Here is the background: I understand that coming in my wife was not in perfect health, as were many of the people here. My wife had a meningioma removed in early May. (Meningioma is a usually non-malignant cancer tumor that grows inside the head. Usually removed surgically and excellent prognosis for recovery.) The surgery itself was a great success. Her tumor was about the size of a baseball. She has recovered well over the summer.
Well, here we are in September. We have a lot of issues going on financially, and stress was taking its toll on her. She went to our Dr. for a Rx for depression and anxiety. She was on Cymbalta 30 mg for 5 days. It actually made her more jittery and nervous, so Monday morning she called the Dr. and had him try something else (she had taken Prozac several years ago before the birth of our first child). She was off the Cymbalta for 1 day, possibly 2, and when she was washing dishes she had a grand mal-type seizure, fell on the floor (I don't know if she hit her head or not). She had another seizure on the way to the hospital (30 min ride) and another 1/2 hr after she arrived at the hospital. Each time her recovery from the previous seizure was less and less. They started giving her seizure-suppressing meds after the seizure hit, and seizure-preventative meds after the third (I guess this is protocol). Finally after the 4th and the 5th (which lasted over two hours , not continual, but 15-20 seconds, then a rest of a couple of minutes--but this went on for two hours) the meds they gave her suppressed the seizures.
That was roughly 24 hours ago. Since late yesterday afternoon she has been in a drug-induced coma. They essentially shut down her brain, put on an EEG to monitor brainwave activity, and slowly withdraw meds and allow her to slowly come back to. Today, tomorrow, not sure when that is going to happen. I am very nervous about her full recovery, obviously, but there is nothing I can do on that matter.
I read these forums when I couldn't sleep early this morning. I consider my doctor to be very knowledgeable--he endorses homeopathy whenever possible, chiropractic, acupuncture, etc. I took a list of printed case stories in to him, and you know how that goes. Keep in mind that ne result of her condition that as her brain mends itself, there will be new neural pathways established in her brain--a not uncommon result is seizures, sometimes even 4-6 months out from the surgery.
The conversation went like this:
ME: I had no idea Cymbalta had all these God-awful side effects--I'm not pointing fingers, just saying. I didn't know there were all these possible issues with it.
Dr: I mentioned to her when I prescribed it that it can possibly cause seizures. All SSRI's can cause seizures.
ME: Doesn't seem like the other drugs cause them to the degree this one does--I've personally been on prozac, zoloft, etc. and did a lot of reading on these also. When I do a search on Cymbalta, there are literally pages and pages of issues, and I don't remember seeing all the Godawful stuff like with Cymbalta.
Show him the stack, got the usual defensive look,
ME: Look, I've known you for 20 years--I'm not just some a$$hole pulling stuff off the internet and yeah, this is all hearsay. But seems to me if there are these many problems, whereas I didn't see this with the other meds, that there are more issues here that with other ones, specifically, in this case, with seizures.
Dr: I prescribed it for her because she had chronic pain (her back ?) and she needed an anti-depressant. This is much cheaper (AGAIN, FREE SAMPLES IN THE DR's OFFICE). This has worked for a lot of people.
ME: She was on Prozac before, and I know there is a generic for that, and again, it seems like there are a LOT of problems with this, that aren't getting reported...
The conversation didn't go any further after this. I asked him if he would look at my 21 page printout, but I suspect he took them just to shut me up.
Again, I'm the a$$hole--he mentioned that we're all a$$holes of some sort in response to my comment.
I really don't blame him--I don't question his belief that he was doing the right thing--the issue is really the FDA. He doesn't have the time to check out all the alternate media on stuff like this--I know as a Dr. he has to keep up on a wide range of issues. And there is no way that he can be an "expert" on all of them (despite my mother-in-law's protests that he is the end-all of all knowledge, and NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD can ever understand something better than he can (I respect him, but c'mon he is not god-like). We've had discussions on cellphones, fluoride, microwave ovens, you name it. I understand--for the older generation, the DOCTOR is the authority figure and the expert. I could have testimony from someone who has studied this extensively and made this their life's work for years, and if it goes against traditional wisdom and DR X, it is no good (Well, maybe she's learning--she doesn't put the phone up to her ear since my wife's surgery,
so I keep at it!)Sorry to be so long-winded, but here is the question, actually 3:
1. Has anyone had full-blown seizures caused by this?
2. I have only seen a couple of instances where people on Cymbalta less than 1 week have had withdrawal problems.
3. Can anyone point me to some more articles by respected professionals that question this drug's safety, and the possibility of seizures ( I understand, no one knows better WHAT they feel than the victims of this drug, but I've gotten the eye roll either in person or over the phone from a couple of people when I mention this. I'm just crazy, I know. But I need data--lots of data and not just anecdotal evidence. Although, as I asked a couple of people, if people just HATE Eli Lilly, why aren't there as many websites that discuss seizures and brain zaps associated with Prozac?? I really don't know why people would lie about all this stuff. Professionals are so immersed in the system that they can't see the forest for the trees. IF you smell smoke, there probably is a fire somewhere. Some of this stuff is just common sense--if there are that many reports of issues, MAYBE THERE REALLY IS A PROBLEM!!!
FROM EVERYTHING I'VE READ, I STRONGLY BELIEVE THIS DRUG TO BE A DANGEROUS POISON!!! THIS IS THE ONLY DRUG APPROVED BY THE FDA SINCE INVESTIGATIONS WERE HELD ON THE POSSIBILITY OF SUICIDES BEING INDUCED FROM ANTIDEPRESSANTS BACK IN THE 1990's. COINCIDENCE?? I DUNNO.
In summary, however, it seems to me that my wife was dangerously susceptible to this in the first place--it seems like that Cymbalta was the proverbial match put up against the powder keg in this case. Maybe she was going to have one anyway--but maybe not. She was doing very well and having no issues since yesterday.
I just pray that she is OK. Maybe later today or tomorrow she will be coming out of the coma. Please pray for her.
