe others have experienced withdrawal lasting months.

Thanks for reading, stay safe out there, and best of luck with your own Cymbalta journies.