11 replies to this topic

[Dragonlady]

My PA insisted Cymbalta was the best thing available for depression/anxiety. I took 60mg/day for about nine months, mostly samples supplied by her office. The stuff is ridiculously expensive and I have no insurance. In July, my application for assistance having been denied because I'm not living in a cardboard box, and no samples available, I decided the process of procuring this drug was...uh, depressing me worse...and said, "I'm done." Truth is the stuff helped with anxiety, but only because I was so tired all the time, all I did was yawn. Also depressing since I felt like a zombie and even the simplest task was very hard.

Thirty-nine days ago I took my last 60mg Cymbalta capsule and I've lived through 39 days of hell. The brain zaps started the next day, accompanied by a constant feeling of falling off the face of the earth. I did indeed fall backwards once after three days and ended up with a broken wrist and I'm still in a cast. Fast-forward to five weeks later and I'm starting to wonder just exactly what this chemical did to my brain. The brain zaps have diminished, but the dizziness, headache, nausea and general feeling of not being in control of my own body continue, and panic ensues. About three weeks ago, involuntary thoughts of my own death started popping up at odd times during the day and night. Vivid hallucinations (????) of being trapped and unable to breathe. I guess this could be classified as paranoia, but although depressed and anxious, I've never been suicidal or paranoid. Given the timing, I can only attribute this to brain changes caused by Cymbalta.

This is very troubling to me. Neither Lilly nor the FDA has mentioned long-term effects of withdrawal from Cymbalta, and from what I gather from forums such as this, people would rather just keep on taking the drug than go through withdrawal. It's not a narcotic! It's not heroin, yet the withdrawal is so awful, people try to quit and are so uncomfortable they can't function without it. I am not functioning beyond base level and came very close to passing out at the supermarket today when overcome by panic. Another new affliction, post-Cymbalta.

So, for those of you just starting on your weaning process or going cold turkey, or anyone who's gotten beyond it, please feel free to email me and we will all get through it together. And hey, if there's permanent brain damage, we can start a class action suit! That was a joke.

_Dragonlady

[FibroLady]

Sounds like it's been a really rough road for you. I'm so sorry.

I've not yet started to wean off of it, but, do hope to start the process when on time off work in Sept. I have a job of over 30 years and can't miss work for this crap. I can only pray it isn't debilitating as it's been for you....if done more slowly. Ugh.

I hope you continue to progress well. God bless!

[salvadora]

Thanks for writing in, Dragonlady

It sounds like we've had a fairly similar trip with Cymbalta - I mean, it cleared up the anxiety for sure, but in retrospect, how can you be anxious if you actually don't care about anything? Plus the random popping-up thoughts of death. Intellectually it's possible to take a look at it and see that okay, it means nothing, it's just chemicals and the brain, but it's hard not to be alarmed by it.

Being only on the first week, and having the "falling off the face of the earth" feeling about 50% of my waking hours but nothing else too horrible, I'm a bit afraid after reading your experience. Five weeks!?? Honestly.

It seems like you're able to attribute your symptoms rationally enough to the drug. What else do you do to give yourself a chance? I'm kind of focusing on good nutrition - I'd love to do more exercise, but I feel slightly leery about going on a good long bike ride when I'm not so sure about my relationship with gravity. Plus the body feels so disconnected. Perhaps yoga. What are your strategies?

[Dragonlady]

Salvadora, I have also been concentrating on good nutrition, but like you, am a bit reticent about outside solo exercise until my equilibrium is better. I'm thinking I'll join a gym next week after my cast is removed, sure I can walk the treadmill for an hour. I'll be needing to rehab my broken wrist anyhow, and a gym membership will be cheaper than physical therapy. I found an interesting website that addresses depression from a non-chemical-imbalance point of view, treating it with a series of self-hypnosis sessions. The company is UK based, Uncommon Knowledge, http://www.unk.com/, and their philosophy does not focus on the CAUSE of your depression (which can be depressing to rehash), but on OVERCOMING it. Makes sense. Past is past.

The Medical/Psychiatric and Pharmaceutical companies have decided that depression and anxiety is caused by a chemical imbalance and drugs can "help." Note they do not say, "cure." Depression is on the rise in all age groups...exponentially since mid-20th century.

Millions of people all with chemical imbalances? I don't think so. I've been terminally disappointed by life and for more than ten years I've been completely bewildered, and unable to move on. It's been pretty much, "who gives a shit," but for ten years I've been on one anti-depressant or another.

Depression is often caused by loss of a loved one. It's called grieving, but as time goes on, it eases, gets less acute, hopefully to morph into a spark of happy memory. For those mourning the loss of dreams, hope, the road back to happiness is harder.

I'm devoting myself to an Herculian effort to devote energy to ME; something I've never done and don't know how to do. I will learn.
_Dragonlady

[aklopper]

I'd love to do more exercise, but I feel slightly leery about going on a good long bike ride when I'm not so sure about my relationship with gravity.

Thanks - this made me laugh. Going through similar problems. Happy to know that I'm not alone, though not happy that everyone else is suffering too.

[cymbaltamom]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I am on day four for similar reasons. $230 a month is just not worth the pain to be scraping by and fighting for assistance. Apparently I work too hard to be "needy". I guess I just need to stop, so the government can just give me everything.
Anyway, I have barfed twice, had an upset stomach constantly, lots of dizziness and insane brain zaps. Worst is my nightmares and tons of sweating while sleeping. On the upside, I've lost five pounds already. : )
Omega 3 FISH OIL has helped a lot with the brain zaps. I'm still looking for something to help with everything else. I'll keep updating.

[Lyssa]

My PA insisted Cymbalta was the best thing available for depression/anxiety. I took 60mg/day for about nine months, mostly samples supplied by her office. The stuff is ridiculously expensive and I have no insurance. In July, my application for assistance having been denied because I'm not living in a cardboard box, and no samples available, I decided the process of procuring this drug was...uh, depressing me worse...and said, "I'm done." Truth is the stuff helped with anxiety, but only because I was so tired all the time, all I did was yawn. Also depressing since I felt like a zombie and even the simplest task was very hard.

Thirty-nine days ago I took my last 60mg Cymbalta capsule and I've lived through 39 days of hell. The brain zaps started the next day, accompanied by a constant feeling of falling off the face of the earth. I did indeed fall backwards once after three days and ended up with a broken wrist and I'm still in a cast. Fast-forward to five weeks later and I'm starting to wonder just exactly what this chemical did to my brain. The brain zaps have diminished, but the dizziness, headache, nausea and general feeling of not being in control of my own body continue, and panic ensues. About three weeks ago, involuntary thoughts of my own death started popping up at odd times during the day and night. Vivid hallucinations (????) of being trapped and unable to breathe. I guess this could be classified as paranoia, but although depressed and anxious, I've never been suicidal or paranoid. Given the timing, I can only attribute this to brain changes caused by Cymbalta.

This is very troubling to me. Neither Lilly nor the FDA has mentioned long-term effects of withdrawal from Cymbalta, and from what I gather from forums such as this, people would rather just keep on taking the drug than go through withdrawal. It's not a narcotic! It's not heroin, yet the withdrawal is so awful, people try to quit and are so uncomfortable they can't function without it. I am not functioning beyond base level and came very close to passing out at the supermarket today when overcome by panic. Another new affliction, post-Cymbalta.

So, for those of you just starting on your weaning process or going cold turkey, or anyone who's gotten beyond it, please feel free to email me and we will all get through it together. And hey, if there's permanent brain damage, we can start a class action suit! That was a joke.

_Dragonlady

DragonLady.. This is reaching my 10 day off cold turkey. I was on for 2 years straight. Then moved to Orlando for school. No insurance no money you get the drift. Well I took my last pill 10 days ago.. Lets see first 5 days was me laying in the bed crying..Brain zaps are still there but not as much. I stayed up all night last night vomitting and having direaha.. Now I can cry at any moment.. Even if I see a candy bar in the store.. Two days ago I was going to kill myself. Get the gun and just do it. I was convinced that "God" was telling me to do it. My husband talked me thru it and proceeded to get me help. But good ole Florida doesn't care about your withdraw if you have no money. So here I am dying a little more and more each day.. Attacking my husband and waking up with no memory of it. What the hell am I suppose to do about this? Die?? I am taking some vitamins but its vitamins.. Two years ago I told my doctor that I was scared to be addicted to anything. Oh it's not addicting.. What the fuck ever. This is hell and I feel like it's just going to get worse.. PLEASE HELP ME

[LAnnLanglois]

Hi all! I am new to this site. I am on day 10 of quitting 60 mg cymbalta cold turkey after being on it for two months. I could not stand the side effects.  The w/d was terrible like nothing I ever imagined. I have never been on antidepressants before, the cymbalta was prescribed to me for chronic low back pain ("imagine you... with no pain...") and I had no idea what I was in for. After day 3 of quitting it, (last week) I was in bed crying with extreme dizziness, things got progressively worse from there. I called the clinic that prescribed the cymbalta and they recommended going back ON it at 20 mg,  but I refused to put ANY more of that poison in my body. I saw my internist yesterday (not from the pain clinic that prescribed the Cymbalta) , and she recommended:

*2 10 mg fluoxetine (Prozac) / day for one week then 1/day for one week

*meclizine 25 mg as needed for vertigo

 

I had 2 fluoxetine  and 2 today.  I took 2 meclizine yesterday, and 2 today.

 

I feel SO MUCH BETTER today. I feel somewhat like me again (from before Cymbalta)

 

So for what it’s worth, I am surviving with help from my doc.  I will let you know if the taper plan works with the Prozac.  I feel very encouraged!

[deb55]

I am on day five of quiting Cymbalta 60mg after taking this drug for three years as prescribed for chronic back pain.  I elected to to go cold turkey.  This forum has been a blessing to me.  I know what to possibly expect and know that I am not alone.  So far the withdrawal has not been pleasant, but I am coping.  Here is a brief list of my withdrawal issues:

 

Vertigo

Brain Zaps

Itching

Gastro issues

Vivid dreams

Blisters in my scalp

Hot flashes

Adversion to certain smells especially perfumes and food

Intolerance to sweets either fruits or sugars.

 

I have a prescription for Xanax and on day three I did take a .25 dose and it greatly helped my vertigo.  Omega 3 fish oil is helping the brain zaps and magnesium is helping me to relax and sleep at night even though I continue to have very strange dreams.  My emotions have remained in check and I continue to function well at work.  Driving is a wee bit scary because if I move my eyes or head too quickly, the vertigo kicks in.  I'm drinking lots of water to help flush the toxins out of my body.

 

Is the worse yet to come based on the consensus on members?  Is there an average withdrawal period?

 

I appreciate everyone sharing the hell they are going through to help others realize what they might expect.

[LAnnLanglois]

I forgot to add yesterday that I am also having the very vivid and frightening dreams... it sounds like that is a common thread.  And in my dreams, I often cannot move or speak but I am struggling, like being paralyzed or suffocating.

I have been off since January 13.  I have been on fluoxitine (Prozac) for 3 days and it is helping me a LOT.  I feel a lot better.  No brain zaps today.  I wonder if I'll have to be on Prozac for a long time, but it sure beats the hell out of Cymbalta.  The meclizine helped a lot too.

I am drinking lots of water, as well.

We'll see how this goes, I'm only on day 11.  But others should try the Prozac and meclizine!  Deb55 :-)

[deb55]

I forgot to add yesterday that I am also having the very vivid and frightening dreams... it sounds like that is a common thread.  And in my dreams, I often cannot move or speak but I am struggling, like being paralyzed or suffocating.

I have been off since January 13.  I have been on fluoxitine (Prozac) for 3 days and it is helping me a LOT.  I feel a lot better.  No brain zaps today.  I wonder if I'll have to be on Prozac for a long time, but it sure beats the hell out of Cymbalta.  The meclizine helped a lot too.

I am drinking lots of water, as well.

We'll see how this goes, I'm only on day 11.  But others should try the Prozac and meclizine!  Deb55 :-)

 

My dreams are not frightning, just very vivid.  I had a dream in which I was a Roman solder fighting in a bloody battle with a sword.  Perhaps my subconscience - me fighting the Cymbalta withdrawal demons...   Other than the day I took Xanax, I am still working toward a chemical free withdrawal.  I am certainly not opposed to getting the aid of the mentioned medications if needed, but I am so determined to make it through this with vitamins and supplements to support my health.....

 

I'm sure glad I found this forum!!!!!

[LAnnLanglois]

Just checking back in with an update, I am down to 1 fluoxetine per day and I feel pretty good! At least with respect to the Cymbalta symptoms. Now I need to resolve my chronic pain issue another way. I will be very hesitant to try any more pharmaceutical solutions.
I do feel very few side effects from the fluoxetine and I am amazed at how good I feel compared to when I was on Cymbalta . That is a terrible, awful drug and I am so angry that I suffered needlessly.
Two weeks - Yay!
Good luck everyone! This site IS a blessing, it helped me know I am not crazy.