7 replies to this topic

[nancyweNW]

I was feeling much better this last Thursday and actually thought, "hey, maybe this will end sooner than I think!"...Ha, ha! Gotcha!!

Woke up Friday with a headache that just got worse and worse and kept me company through the day and evening. I kept taking Tylenol PM which dulled it down some and slept as much as I could. Today, it's still there but not as bad as yesterday. Still having brain zaps but I can at least move my eyes now and the whole world doesn't spin quite as fast as before but I really thought I was past it all. Have others experienced this rollercoaster as well where you feel much better then, ZAP!

I also talked w/my doctor on Friday and she told me she was going to talk to the Eli Lilly rep when she comes in. I also had called Eli Lilly myself a few weeks ago and asked about withdrawal symptoms and the best way to taper. They're only comment was that it was individual as far as symptoms and to just taper the meds. I asked for something more specific and she didn't have an answer. I did keep in mind that she was hired to just take reports from consumers and probably had nothing to do with Eli Lilly other than that. I told my doctor about this site and others and about the number of people who seem to have gotten caught by surprize by the severity of the withdrawal and lack of information on how to stop the drug with minimum discomfort.

Thanks to all who have let me vent, ask questions, just listen.

[Sarah J]

Nancy, the roller coaster happens to many of us! Have faith that it will not go on forever!

If the scales are tipping in favor of your feeling better, hang in there! Alternately, if the scales go the other way to the dark side more than light, get some help from your doctor and don't delay!

You mentioned your doctor is going to talk to the Lilly rep. Lilly reps have actually been trained to minimize these things for all of the products they sell. The rep has a job, and that is to increase sales of their drug! And if your doctor is going to place faith in what that rep has to say, you might not get great support from him/her. How can a Lilly rep be bi-partisan about this?

While I want to believe that everybody out there lives a life of "leading by example" I am sure we have all experienced that sometimes life is not fair! I really want to believe more people are good, but a drug rep is not on the side of the consumer. Profit and increased sales make their world go round!

Let us know how you are doing - hopefully on the upswing where things are looking up! I hope that your doctor is open minded enough to realize that what you are experiencing is real and finds a way to guide you through this quickly.
____________________
Nancy - after I replied to your post, I checked out a link that another forum poster made. It is for cafepharma, a place where the drug reps go and post.
https://www.cymbalta...c.php?f=2&t=237
Understanding that most of these people who post there might not be actual drug reps, any info you find on the net, you need to take into consideration that most if not all of it might be true. If you go to the link above, and go to the forum homepage, you can go to the Eli Lilly rep forum. Be prepared, it's not pretty. Some of the ways that the drug reps "talk" to one another, well, is deplorable a strong enough word?
Drug reps are salespeople and if your doc is taking their advice????

My best wishes that you are doing better, sorry, I don't mean to sound preachy, but my old doctor talked to the drug rep too! And, he believed the rep! Just as you said in your first post, you didn't think that the side effects were real, I didn't either!

[nancyweNW]

Thanks for your reply and investigation as well Sarah! Actually my doctor is a PA and has responded very well to my complaints and lack of information regarding withdrawal from the drug. She said to definitely give a report to Eli Lilly and she will fire back to the rep with my complaint.

I am doing better today headache-wise, still there but not as awful as the last couple of days. What's kind of frustrating me also is that I'm still have hives outbreaks even though I've been off the drug for almost 2 weeks now which is the whole reason I stopped it in the first place. I felt great when I started and would still be on it except for the hives. I'm going to a dermatologist/allergist to see about that and what is causing that now. I suppose there is a possibility that the drug just started a chain reaction that my body is still playing out but it could be that something else is causing this that just happened around the same time I started the drug.

For now, I'm taking a break and carefully monitoring my state as far as depression. It's been 15 years since I've been off any kind of anti-depressant so I just need to see what the heck I am for the moment. If it's found that Cymbalta isn't the cause of the hives and I wind up taking a nose-dive depression-wise, I'll have to consider what I want to do next.

Thanks again!!

[wendydemora]

Hello,I have been off cymbalta for two weeks now .a few of my horrible withdrawel symptoms has subsided. my brain zaps have slowed down,the fatigue is awful.My major problem is terrible pain in my feet ,they hurt and i cant stand on them too long and my legs hurt and feel swollen and heavy,almost feel like like some type of nerve damage'. Iwas put on cymbalta for fybromyalgia 2 years ago. Idid not have ttis as a symptom,Has any one had this happen to them. or heard of this. any feed back would me great. thanks for any help

[vanessah73]

oh my! i'm not crazy! here is my experience. i was on cymbalta for 2 years. honestly, i was put on it my by counsler and ob at a time in my life that i truly needed help. i was suffering from extreme depression. things in my life have leveled out and i was ready to go off this drug.

i have gained about 25 pounds since being on it - and now have high blood pressure. not sure if the weight gain is all due to the drug, or a combination of it and the extra pounds i now have.

my doctor had me ween off it - i was at 60mg. it was immediately cut down to 30mg for to two solid weeks. during this time i didn't have any withdrawl symptons.

for the next 2 weeks i took one 30mg every other day. in the third week i started to become anxious again. in the last week - well, i showed up to work sobbing for two days. thank goodness i work for very kind and understanding people and we just joked i was to be left alone and let me boo hoo at my desk!

i am now in day 5 of no cymbalta. the anxious/angry feelings come and go in waves. i am extremly tired. my head feels like it is constantly spinning and i feel nuseuas. and my feet are very painful and sensitive. i'm putting up with it - but yes, it sucks badly. i feel i wasn't warned of the physical aspects of the withdrawl. i plan to stick it out - i don't want to go back on it now that i've come this far.

i did find a very informative site - wish i had found it before - but the vitamin supplements they suggest are just for us trying to get off anti-depresants. hopefully the supplements are making the symptons less awful. thankfully - i haven't had the brain zaps - but who knows - maybe i'm in for that too.

here is the website i found that was helpful - www.theroadback.org

thanks for letting me ramble on - this is tough to get through. we are not alone though.

[Lori]

Its great you realize, vanessah73, that you are not crazy!!! I still had a terrible weekend and still felt crazy, and I am 24 days Cymbalta free!! You have come to a great place. There is so much information here, and I can not thank those who are ahead of me, in healing, for their information and encouraging posts. Do not aplogize for rambling, I am queen of rambling and sometimes I think I am using this site as a Dear Diary thing....LOL I am so glad you came to this site, I can not say enough about it. All the information here is trial and error and what works for you, but their advice really and truly helps.

[mkhackler]

Lori-You hit it right on the head.............Dear Diary. You and I are neck in neck as far as days off this garbage. It will be interesting to see the differences we each have, or similarties (damn spelling).

Yesterday and today were almost, I repeat almost, to good to be true. Have felt about 80% better physically (spelling..........ahhhhhhhh :evil: , and still doing well emotionally. Except last night I'm sitting on my couch, where I always am unless I'm on here, watching Dancing With The Stars, and a couple danced the most beautiful dance to an Alicia Keyes song. And between the dance and song I cried until there was snott coming out of my nose. Lord woman, get a grip! It's tv! That's what I told myself. So anyway, have times when I'm kind of weepy,but it only happens when a pretty song comes on or something triggers a wonderful memory.

My blessed sweet mom passed away 3 years ago just before mother's day. Actually I was at the store picking out her mother's day card when I got the call that she had passed. I bought that card anyway, wrote what I was going to write anyway, sealed it and put in my cedar chest along with her obituary. So am sure that the weeping will start any time now. Uh-oh.........it's starting. The flood gates have opened. :cry:

To top things off, one year ago this month I met my big sister for the first time . Mom had her in 1950 before she met my dad. I knew she was out there somewhere, but mom wouldn't give me any details, then she got Alzheimer's. I tried to find her with little info I had, wanted to before mom passed. But didn't make it. But Patty found us. That's a whole other novel in its self. Big sis is a dream come true! Now I have someone to protect me from evil big brothers.

To put an end to MY rambling, this will be an emotional month, but good, happy emotions. That is what I am so happy to have gotten back!

And did I mention..............ha! Got ya! Just kidding.

Bye for now.

Mary in beautiful Denver

[jess0876]

I am coming off Cymbalta after about 2.5 years. I am a week no Cymbalta and 4 days no Prozac (I tried the Cym to Prozac switch). For the most part, I feel ok except for the terrible headache yesterday. It is funny that everytime I read someone's post, I realize that I have another withdrawl symptom. I have put on about 30lbs since on this stuff and decided that now that I am coming off, it's time to try to get the weight off as well. I started walking with my sister-in-law last week. My feet and legs have hurt so bad. I didn't think much of it until I saw some other people talk about their aching feet and legs. I am only 31 years old and feel like I am 91. Mary in Denver don't feel bad about crying b/c of the dance. I watch General Hospital and last week boo-hooed b/c Emily's "ghost" is finally leaving Nicholas :roll: Then I laughed at myself. Actually, after not being able to have a good cry in 2.5 years, it felt a little good. I know we can all do it! It may take longer for some, but we can all beat this stuff. I try to be positive, annoying I know, but it helps a little. I hope you all have a great evening and an even better day tomorrow!