Help
I am a 26yr old man and had been on Cymbalta for over 2 1/2yrs as a precautionary measure for chronic pain. I have 3 collapsed disc causing permanent nerve damage to my leg and manhood.
In mid January my workers comp insurance carrier denied my medication on a false accusation of a pre-existing condition. I was never given a chance to wean off. February is all but bits and pieces in my mind and I was going through manic mood changes. These started with tingling of the face and fingers and the rest is a black out. My mood swings would go from happy to sad to in a full blown rage in a matter of minutes. This resulted in my fiance not being able to take it anymore in which I do not blame her for that.
February 16th of 2011 will be a day I will never forget. Just remember I do not remember anything of this and I am totally against suicide. I made a phone call to my brother in which he stated that what I was saying was just plain jiberish. 30min later I had already wrote out a letter and sent a text to Pat a best friend of mine to let him know where I would be so please send Homer (our Justice of the Peace) to let him know where I was at and my front door would be unlocked.
By the time he had arrived it was already too late. I do not remember pulling the trigger much less anything else out of that day before the shot rang out, but I can honestly say I remember that exact moment of when the 40cal bullet entered my chest. It amazes me how fast the human brain can change.
I ended up dying twice that day and the preacher read my last right because I wasn't expected to make it. Well I am here and by God's grace and the wonder team at Brankenridge Hospital I lived to fight another day. I did not walk out like a peach, the damage had been done. I missed my heart by a fraction (Four doctors said the muzzle blast should have killed me instantly), it blew out my diaphragm, hit my spleen, and part of my lung.
The third day I was in the hospital the mood swings came back. The doctors found out that I had been on Cymbalta and was denied my medication causing a cold turkey withdraw. They were right. The CT found that my brain looked like the 4th of July because of the misfires.
Not only has this affected me physically, but emotionally as well. I wake up gasping for air reliving that moment. The pain that this has caused on my family and friends is almost unbearable.
I am now 10 days off of Cymbalta by getting weaned off and even though this is the first time in almost 3yrs I can finally think clearly the physical withdraws were that of a narcotic X10. Uncontrollable convulsions, tingling in my face down to my hands, sweating while I was freezing, nightmares, and uncontrollable shaking of my right hand.
I am feeling better than ever now that I am off that ticking time bomb of a medication, but I do not want more people to go through this. Let's stop these people so not one more person has to die.
Please help. This medication has not ruined my life because I believe everything happens for a reason, but I did lose 2 1/2yrs I'll never get back along with all the scars.
Thanks for reading,
Shawn
