6 replies to this topic

[jbmdthackery]

Hi, thank you for this forum, I was starting to think I was seriously sick as my Dr., though I love her, (A)Can not fathom that my excessive weight gain is from Cymbalta, and that (B)The symptoms I am experiencing after stopping Cymbalta cold turkey are in any way related to the side effects from stopping this drug!!
I have experienced such dizziness, nausea, and chronic diarrhea that I am a complete wreck from just plain being so dehydrated and sick. The Dr. is running a gamut of tests, with the final being an impending colonoscopy (*shiver*)! Emotionally, I'm feeling very good...I do, however, feel so run down because of the symptoms I'm experiencing. I was put on fluids yesterday, and also found my BP to be SKY HIGH! I was quite convinced, prior to reading pages and pages on this forum, that my IBS was completely to blame, and that I may have developed something worse than just simply IBS. I will definitely be printing off a LOT of info to show my Dr., any suggestions to a thread(s) that would have the most/best info in one area? I will be reading through as much of this as I can before Monday, since I will probably be put on fluids again, and would like to have a great amount of info to show to my Doc as to the serious side effects that are experienced by MANY people, NOT just a few, and who have a lot of commonality to what I am going through.
One good thing so far (other than just the simple fact of being off it after ~3 years) is that my night sweats (and excessive sweating ALWAYS!) have stopped. I thought I was pre-menopausal, and that I was just going to have to live with waking up SOAKING WET from night sweats for a very long time. They stopped instantly, and I can assure everyone that this one simple 'good' that has happened is already worth me stopping Cymbalta. And, had I not stopped, I would have never researched this info, and would not have realized how horrible Cymbalta is, and how horrible the withdrawal is for so many people.
So, MANY THANKS for all of the stories shared from everyone, and all of the knowledge gained from this site!

[jbmdthackery]

Also, just a quick question....has anyone else experienced uber high blood pressure as a withdrawal symptom??

[IMinpain]

I can't believe I found this wonderful forum. I thought I was going crazy too. I have been weaning myself from 90mg. I decreased it to 60mg for 2 weeks, now 30mg 1 week so far. I have been having all the classic withdrawal symptoms so I decided to google withdrawal symptoms and found this forum. Bingo, I am a statistic. I just can't believe that my shrink pushed this stuff on me for about 4 years. I was as high as 120mg and my liver was dying. I will be strong and survive this and get ME back. Thanks for the info.

[gumby]

I'm so glad to have found this forum, too.
I've tried many times in the past to get off Cymbalta but never succeeded because of the withdrawal symptoms: flu-like symptoms, dizziness, headaches, brain fog, etc. etc. Because I've been on this drug for so long (5+ years), I have to taper off very, very slowly. On my first attempt to wean from this drug, I did it the way JRDN on this forum did by gradually increasing the number of beads I removed from the capsule. First, I removed 10 beads everyday for a week, then 20 beads the next week, etc. But along the way, I was feeling terrible; i couldn't function at all. So I went back to the drug. Today, i have been on one kind of antidepressant or another for 20 years!! But all these encouraging stories on this forum have given me the encouragement to try again. Today, I took my usual 60 mg. dose minus 10 beads. I will keep this up for a week. I hope and pray for success on this endeavor. Good luck to everyone who is in ths same journey. God bless you all

[outamymind]

What an awesome forum this is!

So many people going through living he'll but each one more than happy to help with advice or support.

I've been visiting this site on & off for about 6 weeks & it's been my inspiration.

Thanks & best wishes to all

 Pam

[jbmdthackery]

I'm 3 wks. today....wish I could say I'm feeling better, but I'm realizing now that I may have a little bit more of a 'haul' in front of me! Again, I am so thankful to everyone that have shared their stories=it makes you realize that you are probably not dying of some horrible cancer or disease, but you are 'simply' (*insert sarcasm here*) withdrawing from a prescription medicine that is being handed out like candy! I have my pages of 'testimonials' to show my Dr., and hopefully it will make her think a bit before prescribing it so readily in the future!
ALSO, there is a great FB page (if you should happen to be on FB!) called Cymbalta Withdrawal Horror Stories that you may want to look into as well. Good luck to all, and know that we are all pulling for each other (this site has made me realize how awesome people can really be!), this forum is a true testament to that!

[neveragin]

I'm 3 wks. today....wish I could say I'm feeling better, but I'm realizing now that I may have a little bit more of a 'haul' in front of me! Again, I am so thankful to everyone that have shared their stories=it makes you realize that you are probably not dying of some horrible cancer or disease, but you are 'simply' (*insert sarcasm here*) withdrawing from a prescription medicine that is being handed out like candy! I have my pages of 'testimonials' to show my Dr., and hopefully it will make her think a bit before prescribing it so readily in the future!
ALSO, there is a great FB page (if you should happen to be on FB!) called Cymbalta Withdrawal Horror Stories that you may want to look into as well. Good luck to all, and know that we are all pulling for each other (this site has made me realize how awesome people can really be!), this forum is a true testament to that!

Hi jbmdthackery,
Curious to know, how is the blood pressure? I see so much of my experience mirrored in yours...I too suffered liver problems, elevated liver function levels earned me a referral to the gastro specialist... after a battery of tests and a very claustrophobic (hour+) MRI he tells me he thinks I have an auto immume condition called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis with an unknown stage of progression and therefore an unknown prognosis. It seems the golden standard for gauging the disease is a biopsy, which he wouldn't do because I was taking Plavix at the time... (had a heart attack in April 2010) He prescribed me a medication that slows the progression of disease only, taking ungodly amounts of pills...2 pills three times/day...and said come back in three months for re-eval. I wasnt willing to stay in the dark about where I was with the disease, etc. I stopped the Plavix, and put myself on a low dose aspirin regimen instead. After being off it for a few weeks, I called the Dr. and asked for the biopsy. Biopsy was done middle of June, and I finally learned the results on August 1st... He comes waltzing into the room, big smiles on his face and says to me to stop the pills, and that the biopsy showed NO STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES!!! Even all my blood work was back in the normal ranges...

I asked him, "so, what the hell was wrong with me then?" He said he thinks that due to my plague psoriasis (also an auto immune problem) my immune system is all screwy, and the fact that since they discovered the liver issue I had lost much weight, stopped smoking and cut my alcohol use by about 90% - I had basically kicked its ass. Whipping my immune system back into line. So, I now see him once a year to monitor status. I personally think alot of it was from the cymbalta high dose at 120mg/day. When I halved the dose in April, I must have taken the pressure off. Allowing my liver and whole body a chance to reset itself some.

I have hbp, and though I have not noticed any increase, it is a symptomless problem and maybe I wouldnt know it from how I felt. I am now monitoring my bp daily.... today's reading was 148/110 with pulse rate of 102....yea, I think I am having spiking bp levels too.

Please update us on what your doctor's reaction was to all the info you provided to her...granted it is all anecdotal, but still...hopefully it prompted her to look further into this drug. Also, how is the bp, and your other withdrawal symptoms, now that more time has passed?

Wishing you and everyone in this boat the strength to stay the course and get through this.
Thanx,
Neveragin