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[melissa1308]

Hello, So I have been on Cymbalta 60 mg for almost a year (my doctor called me an "established user") I am not hear to bash the medication or talk badly about the prescribing doctors I am here to share a cautionary tale. I started cymbalta because I realized that I did not have good friends, I do not drink and have never really understood the point of getting "smashed" and I realized that I was the only one out of my "friends whom was like this I was also the only one that was a mother.
One day I went to pick my daughter up from her babysitter (she was only a year old) and she seemed fine until she was asleep in her bed did I notice the huge black and blue mark on her arm. I immediately call the babysitter and asked what had happened and she told me she doesn't know and that she couldn't help he and hung up on me. This is the start of my SEVERE Anxiety. I cut off every person I called my friend and stopped going to work and rarely left the house. On the occasion that I did I would have panic attacks and nervous thoughts about my daughter getting hurt. I realized that I was not in a healthy situation and I needed help. My primary doctor prescribed me with cymbalta I went home and read all the information and googled side effects before I started so that I knew what to expect. I slept a lot I don't really remember much from the first couple of days. I can say that slowly one day the world did not seem so scary and I felt a little free. I started enjoying taking my daughter to the park and even enrolled in college to better my career. Life is great I enjoy who I am I am a normal function al member in my family.
Here I am a year into this wonder drug (my first med ever) and I am feeling like a better version of myself. I have been trying to find out how to make friends (still haven't figured that one out) I went to refill my prescription art week (1/27) and mind you its been a year, the insurance company needs authorization. I call my primary can't get through (office closed weekend) Finally get through 2 days later and I tell them that I need authorization. Im 3 days off cold turkey and not by choice. one full day passes and no clue what people are doing so I call back to find out and after a huge headache I find out that I had to make an appointment to see the doctor before they will give me authorization. 4 days off meds and missing a chemistry class I'm sitting with a doctor explaining the situation. Dumb doctor does not send in authorization but a brand new prescription. Day 5 without medications I drop in on doctors office to have them call the insurance company in front of me and I find myself waiting for a RN an hour later she is the most helpful and understanding lady ever and is really trying to pull strings for me. She calls in the authorization (in front of me) and they ask her if I can try zoloft she say that "the patient is successfully using the cymbalta and its best" the evil insurance company says to give them 48 hours this was on wednesday (2/1) 48 hours was suppose to end friday (2/3) but I gave them until today (2/6) because of the weekend. So here I am 9 days without meds and I'm freaking out about hoping on a train (NYC subway trains too crowded in the am) and being in English 2 tomorrow plus dropping off my daughter in preschool (positive experience).
Moral of the story make sure that you have a support group i.e. friend and family and that you have a damn good health insurance or a hefty chunk of change to afford the pills when they do dick you around you can have some way to maintain the medication that is working wonders and because and the end of the day the insurece people don't care they just went to work to get their paycheck and they do not care about the brain malfunction that is going on and the slow creepingness of anxiety returning to play on my emotions.