and a friend sent this link to me. I immediately started sobbing while reading the first post I saw because the woman writing it is ME and then, there's someone telling her that it's not causing the weight gain so get her thyroid checked, etc.! I heard those same things and went through all of the same testing suggested but nothing. I was already on meds for hypothyroid and each time I was retested my numbers were fine, etc. I was tested for Lupus and everything under the sun. God, I wish I had seen her post when it was written because that is exactly when I started taking this crap--June of 2012! Since starting it in 2012, gained 20+ lbs the first year and 40 lbs just since August yet I barely eat! I, like the woman in the post, was a workout fiend and at one point, I was working out every morning, 7 days a week in addition to a 20-25 minute walk to/from work and walking on my lunch hour when I could but still kept gaining weight. Then, the extreme fatigue hit along with brain fog, concentration issues, brain and all over body zaps or twitching among so many other things that I’m sure you’ve all been through. This is all while still taking Cymbalta.
I was put through a sleep study and they ruled out sleep apnea but now, they want me to do another sleep study to confirm that I may have Hypersomnia and/or some degree of Narcolepsy. “Any of which could be a big part of the severe fatigue AND the massive amount of weight gain”. Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah.
My husband said countless times that he thought it was the medicine but I can't tell you how many times I've asked all of my doctors if any of what I've been dealing with could be from my medication. No, no, no is always the answer! PLUS, I had an issue many years ago where I put on a lot of weight, worked hard to lose it and kept it off since 2001 so any time any doc puts me on a new med, the first thing I ask is if it causes weight gain and stress that I DO NOT want anything that will because I never want to be that heavy again. Yet, here I am that heavy again and then some!
So, I made a decision on my own to completely stop taking the Cymbalta because it doesn't seem to be helping the headaches or FB pain anymore anyway and figured it must the cause of the weight gain. I stopped taking it over a week ago, living through the bad withdrawals and went to acupuncture twice which helped a lot for those days but every other day, I'd been waking up with the worst headaches, neck/back pain and just pain all over right down to my toes not to mention, the horrible and nausea.
I can barely walk from the vertigo (almost fell down the stairs--need to hold the wall to just walk).
I now know why drug addicts have such a hard time--it's not the drug they need so much but the horrible withdrawals are so bad you want to give in just to make it stop! I honestly did not realize that it would take this long and figured that if I made it through a week, it would be over and I'd be fine.
It's gotten better but I'm still dealing with vertigo, intermittent bouts of nausea and have bruises all over my body from scratching a rash that's not there (UGH!).
I read about this other poor woman who almost killed herself and I've felt the same way so many times including this weekend then, after a two week hospital stay and she was all better: “My doctor stated to me after everything was fixed "We were poisoning you with that drug". I COMPLETELY agree with him.”
I never understood people that didn't trust doctors but now, I do!
I just want this crap out of my system and I'm glad I read all of this because it's good to know I'm not the only one and that it’s not all in my head or I’m imagining it!
In everything I’ve read so far, I haven’t seen anyone else that had a problem from the skin crawling/itching so just wondering if anyone out there has had this withdrawal symptom? Also, I’m seeing that others still have problems after many months/years so is the fact that it’s gotten better only temporary and should I expect that it will get worse/better again and again?
Any insight is GREATLY appreciated!
Welcome to this site. I highly encourage you to read the posts on this site a bit further. It's definitely been helpful and enlightening for me. Of course for my disclaimer, I am not a doctor. I'm most concerned reading about suicidal thoughts from you. If you are feeling that much mental and emotional turmoil, PLEASE seek immediate help! There is no reason even suffering from Cymbalta withdrawal to get to that sort of state of mind.
