8 replies to this topic

[Jared]

My doctor prescribed me 30mg of Cymbalta to start of with and I was going to move to 60mg when my 2 week prescription was up. I'm 18 years old and upon taking one tablet I had brain zaps and anxiety and was asleep within 10 minutes. I'm fine now 2 hours later but I am desperate. Me and my fiance have been looking up this horrible drug on the internet and can only wonder why other then corporate gain, can this drug have been approved for public use. Will i be safe to go cold turkey after one dose? I will be going to the doctor tomorrow but i wanted some feedback from people who actually know (my doctor told me there is no side effects).

[nursedeborah]

Jared,
You will find a new post here that you can take to you doc, and show him all the side effects of this
drug, and the with drawls, just go to the main board, and look under medical info or news.

There is also a FDA report back in Sept 18 th that you should take to him as well, and here's another site
with all the withdrawls http://prozactruth.com/cymbalta.htm

Doc's know nothing about this drug, the side effects, or withdrawls, also they don't have any clue how to
get anyone off this crap.

There are side effects, and if he said there were none, even the TV commerical talks about several.
Always look up what your being given! Good for you to do what you did!!!!

YES YOU CAN STOP AFTER ONE DOSE!!! STOP THIS DRUG NOW!!!!

Debbie

[Jared]

Debbie,

Thankyou so much I was so worried. I have made an appointment with him today and am going to show him all the stuff. Not long after I posted this I started to get intense naustia which was about 6 hours after the initial dose. Any withdrawal symptoms after this one dose are going to be trivial after the night I had. Nightmares, wanting to vomit, brain zaps and all after ONE DOSE!!!! I will stop straight away and maybe look at an alternative to drugs for my depression before i try medication again. I cant even imagine what people have been throught that have been on this for months and even years.

Jared

[nursedeborah]

Jared,
It is just safer to say away from the the ones that have come out, and go with the old more's
as the new one work on both the neurortransmitters, and the sertonin! You just want a plain
old fashioned antidepressant that just give the the serition some help.

This one does cause addiction to the brain, and it has only been out sice 2007, but has already
doubled in the numbers of that of Effexor, and Paxil as far as withdrawls, and side effects.

I had to get on Prozac to combat the withdrawls, and it's helping some, but until I get off this crap
100 % this is the drug that was suggested here, and I so trust this place, and all the people that
have already gone through what I have, and the withdrwls, and now are off the stuff. Also still
having problems with brain zaps, and some of the other withdrawl/side effects as for me I got
them on or offf it. It is so much better now that it was, but it is still very hard trying to put mylife back to mormal after being
on 60 mg for 3 years. Very long awful story what it did, and has done to me, still is.

I hope you become a fighter against this drug, and help in getting it into a class action law suit,
star a petition of your own at ipetitions.com, we much do all we can to stop anyone else from
going through this hell

Debbie

[Jared]

Debbie,

I just took the medication back to the doctor, and once again he had no idea about any of the stuff and chalked my experience up to a "serotonin headache". I just gave him a sceptical look when i told him about all of this. I am now looking for alternatives and will surely join the fight against this horrible drug. Thankyou for your support, I am just glad that I was able to realise my mistake after 1 tablet. Your struggle should not be in vain, people need to hear about this, people need to know what is going on.

Jared

[Junior]

Hi Jared

The symptoms you described are not unusual when one starts on Cymbalta. Indeed many people experience side-effects while starting anti-depressant medication. I'm surprised your Dr didn't warn you of any of these before you took your first dose. Having said that, the only one I was warned about was nausea.

Just to clarify what Debbie said, Cymbalta works on two brain chemicals - norepinephrine and serotonin - while many others only work on one (Prozac, Paxil, etc). This generally means that Cymbalta takes longer to get off. Effexor is another one.

May I ask why your Dr wanted to put you on Cymbalta? You don't have to tell me...I'm just curious..because I am constantly amazed at how these powerful drugs are being handed out like lollies. Don't get wrong, they definitely have a place (I'm a depressive and also suffer anxiety) but they are being over-prescribed.

Kind regards
Junior

[Jared]

Hi junior,
I was prescribed Cymbalta for depression. He felt that along with seeing a psyc. was good start. I was put on 30mg to start but as i said before only took one dose because of the side effects. I was wondering if i should have any of the withdrawal side effects after stopping after this one dose? I am still a little nauseous and very fatigued but feel alot better than last night, i could chalk it up to the fact i couldnt sleep last night. It does seem like to many people have been prescribed this drug when so little about the side effects is made clear to patients.

Jared

[Junior]

Hi Jared

Sorry to hear of your depression. It can be very debilitating I know. I'm a sufferer myself. Do you feel that drugs will help? Unlike some, I'm not pro or anti medication for depression. It depends on the level of depression and how the person feels about taking it. (For milder cases, many people swear by a herb known here in Australia as St John's Wort.) The reason I'm asking is that psychiatrists mainly just prescribe medication. That's what they do.. diagnose and treat according to a medical model. If you would rather not go down that path, I would highly recommend a psychologist instead (I'm biased; I've studied to honours level in psychology myself ;-) ). If your current condition was triggered by life circumstances, a psychologist can help you to work through these and hopefully give you the tools to avoid suffering depression in the future.

In terms of withdrawal, I'm not sure how long the drug stays in your system so I can't answer your question directly, but I would think that if you are feeling better than you were that it shouldn't be too long. Another day perhaps? I was only on it 19 days myself (to control generalised anxiety disorder) and didn't have much trouble with nausea but I had GI distress and it disrupted my sleeping pattern. I then went cold turkey off 60mg and I have to say, the withdrawal was horrific. Severe upper abdo pain that had my doctor testing for gall stones! It took 2 weeks for the withdrawal to subside. What I didn't know was that the 60mg I'd been put on WASN'T a 'starting dose'. I really don't know why Drs do that. You'd think they'd start people on a low dose then gradually increase it. But what would I know?

Regards
Junior

[Jared]

Junior,
Im now looking into natural ways of treating this depression before i try medication again. I have my first appointment with my psych on Monday (im in NSW myself). I felt a little nauseous for the day but i wasnt to bad with the withdrawal. I did have really bad dreams though :(. I agree i think doctors prescribe these meds without knowing enough about them.