5 replies to this topic

[katherine]

I've just been prescribed Cymbalta (today is my second day taking it) and am doing research online to try and get an idea of what I'm getting myself into. I keep reading about these terrible experiences people have had, and I'm wondering whether I should go through with taking it, or just go back to dealing with my depression without the aid of chemicals. Has this drug actually helped anyone? I don't want to take something that might end up making me feel worse in the end. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Sarah J]

Looking back, it was a mask. I had never taken an antidepressant before. I was on it for situational depression and started taking it right about the time I was 37.5 years old. Cymbalta was the new wonder drug of the moment and I have had migraines since my 20s and my doctor thought it would be a good idea to try it because it could help with my depression and migraines. Did nothing for the migraines. My doctor and I together made the decision for me to come off of antidepressants back in January. That would be when I learned what depression really was, and its name was Cymbalta withdrawal.

My doctor dropped me from 30mg to nothing, I asked him about weaning and he said with Cymbalta you can just stop taking it. So I did. The first three days of withdrawal, I realized how powerful Cymbalta was, and what it had been doing to my mind, I felt horrible, but this was when I knew I did not want this mind altering drug in my system any longer.

Cymbalta withdrawal can't really be compared to a drug addict needing a fix, as in, your body is freaking out without it and you have to take the same drug to feel comfortable again, it was more like, my body was freaking out without it, and I knew I was never going to put another one into my body again, no matter what.

I can't change the fact that I looked to an antidepressant for relief from a very difficult and trying time in my life. I did. I will never put another antidepressant into my body again, unless I am in a coma and it is force fed to me. I now know that I have the strength inside of me to get through any adverse time, through talk therapy, working out, and faith that when things get down, they will always go back up. Time and hard inner work will heal situational depression, not a drug mask.

Some people do need to take antidepressants and there should be no shame for people that need them to function and feel stable.

93 days cymbalta free, 8 days free of the second antidepressant I had to go on to balance myself out after cold turkey Cymbalta withdrawal, as my doctor had told me to do.

For situational depression, no.

[schmb01]

I've had mild to moderate depression for years, and then was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition that causes chronic pain, and the potential for blindess.(Nutshell version) I had been on Lexapro, which made me feel flat, then Effexor XR, which just stopped working, and then moved to Cymbalta. What I now realize, is that Effexor was making me a zombie, and I began feeling withdrawals while still on it. The Cymbalta temporarily stopped the withdrawal symptoms, but it never eased the chronic pain. While on it, I began to feel withdrawal again, and my dose was upped to 90 mg. I felt horrible, and decided it was time to stop.

I am at day 43 off of it. I attended a Billy Joel concert tonight and I felt alive!! I told my daughter on the way home from the show, that I felt like I had lost over 2 years of my life to both Effexor and Cymbalta. Withdrawal was hellish, and there are still some bumps, but I feel better now, even with the chronic pain, than I have felt in years.

I have to second what Sarah said, for situational depression, or pain management, it was not worth it. I could actually cry about what I have missed in the last 2 years.

[nancyweNW]

I have been off and on a couple different anti-depressants, mainly Wellbutrin. over a period of 15 years. It seemed like it wasn't working anymore and I was prescribed Cymbalta back in mid-Jan 08. Within a week I felt great but started breaking out in hives. I was at 60 mg but dropped down to 30 to see if they went away which they didn't. My doctor and I agreed to stop the Cymbalta and see for sure that that is what's causing the hives. I made the mistake of going cold turkey at 30 mg. A Really Bad Mistake. Went back on the 30 mg then dropped down to 20 mg with the plan to go every other day and then stop. I asked about opening the capsules and tapering to lower dosages that way but was advised against that.

My last pill was on 4/8 and by that Friday, I started having some symptoms which I expected considering the cold turkey experiment. I had pretty much no problem going off of Wellbutrin except for headaches for a few days. I had read about withdrawal with Cymbalta on-line but thought they were anomalies possibly BUT it has all turned out to be true. The "brain zaps" when turning your head, the constant hissing noise, very disoriented, crying jags, tired but not able to sleep, all of it. I'm really glad to know I'm not imagining all this but sorry that some people have to go through this.

The brain zaps are somewhat better today but but still there. I was off work for two days this week because I was pretty much non-functional. At this point, I'm staying off everything I don't have to have and then re-evaluate the depression.

What has irritated me is that my doctor didn't talk to me at all about any withdrawal symptoms with this med. Even though some people have no problems, information should be provided. It used to be that only psychiatrists could prescribe anti-depressants. Now that your Internist or GP can, I don't see that they are being provided or just aren't aware of the consequences of some of these drugs. Was it worth it...from hindsight, no. If I hadn't broken out in hives, I would still be on it.

[nancyweNW]

When I went on it, it worked great! I had no side effects other than no appetite initially (which came back finally). This site really is about what happens when you stop taking the drug. I stopped it because I broke out in hives but wasn't sure if it was from the Cymbalta or not. If I hadn't had the hives, I'd still be on the drug. I was on Wellburtrin for a number of years until it stopped working but it was great for awhile while I know other people had problems w/it. It is individual. Good luck!

[Cymbalta Survivor]

It was not worth it for me. Not even close. I would strongly, strongly advise you to review this with your doctor and to get a second opinion. In my opinion, Cymbalta is just plain evil. It is good that you are doing research. I wish I would have. I wish my doctor would have warned me of the potential effects. I wish my pharmacist would have said something. But it is too late now. After a failed suicide attempt and the accompanying emotional scars, I wish I or somebody had done things differently. Now I get to live each day with that burden. The only way you could get me to swallow another dose of Cymbalta is if you held a gun to my head. It might not matter anyhow, because when going through Cymbalta withdrawal, you might just find a gun held to your head. Only it will be your finger on the trigger, not someone else's.