845 replies to this topic

[Jandzio]

Side effects while on cymbalta:
- heart palpitations
- depression 'disappeared', anxiety amplified
- brain zaps
- sweats
- fever-ish
- panic attacks

There were many more, but it's been a while since I started. Wouldn't know withdrawal symptoms as I'm still on them.

[FiveNotions]

Wow, all this while you're on the stuff....I gotta ask, what's the good it's doing you that outweighs these awful things?

[Jandzio]

good question! I've had anxiety/depression issues since I was 12, and when a doctor said here is something that can help, I didn't ask a lot of questions...

The side effects lasted for about two weeks or so but since then, I've been almost feeling 'normal' , there will be times where I may have missed a dosage and/or just a random night where side effects are bad, but other than that I feel like it has helped overall.

By the looks of things, there may have been an alternative, but at the time I just agreed to whatever my doctor said

[FiveNotions]

Well .... there very likely are still alternatives to the meds.... in fact, there may be a question as to whether you still actually have depression/anxiety such that you even need to be on a med....

This is something for you to think long and hard about .... and, while you're still on Cymbalta, you've got the time to do this ... and, to start reading as much as you can about depression/anxiety, the meds, the alternatives...

you're young, you have a whole life ahead of you ... and the opportunity to live it without being medicated....there are huge ethical and medical questions related to putting a child on these types of drugs... please take it upon yourself to become educated about all this ... because it is you who needs to be in charge of your life, your health, and your mental well-being ... docs know just about zero about how these drugs really affect us, alter us .... and no, you cannot just blindly trust them to do what's best for you .... the docs get their info about the drugs from the pharma co sales reps...and the sales reps are in it for the money ... as are the pharma mfg companies .... this isn't an industry that's devoted wholly to our welfare...they are devoted to earning profits, and the way to earn profits is to put as many people as possible on their drugs, and to keep us on them for as long as possible...

I invite you to stay with us here on this forum...to read what others write, our experiences...and to share your own experiences ... after some time, you may come to your own "informed decision" about what you want for your self, your life ... and what role you want psych drugs to play in your life...

For example, I too have had depression and anxiety issues since childhood ...likely since kindergarten.... I managed fine with just therapy, until I was in my early 40s and a bad marriage ended badly .... all I likely needed then was some more therapy to help me deal with the jpain and sorrow...but by then, the late 1990s, these meds were readily available and "the latest thing" ...so, I was jput on antidepressants....and told I'd "have" to be on them "for the rest of my life" .... as I know now, I likely should have taken the antiD for 6 months at most, while I got therapy, and then gotten off....instead, I went from one med to another, ended up hospitalized two or three times with deadly reactions to a couple of them...had benzos added to the mix, ended up addicted to benzos, got off the benzos on my own ... and the story goes on and on ....

It wasn't until last December, when I lost my insurance and had to quit Cymbalta, that I realized what a mess the drugs had made of my life... I'm almost 61 now ... and I look back and see over 20 years when I was drugged up needlessly .... and 20 years when I wasn't living a real life....

That's just some "food for thought" from an "old timer" to a young person who has choices ....

I'm really glad you found us, please stay!

[Jandzio]

I actually don't know what is happening in terms of my depression/anxiety. Because nothing greatly traumatic happened to me, the doctors think that it's just the lack of chemicals that are being produced, which makes sense, but they haven't done any scans to confirm that. 

I would also like to point out that I would much rather my depression back than have the anxiety, as luckily, my depression wasn't that severe, which meant that it was really just feelings of worthlessness and constant random crying, with the occasional suicidal thoughts. But the anxiety is just constant panic, and it is really tiring and exhausting. 

 

I really would like to live a 'med' free life, but I'm quite scared as to how it'll be when I'm off it, as well as having the withdrawal symptoms that I know I will get extremes of. It does raise an ethical issue, and I wish I had listened to my mother when she said try everything else before medication. 

I'm sorry to hear about your story, and it is unfortunate that that's how it works. "Oh go on these drugs, they'll make you feel much better" and about 95% of the time, they would not know what they're on about. 

I will definitely be staying on this forum! I've seen that I'm not alone, and I have people that I can relate with which puts my mind at ease abit.

 

Thanks so much!

 

[FiveNotions]

Oh goodie, I'm delighted you're one of us now!

I also love your avatar/pic......what's your pooch's name?

[Flossy]

Crappy crappy day!!! I thought I was over the worst!!! Not!!! And the sweating, what is that all about, it's embarrassing, it's literally soaking me! Feeling very disheartened and really bloody anxious too!!!

[FiveNotions]

Yeah, the sweating is gross, isn't it Flossy?! I suffered with that the entire time I was on the poison.... told my shrink about it... was told no, couldn't be connected to Cymbalta ... told my gp, he referred me to an endocrinologist ... found nothing ... within a couple of weeks of quitting C, the daily/nightly sweats stopped...went to just at night, then every few days ... then stopped for several months... just last month (at my 7th month off) I started having night sweats again, once or twice a week ... none this week ... it's the serotonin readjusting in the brain, I'm sure of it...

It'll pass for you ... and you'll once again be able to wake up in dry sheets, not a pool of yuck...and with dry pj's...not wrapped in damp, clammy rags... ;-)

[TryinginFL]

Flossy...

 

You dropped from 150 to 120 in one day??  Wow- talk about instant withdrawal!  Have you read the forum on bead counting?  This would be much easier on both your brain and your body.

 

Since you aren't in a race to the end, why did you drop so much so fast?

 

You are causing yourself much unneeded upset...

[thismoment]

Crappy crappy day!!! I thought I was over the worst!!! Not!!! And the sweating, what is that all about, it's embarrassing, it's literally soaking me! Feeling very disheartened and really bloody anxious too!!!

Flossy, you don't have to go through this. It's not good for you. Get re-instated until you stabilize and then taper off slowly over about 6 months. Your symptoms will then be totally manageable.

[cyanotype]

Tinnitus? I have a flock of crows in my ears!!

[equuswoman]

Nice to meet you. Safe to say that goes right along with w/d symptoms from Cymbalta....

It gets better. The people here can help. TC TheEquuswoman

[TryinginFL]

Welcome, cyanotype!

 

Happy that you have found us!  Where exactly are you in withdrawal?  Are you bead counting - if so, for how long?  I certainly hope that you didn't jump into this cold turkey!  I did that 6 1/2 months ago and would definitely NOT recommend that method!

 

Tinnitus is one of the few symptoms I did not have, but others here have and will chime in shortly.

 

You will find much caring, support and knowledge on this site and can feel safe asking questions or ranting - we all have!  We all care and want to help

[cyanotype]

Tinnitus? I have a flock of crows in my ears!!

I never imagined it would be so hard to d/c Cymbalta.  I have titrated down from 90 to 60 to 30 over 3 weeks.  I have been on Cymbalta quite some time, but I began to feel quite disengaged from everything and lacked motivation.  In addition the the flock of crows in my ears, I have heart palpitations, virtigo, memory loss and periods of confusion.  I am quite surprised at how hard it has been to withdraw.  I can tolerate a lot, but the constant bird chirping is really driving me crazy.

[TryinginFL]

Cyanotype...

 

Wow - you dropped so fast you are in cold turkey withdrawal!  I'm sorry that it will take a month or 2 for things to start slowly getting better...  It very possibly will get worse before you start seeing a good day here and there.  When you do, please don't overdo or it will give you a worse time the next day.  The good days start to increase in time but be kind to yourself - your body and brain need time to heal from this poison.

 

Please share whatever symptoms you experience and we will try to help you - that's why we're here.

[Cinders]

Hello again. Really rough times for me. I'm counting beads and am getting close to 30 mg daily, down from 60 mg. Every bit has been a fight. As I've posted previously, when only brand-name Cymbalta was available, I dropped from 120 mg to 20 mg over a period of months with little difficulty. At that time, I hit the wall at 20 mg and couldn't go lower.

I genuinely believe that my experience this time is impacted by having six months of exposure to the generic duloxetine. I had duloxetine from a couple of different generic manufacturers between January, 2014 - June, 2014. Since June, I've been weaning off and taking brand name only, but I feel horrific in general and with every dosage change! Is it possible that the exposure to the generic duloxetine has rendered me over-sensitive to even the brand name Cymbalta?

Here's how my days in Cymbalta withdrawal are going:
- Sleeping or just lying in bed 18-20 hours more and more days
- Loss of interest in things I love
- Unpredictable GI upsets (diarrhea)
- Alternating sweating and chills. The sweating part is just ridiculous, quantity-wise, and embarrassing, to say the least.
- Headache
- Time sense disrupted
- When I move my eyes or turn my head, it's as if my brain has to catch up in slow motion. Are these brain zaps?

I think I may be experiencing some softening of symptoms now that I've been pushing Omegas. Krill oil from Costco and another Omega 3, 6, 9 supplement plus B Complex.

I sure hope I see some real improvement. I dread another 3-4 months of this, then getting other meds in balance.

[thismoment]

Cinders

 

Hi. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the brand name Cymbalta and the generics work differently. And really, they are different formulations because the release agents are different, and so is quality (lol) control. 

 

Your symptoms are familiar. Yes, another 3-4 months of this would be rough . . . but how about 6-8 months of fewer, easier symptoms? If you slow down your rate and double the time, you could perhaps half the discomfort.

 

The out-of-phase sense with head-turning isn't a brain zap. But brain zaps are often associated with turning the head or moving your eyes full left or right. The brain zap is an electrical sensation that flashes through your brain, kind of ear-to-ear. It has a flash-like inner visual sensation accompanied by an inner auditory sensation (it's like you see it and hear it too, but it's more of a sensation than an actual engagement of the senses).

 

I had brain zaps for a week- perhaps 7-10 per day during weaning thru perhaps 15 mg.

[Tinker]

As of just over a week ago I'm cymbalta free after as slow taper. During the week I had what felt like pins in needles in my right arm for two days. I've never had it before. After the second day I started getting concerned about it thinking it was something serious which lead to high anxiety and heading straight to bed in the afternoon just so I could calm down. The next day I was fine again.
My self loathing and negativity has come back which sees me in a constant battle between my conscience. Other than that It's been manageable

[FiveNotions]

Tinker, wow, congratulations on getting off the poison, and doing it the safe / sensible way !!

 

Do you have something to manage the anxiety ... a benzo, clonidine, hydroxyzine? You should not let yourself suffer with/through the anxiety ... it needs to be addressed so that your brain and body can continue to adjust and heal post-Cymbalta ....

 

Now that you're off Cymbalta, you're in the "recovery" phase ... body/brain still healing, and you learning/re-learning what life without the poison is like ... it can be confusing, and often overwhelming ... for example, I started feeling emotions again, started getting chunks of my memory back, began to have energy and an interest in life ... all good things, cuz I'd lived like a zombie for years .... but at the same time, all of the "being human" stuff seemed foreign and frightening at first ... that in and of itself can bring on anxiety ...

 

Remember, you're like a new born baby ... fragile, tender and learning how to live in this world ... do everything you can to take care of yourself ....

[Tinker]

Thanks FN. I haven't actually thought about taking anything for anxiety. It seemed to be just that one off occasion and the rest manageable but if it gets more frequent then I would probably consider it.
I totally agree with you there, It's great to feel human again and scarey. And I forgot how good it feels to cry, weird I know!

[FiveNotions]

Here's a bit of new information to add to our ever expanding reservoir of knowledge about anxiety ...
 
All day long I've been having an extended version of what Gail calls the "creepy" sensation ... I've just been sitting here kind of watching / feeling / observing it ... and I've decided it isn't the creepies, it's more like a "butterflies in the stomach" feeling .... like how I felt waiting for my date to pick me up for my first high school prom. And I'm sure it's connected to starting a new job. But it's way out of proportion, and it just won't stop.
 
I just did some poking around, and found this article about what causes "butterflies" ... it's another aspect of the "fight, flight, freeze" thing ... thanks to our anxiety buddy, adrenaline ... it reduces the blood flow to the stomach in order to increase it to the muscles and lungs, to prepare for the "fight or flight" option ... except, since I don't have a need for fight or flight, I experience the "freeze" ...

"Why do you get butterflies in your stomach?" (2010, Washington Post)
http://www.washingto...0050902953.html

I also found what looks, at least to me, like a useful website ... it has a "commercial" angle, in that the woman who writes also offers books, tapes etc on the issue of anxiety/panic ... however, she's posted a wealth of freely available information .. and doesn't come across as a "stealth purveyor" of products...

http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/

Edited by FiveNotions, 03 September 2014 - 11:05 PM.

[Tinker]

Yes I know that butterfly feeling well! The term i use is a knotted stomach. Extremely unpleasant Starting a new job is always a stressful event. Did any relaxation techniques work for you? I don't know why we cause ourselves soo much undue stress. I had the knotted stomach myself today, always happens when my partner goes away (Air Force) and I don't hear from him after a day, even though I know all is fine. I'm sure everything will be fine once you start your Job and will think to yourself what was I stressing about!

[Blackbird]

I've been off this for 5 months.

 Initially, got really sick...like the flu.  

Slurred speach (still a problem)

Difficulty swallowing

High blood pressure

Exhausted

Depressed...cried all the time.

Loss of equilibrium

Dizzy

Right hand weakness

Due to speach problems, still not socially active.

 

While on the med, slept all the time, and still never felt that I had enough.

Emotionally was a mess.  Anger, crying..Up and down  These are the reasons I decided to get off of it.  Cymbalta took over my life and personality!

[FiveNotions]

Hey, Blackbird, welcome back! Thought we'd lost you, glad we didn't!

 

Congratulations on 5 months Cymbalta-free! Bravo!

 

I had pretty bad speech issues for about 6 months ... I slurred words and stumbled in my speech (noticeably), also forgot how to pronounce words, couldn't read out loud, or follow lines in a book ... that faded away during the 7th month ...

 

Which, if any, of the other symptoms are you still having?

[Blackbird]

Slurred speech.  Swallowing is getting better, but there were times when eating that I thought I would choke.  My right hand is still weak.  I was looking at  symptoms of ALS, and getting scared.  Still having muscle twitching in my leg.

 

You had the speech issue for 7 months? Wow!  I'm 64, and wondering if I will heal from this horrible drug.

[TryinginFL]

Good to hear from you Blackbird!  I'm sorry that you're still experiencing so many problems. I have now been off for almost 8 1/2 months and didn't have all the same symptoms as you, but I still suffer from terrible anxiety.  This will bring me to tears now and then and I thought that part was over. 

 

I guess it's just over when it's over - no time line here.  I am finally sleeping up to 7 hrs straight - thought I'd never sleep all nite again!

 

Also have not yet lost all the weight gained while taking that crap - still need to lose about 15 lbs.   It's taking forever...

 

I also find that if I am really busy for a few days in a row it takes me several days to recuperate - tire very easily these days.

 

Hang in there - it continues to get better - slowly   Please continue to keep us up to date!

[thismoment]

Blackbird

 

It's still early at 5 months, and there is plenty of healing to come!!! Hang in there!

[FiveNotions]

I'm 61, Blackbird ... us "old geezers" just need a bit more time to heal than some of the "youngsters." Also, lots of rest, and patience .... In another month or so, you'll see a big improvement ... Hang in there!

[Flossy]

Feeling very lethargic and no energy! After wrongly pouring beads (I now know not to) I was unable to adjust to around 45mg from 60 even after 6 weeks, so back to 60, hence lethargy... I think, then stabilize and off I go again, but this time I will bead COUNT!!! SLOWLY!!! Thanks to guru FN, I realize the non precise art of "tipping" is not going to work. I've come a long way since June, I've gone from 180 and stabilized on 30g drops (not all will, I was very lucky) until I got to 60 and then my body has rejected my efforts since then. I have heard the last drops are the hardest but had the "that won't happen to me" approach. I know now that it is happening to me and I need a fresh approach, thanks for your help FiveNations, this journey would be a lot harder without reassurance and the guidance of you and this forum. I honestly was adament I wouldn't need to bead count! Haha!..... I have no choice now! If I want to be off this horrid substance, I have no choice. Hopeful that the lethargy will lift soon though! I understand that it is my seretonin level going up. Sick of feeling crappy, I'm either tired, agitated, hyper, hypo, moody, scattery, nauseous, running to the toilet, feeling weird, the list goes on......, but my less foggy brain can see that I AM going to get better! Waiting for the weightloss still... Haha! Not gaining, but not losing! I so need to lose! Have gained 8kg in the last 10 months, due to my hyper manic state on this poison. This stuff is CRAP and I want my life back!!!

[FiveNotions]

Wow, 180 mg of this shit going into you! That's an absolutely massive dose ... what in the world was your doc thinking? oooops ... sorry, I forgot there for a second ... they don't think ... sheesh ... save the extra stuff and slip it into the jackass' coffee ...  (that was one of my favorite fantasies during the hard days of cold turkey ... a girl's gotta' dream, ya' know  )

 

Keep us posted, Flossy!