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Does Cymbalta Make You Gain Weight??


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#1 svdomenech27

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Posted 02 January 2010 - 07:21 PM

I stopped cymbalta cold turkey about a week ago, because I got on the scale the other day and completely freaked out when I realized that over the past 2 years I have been on cymbalta I have gained around 50lbs!! So believing that the drug could perhaps be the reason for this excessive weight gain I have gotten off. I had planned to wean off, but thanks to my doctor and pharmacy just wanting to get extra money out of me I have reverted to my normal irrational and stubborn self and simply stopped taking the cymbalta cold turkey! Instead of my doctor just writing me a reduced prescription she said I needed to come in which costs $30 which I don't have. I was going to do it, but dont' have anymore cymbalta and the pharmacy was going to charge me $30 for a 10 day supply, until I could get the reduced amount by mail order pharmacy. I figured that by the time I get my actual prescription I will be down about $100 which again I don't have, and all because I'm trying to get OFF a medication. I think that's deplorable!!!Thank goodness I'm self employed and work with animals so I don't have to be around people, I would probably kill someone right now with the way I feel! Also, I can lay down when the dizziness gets to the point where I feel incapacitated.

The brain buzzing is the worst part, and its funny because I've been knowing about this symptom for a very very long time. From the start when I would miss a dose I would get the brain buzzing and nausea. So now I basically feel like I have the flu, and whenever I eat I get instant diahrrea or nausea, sometimes BOTH! My old feelings of anxiety are coming back also, but I keep on reminding myself that for the 2 years I have been on cymbalta not a thing in the world bothered me, and I was on cloud 9, so all this feeling depressed is just a state of mind and things really and truly can't be as bad as I'm starting to see them once again. I think that thought process is working. So anyhow, this about day 7 for me...something like that, and I feel slightly a fraction of an inch better than I had been. I'm hoping the withdrawal will be over in maybe another week. In the meantime though, can anyone tell me if they've had problems with weight gain while being on cymbalta? I know I eat bad alot, but it has NEVER effected my weight before. I have always been around 20lbs overweight but that's a norm for me. This extra 50lbs I have put on is strange, because its like no matter what I did, diet, exercise I would actually GAIN weight, and I promise I am not joking about this. I almost cried when after a month of working out on my lunch breaks about a year ago, and watching what I was eating, I could no longer fit into my favorite black skirt that fit just fine right before I started my diet. So considering this I guess you can see why I have become alarmed and suscpicious that the cymbalta is wreaking havoc on my metabolism. Any feedback on that would be helpful!

#2 nursedeborah

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    I am reallly trying to get off Cymbalta, and not having, well I am having nightmares even with the decreased does, and clanging in my head.

    I just found this site, and I really need help, I can't do this, I fear I willl never get off this brutal medication.

    Deboreah Wesson

Posted 02 January 2010 - 08:41 PM

I stopped cymbalta cold turkey about a week ago, because I got on the scale the other day and completely freaked out when I realized that over the past 2 years I have been on cymbalta I have gained around 50lbs!! So believing that the drug could perhaps be the reason for this excessive weight gain I have gotten off. I had planned to wean off, but thanks to my doctor and pharmacy just wanting to get extra money out of me I have reverted to my normal irrational and stubborn self and simply stopped taking the cymbalta cold turkey! Instead of my doctor just writing me a reduced prescription she said I needed to come in which costs $30 which I don't have. I was going to do it, but dont' have anymore cymbalta and the pharmacy was going to charge me $30 for a 10 day supply, until I could get the reduced amount by mail order pharmacy. I figured that by the time I get my actual prescription I will be down about $100 which again I don't have, and all because I'm trying to get OFF a medication. I think that's deplorable!!!Thank goodness I'm self employed and work with animals so I don't have to be around people, I would probably kill someone right now with the way I feel! Also, I can lay down when the dizziness gets to the point where I feel incapacitated.

The brain buzzing is the worst part, and its funny because I've been knowing about this symptom for a very very long time. From the start when I would miss a dose I would get the brain buzzing and nausea. So now I basically feel like I have the flu, and whenever I eat I get instant diahrrea or nausea, sometimes BOTH! My old feelings of anxiety are coming back also, but I keep on reminding myself that for the 2 years I have been on cymbalta not a thing in the world bothered me, and I was on cloud 9, so all this feeling depressed is just a state of mind and things really and truly can't be as bad as I'm starting to see them once again. I think that thought process is working. So anyhow, this about day 7 for me...something like that, and I feel slightly a fraction of an inch better than I had been. I'm hoping the withdrawal will be over in maybe another week. In the meantime though, can anyone tell me if they've had problems with weight gain while being on cymbalta? I know I eat bad alot, but it has NEVER effected my weight before. I have always been around 20lbs overweight but that's a norm for me. This extra 50lbs I have put on is strange, because its like no matter what I did, diet, exercise I would actually GAIN weight, and I promise I am not joking about this. I almost cried when after a month of working out on my lunch breaks about a year ago, and watching what I was eating, I could no longer fit into my favorite black skirt that fit just fine right before I started my diet. So considering this I guess you can see why I have become alarmed and suscpicious that the cymbalta is wreaking havoc on my metabolism. Any feedback on that would be helpful!



Svdo,
Welcome to where everyone knows just what your thinking like, feeling like, have gone
through, well at least I can.

You didn't say which dose, but it looked like the doc was going to put you on 30 mg,so
I am guessong you were on 60 mg for 2 years? Am I correct? There are other who suffer coming
off this drug, but some who have had side effects while on it, or those who have
been on it for a very long time seem to have a much harder time. Again this is just my opinion, and what I have gone through,
but also from what I have been reading here.

This does not mean this will be the case for you, but most who do such a large decrease just end up feeling like what your feeling
right now. That is why I loved what I was taught here, and that was to go very slow, go at your own pace getting off this to keep
the withdrawls to a , so you can function!!! One can actually get their dose to where they don't suffer at all really.

I also learned about adding Prozac 20 mg to help with the withdrawls, and it works very well. It took it awhile to help me, but it
really has. I also think it's the decreasing too, and getting that large amount I was taking out, and now on 15-18 mg.

Oh yes to you question about the weight!!!!! I wasa size 2-4, and gained 35 lbs, I had nothing to wear, had to buy a few things. I
finally just gave all my clothes away, I won't lose while still on this, and have several months to go. Oh well I love the thrift stores.

Don't give up, it get's better, the weight comes off. I even asked a doctor once why these meds make patients gain weight, and he said they had no idea, there are many psych drugs that do this, but not usually the plain old antidepressants, this one works on bothe chemicals in the brain.

Well I am now starting a novel, I better let you process some of this if you can,lol.


If you need any info just let me know :)

Debbie

#3 nursedeborah

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    I am reallly trying to get off Cymbalta, and not having, well I am having nightmares even with the decreased does, and clanging in my head.

    I just found this site, and I really need help, I can't do this, I fear I willl never get off this brutal medication.

    Deboreah Wesson

Posted 02 January 2010 - 08:43 PM

svdo,
When or how much longer until your meds come in the mail?
When they get there I would suggest you take one, and then think
about a slow wean? Just a thought.

Debbie :)

#4 svdomenech27

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Posted 02 January 2010 - 09:22 PM

Yes I was on the 60 mg and I also forgot to mention that I got HORRIBLE night sweats when I started taking cymbalta. My sheets and clothes would be soaking wet some nights I would sweat so hard. I did a detox through my holistic doctor and it went away for a while but now its back sometimes, and now that I'm getting off cymbalta, I'm having the night sweats during the day while I'm just sitting on the sofa, so I'm freezing and hot at the same time. I did feel much better today though than I had been feeling since I got off the drug. So I'm making progress.

~Shanty

#5 svdomenech27

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Posted 02 January 2010 - 09:24 PM

Oh and thanks for answering my question about the weight. Over how long a period did you take the cymbalta before you gained the 35 lbs? It has taken me 2 years on cymbalta to gain 50lbs. I also saw someone else's post the person who is a vegetarian and managed to gain 75lbs. Now you KNOW something is wrong with that. SO it MUST be the cymbalta.

#6 svdomenech27

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Posted 02 January 2010 - 09:34 PM

Oops just saw your other post nursedeborah about the mail order meds. I didn't order any at all because my doctor wouldn't write me the prescription without the office visit. So I said screw it, and I'm getting off the hard way. Its bareable, but only because I don't work a full time job, and can nap or lay down if I need to. If I was working 9-5 everyday I would definitely have to wean off.

#7 Junior

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Posted 02 January 2010 - 10:04 PM

Hi Shanty

To answer your question about weight gain, YES, modern anti-depressants CAN have this effect. Because every person is wired a little differently, it's hard to say which drug will affect which person and how.. but YES it can happen.

In terms of going cold turkey, I understand how difficult it is for you financially and I understand your frustration but please do reconsider. I went cold turkey from 60mg and it just threw me into chaos. The GI distress was horrific. At one point my GP suspected gallstones! The worst of it settled after two weeks but then I suffered hypomania and extreme insomnia. I'd be lucky to sleep 4-5 hours a night, generally waking every hour or so, yet I had so much energy it was ridiculous. Plus I couldn't stop talking, which is normal for me but since even I noticed it... well it must have been over the top :)
My GP was concerned about bipolar (my sister has Bipolar 1) but I pointed out that pre-medication, I'd never had such an episode. Then.., with the extreme insomnia, which worsened, I was left with no alternative but to go back onto medication in an effort to stabilise. This may not happen to you - I was on meds for 11 yrs before all of this - but I just wanted to warn you. It really IS better to taper slowly.


Regards
Junior



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