16 replies to this topic

[Brit]

Dr has just prescribed Cymbalta 20 mg. I always look up drugs because I had a bad withdrawal experience with Tramadol.

Now After reading this forum I am wondering if I should wait a week and then tell the doctor I want some other med.

This is for Fibromyalgia taken along with tylenol. The Dose is with evening meal once a day.

[standwaiting]

I got off of Tramidol too. Ulcers came, I could tell withdraw, but the coffee with was worse. Back to Vicode and soma's
Im waiting to take my first pill...

[Renee68]

Dr has just prescribed Cymbalta 20 mg. I always look up drugs because I had a bad withdrawal experience with Tramadol.

Now After reading this forum I am wondering if I should wait a week and then tell the doctor I want some other med.

This is for Fibromyalgia taken along with tylenol. The Dose is with evening meal once a day.

DONT' TAKE IT!!!

[Pixi]

It is for short term use. No longer than 6 months as recommended by Eli Lily and then there is no weaning programme provided by them for the severe withdrawals. Do not risk it & save yourself a lot of trouble. Even if you could cope with the side effects & it did bring some mild relief, you'd have to wean eventually. The negatives far outweigh the positives as a pain control or antidepressant. Lyrica is no better either. All brain drugs being marketed as cure-alls for everything else. It's hype and it's evil. Cymbalta must be banned and it will happen.

[scarlettalice]

Dr has just prescribed Cymbalta 20 mg. I always look up drugs because I had a bad withdrawal experience with Tramadol.

Now After reading this forum I am wondering if I should wait a week and then tell the doctor I want some other med.

This is for Fibromyalgia taken along with tylenol. The Dose is with evening meal once a day.

Sometime around Nov28, 2011…I stopped Cymbalta cold turkey. I am a 44 year old female and have been on anti depressants for diagnosed PTSD (3 times in my life) for about 20 years, on and off, with my last one being Cymbalta, dosage at 120mg daily. At about a year in I started to have withdrawal symptoms BEFORE I even started decreasing dosage, my body just wanted more, more, more, and I couldn't do it anymore. Don't do what I did. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty... I just STOPPED cold turkey because I was having the symptoms of withdrawal BEFORE actual decrease. I hope it doesn't sound confusing, I'm sure there are millions of you out there who know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. I decided to white knuckle, bite the bullet, and you will have to talk to your doctor about what's best for you. I can honestly say I should have been in the nearest detox center for the first 4 days (at least) under major supervision. All the radiohead, shocks in the head and the hands, feeling like you are falling backwards....it all was so almost....the end of me. It has been about 4 weeks now, and the physical symptoms are all (almost) gone (they will come back sometimes when you get tired, I've realized), it's the emotional and pyschological side of the drug that will be very persistent and linger. It's your choice if you want to take SSRI's, and things change....I want to feel again so I went through the worst detox withdrawal because..........................................................

I WANT TO FEEL HOW IT FEELS TO FEEL AGAIN.

Most doctors I've had don't TELL YOU when they first prescribe it what it might do to you when you want to get off it....or they might tell you half the truth, or they might tell you after you've been taking it for a while and start to ask questions about it....the commercials make me want to vomit how they push it on the masses as a cure all ...it's so the opposite, people. I have literally been pushed back in time emotionally to when I started this anti-depressant nightmare, about 20 years. But guess what? I can feel good and I can feel bad and I'm okay and I'm going to be okay and I want to raise my kids with having good feelings and bad feelings and teach them
THAT JUST POPPING A PILL THAT A DOCTOR TELLS YOU WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER MIGHT NOT LET YOU FEEL AT ALL...
I believed I was depressed because I was told I was depressed and I felt that I felt like what it feels like to be depressed....I wake up 20 years later and wonder how all these doctors KNEW medically what I needed and what the drug companies were telling them I needed. I'm really fortunate I lived thru cold turkey detox.....I'm going to be okay. Even though I am having trouble controlling my emotions, sleep patterns, eating patterns, etc, I know that I can learn again what good and bad feel like and live accordingly. I've gone back to a therapist to work on it (one who cannot prescribe meds). It's been almost a "primal" or "primitive" feeling with seeing things clearly, colors are beautiful and food tastes amazing, flowers smell wonderful and SEX is BACK in my life and I want to have it and I my lord, the sex drive that we are supposed to have and not suppress is incredible! My energy level is off the charts and weight loss has begun. Wanting to be healthy feels good...Lastly, the most amazing thing that has happened is hearing music again...really hearing it and how amazing it can make you feel...I was a dancer and cheerleader in my young life and lost the love of music and dance when the anti depressants came into my life. With ear buds on my ipod....then watching Lady Gaga and realizing how freaking talented that young woman is and how original she is and different her choreography is and how I literally haven't been moved emotionally by such a dance performance like the one in the new video called "marry the night" where she's looking like she's at a try-out and she feels out of place, she stretches out looking uncomfortably around the room, adjusts her sequined bustier and starts dancing with the the others....I saw myself 20 years ago and it was so powerful an emotion it overwhelmed me. Lady Gaga changed my life about two weeks ago, and I know that sounds crazy, but she MADE ME WANT TO DANCE AGAIN, she changed the way I saw my life, and the next day I danced again, and I danced, and danced, and cried, and danced, and realized I COULD STILL DANCE!!!!!!! Oh my god, I will never be able to fully explain how beautiful and emotional music sounds once you stop supressing your brain with a drug that really does the opposite of what it's supposed to do....let's get real and get the word out and save some people from the viciousness and apathetic drug called Cymbalta...people researching this drug, look at all these similiar stories about what it has done to millions of people and heed the warning. I wish you all out there in the world the best, stay strong, stand for peace and hope in mankind, question everything and know....you can DO ANYTHING and then maybe someday..... you can DO IT AGAIN!
And as my favorite, old, gay Uncle Bill used to tell me; "BE GOOD, OR BE GOOD AT IT"....Thanks for listening. Karen
Follow Up: Day after xmas, emergency room visit, couldn’t breathe, chest pain, numbness in extremities, pain searing up left side of neck BP 149/94….never in my life has it been anything but 120/80….they said they couldn’t rule it a heart attack, but I believe I had one….I’m okay now but it really woke me up to what this drug can do to you AFTER you stop taking it...I thought I was going to die right in front of my nine year old son….please people, don’t start this drug, don’t buy into the drug companies quick fix solution; they are in it solely for profit…..Cymbalta is different people, it’s not like other SSRI’s…there’s something new and powerful in it that will not let go of you for weeks, months, even years. It makes me think of what the Nazis were working on secretly to get everybody to behave and be controlled. Maybe it’s not so new a drug, Eli Lilly? See you at the class action suit, big pharma bitches.

[mammakim]

Britt I WOULD ABSOLUTLY NEVER EVER TAKE THIS DRUG. THE WITHDRAWL EFFECTS ARE LIFE THREATENING. THINK REALLY HARD B4 U START CYMBALTA.

[mary]

Dont even think about it I was on it for 5 years 120mg and had numb emotions no memory and my brain function was diminished!!!!

[julbug]

NO NO AND STILL NO!!!!
The withdrawl is HELL..Im weaning, counting pellets, nausea BIG time..brain zaps are somewhat better..etc.

I started on the 10th of Jan. I WILL SURVIVE THIS DRUG!!!!!

DONT TAKE THIS POISON!!!!!!!

[julbug]

I started weaning on Jan.10th

was on Cymbalta for 4yrs plus...

[aryiaSINCLAIR]

My only suggestion would be to delay taking it and gather up information that concerns you, and present it to your doctor to see what you can discuss with him about weighing the risks to your own personal benefits. Remember everything we put into our body has a side effect--either positive, or negative. This goes from chemicals to foods, to what we smoke and what we drink. Not everyone's body functions the same, so the effects you may feel from the Cymbalta may be much different to that of mine. If you are really in need of a medication to help ease you through each day, then keep doing what you're doing--research as much as you can, and talk to your doctor about your concerns. You are not going to know how this drug will effect you until you try it--it's just up to you to decide if you're willing to take the risk of adverse effects in the search for something that will help you. And that doesn't just go for Cymbalta; that goes for everything.

Namaste'

[Amber0401]

nah def try something other than cymbalta...was on it for 5 years and it just wasnt worth it and its hell to get off

[Judy98]

Does anyone know if there are long term affects from taking this drug?

Be careful before starting any kind of antidepressant and take the list of side effects seriously. I took Prozac for awhile and it was like "speed" on me. I made major, life-altering decisions on that medication. I ended a marriage, moved 3 states away from family and friends, became a little promiscuous for awhile, lost more than one job, etc. These things are not in my character or according to my values, but with Prozac, I thought I could fly without a plane! Since I've been on Cymbalta, I got lazy, gained about 50 lbs, lost a couple of more jobs (not me at all, but something I'm taking makes me scatterbrained.) I am disabled by chronic pain, can't control my blood sugar or blood pressure, AND I don't even remember why I started taking the Cymbalta. I was depressed and had some pain, so my doctor at the time put me on Cymbalta. Now, about 4 doctors later, I was still taking the stuff and I don't know how many of my problems are because of the Cymbalta, but I guess after a few weeks of not taking it that I'm going to find out.

At the moment, while experiencing the withdrawal, my biggest concerns are nausea, insomnia, and a vague "out-of-body" feeling. One person described it as her brain was floating in her head and she was feeling like an alien, invisible in a crowd. I was feeling more like it is floating outside of my head and I also have that feeling of not being part of the world. My husband doesn't talk much, but last night I told him he needs to talk to me because I need to know the world is real. He's still not talking to me. I explained all of this to him after I found this website yesterday, but he doesn't understand and can't relate.

I'm rambling and that's also part of the withdrawals. I can't focus and there are things that don't make sense to me at first. I'm well past menopause, but here comes another hot flash! What's up with that...?

[Kiki333]

Hi Brit - Did you take the prescription?

[Pixi]

NO! Don't do it to yourself! Please DO NOT touch it.

[Amber0401]

Interesting Judy.....the same series of events happened to me. Freaky reading that. I too ended a marriage, moved from MA to WV, lost my good job then a few crappy ones, was promiscuous for a short term (very unlike me I was a virgin when I got married) and also gained about 50 pounds! Lololol freakishly identical.

[Brit]

To all the people who have responded to me. No, I did not take the Cymbalta. I have a pain doctor and I have told him that I just want pain pills and sleeping pills. I will not take any of those pills that are advertised on TV, my goodness just look at the small print and side effects.

I also tell my pharmacist that I only want two days worth of a new pill. No sense getting a full prescription to find out that it does not agree with you plus you save money.

In regard to my fibromyalgia I still have muscles aches that wake me in the night despite the Ambien. I take Norco two pills four times a day and this helps.

I also have spinal stenosis and have injections which help a lot. Getting old is not for the feeble

[Harleygirl]

DONT' TAKE IT!!!

I didnt find it helped with fibro at all, in fact it made it worse for me.