The reason it seems everyone is trying to discontinue their Cymbalta on their own, is because they are. Oh sure, tell your prescribing doctor that you want to ween off and they either drop it down 30 mgs to which you have the same terrible without as you would stopping it completely. You tell your doctor of the withdrawal symptoms and they don't believe its as severe as you tell them. The company Eli Lily doesn't inform the doctor about the horrible discontination syndrome that patients have to go through to get off of it. I was seriously suicidal and in doing research so have many other patients, some have succeeded. CYMBALTA IS EVIL, you gain weight, you lose your hair, you have sexual side effects, it causes glaucoma, it causes liver damage, it causes damage to your brain receptors that may or may not repair themselves, so you'll have trouble ever feeling joy on your own. And they still don't know what the LONG TERM side effects are because it hasn't been on the market long enough. Then when you try to WEEN down or Stop it cause psychosis, brain zaps that may never go away, suicidal thoughts, crying uncontrollably one minute and anger the next. I know someone that went off and was in the hospital in intensive care for 5 days, because he was going crazy, not making since, violent, screaming and crying...until they gave him cymbalta. Now he's on cymbalta and will never try to go off it for the rest of his life. You want something that causes all this in YOUR body. I unfortunatly can't get off Cymbalta either. If I even miss a dose I start feeling withdrawal in approximately 10 hours. And the withdrawal can go on for weeks, months, or indefinitely. I'm begging anyone out there thinking of starting Cymbalta to please reconsider. The bad out weighs any good you may think it's doing. Do some research on Traci Johnson 19yr old that committed suicide in the restroom at Eli Lily's lab during the clinical trial she was participating in for Cymbalta. She had no depression prior to starting Cymbalta, but hung herself 8 days into the clinical trial. PLEASE DON'T START CYMBALTA....your doctors don't know any of this unless you urge them to research it. We've got to stop the doctors from prescribing this medication for their future patients. Eli Lily is getting rich off the fact that once started no one can stop. The above information is from either personal experience, The FDA, newsreports, researchers, the internet, or physicians. NONE is straight from Eli Lily. And by the way EVKCARD you either work for Eli Lily, or are a drug rep or you just haven't had problems YET. BUT YOU WILL. I was on 30mg of it for 2 yrs and didn't have but a few side effects, then they raised it to 60mg. It took 4 months to start feeling the severe disabiling side effects. And why would anyone abuse their Cymbalta? Its not a narcotic nor does it give you any kind of high, that is ridiculous. Why don't you come back and tell us how you're feeling when you try to ween down from it, or your insurance is cancelled and you have to pay out of pocket and of course they are expensive. Why don't you ask your prescribing physician about it, since you think they have all the answers, do you think they research every thing that is prescribed? I have worked for physicans as a medical assistant all my life and I know why they prescribe certain meds. You think its for the patients benefit? HAHAHAHA The reps come in wine them and dine them and give them all kinds of things of extra kickbacks to prescribe their drugs. I know this was true for every single doctors office I worked for. And I have worked for numberous physicans offices for 28 yrs. I'm telling you the truth. Don't praise a medication when you have no idea what it's going to do to you. I pray you wise up and try to get off that medication and switch to something else that's not a long acting SNRI life cymbalta is. I'm sorry if I seem angry but if one person reads your post and that's what persuades them to start cymbalta, then you are responisble for ruining that persons quality of life. I do hope that you are the ONE person I've ever read about that actually has no problems with the meds either taking or stopping them. Good luck to you.
I started taking it for same reason in October of this year. I weighed 123. Now I am at 136 despite carefully watching my diet...VErY carefully. I cannot lose the weight. I have even gone a day on nothing but low-cal soup and have gained weight. I am also extremely constipated and bloated. I look pregnant. I get brain zaps at about the same time every day - from 2 p.m. through about 5 p.m. OTOH, my mood swings are more tolerable, I don't have hot flashes as often, and the night terrors are almost completely gone.
Once I had an incident with my insurance company where I went to the pharmacy and was suddenly informed I had to get my meds by mail. The doctor's office was out of samples and I ended up being off of cymbalta for 6 weeks(after a while I was honestly too whacked out to even try). My withdrawals were insane. I know a cymbalta headache when I feel one. For me it was a very sharp pain. My dad worked in a mental institution way back when and he told me my withdrawals were worse than that of heroin. That may seem dramatic but I'm bipolar if that makes any difference. I don't remember a whole lot, actually. As someone else put it, six weeks of hell.
Now this part is kind of a guess, but I've gained a crazy ton of weight in the past 13 months. I went from a size 4/6 to over a 14 (idk. I don't shop for clothes now). I've been out for.. a few days, idk. Insurance company's being a deck again THERE IS NO GENERIC. I didn't make the connection until just now but I haven't really eaten in 3 days. Less than a box of cereal and skim milk. Some fruit and my mom brought me cheese fries so... I ate them without really being hungry. I've had some salad mix in the fridge and I haven't opened it. Just not that hungry. I'm having my doctor prescribe something with a generic. It sucks that I can't really drink much with these meds or I'd buy a bottle of scotch for those upcoming withdrawals:(
Weight loss and it's funny; I never tried to lose any weight but lost 25 or so pounds. Maybe because it takes away the stresses and lowers the Cortisol levels in us? I too was placed for menopausal symptoms, and with 2 little children I am very grateful for Cymbalta.
Weight loss and it's funny; I never tried to lose any weight but lost 25 or so pounds. Maybe because it takes away the stresses and lowers the Cortisol levels in us? I too was placed for menopausal symptoms, and with 2 little children I am very grateful for Cymbalta. Collapse full post
Wow - who would have you on same med for so long? Are you sure it was helping? Think of why you took it in the 1st place & did it help w/that or make it worse - I found it did not help me at all - so on to the next , next & next none really seemed to do anything- except change my personality, Creativity & ability to concentrate - read or do anything for a long time except vegetate. Pain increased & I never associated it w/meds but you must watch everyday - write down how you feel - what is different new & not ok for your everyday life.
We must note that we r ginny pigs for these new drugs & if we do not give feedback to the doctors millions of people will suffer due to our inability to keep track of our symptoms. Trust me the studies done on these drugs - we r only given the good not the bad & ugly that the drug also does to the studied.
Be careful & wise ck the internet & ask a lot of questions- I don't know if I will ever recover from the meds - I know I am not the same person ANy more.
yes it does kill your sex drive.
its made me gain a lot of weight...
Im not denying its an illness. BUT, when you stpooed taking it you dont just get depressed again!
The symptoms you get have been compared to alcohol ir heroin withdrawals Except they can last for months!!
I know several diabetics & they never experienced several new problems that were worse than the diabetes itself... Think about it.... because its So Very Expensive many providers dont want to cover it & coverage/co pays are getting higher every year.
This is an old post but I had great success with Cymbalta until it pooped out on me after 6 years. Otherwise, I had few if any side effects. Most prominent one was lowered libido, nothing awful. I'm currently switching from Cymbalta to Pristiq.