[Adora]

My sister was just prescribed this medication after deciding to stop taking Prozac (on her own) and experiencing the expected rebound of depression and anxiety as a result. I personally should also be on anti-depressants, I consider myself far more unstable than my sister, but I have a hard time remembering to take medication on a regular basis and am petrified of the negative effects that can lead to in anti-depressants, so I am wary of them to begin with and my family knows it. As a result I am afraid that they may not take me seriously when I try and warn them that my sister needs to not take this medication. Everything I managed to find within minutes of searching for information about this drug ranges from alarming to terrifying.

My main concern is does anyone know how much time it takes from starting this medicine until you start experiencing side effects when trying to quit or accidentally skip a dose? I know my sister was told that most people start noticing positive results in a week, which I thought seemed very fast for an anti-depressant. She's only been on it for a couple of days, but I am sincerely terrified for her. I know that, for example, with benzodiazepine based drugs you usually have about a week before stopping will trigger withdrawal. Does anyone know if Cymbalta is similar in that regard? Has anyone come across this forum right after (within days or weeks of) starting and quit as a result? Were you okay??

I'd really appreciate any advice. I don't want to see my sister suffer because she's trying to take steps to help herself, and I really am worried that she won't listen to me at all or that she might misunderstand my concern. I probably shouldn't even know she is on it, so the fact that I do know alone might make her angry. I'm willing to endure any wrath necessary if I can keep her from going through what I am reading about people experiencing here and on other sites. I just hope it's not already too late. Thank you for reading this and I am sorry for everything the people participating in this forum have gone through.

EDIT: Continuing to read here and elsewhere I have seen at least one person say they experienced withdrawal for no less than 3 weeks following being on the drug for only 6 days, and wikipedia notes that "Steady-state is usually achieved after 3 days." This leads me to believe that taking this drug for even as little as 3 days poses a serious threat. Can anyone reassure me that I'm not going to cause more harm than good by telling my sister to stop until she has time to research it herself fully if she's already been taking it for 3 days?? I am so upset reading all of this.