2 replies to this topic

[Bengt]

My Cymbalta experience...

Background:
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Some info: Male, 42 years old. Have been testing several different antidepressants during 15 years, because of severe depressions.

Have been on Citalopram, Serzone, Zoloft, Effexor, Aurorix, Mirtazapin, Parnate and recently: Cymbalta. (This drug is rather new to the Nordic countries).

Must say that Cymbalta was really great curing my depressions, BUT the side effects were the most strange and weird that I have ever experienced (or heard of) and they were not possible to cope with.

Cymbalta medication:
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Started with 30 mg, and after a week doubled the dose to 60 mg. (Also had 15 mg Mirtazapin as a complement).

To begin with, it took approx. 10-12 weeks before I could feel that Cymbalta kicked in. Almost no side effects at all. The perfect drug? Well, not for long...

After approx 2 months, I got trouble moving my right foot... some foot muscles were COMPLETELY gone. Impossible to move two toes (anyone else ever experienced this??). Lack of muscle coordination. Worst at the right side of the body.

Also got a lot of muscle- and joint-pains in both legs. Uncontrollable muscle twitching (10-15 per hour) also occurred. Really heavy fatigue.

My feet were ice-cold at the evenings, and by ice-cold I mean that they were so cold that it actually hurted... like putting your feet in a bowl of freezing ice-water.

Got the typical night sweating, but that wasn't much of a problem.

At first I didn't connect all these strange symptoms to Cymbalta, and I had no idea what was wrong.

Some more weeks and the symptoms got even worse, had trouble walking. Started to lose control of my right arm, hand and fingers. (For example: Trouble using my computer mouse, double-clicking and tapping the keyboard, holding a pencil or toothbrush... that sort of things.). NO WAY, that I could drive my car, or work.

By then I got really worried, wondering was what wrong with my body, and had to test if Cymbalta was the cause.

Withdrawal:
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Day -14 to -7:
Started withdrawal... going from 60 mg to 30, and the muscle twitching almost immediately disappeared. Night sweating was gone and got slightly warmer feet. Still had problems moving my right side of the body.

Day -7 to -1:
Going for 15 mg (by opening the capsule and remove half of the content). Muscle twitching.

Day 0:
Last dose.

Day +1 to +2:
No problem at all. No nausea. Felt really ok. Minor muscle twitching.

Day +3 to +4:
Now started the famous 'brain shivers' when I was moving my eyes sideways. Some heavy sweating. Shaky hands. Very realistic nightmares. Increasing dizziness. Agony. Increase heartbeat. Difficulties with body coordination and cold feet/lower legs got worse. Quick mood swings from happiness to sadness within 15 minutes. Muscle twitching completely gone.

Day +5 to +7:
Same as the days before, but adding heavy fatigue. Even worse muscle weakness and loss of coordination. Dizziness. Brain shivers.

Day +8 to +9:
Extreme fatigue. Better muscle control in right foot and hand. Dizziness. Still got brain shivers when moving my eyes sideways.

Day +10 to +11:
Very irritated. Unexplained sudden rage. No tolerance to people. Going from happiness to rage within 15 min. Feet temperature slowly rising towards normal. Brain shivers. Muscle control increasing slowly. Nausea. Vomiting.

Day +12 to +13:
Nausea. Better muscle control in right foot and hand/fingers. Feet temperature almost normal. Minor irritation.

Day +14 to +15:
Nausea. Better muscle control.

Day +15 to +16:
Some muscle pain and lack of right hand coordination. Cold feet. Less brain shivers.

Day +17 to +21:
Lack of coordination, cold feet and hands. Almost no brain shivers. Nausea completely gone.

Day +22 to +23:
Worse lack of coordination, muscle pain, very cold feet and hands.

Day +24 to +28:
Unbelievable fatigue. Cold feet and hands. Brain shivers completely gone.

Day +29 to +30:
Fatigue.

Day +31 to +41:
Normal temperature in feet and hands. Less fatigue. Better body coordination.

Day +42 to +60:
All symptoms almost gone.

Summary:
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It's no problem living with common side-effects like weight gain, dizziness, shaky hands, night mares etc. but its impossible to handle when you starting loosing control of your body.

It may be a good idea to test out this drug, and if it's working... well, everything is fine. But my experience is that this is THE MOST treacherous drug I have ever tried during a decade of medications. Don't be surprised if the withdrawal period takes up to 2 months.


Best regards, Bengt

[perrypool]

Hi Bengt and welcome to the forum! I have to agree with you... of all the meds I have ever taken this one seems to be the hardest on to get off of. I'm now on day 17 without any Cymbalta and I'm still having the brain zaps,fatigue and other issues. I figure I have several more days before I feel better. I'm glad your symptoms are almost gone. Thank you for sharing your story and please keep us updated. Have a great weekend!

Perry

[indymargie]

Hi all of you courageous folks,

I have been reading your posts for the past several weeks and wanted to share my story.
I am a 60 yr young female, have been on Zoloft several times in the past for a number of years...seemed to work for my situational depressive episodes. My doc thought I should try Cymbalta 1 1/2 yrs ago due to the time release feature. He started me on 60 mg/day. I am not one to complain much to the doctor, just want to get in and out as quickly as possible.
I reported to him after 6 months it was working ok, but I was still having lots of constipation problems and trouble sleeping due to vivid dreams. I attributed these to working 2nd shift in a psychiatric hospital. For the constipation I took OTC stool softeners, fiber, etc. to no avail.
Well, long story short, I was starting a vacation 2 weeks ago and my meds needed refilling. So, I decided to go off cold turkey since I would be at home and actually intended to refill my script if need be. That was 17 days ago. Days 1-2 I didnt really notice much discomfort other than mild grogginess. Actually I was feeling pretty happy due to the first normal BM in 18 months . Day 3 was my first day of vacation and then it hit. I thought I was coming down with the flu...e xtreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headache etc..you all know the feeling.
I would also like to share I have 22 years of sobriety from alcoholism and was definitely familiar with withdrawal. For you ladies out there with children, it's like when you have that first contraction in the labor room and you think "OMG I remember this!!"
I am grateful for all of you on this board and for finding you when I did. I am back to work, today is day 17 and I know I will get thru this. I have been back to work this past week. I have had my moments, I am still extremely fatigued at times, if over-stessed I have a melt-down and recover within minutes. If I need to go back on something I guess I would consider Zoloft again. But for today I am Cymbalta-free!!