Here's mine:
On Cymbalta 2 years @ 30 mg. It numbed my body and dumbed-down my brain. But I felt I needed that for a while. After a year my emotions began to flat-line. Soon I was a Cymbalta Zombie, the walking (unsteadily) dead! Everything I loved to do was gone and I cared about nothing-- I had to withdraw.
I weaned off by bead-counting over 6 weeks. Got the brain-zaps, nausea, visual problems, GI, vertigo, tinnitus, headaches, sleeplessness, sexual dysfunction, depression, anxiety, and more. I was visited by a number of phantom illnesses that (at least partially) emulated Lupus, Chronic Fatigue, MS, Dementia, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Hernia etc. I saw a few specialists, was offered different SSRI's, and went to the ER twice.
The first three months of discontinuation were rough, and I wasn't sure I'd make it. After perhaps 5 months there was clear light at the end of the tunnel. Between 6-9 months most of the phantom illnesses were gone. After a year I was clearly out of the woods and many of the previously-lost interests and loves were returning- energy was still up and down. After 18 months there were still subtle improvements- especially in balance and energy.
And now at 23 months since my last Cymbalta dosage I am probably 96-98% back. I still have a couple of discontinuation artifacts which are, a constant headache, and tinnitus in my right ear. Both started in withdrawal and I hope they will go away some day as well. I can feel it in my body and my brain that I've definitely been through something. It's impossible to say if I'm the same as I was- and I'm not sure it's a reasonable question- because so much time has passed and so much has happened. But I'm okay.
