2 replies to this topic

[jazzjoy70]

Good evening-
I have been on Cymbalta for 8 days now, today I went to 60 mg after being on 30mg all last week. I feel foggy, tired, and am eating uncontrollably. Starting to feel apathetic as well. I was prescribed this for trichtillomania and irritablity/depression. Prior to the Cymbalta I was taking Wellbutrin XL 300 mg and Lexapro 5mg (had withdrawal when I tried to stop it completely).
My question is this: can I stop the Cymbalta after only taking it for 8 days? I had weaned to 2.5 mg of Lexapro and 150 mg of Wellbutrin XL during the first week of Cymbalta, today I stopped those and just took the Cymbalta 60mg. Could I jst take the two old meds at the lower dosage and stop the Cymbalta without problems?
I am reading so much negative about the Cymbalta that I am beginning to be frightened of taking it.
Aside from feeling very relaxed the first few days I took the stuff, my symptoms/problems have not much improved. I think maybe I was just on too much Wellbutrin before.
It's very confusing. Sometimes I wonder what's what, and maybe the drugs are just making everything worse.
Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[jazzjoy70]

Thank you, Greybeard, for replying. It is my understanding that the Cymbalta affects serotonin and norepinephrine, and the Lexapro affects serotoin, while the Wellbutrin affects norepi, so I'm thinking in the am I'll just go back to 5mg of Lexapro and 150mg of Wellbutrin... and see how it goes.
On 300 mg of Wellbutrin XL, I was experiencing insomnia, greatly worsened trichtillomania, and general irritability, almost manic-ness. I've only been on one other drug, being Celexa, which worked very well.... for about 3-4 months.
My sister, who is in the mental health field, says the Cymbalta is a great drug. What I read online says otherwise. And I am one of those people who has TERRIBLE SSRI withdrawals.
What was/ is your experience with Cymbalta? In your experience, when it works for people, how do THEY feel on it?
Thanks.

[Attorney_Victim]

I agree 100% that every anti-depressant has side effects, and Cymbalta might be good for some people. A risk/benefit analysis should always be done before starting on any anti-dep. The problem with Cymbalta seems to be that the doctors, and therefore the patients, do not have all the necessary info about the side effects/withdrawal issues to make an informed decision. Many people on here report that their dr had never heard of any potential withdrawal problems.

I place the blame for that lack of info on the drug company. There are lots of new drugs coming out all the time, and it would be hard for a dr to keep up with every single one of them. However, the drug companies pay "drug reps" (non medical people) to convince the doctors to prescribe a new drug. Doctors rely on the drug reps for most of their info about a new drug. But, the drug reps are sales people who have little (if any) medical knowledge. So they just tell the doctors whatever the company tells them to say about the drug. Since these reps are paid very well by their employer drug company, they would never question the info they are provided. This is a terrible system that has obvious flaws, but the drug companies make billions of dollars annually and have strong political ties. There is no end in sight for this flawed system.