I was also wondering if it was a bad decision to put a 20 year old that is 98lbs on 60mg of cymbalta after taking her off prozac two days before?
i was on cymbalta for 2 years, i started off on the low dose, for pain control, of course a benefit was that i felt "happy" slowly it started not to work, and it was increased over time to the max dose,. then i started not working at all, and then my docter added more medications and more, then i couldn't sleep so he ordered me a sleeping pill, then a pill to combat dizziness and you can imagine where this is leading. at no time over the last 2 years did ANY medical professional which i have gone to see ever even sense it might be the cymbalta giving me all these "new" diagnosis.
i went from having some BLE pain to using a walker and not being able to feel my feet all in such a short while.
this drug to me is a slow form of torture and was slowly killing me, i read every form of literature on it but was assured that it was just "getting old" and my new dx of fibromyalgia and lupus, oh yes, my labs went nuts towrd the end there.
a long story short, ive been off cymbalta for a little more than a week now, i can walk on my own, but i still get terribly dizzy and have this terrible rining in my ears, its a buzzing which i imagine if i were stuck in a quite room would drive me totally crazy. how long will this go on, ? i just want to have my life back this is insane.
I was on Cymbalta for pain management of Fibromyalgia and mild depression from traumatic loss of my mom. I was doing okay at first then felt the medication was no longer working to relieve any symptoms of fibro or depression. In fact my mood worsened. I had been on antidepresants before, but went off with doctors knowledge- no longer needed for short bouts of depression from post pardem and death of a family member.
Cymbalta has by far been the worst nightmare. I have developed nerve pain in my feet that at night is dibilitating and I have to take gabapentin for it. I have a constant ringing in my ears the same as one of the other posts. I gained weight- it actually increases your appetite. I am not a big eater, but sometimes I cannot get enough food. I eat healthy, no sugary drinks, no sweets- only occasionally. I now have panic attacks and feel anger for no apparent reason. I am a nice person and always been very loving. I do not feel very lovable any more, I actually feel pretty hateful. I have been on a roller coaster as far as emotions; part of this is still mourning my mom and I expect that, and I do have days where I start to feel somewhat normal again and then it all crashes on me because of the physical aspects of withdrawal. I blame cymbalta. I had to wien myself off for months and months. Then when I got down to a very low dose and then quit cold turkey. I had brain zaps even when I was taking the medication, but even after being off for about a month, I still get them. I still have ringing in my ears- it does not matter if there is some sort of back ground noise, I try to tune it out but it is loud. I have headaches- I drink lots of water to help counteract but I still feel crappy, like somedays just like having the flu. I also have been extremly exhausted over the past month, but energy is starting to climb back up slowly. I have always been an energetic and phycially strong person- but sometimes feel that I cannot even carry my own weight- I am considered to be obese- but I am not that heavy so to feel the weakness I have experienced is just from being on this drug because I did not have muscle weakness before. I too am wondering how long it is going to take for this stuff to be out of every tissue in my body. Another interesting thing the doctors and drug companies do not tell you is it will increase your hot flashes and night sweats! EXPONETIALLY increase those! I could not sleep thru the night without being soaked and having to change. I had hot flashes and could literally time them to every half hour and I would be fully drenched in sweat. Now I only have mild hot flashes- still get sweaty, but nothing like before. I am sleeping better thru the night because I am not battling the night sweats. That is a listed side effect, but they do not tell you how intense they will be. I did have one doctor actually acknowledge this as a known fact for me- so I was really pissed off to find that out considering my life was a living hell from this while on cymbalta. I have had extensive blood work done, I have my thyroid checked every six months, I do not have diabetes or high blood pressure. I am in good health, so there is no reason for me to experience all the BS that has been brought on from cymbalta. I should not have nerve pain in my feet. I cannot go without taking gabapentin to relieve this. Good news about gabapentin- it does not assimilate in your liver- non-toxic and non-addicting. My liver enzymes are raised too, wonder what damage this has done to my liver too???? Well, I should not be surprised since liver damage is listed as part of the side effects as well. I don't know why it is still on the market. I wish all of you good luck with your withdrawal. Whatever you do...do not give up....do not go back on this drug....try to get off if you can. If your health is compromised to begin with, prescription medication is only going to make you sicker- no judgement, just my heart goes out to you. Find a good naturopath- they can help you, mine did.
I am sure you have never taken this drug. People have side effects from this drug for months.
Agree...I was just taken off a week ago, I didn't take it that long, about 4 months, everything I have been reading online and what I have been experiencing its sheer hell...I don't agree with the statement, "They took me off of it and I started feeling better" for the first day or so you won't notice because it is still in your system, after that, its hell, so far what I am reading is an assortment of issues, worse than someone who is a heroin or methadone addict. I can say from experience the headaches, brain zaps are hell, most of the other symptoms personally I can cope with, but the headaches are what is debilitating feels like your having a seizure, in fact in other posts that is what it has been likened to, and they are painful, feels like your brain is getting hit with a tazer over and over. From what I can gather, a lot of people don't get off Cymbalta because of the side effects of withdrawal, or it takes them a long time to wean off of it. In fact there has been talk about the FDA bringing up concerns to the fact that there is no good or great exit strategy for this drug and the chatter on the web is that there is going to be a class action suit brought against Eli Lily, the maker of Cymbalta. Even in other forums there has been a person or two that has been on Cymbalta less than a month, and they still have/suffer withdrawal issues. Everywhere I have read about has the headache complaint some worse than others. I do agree that if you were in fact on Cymbalta you might have some mood swings, because it is a side effect of withdrawal from this drug, but not so that they are suicidal. So, I have never come out and called someone online a liar, but applebum I think your lying. Next time do your research before you post something online and maybe you won't come across that way, but sounds like to me you had some other mental issues to begin with, they don't institutionalize you for having an anger problem, and if the suicidal thoughts were that bad they would have put you on another anti-depressant right away after the first attempt. I have read that they will wean people off Cymbalta using Prozac and other anti-depressants, but only in extreme cases, well trying to commit suicide would kind of fit that. Also another point is that your 20 years old and just 98 lbs., to me it sounds like you were suffering from other mental issues too, not that it can't happen that this drug made you feel this way it just doesn't sound like it wasn't all this drug's fault. It has been said people suffer side effects from this drug for months afterward, even people who are weaned off slowly, people who haven't taken it for long, and people who are transitioned onto other drugs such as Prozac and so forth.