1 reply to this topic

[Mary Dean]

Hi. My name is Mary. My husband is in the hospital as I write this - I was searching for answers and found this website. My husband was on Cymbalta for a few months. He started developing debilitating headaches and he came off of Cymbalta, cold turkey. He went through hell for about 3 weeks - brain freezes, nausea, diziness, hot flashes, crying, chills, chest pains, nightmares, self-isolation . . .the list goes on. On Saturday, I woke up to him hyperventilating and talking out of his head. Then, it was like someone turned a switch off - he went limp in my arms, I couldn't rouse him - I couldn't find a pulse, I couldn't hear/see him breathing. I called 911. They took him to the hospital. He was not breathing on his own - so they put in a ventilater. They started running tests - they could find nothing. They did brain MRI, blood work, cat scan, EEG - nothing showed up!! I was looking for answers and discovered this website. He is still in the hospital - in ICU . . .though today they may release him. I'm convinced now that this experience has to be attributed to withdrawal from Cymbalta. If anyone else has experienced something like this, I'd sure like to know about it. I'm wondering how long it takes to get this drug out of one's system, and also, do the symptoms ever go away???

[Sarah J]

Hi. My name is Mary. My husband is in the hospital as I write this - I was searching for answers and found this website. My husband was on Cymbalta for a few months. He started developing debilitating headaches and he came off of Cymbalta, cold turkey. He went through hell for about 3 weeks - brain freezes, nausea, diziness, hot flashes, crying, chills, chest pains, nightmares, self-isolation . . .the list goes on. On Saturday, I woke up to him hyperventilating and talking out of his head. Then, it was like someone turned a switch off - he went limp in my arms, I couldn't rouse him - I couldn't find a pulse, I couldn't hear/see him breathing. I called 911. They took him to the hospital. He was not breathing on his own - so they put in a ventilater. They started running tests - they could find nothing. They did brain MRI, blood work, cat scan, EEG - nothing showed up!! I was looking for answers and discovered this website. He is still in the hospital - in ICU . . .though today they may release him. I'm convinced now that this experience has to be attributed to withdrawal from Cymbalta. If anyone else has experienced something like this, I'd sure like to know about it. I'm wondering how long it takes to get this drug out of one's system, and also, do the symptoms ever go away???

Mary Dean - I am so sorry your husband is in the hopsital. Yes, the symptoms do go away, eventually. Some in a few days, others months. It seems to all depend on how it effects each person's unique brain chemistry, many of our stories are similar in many ways, very different in others.

From a medical standpoint, Cymbalta has a short half life of approximately 12-14 hours. Total elimination of the last dose comes in about 3 days. That is what you will be told if you ask a doctor based upon the science part.

Some people have even has seizures. You would be hard pressed to find a doctor that would attribute any of this to Cymbalta. My thoughts are with you and please let everybody know how your husband is doing. You accurately described some of the worst aspects of withdrawal from Cymbalta.