4 replies to this topic

[heidiho]

This site is great! I've been on Cymbalta for over 2 years now, and am taking 90 mg. per day. What I just thought was my new "normal", I can see now, are issues that so many of you have been dealing with. I've been thinking about trying to cut back my dose or even wean off, but now I'm scared to death about withdrawal.
While on cymbalta, did any of you women experience abnormal bleeding between periods? I'm on my 3rd one in a month (period), and my doc and I have ruled out other possible causes. Just wondered if it could be my meds.
I also have been sweating profusely no matter what. When we first upped the dose to 90, I had just had my second baby, so I thought the sweating was due to hormonal changes, but now, over a year later, its worse than ever. Some of my other side effects are ringing in my ears, dizziness, I'm really spacey, I'v gotten hives in the last month, and never had those before. I was tested for Diabetes, and thyroid issues, among other things, and everything comes back normal, thankfully.
Anyways, my head is swimming with all of your experiences, thank you for sharing.
Please, if you have any advice, or words of wisdom, I'll take anything I can get to make me feel less crazy! )

[schmb01]

While I was on this stuff, I sweat every night to the point of soaking my clothes, sheets and mattress pad. I too thought it was hormonal, but since I've been off of it, I don't have the night sweats anymore.

It didn't do anything to affect my periods, so I would be sure to continue to follow up with your doctor on that. Bleeding between periods, if you are not taking birth control pills can signal other issues, so please don't let that go.

You don't say if you were on Cymbalta for depression or if your doctor was using it for pain management, off label. If it was for depression, and you are not feeling good on it, then I would work with your doctor to wean off of this and onto something else, especially if depression is an issue for you. None of us are doctors, and can only share our experiences with this drug, and as you have read, most are not pleasant.

If you and your doctor feel you don't need an antidepressant any longer, and you do decide to stop using it, please read through the posts about weaning off of it. There are many ideas that are helpful. It is a tough road, but one that many of us have successfully travelled. Having this site was a lifeline for me on many occasions. Weaning slowly seems to be the best method, and a few people have used other meds to help them, such as Celexa or Prozac. Others did it with a slow wean using supplements and nutritional changes.

I'm sure someone else will also post in response to you, and just know that we will be here to help you through it.

Babby

[heidiho]

Thanks for the reply!

I have been on Cymbalta for depression. I was diagnosed with Major Depression in 1998, and have been on Paxil, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, and Buspar. All of them seemed to work for a while, but then didn't anymore. Out of all of them, Cymbalta has worked the best for me, but even so, I have had suicidal ideation, and some depression recently. I have been on meds for so long now that I don't know what's normal and what isn't. I seriously always thought it was normal to have suicidal thoughts. (Now, I'm not talking about having things all planned out and stuff...just thoughts that come and go)

I was even encouraged by my Psychiatrist to continue taking Cymbalta throughout my pregnancy. So I did. My baby was born healthy and seems to be growing normally, but I have to wonder if it had damaged her in any way.
After I had her, my depression symptoms worsened, so my dose was increased to 90, and thats when I started really noticing the sweating, dizziness, and stupidity (for lack of a better term-I'm an airhead, and haven't always been). Now my daughter is 14 months, and we never even talked about going back down to the 60 mg dose. More is better, right? :roll:

So, I don't feel great mentally or physically really. I would like to consider trying something natural, but would never just quit cold turkey, especially without talking to my doctor first.
My husband is a pharmacist, and he would KILL me if I did that!

I think I probably should see my ob/gyn though about the girl issues. Don't know what's up there.
Thanks for your concern!

[schmb01]

90 mg is a fairly high dose, and what I found with Cymbalta, was that it stopped working at around 9 months, (although "working" is a loose term, since it just made me feel dead) and when my dose was upped from 60 to 90 I felt worse, which was when I decided to quit taking it. Now, my depression was mild to moderate, and related a bit to a chronic health condition, so it was an easier (?) choice for me.

If you decide to do something natural, you have to be sure that you are completely weaned off of Cymbalta first. You don't want to take anything that messes further with the seratonin levels or it could be really bad. (How is that for a technical term?)

Having a pharmacist for a husband is good in that he likely has a good understanding of how this all works. Most of us were kind of shooting in the dark, and researching on our own. With your past depression issues, you want to be very careful when making this decision. I do feel 1000 times better than I did while on it, but it was a bumpy road to get here for sure.

Do see your ob/gyn for the other stuff. It is easy to ignore our whole selves when we feel poopy in our heads!

If you and your doctor decide to wean off of this, we will be here if you need us. One thing to add, if your doctor suggests taking it every other day, do NOT use that method because Cymbalta has a short half life, and you will just be going in and out of withdrawal every other day. Surprisingly, many doctors don't seem to be aware of that.

Good luck!

Babby

[heidiho]

Thanks again for the info.

Yes, I did go see my ob/gyn yesterday, and it doesn't seem to be anything serious. So we switched birth control pill, and will have a follow up appointment in a couple months.

I'll stay in touch about what my doc and I decide to do.
Thanks again for the help and support
Heidi