[nursedeborah]

anon, on 13 February 2010 - 01:03 PM, said:

Might I suggest marijuana to you all? Sure, it's illegal most places, but for strange reasons. And, if you're going to use it for a medical reason, Cymbalta withdrawals seems like the perfect one.

Hey I am not against using it, but for some it cause so much anxiety
and anxiety is a major symptom for so many of us, add going through
withdrawls which causes much anxiety.

Besides it's great for pain, and sleep, but I would wonder about the
nightmares, night terrors. I don't think I would want to add it to
what is already so very hard.

Have at it, just not willing. Had enough excitement for 2 lifetimes

Debbie

[Junior]

I'd be very wary about using marijuana. It can trigger psychosis and in some people, schizophrenia. And that is WITHOUT taking the effects of Cymbalta into account.

Junior

[cymbalta sux 2010]

I smoked weed last year about 3 times per week and I can tell you straight up that unlike the weed of the 70's and 80's even this new stuff is stonger and can be addictive and there for you end up getting addicted to it even if you don't realize it or admit it and you go through withdrawls stopping it so in my non profesdioanl oppinion Do Not start this reccreasional drug to eleviate the withdralws from a RX one. Even with medical marijuana being legal here in MI I will not touch it again. I got enough anxiety as it is.
Besides a man with a legal RX for it was just fired from his job at Walmart for using it it t'is 0 tolerence policy in thier book. Just not worth it...

[cookie]

Dear Anon:
Marijuana works in brain neurotrasmitters.
When brain neurotrasmitters don´t work properly the mental health issues begin (depression,bipolar,schizophrenia, anxiety).
It is not smart to take marijuana, when people already have problems with neurotrasmitters
and the combination with cymbalta could be very bad
Hugs
Cookie

[cookie]

beentheredonethat, on 17 July 2010 - 08:37 PM, said:

I'm almost a week into cold turkey withdrawal. I'm coming from 2 years of Cymbalta usage at up to 90mg/day, tapered down over a period of several months to 20mg/day. Marijuana has helped me get through this process.

I know Marijuana is not for everyone and many people experience very bad paranoia and anxiety during usage, but this is not the case for me. Everyone reacts to drugs differently, some for the better and some for the worse and some not at all.

I use a vaporizer regularly which hopefully lessens the health concerns related to smoking. Pot really came through for me during the 90mg to 20mg tapering period. It reduced my irritability and seemed to help temporarily lessen or mask such withdrawal symptoms as nausea/abdominal pain, dizziness/vertigo/brain zaps/shivers, lack of appetite, and head and eye pressure. Nothing, not even sweet MaryJane, does anything to alleviate my all day bouts of chronic diarrhea, but eh, you can't win 'em all.

Now that I am 6 days cold turkey, Marijuana has been in some ways less effective. My cymbalta withdrawal symptoms are a gazillion times more prevalent and worse now, so MJ's lesser effectiveness is not entirely surprising. I have dizziness/vertigo/brain zaps/shivers all day long now, usually starting about 20 minutes after I get up in the morning and continuing into the night, the brain zaps/shivers usually keeping me awake. Pot doesn't lessen these sensations anymore, but it does help me avoid focusing on them as much, which enables me to get things done, rather than moping around feeling all crappy and sorry for myself. Obviously, pot still helps with my lack of appetite. That will never not happen. It definitely helps with the nausea, even though the nausea level has been kicked up a thousand notches having gone cold turkey. The head/eye pressure is still somewhat alleviated by pot vaporization.

I don't know. I am not a physician. I don't think pot is some wonder drug miracle cure, but it does seem to help me feel emotionally and physically better as i go through this bullshit cymbalta withdrawal. I suppose i would recommend trying therapeutic usage of marijuana to others who are not normally inclined to paranoia/anxiety while using the herb.

Good luck, fellow cymbalta junkies!

Hi beentheredonethat'
Marijuana acts on brain neurotrasmitters, by making you “feel good” and mask the symptoms, but at the end you are messing your neurotrasmitters. Besides combining it while you were on cymbalta is not a good idea.
regards

[cookie]

feather, on 19 July 2010 - 04:05 PM, said:

I think it could be argued that taking Cymbalta in the first place is "messing your neurotransmitters." Not that taking another drug is the answer, but my doctor told me to take Prozac while going off Cymbalta, and I said hell no to more pharmaceutics. Why exactly is combining marijuana and cymbalta "not a good idea"? What studies are you referring to here?

I am not a doctor, I can talk based on my own experience. Illegal drugs can have very serious consequences on mental health. I have a nephew who developed schizophrenia by using marijuana.

The insert that comes inside cymbalta´s package says that "Cymbalta should be used with caution when is taken in combination with other centrally acting drugs, includying those with a similar mechanism of action" (CNS drugs)

Marijuana acts on the neurotrasmitters.

[Hatchmo]

I have also been toying with the idea of blazing up. I had a terrible experience weaning from a one year treatment at 60mg to 30 for 30 and then stop cold turkey as the doctor first suggested. I then went 30 to 20 and finally gave it up last week. I did smoke once about a month ago and it did seem to help me focus on my work, but I again was struggling with the concept I would now have to focus on the herbs.

My new solution I think is the best and my days seem to go well. WORKOUT! My teenaged son trains me every other day in the local community gym. I lift and do reps with small weight/lower impact/more reps. I started racquetball a couple of times in between the workouts. My theory is now a reality. I wear my ass out. You don't have time to think about it because you're always sore from the workouts. Brain zaps still happen and I just slow down and wait it out and tell myself it will subside a little everyday. However, we are all on the same page; doctors are playing with fire with these head drugs and it's too bad I didn't come here first. I would have taken up drinking heavily or smoking chronic before dropping 60mg of Cymbalta. Hang in there brothers and sisters and keep reading the posts. I think it really helped me most to realize that I wasn't alone on this freak ride..

[Michelle Hinton]

butt, on 05 November 2010 - 10:24 PM, said:

first of all, learn to spell neurotransmitters. second of all, your nephew would have developed schizophrenia no matter what. that's a disease you either develop or don't, and it's not dependent on drug use. so maybe you should stop posting on here since you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

most people who are here are posting because they are having dreadful problems with cymbalta. one of those particular problems, just happens to be concentration. others are, vision disturbances, muscle weakness, headaches, brain zaps and more. all of which could contribute to one making a spelling mistake.

marijuana is a very unsafe drug. why one would combine it with other psychoactive drugs baffles me. as a former user of the drug, (and yes, i LOVED it whilst i was using it) i am speaking from experience. pot will stuff up your brain, no matter which way you look at it.. and no matter how much you don't want it to.

there is a potential for schizophrenia to manifest after smoking pot JUST ONCE. it has happened many many times and will continue to happen as long as people keep smoking it, eating it, whatever. Even more alarming is that the hydroponic production of marijuana that is ever more popular these days, increases the production of THC (the main active ingredient in pot..) and that is why many people are suffering with mental illnesses after smoking pot. TO ALL THE POT SMOKERS OUT THERE, do yourselves a huge favour and quit. then get out and start living the real life.

not wanting to offend anyone, but the truth is the truth no matter which way you look at it
cheers

[Dingle]

I CANNOT NOR WILL NOT CONDONE ANYONE FOR TAKING ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES! This being said I have heard some research some years ago that the Cannabinoids in marijuana that target the Cannabinoid receptors in the brain cause a type of "shielding" effect so to speak when it comes to some chemicals in the brain. It makes it impossible for other chemicals to bind to these sites because they are already filled. It is possible that not allowing these other chems to bind could dampen the effects of these crippling brain zaps. I have personaly noted that stimulants such as caffeine, stress, adrenaline (possibly tied to stress), and other stims could make the brain zaps more pronounced. In my personal opinion DELTA-9TCH does seem to help with the more painful aspects of this withdrawal. It does not in fact get rid of them at all. Quieting the angry beast is the best description i can come up with. I also started taking Omega-3 with DHA and a variety of antioxidants including Vitamin C and Zinc and Magnesium. All hoping to increase the ability of my neural network to work in synchronicity. There is NO SUCH THING AS A WONDERDRUG. TAKE CAUTION BEFORE INGESTING ANYTHING!

[RickWC]

This seems to be a very touchy subject with a lot of personal emotions flying around. It is not my intention to offend anybody or argue with their personal beliefs but I disagree with a lot that is being said here. I have smoked pot for years and can tell you that it does not have any type of physcical dependence. I can go a day, a month, or even a year without it. Try that with Cymbalta. Does it alter the chemistry in your brain? Of course it does. Why would anybody bother taking it if it didn't make you feel something. As far as pain relief goes, it doesn't do anything for me. I have a buldging disk in my back and nothing short of Methadone has touched the pain. I've tried Alcohol, pot, vicodin, and Tramadol either alone or in combinations and none of it affected the pain. Add to this the fact that Cymbalta is used as a pain reliever so stopping it or reducing the dose can make the pain even worse.

I know that the very legality of pot can cause a lot of emotionaly charged opinions and I don't wish to argue the point about it's use. I have certain concerns that Cymbalta should even be legal to prescribe. The drug companies don't understand how it works and lie about the withdrawal effects. I jumped my doctor about prescribing an addictive drug to me without any warning and he said that Cymbalta is not addictive. I had just developed a tolerance and dependence on it. What is the difference?

Just imagine the amount of pot use that would be going on if the marketing team at Eli Lilly were put in charge of promoting it. This has nothing to do with legality, addiction, or moral issues. It is about the all mighty dollar and rest assured that each one of us that is on Cymbalta are nothing more then money making test rats for the drug companies.

[RickWC]

Liz, I wish I could be more helpful. In my younger days, I had a lot of experience with marijuana and I can tell you that it affects everyone differently. It can even effect one person differently at different times. I always felt that it intensified the feelings that you already had. So if you are already feeling anxious, smoking may just make it worse. With that said, it does seem to help me with the withdrawal. I guess you will have to test it out on your own.

[PenPenPenguin]

Marijuana effects different people in different ways. I am 21 and have been on Cymbalta for about 3 years now. Personally, I like to smoke a small bowl at night when I'm home by myself (or just me and my bf). It helps me sleep and I usually wake up feeling better rested. I would suggest trying it once in a familiar and comfortable environment because I have experienced extreme anxiety while smoking around a bunch of people. It is definitely not for everyone so please stay safe

-Victoria

[Marcelle24]

Among the many things that outrage me about the War on Marijuana Smokers is the blatant lies spread by our government officials. According to our government's Drug Enforcement Agency, an entire branch of government dedicated to the notion that the way to stop drug use is to put people who like drugs in jail, marijuana has no useful properties.

The arrogance of this statement amazes me. To say that a substance has no useful properties is akin to saying that there is no God. Oh, sure, you may think there's no God... but how can you ever prove such a thing? Truth is, you can't, which is why most atheists draw a distinction between saying that they don't see any reason to believe in God, and the very difficult to prove contention that God cannot possibly exist.

But the DEA says that the marijuana plant has no valid uses. This is shown to be an outright lie by the very existence of clothing made of hemp, of rope, of oil, of paper, and of all those other industrial uses that our country could benefit many times over from if pot were legalized. The DEA folks get particularly upset by the valid medical uses of cannabis, since they contend that pot is a "dangerous drug" rather than a "useful drug", or more simply, a medicine. The existence of just one person who's health has benefited from cannabis proves that the DEA is suppressing the truth and lying to us.

One of the seminars at the Cannabis Cup was on medical rights, and one of the speakers there was a guy everyone calls Glaucoma Jim. As everyone but the folks at the DEA has heard, Glaucoma is an illness for which marijuana is an effective treatment. It's also a hereditary disease. Jim spoke of how his father and (I think) his uncle had both gone blind due to glaucoma, and how he had been told by a doctor that he'd almost certainly go blind from it himself, within the next two years. Well, that was over 8 years ago. He still has his eyesight, and he smokes pot every day, without fail. For Jim, marijuana is of inestimable importance, as it's the only thing keeping his vision.

[Cymbawlter]

I'd be intetested to see your research on marijuana induced schizophrenia.... My experience with mental illness and drugs has always ben that people tend to use drugs to try to mask mental illnesses and feel better, creating a vicious cycle. I have never heard of marajuana causing schizophrenia.... Go figure, cell phones causing cancer and now pot causes schizophrenia! Personally the lovely green stuff has not cured my awful withdrwal symptoms, but it has definitely lessened the impact and made them much more bearable. It has mostly helped me emotionally menaly more than physically. For three weeks now, I just want to crawl im a hole... Im not going to lie, it helps to get out of bed these days with a cup of coffee and a doobie and meditate on my day. Doctors perscribe marjuana to cancer patients to help them deal with the side effects of chemo. These are much the same symptoms. All said, it is a personal choice, use good judgement, follow your intuition and get a prescrip if at all possible...