why were you prescribed cymbalta in the first place? was it originally prescribed for depression? if so, how long had the diagnosis been made before you were prescribed cymbalta? were there are anti-depressants or other psychoactive meds prescribed before you went on cymbalta? how long were you on it prior to coming off five years ago? what was your dosage? what meds have you taken since cymbalta?
Brzghoff
Thank you so much for your informative reply. I read the articles that you linked to and found them extremely thought provoking. A little depressing considering that I have been taking all different meds for about 10 years now. But knowledge is power and I'm grateful for the knowledge.
I will make this as short as I can. At the end of 2002, both of my mother's parents died. They died within 3 weeks of one another and my mother and aunt had to make the decision to "pull the plug" for my grandmother. The day after my grandmother passed (she died 2nd) my aunt came to my grandparents house and started a fight over my grandparents possessions. I was extremely close to my grandparents and the fight was extremely bad. I ended up in a ball on the floor yelling "Stop" over and over and over. I had always had problems with stress but I had never gone to this extreme before. However, I refused medication from the doctor, figuring that I would eventually get over it. I did however agree to see a therapist.
For the next year or so, I began to have panic attacks and weird illnesses that would come and go. Bad bouts of vertigo caused me to fall down my stairs on at least 2 occasions, a couple rounds of bad joint pain and other issues. I went through a battery of tests including a brain MRI and everything was completely normal.
In early 2004 I was hospitalized with a high fever, severe joint pain, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea. Throughout the week in the hospital every part of me was tested. I had gallbladder inflammation but not an issue for gallbladder removal. Liver swelling - no diagnosis. Tested for Lyme, toxoplasmosis, hepatitis, chronic fatigue - all negative. My symptoms slowly resolved and I was discharged from the hospital with no diagnosis and a battery of negative tests.
Shortly after all of this I began taking Lexapro. My doctor felt that my anxiety was rising and never receding and each time my anxiety rose, I found a new "normal" which was no where near "normal". I started to feel much better and calmer and all the weird illnesses stopped.
In May of 2005 I started to taper off the Lexapro with a lower dosage and .5mg of xanax for emergencies. But I was not successful in removing Lexapro entirely and by March 2007 I was taking 20 mg of Lexapro and .25mg of xanax.
Insomnia had been a large problem all along and by April of 2008 we added Ambien and Requip for my severe Restless Leg Syndrome. Various aches and pains with seemingly no cause were cropping up again
In Dec of 2008 we replaced xanax with klonopin which went relatively well and we played some with the Lexapro dosage. By June of 2009, Lexapro was no longer working and we switched to Cymbalta 30mg for one week, then 60 mg. In July, 2009 the Cymbalta was upped to 90 mg. My insurance company denied the claim for the Cymbalta and the price was out of reach for me (we had adjusted my dosage with samples) I chose to just stop the Cymbalta and went on Prozac. Little did I know what the fallout would be. Problems that cropped up were: When I wasn't completely manic, I was asleep - When I was manic I could barely speak because it was very difficult for me to find the correct words. I sounded like I had a bad stutter My hands did not feel connected to my arms My head felt fuzzy, like it was stuffed with cotton, but it felt kind of buzzy too, like there was a bee stuck in the cotton. I cried constantly, about everything, about nothing. I had a headache, shoulder aches, backache. I couldn't focus on anything. Hyperventilation My eyes felt weird. I have no other description for this then "weird". I felt nauseous a lot although no actual vomiting, Diarrhea. And also I had the "dropsies" so bad. Everything I picked up ended up on the floor. Passive suicidal ideation
My husband and I were dealing with some trying issues at the time (bad neighbors) and on September 15, 2009 I presented with stress uticaria (hives head to toe) and an acute depression episode. At this point I went to and intensive therapy outpatient center for evening sessions so I could continue to work. I was put back on Lexapro and the Klonopin was increased to 1 mg. I was losing weight (YAY!) because I was barely eating from the stress (BOO)
August 2010 I had a severe panic attack that required me to go to the hospital. My medication was switched to Celexa and was brought up to 60 mg, and one year later we added 2 mg of Abilify
Monday before Thanksgiving of 2011 I have a nervous breakdown and was admitted to the psych ward for a week. When I was in the hospital I was given Seroquel fro the week, but that was discontinued upon release. I went home still on Celexa and Klonopin. Then I began 3 months of intensive daily treatment at an outpatient facility and had to quit my job.
In April of 2012 my husband and I moved to SC and i found a therapist and a psychiatrist that I really like. After a year I found a non-stressful little job at a little store and lasted 6 months before I had another acute depression episode and had to quit.
Since I moved down here I have been switched to Prozac and my Klonopin is now at 2.5 mg per day. I also take Trazadone to sleep, neurontin for my intersticial cystitis I can't work, and anytime anything remotely stressful happens I go way over the top in my reaction. I have days where I literally can't stop sleeping and days when I barely sleep even with the Trazadone. I am almost always in a stressed state, even if it's minor. I go to therapy every single week. We were going to try to taper therapy to every other week, but I had a stresser, completely overreacted and the decision was made to stay in therapy every week.
I have come to believe that it's possible that the Cymbalta and it's stunningly awful withdrawal have just done something to me. Ever since then, things have been worse then they ever were before. However, looking at my life on paper, things have never been better.
I'm just frustrated. I have contacted Knox Ricksen about a potential lawsuit, but even if that is successful it will not change the fact that I feel like my brain is completely fried.
Sorry for the long story! 
I think I answered all of your questions though. Thanks for reaching out, I really appreciate it.
And I am so angry on your behalf ... 
