72 replies to this topic

[fishinghat]

Yes I was aware of that. It is actually easier to look up side effect data on drug.com than fda and the information is nearly identical.

[tidan]

hi everyone,

 

my fiance sent me this link. i am also new here. i have been off cymbalta for about 2 1/2 months. it was the freaking hardest thing i have done, i was losing my mind. more so then before i was put on it. i have read everything about this ridiculous poison, making it easy to come off of it and make a life again, this is something they did not consider for the patients at all. sadly i lost my job over the withdrawal period of this crap. cheers cymbalta. but what still gets me is this way it still screws you up mentally and physically everyday. i developed severe headaches/migraines ( morphine did nothing), sinus pain accompanied with blocked nose that i could not breathe from to save my life. i am incredibly itchy everywhere only at night time, i brought this down to hayfever (its spring here in Australia). i spend the whole night unable to sleep, i am completely exhausted but soon as i get into bed, BAM! awake like an owl, so itchy i cry cause im just so over the friggin challenges that arise daily. i have restless leg syndrome, if that doesnt keep me awake with with the other problems i will get severe cramps. i now am back to sleeping most of the day, i have no will power to drag my ass out of bed. i am incredibly irritated all the time, short fused, hot headed and very impatient. my anxiety which i worked so hard to get rid of has popped its evil head up again. i cant make a phone call to see if there are any shifts at work, i avoid leaving the house at all costs. i have no energy again and my weight has crept up and piled itself on.

 

to be honest when my partner told me the list of my occurring problems again comes down to cymbalta withdrawal, i feel utterly hopeless, i cant even get myself angry anymore. i just feel defeated.  i am tired of the person that i am, i have an amazing partner who has helped me beat obstacle after obstacle. but i feel like crap on a daily basis, i now try to throw myself into just him and play down how i feel. im sick to death of feeling like a burden, he has never made me feel that way but to be honest i am over myself, i am over the crying, over the self hate, over the constant anxiety and worry. i have wasted so much of my life being depressed, sad and miserable for way to long. as you all know you try so many medications and there is no magic pill, but the amount of side effects to each drug you try, its just exhausting. its not a matter of which medication makes you feel the best, its which one has the least sever side effects you can bare.

 

i am 30 years old and have severe depression, anxiety and body issues since i was 7. ive never asked for to be made a millionaire , or be the most beautiful person you have met. i want to feel normal, you know excitement, happiness, hope. i want to experience fun for once. why do i have to feel like a piece of crap every single day? i am tired, i am just quite simply over the challenges that every new day brings. 

 

I am sorry to sound selfish or to make anyone feel brought down in any way. i dont have any friends, and i dont have any family who will acknowledge these issues. i have only had my amazing fiance and i just want to be the best me i can be.

 

am happy to speak to anyone, its just feels better to be on here where alot of you seem to have been, or still going through.

 

Thank you all for even reading this, hope i can help someone along the way. 

[FiveNotions]

Welcome, Tidan, welcome! I'm so glad your fiancé found this site for you and sent you the link. That man is a keeper!!

I'm so sorry you've had such a rough go of this ... especially about losing your job. (Although, not working is actually a very big plus while getting through this process, as your body/brain need lots and lots of rest.)

Everything you're describing is typical of Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms ... we here all know what you're talking about ... and we can help you! No one who has not been through the process of getting off "crapalta" (our pet name for the poison) can appreciate / understand what it's like. But you've come to the right place, because here you are understood ...

You are not a failure, you are not complaining, you are none of those negative feelings you're having about yourself. And, you are going to come through this, you can do this!

It's late, and I'm on my way to bed, so I won't write a lot to you just now ... but what I am going to do is ask you for a bit more information ... the more we know, the more we'll be able to help you.

How long were you on Cymbalta?
What dose?
Was it the brand or the generic?
Why were you put on it? (I'm assuming depression, but others here have been put on it for fibro, neuropathy, etc....)
Why did you decide to quit?
What method did you use to get off of it? Bead counting (the preferred method), stepping down in dose levels (what the asshat docs seem to think works), or cold turkey (the absolute hardest way, I speak from experience)?
What other meds are you taking now, have you taken while on crapalta? What doses, and for what conditions?
Do you have a doc (general practitioner), shrink and/or therapist?

All of the symptoms you're experiencing are directly connected to the neurotransmitter called serotonin. It's a key element of the entire CNS ... and crapalta gives the brain an artificial "boost" of the stuff ... the brain forgets how to make/regulate it's own serotonin and thus gets "addicted" to the Cymbalta ... so, when you stop taking it, especially if you go cold turkey, your brain goes haywire ... it's desperate for serotonin, can't get the amount it needs, hasn't had time to re-start / re-learn doing so ... and, boom ... your CNS sends whacky signals to all your body functions ... result, you feel absolutely horrible.

Stay with us here, keep reading everything you can already posted on the site, and keep posting to let us know how you're doing.

Please also take the time to answer each one of those questions I listed ... that info will help us help you figure out a game plan for dealing with this and getting you back to a real life, crapalta-free!

[Flossy]

hi everyone,

my fiance sent me this link. i am also new here. i have been off cymbalta for about 2 1/2 months. it was the freaking hardest thing i have done, i was losing my mind. more so then before i was put on it. i have read everything about this ridiculous poison, making it easy to come off of it and make a life again, this is something they did not consider for the patients at all. sadly i lost my job over the withdrawal period of this crap. cheers cymbalta. but what still gets me is this way it still screws you up mentally and physically everyday. i developed severe headaches/migraines ( morphine did nothing), sinus pain accompanied with blocked nose that i could not breathe from to save my life. i am incredibly itchy everywhere only at night time, i brought this down to hayfever (its spring here in Australia). i spend the whole night unable to sleep, i am completely exhausted but soon as i get into bed, BAM! awake like an owl, so itchy i cry cause im just so over the friggin challenges that arise daily. i have restless leg syndrome, if that doesnt keep me awake with with the other problems i will get severe cramps. i now am back to sleeping most of the day, i have no will power to drag my ass out of bed. i am incredibly irritated all the time, short fused, hot headed and very impatient. my anxiety which i worked so hard to get rid of has popped its evil head up again. i cant make a phone call to see if there are any shifts at work, i avoid leaving the house at all costs. i have no energy again and my weight has crept up and piled itself on.

to be honest when my partner told me the list of my occurring problems again comes down to cymbalta withdrawal, i feel utterly hopeless, i cant even get myself angry anymore. i just feel defeated. i am tired of the person that i am, i have an amazing partner who has helped me beat obstacle after obstacle. but i feel like crap on a daily basis, i now try to throw myself into just him and play down how i feel. im sick to death of feeling like a burden, he has never made me feel that way but to be honest i am over myself, i am over the crying, over the self hate, over the constant anxiety and worry. i have wasted so much of my life being depressed, sad and miserable for way to long. as you all know you try so many medications and there is no magic pill, but the amount of side effects to each drug you try, its just exhausting. its not a matter of which medication makes you feel the best, its which one has the least sever side effects you can bare.

i am 30 years old and have severe depression, anxiety and body issues since i was 7. ive never asked for to be made a millionaire , or be the most beautiful person you have met. i want to feel normal, you know excitement, happiness, hope. i want to experience fun for once. why do i have to feel like a piece of crap every single day? i am tired, i am just quite simply over the challenges that every new day brings.

I am sorry to sound selfish or to make anyone feel brought down in any way. i dont have any friends, and i dont have any family who will acknowledge these issues. i have only had my amazing fiance and i just want to be the best me i can be.

am happy to speak to anyone, its just feels better to be on here where alot of you seem to have been, or still going through.

Thank you all for even reading this, hope i can help someone along the way.

[Flossy]

Hi there Tidan

So sad and sorry to hear you are struggling so much! I'm Aussie too! I'm in Toowoomba QLD! This drug is evil and you have no control over what is happening to you, just know that you are not alone and the information FN has and will give you is gold, it's has and continues to help me. I'm about 4 months into withdrawals now and have the hardest part ahead of me, I was taking 180 and now am on 60! I'm looking into other options such as bead counting, reducing very slowly a bead or 2 at a time, and consulting a really good dr I've found in Noosa that is going to help me using a more natural anti depressant called 5-HTP. I've had to look outside the box as after reducing recently to 45 for a 6 week period, my body just wouldn't adjust. I've been forced to go back up to 60 and slowly taper. I'm just telling you this to let you know you are not going mad, you are not going to feel like this forever and you are most certainly not alone. This forum has been like a diary for me as well as a great place to ask questions, as when I'm feeling anxious, I just need to know that this is in fact "normal" with regards to coming off this shitty drug. My heart goes out to you and I'm so glad you have found us! Keep going girl, it's not going to be easy, but you won't feel like this forever, this forum has loads of success stories, and you too will be one of them. 😊

[FiveNotions]

Flossy, hi! Where've you been? Or have I missed your posts?

180 to 60 in 4 months ... and you're not feeling very good ... well, dear one, you've come down way too fast and way too hard!

Please stop doing this to yourself, you're risking causing yourself long term / permanent effects!! What's the point of getting off it fast, if as a result you never are able to get back to a healthy life and are left with permanent crapalta "mementos" ?

Man, you Aussies are the toughest, most stubborn-headed, determined and gutsy people I've ever encountered ... and we've got quite a group of you on the forum! (And some "forum alumni")

Here's what I suggest ... stay right where you are for a few weeks, even a month ... until you stabilize more ... then bead count the rest of the way down ... slooooowly ... by removing just 2-3 beads, every 3-4 days ... or some variation of that, depending on what your brain / body are telling you.

Then again, I'm not sure that "listen to you brain/body thing" works with you ... they both have been screaming at you for months, and you've been ignoring them ... yikes!

[FiveNotions]

PS, Flossy, how's it going with the 5-HTP ? And are you learning anything else from you new doc that you could share with us?
 
Please post all your 5-HTP info / experiences over in that great thread you started on it ... https://www.cymbalta...with-withdrawal

(When / if I ever get a chance, I'm going to try to go back through our archives and pull out other good posts on 5-HTP that have been made and cross-post/copy them over to your thread.)

[Flossy]

Hi FN
I have taken your advice and gone back up to 60, it's made me really sick in doing so, it amazes me how a drug can make you feel so sick to go up and yet so sick to go down, bloody horrible thing. I won't be taking 5-HTP until the dr I'm seeing is back from an overseas trip, not until late November! I realize it is not to be taken lightly and could actually be quite dangerous without being monitored, especially as I'm taking many nutrients and some can interact. This is a marathon and not a sprint I have learnt! I am trying to readjust to the higher dose. It's interesting that on 45 although my withdrawals were awful, I was a lot less anxious and twitchy, going back up is making me anxious, twitchy and a little OCD. This drug is seriously poisonous. I'm so mad that it's stolen and continues to steal my life!!!
Thanks once again for your support 😊

[Flossy]

Ps: It was manageable for me to drop from 180 to 60, horrible, don't get me wrong but going any lower, my body just won't do it, I need help!

[FiveNotions]

Aw, Flossy, that totally sucks ...

 

When did you go back up to the 60 mg? Did you tell your doc, or had he left for his trip already? Also, please remind me, how long had you been at the 30 mg level that you just weren't able to adjust to?

 

And, when did you stop/take a break from the 5-HTP? You were using just small doses (50 mg), right?

 

The symptoms when going back up are quite typical ... from what others here have said, and what I've been able to find in comments on other web forums (SurvivingAntidepressants.com and PaxilProgress.com, primarily), the "going up a dose" symptoms can last anywhere from 3 - 7 days ...

 

What a shit drug ... makes us sick while on it, makes us sick while getting off, and makes us sick when just upping a dose a bit so we can stabilize ... real award winner ya' got there, Eli Lilly

[Flossy]

Such a shit drug!!! I started from 180, then got to 60 ok, was at 45 and not adapting even after 6 weeks. This dr has told me we will start 5- HTP when he returns from trip. He left last week so I just have to wait it out. I went up from 45 to 60 to stabilize 8 days ago and still very sick in the mornings. I come good at around 11am. I am definitely going to strictly bead count after I have stabilized. I've been on this crap for nearly 5 years and I cannot believe I didn't know how horrificly unwell it made me! I was hyper manic and had 24/7 full on debilitating physical anxiety, it almost turned me into an alcoholic and caused my family a lot of stress and worry! I had no idea that the drug was causing all of this plus a million more terrible effects until I started to reduce. The less I took, the clearer my mind was and the more I realised I was suffering because of the drug and not because of the illness I was originally out on the drug for, which was panic disorder. I cannot believe that others right now are being prescribed these deadly drugs by any old dr who has no idea! The only miracle here is that I'm not dead! Seriously scary stuff!!!

[FiveNotions]

Flossy, at 8 days at the increased dose, and the fact that you start to feel (relatively) okay later in the morning, my bet is that you'll be pretty much stabilized in another 3-4 days ...

 

You're clearly very sensitive to the crapalta ... so your decision to bead count is essential ... that and the fact that you've found a good doc ... wow, how lucky you are!

 

Everything that you mention crapalta doing to you while you were on it, except for the anxiety, is exactly what it did to me ... and, the sad sad thing is that I was so numbed by the poison that I didn't even realize any of it ... not until I got off of it, and my mind actually started to become clear again ...

 

There's nothing in the world I want more right now (well, world peace, no poverty, no ebola would also be nice as well) .. but what I really want is to get this poison off the market so no one else has to suffer what all of us here have suffered / are suffering ... and tens of thousands of others who haven't found this forum ... I also want Lilly and big pharma as a whole to be crushed ... only the wrath and justice of God can likely do that ... but, my little part of the effort is that I've signed up with Knox Ricksen in their legal action ... maybe all of us who have done that will get some damages/settlement amounts ... but that's not why I'm doing it ... I want this drug taken off the market and I want Lilly to have to pay yet another multi-billion dollars for yet another of it's horrible drugs ... the fact that they keep getting hit with lawsuits for others of their drugs, keep paying those massive fines/damages ... and still are making huge profits just boggles the mind ...

 

Sorry ... ranting there ... I'm just so angry ... for myself, for all of us ...

[Flossy]

You have every right to be very angry! It all boils down to the fact that you, me and many others have had their lives violated and devastated by deceit! This company are no better than the drug lord working a street, in fact they are worse as no drug dealer would advocate that "crack/heroine/meth" will enhance your mental health!!! I feel very violated and tricked in the name of filthy greed. No amount of money could ever compensate for the hell myself and my family have endured! 5 years ago I had 2 children and 1 teenager, they have grown up now and I was not the mother or wife I should and would have been and I cannot ever get that back, I will never be able to enjoy and treasure those years in the way I would have. So so angry!!!