u/Background-Force4418

I was on Cymbalta for four years at a dose of 120 mg per day. Then, with my doctor, I started a tapering plan from 120 mg down to zero over four months.

At first, the withdrawal symptoms were manageable. But now the anxiety has returned very strongly, along with extremely severe depression—to the point that I sometimes wish for death because of how suffocated and overwhelmed I feel.

I have severe brain fog, frequent crying, and no desire to do anything at all. My last dose was in November 2025, and now I feel like I’m going through a very intense dark cloud.

My doctor suggested that I start Effexor 75 mg. Has anyone experienced something similar?

I developed depersonalization/derealization (DPDR) after my first time smoking cannabis in 2019.
Before that, I already had OCD and anxiety, and I was taking an SSRI.
In 2019, I smoked cannabis for the first time in my life and had a very severe panic attack. I felt like I was going to die.
The next day, I woke up feeling intense brain fog, extreme fear and anxiety, and my mind would not stop thinking and worrying.
Sometimes I feel like my brain has stopped working, as if I can no longer think properly.
I feel like I have never been the same person since then.
Yes, there are some days when I feel normal again, as if I have returned to myself.
But now I also feel like I am suffering from Cymbalta (Duloxetine) withdrawal symptoms because I stopped it gradually with my doctor.
My depression symptoms have returned very strongly. I feel like I want to cry all day. I want to scream.
Nothing makes me happy. I do not want to do anything. I feel deeply sad, and it feels like my mind has frozen.
I need support and positive energy. I want to talk to someone because I feel very lonely and I have lost my desire for life.

I developed depersonalization/derealization (DPDR) after my first time smoking cannabis in 2019.
Before that, I already had OCD and anxiety, and I was taking an SSRI.
In 2019, I smoked cannabis for the first time in my life and had a very severe panic attack. I felt like I was going to die.
The next day, I woke up feeling intense brain fog, extreme fear and anxiety, and my mind would not stop thinking and worrying.
Sometimes I feel like my brain has stopped working, as if I can no longer think properly.
I feel like I have never been the same person since then.
Yes, there are some days when I feel normal again, as if I have returned to myself.
But now I also feel like I am suffering from Cymbalta (Duloxetine) withdrawal symptoms because I stopped it gradually with my doctor.
My depression symptoms have returned very strongly. I feel like I want to cry all day. I want to scream.
Nothing makes me happy. I do not want to do anything. I feel deeply sad, and it feels like my mind has frozen.
I need support and positive energy. I want to talk to someone because I feel very lonely and I have lost my desire for life.

I’ve been off Cymbalta for 4 months now after a gradual taper, but I am still suffering from very severe symptoms.

I’m experiencing extremely intense depression that makes me wish for death every day because the emotional pain is unbearable. I have terrible anxiety, a constant urge to cry, and overwhelming anger — I can barely tolerate talking to anyone.

I also have some paranoia and terrible body pain.

Yesterday I went to my doctor, and he told me to start taking 75 mg of Effexor.

Has anyone been through something like this before?

Honestly, these have been some of the worst days of my life.