9 replies to this topic

[Ebudae29]

So I've been taking the max dose of Cymbalta for 2 years now...I lost my job = no insurance. I went to see my doc to get all my meds refilled before the fateful day I was on my own. Well...they screwed up. The prescription for Cymbalta was not written...I called and left a message...and stated VERY clearly that this HAD to be rectified by June 30th and what pharmacy to call it in to. July 1 I got a call asking me AGAIN..what pharmacy was that to be called into? UH...nevermind..
Well actually they did call it in anyway..and I went to see how much it would cost me...more than half my rent..yeah, so with no job, and a move looming that was it...cold turkey for me.
For two weeks now I have felt like I have the worst hangover ever. My brain zaps..I chug Emetrol for nausea like KoolAid..my head hurts, the nightmares are sometimes fascinating but mostly just terrifying and lo and behold...the Lymphocytic Colitis I was diagnosed with is back with a VENGEANCE so yippee skippy I get to run to the restroom after eating ANYTHING and without nasty details I'm probably becoming anemic too. I cry and cry and that just makes all the other symptoms feel worse...I'm SO over feeling like this, as if it were ever fun
The bright side to this? I'm moving back to Canada in another 2 weeks and like I told my Psych...at least there I can be as crazy or as sick as I wanna be and I won't lose everything I own because of it :-/ It can't come fast enough..this Popsicle diet is wearin me out!

[ExCymbaltaUser]

hi, are you still checking in? how are you feeling? i had much the same experience. my head hurts all the time and i am crying over every little thing. take me to canada with you? my insurance stopped covering too. i tried to taper, but didn't have enough rx left to do it long enough. are you starting to feel better yet? been almost a week with no cymbalta intake, and i hope it stops soon. anyway. good luck.

[Imdone]

Go to the Eli Lilly website, and press their "Contact Us" button (I'm assuming they have one....I haven't been to the site). There is something in the USA called "compassionate" rx, where the drug company will give you free drugs if you paint a big enough sob story for them. You should not have to suffer like this.

Also, fluoxotine (generic Prozac) which is very cheap, may alleviate some of your symptoms as a substitute med.

[ExCymbaltaUser]

Imdone, the big problem is my pdoc, who doesn't seem to believe in withdrawal. so he is not being very helpful abt it. he cites my experiences as a need for me to remain on meds, and would start me up on effexor.

also i have read that going back on cymbalta after you've stopped, can cause any of a variety of issues. plus pdoc can't see me until october, so i am stuck till then. he won't rx by phone.

it would probably take me as long if not longer to find someone new to see.

i'm not clear on if you mean to substitute prozac for continued use, or just to taper and avoid withdrawal.

honestly, i am too addled to handle any of this right now, and could really use an advocate to help. but i am stuck on my own. so, white knuckles i guess. white knuckles and brain spins. blah.

[ExCymbaltaUser]

yeah, i just tried to report to medwatch and get assistance from eli lilly, and the web pages kept dumping me out, and finally said i was ineligible. sure, i could afford cymbalta if i stopped paying my mortgage, i have insurance, and it covers meds, but not cymbalta. stupid black and white questionable. i give up. i really can't handle this. and i am tired of crying.

[Imdone]

ExC,

This makes me so mad! Pdocs are so stupid about withdrawal. They are told you can do it quickly, which is wrong, wrong, wrong! He is wrong that getting symptoms means you need the medicine! It is withdrawal, not depression!

Well I understand you are suffering, but I would persevere if I were you. 1) Find out what Eli Lilly's phone # is and call them up and explain if their stupid software kicks you out. No one can afford Cymbalta without insurance, it costs about $700 a bottle! 2) Go to the ER and explain to them that you can't get in to see your pdoc and would like a prescription for prozac. I am told that Prozac will take away the withdrawal symptoms and be easier to get off later. You could go on it until you could see your pdoc to get more Cymbalta (maybe he could give you free samples) so you can taper off Cymbalta properly. Your family dr. could also write you an rx for Prozac. Prozac's generic version, fluoxotine (sp) is very cheap.

The main thing to remember is; you are currently experiencing a medical emergency. Do not take No for an answer. Keep pursuing various avenues until you get some help. You should even call up your pdoc and/or his secretary and plead " Emergency!!!" They need to help you! Depression can be lethal!

Don't worry about problems going back on Cymbalta after being off it. I did it and noticed nothing. Keep in touch with us here. We want to support and help you. Hang in there and keep pursuing all avenues until you get some help.

[ExCymbaltaUser]

honestly i am afraid to go back on cymbalta ... it's all just so terrifying right now. maybe the prozac to help the withdrawal. god knows how i can get that tho. i don't have a family doctor. my reg doc is a naturopath and cannot rx. my mother worked in the er when i was growing up, and was an aemt on the rescue squad. i was always taught the er is for blood gushing lost limb emergencies. i have never known how to persevere anyway. i just want it to be over with already, my brain literally hurts. i feel like such a jerk. the last thing i want is more meds if this is what is going to happen to me. it's all so hard and confusing. my god, and this was coming off 20mg. I had been at 120mg in april. could you imagine if i followed the dr's taper schedule? 30/30/30/0? omg i would be dead now for sure. as long as i know it will eventually stop i can hang in there.

i am seeing my herbalist tomorrow, and she is going to do a reiki session on me too. i think that will help a lot. i've gotten a lot of positive benefit from reiki in the past.

thanks for all your support Imdone. it's just criminal that eli lilly (and my insurance company and pdoc) should be allowed to put people in this situation. i would never have taken this stupid drug if i had any idea what it would do to me.

[Imdone]

Ok ExC,

I'm glad to hear you do have support of herbs and reiki. And most of all, most important of all, I believe, is your good attitude that you can do this, that you will tough it out. I think attitude is everything. It is what courage is, what perseverance is. I do believe you will be ok. Stay calm, that is important too and don't obsess to much on the pain, just try to get through. If it gets unbearable, walk in to the ER and tell them you need some fluoxetine, because if it becomes unbearable, than it is an emergency. People go to the ER all the time for psychic pain...I know....I frequent another board where going to the ER is frequent advice for suicidiality or despair.

[ExCymbaltaUser]

well, for as miserable as this is, i have actually gone through much the same thing every time over the years i changed meds. my spouse says i seem to be better. i don't notice the change, it's all relative when you're in hell i guess. but if i have done it before i can do it again right? it's just so unjust!

as for the prozac i want to explain my hesitation there. my mother went on prozac (without telling anyone) and wound up taking her life because she had a psychotic break. can we prove it was the prozac? no, but it is a known side effect in people with bi-polar disorder, and my mother could very well have had this looking at her behaviors in hindsight. genetically speaking, it would be like playing russian roulette. i have tried it in the past, albeit many many years ago, and had my symptoms worsen w/in a week and took myself off it immediately. at the time my pdoc told me that having the prozac make me feel worse was impossible (i fired her because I KNEW what was happening to my own body.) but now we know that it is VERY possible and can lead to serious side effects and even suicide in people with undiagnosed bi-polar.

scary stuff these meds. out of the frying pan and into the fire?

i have revamped my diet completely since this spring (for example, coffee is terrible for people with mental illness, can exacerbate symptoms and side effects and can trap you in an inescapable cycle of fatigue), and am as I mentioned seeing naturopath and an herbalist. i have been on and off prescription medication for unspecified mental problems since 1987. nothing has really helped me (other than blunting my negative [and positive] emotions), and there have been so many side effects. my current tdoc thinks i am axis II not axis I, so really, the meds may just not be the answer for me. although for some people meds are crucial to staying alive.

i think i will be ok, and part of the reason has been this site. i don't know what i would have done without the support here. i am waking up feeling a little better today. i'll take that as a good sign. I went off the cymbalta around the first of august i think, so this is abt 2 weeks in. i have seen people say on average it took them abt three weeks to feel functionally better. so, i am perhaps 2/3 of the way thru! if that's true, then YAY!

I am really sorry i wound up hijacking this thread. i have not been attached to reality of late, so, i wasn't really aware of where i was posting. i feel really bad abt the hijack, and apologize to the OP for doing so. :-(

[Imdone]

Don't worry about the hijack. You were in need and that's all that matters. So glad to hear you are feeling better and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'll think good thoughts for your healing!