Cymbalta Side Effects

I am currently on cymbalta, I had to ween down to 30 mg a day 60 was to much. still have a dry mouth and nausea ocasionally, but if I forget this medication, I definitly know it, I get and awful feeling and become disorientated in a way hard to explain. I fear stopping this medication. if anyone has advise send it to me...

I have been taking Cymbalta for about a month. I was first diagnosed with major depression when I was twelve. I've been treated with tricyclics, ludiomil, mellaril, trazadone, prozac, zoloft, effexor, and paxil. This is the first antidepressant that I've ever been able to continue taking more than a few weeks without side effects problems. In addition, I have fibromyalgia, and it has greatly reduced my pain symptoms. Side effects I have experienced were nausea the first week or so, really dry mouth (so I just keep a water bottle handy), and it makes me a bit 'wired' so I have to take it fairly early in the day. Cymbalta doesn't make me feel 'flat' and apathetic like other antidepressants I've been on. For me, this drug has been a life saver. I take 20 mg 2x a day.

This is my second entry as my first did not show up. If the first entry shows up, please disregard this. I was on cymbalta for 4 months to treat depression. Within the first 2 weeks I was experiencing the common side effects. By the beginning of the 4th month I was experiencing the unlisted, rare side-effects...including extreme jaw pain, insomnia. I weaned off the cymbalta creating full fledged withdrawals. I was completely off the med, but was forced back into weaning. I'm currently on 10mg per day - home-made capsules since cymbalta's lowest dose is 20mg. I'm in my 3rd month of major withdrawals which have not eased up. Withdrawal symptoms include major brain zaps, flu-like symptoms, pin point pains throughout my body almost like fibromyalgia, withdrawal induced depression, night terrors -- though I already suffer from night terrors, the withdrawals have made them dangerous. Other withdrawal effects include audio hallucinations, and the feeling of the brain not connected to the body.

I am not going to be nice to cymbalta. I took it at 60mg for six months; spent another three months tapering it to "0" and the last 4 months (near the end of tapering, and following its discontinuation) with near death-like illness: constant suicide ideation; thousands of "brain zaps" and blackouts every day; convultions; vomiting 10+ times a day; unable to sleep at all -- even with ambien; incessant, debilating headache; sweating, sweating, sweating (day and night, hot or cold; deep, constant depression x10 worse before use of the drug; unmitigated, uncontrollable anger (just drop a paperclip); chills; blurred vision; intolerable body pain everywhere that did not occur prior to use of the drug; and more to numerous to list.

I wish to provide a response to those who have taken cymbalta for only a few weeks or month and report it to be "sunshine in a bottle". The true character of this drug comes only after months of use. Scores of people say the same thing: it was great at first, then something went wrong. I am in this group. They return to their doctor and the dose is increased. Shortly thereafter, a person begins to know there is a problem. We all know the music of our bodies and are acutely aware of what substance is causing a problem and the problems it is causing. For cymbalta it simply quits working and then causes the problems. Once you figure it out, and decide to quit its use, its too late. Instinctively, you know if you continue its use you will die; but you cannot simply stop its use. The withdrawal is pure HELL, and it does not seem to matter much if you slowly taper the dose.

I agree. Slowly tapering has not eased the withdrawals in the slightest bit. I might as well have just stopped cold turkey, but then if I did that...I would hear all the same excuses - "You stopped cold turkey, what did you expect?" Weaning versus cold turkey - there is no difference. The withdrawals are the same either way...and they are horrid.

I too felt pretty okay when I first started the cymbalta. Then just by a matter of 2 weeks, things started happening. But I accepted it, and continued with the med...eventually increasing to the therapeutic dose of 60mg per day. Then more things happened, but I continued with the med in hopes they would ease. Well they never did. They got worse. Cymbalta was my last resort as I am very sensitive to meds. Thanks to cymbalta...I will never ever put myself on another anti-depressant.

I am a former Cymbalta user for 9 months at a dose of 60 mg daily. It helps to decrease some nasty symptoms from Briquet Syndrome during treatment. My problems begin when I weaned from Cymbalta in a period of 3 months and a half. Major symptoms were:
Brain zaps, dizziness, severe fatigue, depression, some anxiety, blurred vision, heaviness on eyes.

Tried Cymbalta for vulvodynia. Now using Lyrica instead. Both seem to work on the pain, but the Cymbalta did not combine well with Trazadone (I tried it with and without, going off the Traz very easily but missing it) Cymbalta gave me TOTAL insomnia, going off the Trazadone just returned me to my usual poor sleep. Cymbalta made my eyes open very wide (I know that sounds strange, but i looked like I had thyroid disease!) and made me much more wired and loopy than the Lyrica, which seems to be working on the same symptoms very effectively.
I do not suffer from depression.

Was on Cymbalta for 2 years at 90 mg for anxiety. It helped me get through it...I started getting panic attacks after college and Cymbalta did help me. But when I went off, I did experince horrible withdrawal effects. I should have weaned more slow. I went from 90 to 60 then to 30 every other day. About a month or two after stooping my anxiety came back..So now I just trying to deal with it with out medication...Natural ways, food, excersize. The only side effects I had was sweating and weight gain. I am not overally against Cymbalta but I think it is important to wean slowly...Best of luck!

I've determined that the withdrawal effects from cymbalta are the same whether you wean or not wean. The withdrawals are horrid...there is no other word to describe it. I weaned as directed, was completely off the drug....the withdrawals were still going strong....and was forced back into weaning. Of course, the withdrawals have NOT eased up one bit for me. I know everyone is different -- I know these withdrawals are rare, but what's sad is, when and if they happen, there is NO HELP available. And LILLY, the maker of cymbalta....of course suggests for you to wean, but their lowest dose available is 20mg. How is a person supposed to wean correctly and slowly when the lowest dose is 20mg? This is why I'm forced to make my own capsules here at home, which isn't fun to do because my hand tremmors (from withdrawals) are so bad that the little balls inside the capsule fly everywhere. I'm just plain old tired of all of this. I want it to be over. It's now over 3 months of withdrawal hell. Still weaning...down to 10mg (home-made) per day. Due to drop to 5mg (home-made)per day in 2 more days.

I must admit, all the talk of bad withdrawals scares me, but after 20 years of trying different means of ending my depressive episodes, Cymbalta is the first real success I've had. With only a few breakthrough exceptions, I'm finally getting some real longterm relief from 20 years of terrible depression. Guess there's no reason for me to stop taking it.

Am just starting to take Cymbalta at 30 MG...would you suggest starting at a lower losage?

After many years of anti-depressents and no long-term relief, i used Cybalta for 2 weeks.30mg for 7 and 60mg for 7.After 2 weeks i could not take the side effects.I was constantly sweating and my neck felt so tight.I lost 10 pounds in those 2 weeks and i still have problems focusing my eyes,something crazy going on in my head(feels like shockwaves) and I have constant headaches.I will never try it again!!!

I was prescribed cymbalta for fibromyalgia pain and depression 2 years ago. At first, I thought this drug was wonderful. Pain was better as well as depression. However, I developed trigger point pain and tightness in my neck and jaw. Brain zaps and dizziness were very bad if I forgot a dose. I was very apathetic, had short term memory problems, and sleep problems. I started tapering in July and went very slowly. Withdrawals were the worst when I got to 20 mg. I have been cymbalta free since early Sept. I still have the occasional brain "whush" and dizziness. I was not prescribed cymbalta for urinary incontinence. However, since stopping cymbalts I have been urinating more frequently with an urgency that was not there before cymbalta. Hopefully, this will go away. I really believe that doctors should not prescribe this drug so freely. Please study long term effects and withdrawal in much more detail. thank goodness I found a website forum where others discussed openly the pros and cons of this drug. This definitely helped as I was tapering. Otherwise, I would have thought that I was totally losing it. I wish I had known the pros and cons before taking this drug.

I was on Cymbalta for about 8 months for depression/anxiety but has since quit cold turkey (when I ran out). During the last 4 months of being on the med, my PMS became worse with suicidal ideation, my level of lethargy/apathy was horrible, all I wanted to do was sleep. Anyway, now since quitting cold turkey, so far only 3 days, I am very dizzy at times, I get chills, break out into cold sweats VERY OFTEN, sleep problems, terrible & constant headaches, ready to cry at any moment, nausea, and other GI issues. I have been on other antidepressants (prozac, lexapro, effexor, & zoloft) and I think that Cymbalta has the worst side effects of them all. People need to know that Cymbalta is not a long-term helper. It stopped working for me after 4 months and the withdrawal symptoms are just horrid.

i have been on 60mg cymbalta for 6 months. when i 1st started taking it, i felt like i was bigger than my body. i was unbelievably tired all the time. i lost 8 lbs in the 1st 3 weeks, i had to force myself to eat. i stopped taking it for 4 days cold turkey, i felt irritated and went back on it for about 2 weeks straight. I am going through some personal funk, and i am really depressed. Now i feel like it's not working. one day i stay in bed all day, or like tonight can't sleep. this is crazy

(I posted this info before on "Ask A Patient," but was invited to repeat it here. I'm happy to do so.) My doctor prescribed me this poison as an alternative to Klonopin, which has worked very well for me over ten years (I suffer from severe panic disorder). He thought this stuff would be less harmful to my body. HA!!! After only one dose of Cymbalta (60 mg), I became deathly ill almost immediately--threw up all morning and into the early afternoon. I could barely move or get out of bed. At one point I was certain that I was having heart failure, because my entire body seized up and I could not move or speak. It took me a day and a half to finally sleep. List of side effects: blurred vision, sweating, shaking, nausea, vomiting, brief paralysis, tingling in extremities, fainting, heart palpitations, insomnia, severe abdominal pain, auditory/visual hallucinations, dizziness. ONE DOSE DID ALL THAT TO ME. Avoid this crap at all costs--and believe me, it IS costly, not only financially but physically as well.

Linda....30mg is the usual dose for starting out.

This is the worst antidepressant I have taken. Side effects for me were sleeping 18 hours a day, dry mouth, heart palpitations, irritable, my husband said that i was on pms the whole time and he deserves an award for staying with me, night sweats, sleep patterns eratic, nausea in the morning, food lost its taste, acne, menstural irregularity, apathy...and now that I am trying to get off this horrible drug that the company LILLY has distributed I am crying, dizzy, disoriented, seeing hallucinagens (colors are different), diarrhea, throwing up, nausea, irritable, night sweats, heart palpitations and ache....this is a highly addictive drug and WOULD NOT suggest that anyone EVER take it for ANY reason!!!

I have been on Cymbalta for about 2 years. I always questioned if it was doing any good, so I tried to go off of it. In two days I was a mess. I cried all day. I decided that it must be doing some good, until I read about withdrawal from it. It really scared me, but it scared me more to be on such a drug. I tried again to get off. I couldn't do it. Here I am again, after 2 attempts of suicide, trying to wean my self off this time. I have cut my dose from 60mg to 30mg for this last week, and today I started to feel like I had the flu. BUT, I am not stopping this time until I am off of this poison!!! I hope I have kept someone from taking this stuff by writing this. Good luck to all that are unfortunate enough to be on it.

I have been on Cymbalta for three months. I had problems so I weaned off as doc prescribed over one week. I was on 30mg per day and now nothing. I went to the ER last night and was given an IV to rehydrte and meds for nausea and headache. I am very depressed today and could cry easily, and have. I am a nurse and did not take the drug for depression but for spinal nerve pain. I am wondering how long this crap will last as I have a very responsible job and deal with people's problems all day long. The office manager at my doc was nasty to me and I feel apart after work when I was alone. I am tired, my stomach is swollen and slightly nausea today, etc. The doc had said I should be fine in about a week. Really? He gave me Phenergan for nausea, Fiorinol for headache and Zantac for anxiety. I took nothing yet as I hate medicine now. This sucks and is not worth any benefit it may have had.

The commercials on TV inticed me to try this as I have depression and neuropathy from Guillian Barre Syndrome almost 10 years ago. After 4 months (2 at 30 mg. and 2 at 60 mg.), I am returning to my doctor tomorrow asking to get off of this and back on my old meds (Paxil and amitryptiline).

I feel like it has quit working. My anxiety level is through the roof, my jaw started hurting extremely bad every day, neuropathy symptoms have returned and I just about got myself fired from work with an outburst of anger that is not me.

What a shame this didn't work for me. Hopefully it is working for someone. I'll find out tomorrow the plan for switching meds. Please say a pray for me as it looks like it will be a few weeks of hell while I get off of it. Good luck to all you others weaning off of Cymbalta.

I was on Cymbalta for about 3 months.I was taking it to treat the depression aspects of bi-polar 2. Nothing else had ever worked and we were desperate so we gave it a try and I have to say-while I was on it I had no serious depressive episodes BUT I had SEVERE diarrhea. So bad that I lost about 18 pounds in about a month. I stopped taking the Cymbalta for 5 days and it had no effect on the diarrhea so I assumed that wasnt it. They ran blood tests and fecal tests. They ran a tube down my throat and were about to put one up the other end trying to find out what was causing this. I was taking the maximum allowable dose of lomotil to try and slow the diarrhea and that only slowed it to 5 or 6 times a day. Then my doctor suggested I go off the cymbalta for a longer period of time. After a week or so THEN the withdrawals started and they were wicked. I felt like my brain was jiggling in my head for weeks. An electrical shock feeling similar to effexor withdrawals only worse and for a much longer period of time. It took about 3 weeks of NO cymbalta and then the diarrhea stopped. I keep seeing the advertisements on TV talking about constipation and I wanna scream "what about life threatening diarrhea?!?!?!" It was the Cymbalta that was causing it and its really sad becuase I have been on every single antidepressant and mood stabilizer available and the Cymbalta was the only one that showed any signs of helping me....... but dying happy? I think not

I went on Cymbalta for fibromyalgia pain. I also suffer from major depression. The Cymbalta didn't help with either, so after two weeks, I weaned slowly off the Cymbalta. The side effects were unbearable. I became suicidal, cried nonstop, had brain zaps, achy and flu-like symptoms, memory and concentration problems, and the list goes on and on. I could not work or function. My husband had to take off work and take me away for a week to try to get me away from any triggers or stressors. I am now in week 13 and I still do not feel well. I don't know if I will ever be myself again. This medication should have never been approved for use and needs to be withdrawn from the market. It is a very dangerous medication and action needs to be taken immediately!!

Ugh, I weaned off off Cymbalta this past 2 weeks. As mentioned on other postings the withdrawl symptoms are NOT FUN.

I'm glad I read these as I identify with the brain-zaps, dizziness, nausea, and feeling JUST OFF. At work this week everyone irritated me, I cried like crazy and the sound of son's voice and his constant questions put me over the edge.

I was on Zoloft once and the withdrawls are NOTHING compared to Cymbalta.

I'm glad I used Cymbalta to help my post-pardom depression for 9 months. It helped, but WOWEE! No more side effects PLEASE. They suck!

I feel spacey, crazy and have dry mouth. The weird thing is, is that I feel great in the mornings, then mid-afternoon I start to feel ill.

The one thing I do know is THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

I have enjoyed an appreciate the information on weaning from cymbalta. I have weaned off after taking it for 6 weeks. I couldn't hold my head up while taking it. It must still be in my system after being off of it for 9 days. I have cried, slept, and worst of all am so extremely dizzy that I shouldn't be driving.

I consider this medicine EVIL for the way it has effected me and my entire family for 9 weeks now. So do not take this medicine for any reason. Has anyone else experienced the horrible dizziness?

I have enjoyed an appreciate the information on weaning from cymbalta. I have weaned off after taking it for 6 weeks. I couldn't hold my head up while taking it. It must still be in my system after being off of it for 9 days. I have cried, slept, and worst of all am so extremely dizzy that I shouldn't be driving.

I consider this medicine EVIL for the way it has effected me and my entire family for 9 weeks now. So do not take this medicine for any reason. Has anyone else experienced the horrible dizziness?

I only took Cymbalta for about a week and a half. I stopped taking it at the advice of my doctor because it caused badly blurred vision when before I had perfect 20/20 vision. I only stopped taking it a couple of days ago, and no one seems to be able to tell me how long it will take for my vision to return to normal. I even called Lilly and asked them, and of course they won't say anything negative about their own product. Did anyone out there have this problem, and if so, how long did it take for your vision to return to normal? Thanks.

I was on Cymbalta for 3 months. Developed the jaw pain several people have described. I became a zombie incapable of feeling anything. It did nothing for my chronic pain which is why I started it. I have been tapering off 60mg for two weeks and have had to stay on Phenergan for the nausea. This drug is too potent for words. More research should be done on it's effects and terrible withdrawal symptoms. I hope I am not permanently affected. This should be taken off the market.

I'm afraid that cymbalta has permanently affected me. Why should I type anymore about it. What's the point anymore. It should be taken off the market immediately.

i have been on this drug for 2 weeks i am sick all the time and a head that i feel is just about to burst cant take no more.

posted by: Florica/10/17/06

Hi. I'm a high school senior that started on a combination of Cymbalta (30 for 10 days, then up to 60) and Lamictal. My first dose was at 3 pm today. Now I have nausea, my throat feels swollen, and i feel drunk (I feel like Im falling over and my hands feel like they arent connected to my body). The fact that nearly every post above is negative doesn't increase my spirits. My hopes are that people who have benifited from Cymbalta wouldnt look to research it and post about it.

I was prescribed Cymbalta 9 months ago after taking every other SSRI over the last 15 years. I started at 60 mg a day. It worked great at first for atypical depression, but after a month it started going downhill rapidly. I was horribly depressed, fatigued, and apathetic. My psychiatrist raised the dosage to 120 mg...yep 120! I was on that for 2 weeks during which I slowly got extremely depressed, had terrible anxiety, and generally felt awful. So my shrink told me to wean down over a week. I was only on the 120 mg for 2 weeks, and I weaned down as he said to. I've been cold turkey now for 7 days, and am starting to experience severe withdrawal symptoms: severe diarrhea, terrible constant headache that no OTC helps, extreme dizziness, vertigo, and an extreme sense of being on a strong narcotic or hallucinogenic: in that colors are WAY too bright like the contrast is turned up too high on a screen. I just had to leave work earlier today because I feel so ill and can't think. Driving home was actually frightening. These withdrawal symptoms are, in fact, terrifying! In the last 15 years, I've taken Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Effexor, Celexa, Welbutrin, Lexapro, and finally, Cymbalta. Nothing ever caused such horrific withdrawal symptoms as Cymbalta. I'm a high level computer professional and can't afford to be brainless because of this poison...yes I said POISON! I swear that I have not exagerated about anything I have said. This drug should be taken off the market as soon as possible! It only worked for a few weeks, make me ill and depressed after that, and withdrawal symptoms are far worse than my original depression symptoms. I'm about to contact the lawyers involved with the class action suit against Eli Lilly. This product is dangerous. I hope it doesn't cost me my job of 30 years.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia,and was put on cymbalta for it at 30mg 1x a day monday, October 16th,2006 I have NO apetite at all and have had to force feed myself just to eat, I would say that all the food I have eaten would amount up to probably one meal in the past 3 days. I have been going to doctors and hospitals up in Chicago to try and figure out a way to manage my pain, high blood pressure, ulcers, migraines, etc. Well this guy who I thought was a miracle doctor is now my enemy. He has potentially ruined my life and my body! After having a friend that was prescribed cymbalta for the same thing by the same doctor, and hearing how bad it was for her, I asked him about it when he prescribed it to me and he told me that it a great medication and that it works great and that it should, if anything at all just give me a slight bit of nausea, and I thought ok well i have dealt with feeling sick daily and I can handle this, WRONG!!! I went home that night and took that one little pill only 30mg. with dinner, and about an hour or two later I felt sicker than I have ever felt in my entire life.........way worse than any flu or anything I have ever had....and I have been sick ALOT since I was younger! Well that was just the beginning of the dropkick into hell! After having to lay there all night just awake enough to feel sick to my stomach all night, but not awake enough to fully be awake, I had to get up for work early the next morning! Well when I woke up I have an even worse migraine than I have ever had as well, it would not even go away with my prescribed migraine medicine and that stuff is strong! I believe but I have such a bad short term memory now becuase of this crazy pill but i believe that the migraine lasted all day at work and while I felt sick to my stomach all day ( did not eat all day no breakfast, no lunch no dinner), Well I also dont remember much of anything I did or said that day or since taking cymbalta! Whatever I say or do, is pretty much gone once I have done it, it is truly SCARY, if I talk to someone, I probably will only remember that I had seen and talked to that person, but not a clue about what we talked about! Well that day my I decided that after only taking it once and reading all the severe side affects it can most likely have on people, I decided to not take it that night, because it was only one time and I shouldnt have a problem after taking it only one time! Well again WRONG! About the same time I was due for it, I was throwing up what looked like coffee grounds (yuck I know) this was a Rare but Serious side affect of cymbalta. Not to mention blurred vision, feeling drugged all day, even more severe migraines, very low energy or concentration level, excessive sweating (hot then cold) throwing up, Itchy skin, Involuntary shaking (as if were cold) Anxious and paranoid, mood changes, high blood pressure (which I already had but was increased) It caused my joint, back, and muscle pain to become even worse than before taking it, my muscles were twitching in my arms, head pains, along with migraines, sluggish, and definetly feeling weak! I had all of these from just taking it ONE time! And when I told my doctor about this, he told me that I should just take it through the weekend, and that I would be fine. The doctor lied to my mother anyway, telling her that all of his patients had not had any problems with this drug, that's garbage,my friend that saw him on Tuesday had to be weened off of cymbalta because it is addictive and also because it made her so sick and didnt help her pain at all! He had an appointment with her right before he called my mom back about how cymbalta was affecting me, he knew all about her problems with cymbalta and still told my mom that all of his patients did great on it! Liar! Well anyway I really wish people could have be warned before taking drugs like this, because I should never have been prescribed this drug for pain without him asking for a family medical history (like your supposed to before you take cymbalta) and he also should have took into account that I already have errosion of the stomach and kidney/urethra problems since this medicine can cause and has been known to make those issues worse! But he knew about my stomach and kidney issues but yet still went on with his prescribing happy ass and gave me this poison, in which now my brain is like mush and I have had to re-read this post 6-7 times before now, cuz I really cannot think that well now and I have been off it for what? Ummm like 2-3 days! I have so many problems just from taking this drug, just once..........I really want you all to know and spread the word to anyone that has been or is thinking about taking cymbalta

Eli Lilly 10% profit rise is nearly all from Psyche drugs including zyprexa.

How have they schemed to squeeze more money from their zyprexa cash cow when pill production has actually gone down?

ANS-Eli Lilly profiteers have jacked up the price of zyprexa to the federal govt,from the Medicare D payouts.

Eli Lilly is a big drug company that puts profits over patients.

They covered up findings that their Zyprexa has a TEN times greater risk of causing type 2 diabetes

Only 9% of Americans trust big pharma,right around the same rating as tobacco companies.

Daniel Haszard Eli Lilly zyprexa drug caused my diabetes www.zyprexa-victims.com

I just found this post and you'all are scaring the hell out of me....I've been on Cymbalta for about a month and a half and have started have bad headaches and horrible constipation. I go to the bathroom once a week and on that day I cannot go to work because the pain is so bad. My stomache goes into convulsions and nothing will stop it not even phenigren. the episode ussually last about 12 hours. I stopped taking cymbalta 2 days ago and I am freaked out what the side effects are going to be like!!! Somebody help me.

I agree with that posters that took Cymbalta and had horrific withdraw symptoms. I am furious that my doctor put me on this stupid med! I was thin and atractive before, now I am really getting depressed because of the ridiculous amount of weight I have gained! Not to mention the horrible electric shock like sensation, in my brain! If I miss only one dose, I feel like I am having a hert attack or that I have a brain tumor! My Doctor lowered the dosage to 30 mg. But, I am so angry at all these side effects that I want to quit taking this crap or any other antidepressant! Does anyone know of a more natural approach to curing depression?

I feel for you all. My doctor for some odd reason has gotten mad at me. Cut me off my meds cold.. cybalta 60mg / hydrocodone 10mg (8per day), buspar 10mg, soma 350mg, and tenormin 150mg. Should be illegal to do this to people!

I have been on Cymbalta for over a year. I have lost tons of weight. I have a few side effects like jaw pain but I thought it was working fine for me. You guys are really worrying me as I often feel ill or woozy and now I'm starting to wonder if its the meds.

Do any of you get chest pains on cymbalta? I also get like a dip at certain times of the day when I feel weird. I take 120mg each morning.

I have been on Cymbalta for 3 months now and have seen none of these terrifying effects. Before Cymbalta I was on Lexepro-both for anxiety and depression due to anxiety. Benzos were not enough to handle the severe anxiety I was having my final semester of college. A saving grace for me has been to stay active in sports to keep myself in shape, as well as surround myself with supportive people. At this point I no longer have anxiety nor wake up depressed or nervous. I was hoping all was well. Hopefully the weening goes ok. I notice that if I miss one day, the next day after that I'm a little dizzy until I take my daily dose.

I have been on Cymbalta for over one year. I decided to go off because I discovered it was causing me to lose my hair, in addition it was making me sleep for hours on end each day. I have taken Lexapro and Zoloft in the past, but they began to no longer be effective for me. I found this site because I have been weening off for a month. I was on 60mg and weaned to 30mg. I have now been completely off for two days and I am experiencing horrible withdraw symptoms. I am dizzy, confused, have headaches, crazy dreams, vertigo, etc. I feel like I want to chop my head off. Does anyone know how long this lasts or does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this horrifying withdraw?

I started taking cymbalta one week ago for hormonal depression. I felt fine until the 5th day when I slept for 18 hours and proceeded to lie in bed and watch tv falling in and out of sleep for 4 days. I barely had the motivation to take a shower. I have also experienced exessive sweating, dizziness, constipation, restless leg syndrome and paranoid anxiety. I also am usually very social but haven't wanted to see or talk to anyone in days. Thanks to all of your postings I am definitely stopping it immediately and reporting my side effects to my doctor. Thanks for sharing your experiences and good luck.

I was on Cymbalta, 30mg once a day. I was experiencing extreme fatigue (sleeping 12 hours at night) and taking 3 hour naps during the day. After 20 days, I stopped taking the drug. I have been off it for 8 days and I feel SO SICK. I have gone off other antidepressants and have never experienced such sever side effects of withdrawal. I am dizzy, my eyes are extremly painful, I am loosing my balance walking, nausea, and extreme crying jags. This is unbelivable. My doctor said she has heard of this type of W/D from Effexor but not Cymbalta (sister drugs). Anyway, I just want to make folks aware (since Eli Lilly) doesn't of the sever W/D effects from Cymbalta. I am not alone either. Google "Cymbalta and Withdrawal". Horrible drug and I think patients should be severly warned of withdrawal side effects upfront.

I have been taking 20 mg of Cymbalta for three weeks. I suffer from lupus and already battle with fatigue, combined with the Cymbalta the fatigue is unbarable. I'm sleeping for 13 hours at night and then napping during the day. My mind is awake but my eyes can't stay open. My vision is blurred and I am constantly grinding my teeth. I have no desire to eat and have lost 8 pounds since starting. I called my doctor who said to take the dose early in the evening so I could sleep off the side effects. I tried this, but then I was wired after taking the med at 6 p.m. and couldn't sleep. If I take it right before bed I fall right to sleep but can't get up until after noon. My blurred vision is what scares me the most. I quit the drug cold turkey 4 days ago and the fatigue is getting slightly better (only slepping till 10 a.m. now) but my vision is still blurred. This is scary to me. How long will it take before my vision returns to normal? I don't wear glasses and have never had a problem with my vision before. If you have any experience with your vision being blurred, please contact me. I need some hope. This is a horrible drug and should not be perscribed to anyone.

I'm now in my second week without Cymbalta and feel there is life after Cymbalta. I did go back to my old medication - Paxil for depression and amitryptiline for the neuropathy. I believe I don't have a bad case of 'brain zaps' because I switched from one SSRI to another, but I can tell there is a feeling of withdrawl happening. Some days are better than others. Vision is not good today and I keep yawning. I will definitly be interested if a some type of lawsuit is started on this drug.

I develop my first case of shingles and am going thru menopause. I went to this doctor for the shingles not knowing what they were and he gave me free sample of cymbalta, he felt i was stressed out and this would help. Help my ass, i was proud of being off of paxil for a year, i took it for 6 years. I have been taking 30 ml for weeks and just up it to 60 the last few days. I have not been able to get a good nights sleep for 7 days and am starting to feel like a walking zombie. Thanks for all your emails, the nurse said give it til Monday but I will go crazy if i wait til then. I am going cold turkey and i too will never take another anti-depressant after this HELL!!!

I have been on Cymbalta since may. Started at 30 mg then moved to 60mg. I have had side effects, since starting it, increased sweating, irregular bowels and I have lost 30 lbs. I can't always eat. I have since gone back down to 30 mg. I have accidently skipped merely a day and the effects I had were horrible. My heart was racing I was crying uncontrollably, I experienced wooshing in my head along with brain zaps. My muscles were twitching ridiculously and I became very disoriented. I am starting anew job and I cannot handle the withdrawal while starting a new job. If I do not take the med at the same time I start to get disoriented. This is hell. I am petrified of how much worse it is going to get before I can completely wean myself off.

I too have been on Cymbalta 30mg for about 3 weeks now. During the first week I sufferred sever restlessness. It is passing, only if I take it early in the morning. I am a slim guy, but I have noticed a difference in my body, I have certianly lost weight. I have NO appitite, and I have to force myself to eat. 4 days after starting Cymbalta I blacked out at work fell over and slammed my head into a granite couter top and had a seizure, foamed at the mouth and stopped breathing. The ER and my Dr. neither denied or admitted that Cymbalta was the cause. Things have gotten better, but I get angry easily at night, and something just isnt right with me. I am certianly different than before taking this med. I twitch alot, and get very dissorriented when it wears off at night. Maybe this will pass, but I do dread coming off this med. I had less side effects with Crystal Meth.

i have been on cymbalta for about 6 weeks now. i am very disturbed by all the withdrawals i have read about on the internet and upset that my doctor did not go over this with me. i have only one kidney and have experienced difficulty urinating. sometimes my brain feels like it's at war in my head. i have experienced the "disconnected" feeling or like walking around like a zombie this was last Thursday. i've had headaches, stomach upset. one day i did not take the medicine because i was out and i got a severe tension headache that lasted two days now i realize it went away only when i took the medicine again. i'm terrified to run out of the drug because of the withdrawals. my doctor's gonna hear about it. i have kidney disease and that's right there in my chart and now i'm taking this drug and it could kill me. i'm so upset this needs to be pulled from the market RIGHT NOW before people die.

I have been very pleased with Cymbalta. I'm on a 30mg dose for anxiety and perimenopausal symptoms including hot flashes. My hot flashes are less frequent, my aches and pains are lessened, and my anxiety no longer gets in the way of being a functional human being.

I did have a scary experience this week when my pharmacy sent me fluoxetine (Prozac) instead of duloxetine (Cymbalta). The names are similar enough that I didn't catch it, and went ahead and took it for two days, and wept and became suicidal. I'm very glad to have my Cymbalta back!

Please people, I came here because I have a very dear friend who was just prescribed this terrible drug. I am a totally holistic person and have tried to tell her to change her lifestyle. I send her so much information from www.newstarget.com and www.healthranger.com Nutrition, supplements and exercise can do remarkable things to help a person cure themselves! psychiatry came here from Hitlers era and has continued to ruin peoples lives. I am copying and printing out all of your testimonies to give to my friend, before her life is made a living hell from this drug. Be well and stay safe from these evil drug companies!

I have just started this drug 3 weeks ago, for panic attacks/depression. 30mg first week and 60mg the last two weeks. These stories are scaring me too. So far I have lost about 8lbs. No appetite, this is OK with me, a benifit. But I slept last weekend away, could not get out of bed. I feel a little better now , but still lethargic. My anxiety is gone but still depressed. I also have been getting little twitches here and there and brain zaps occasionally. I have insomnia, but I had that before taking the med. My vision has definately gotten worse. What is up with that? Constipation is also a problem for me. I have never been on any antidepresant drugs before so have nothing to compare it to. I am thinking of stopping the drug.

CABOSUN PLEASE stop her. Today i am twitching so bad and having palpitationas and brain zaps sooo bad I want to DIE. I start my new job tomorrow, I hope I can pull it off. I refuse to take another Cymbalta no matter how bad this gets.

I went from 6o to 30 a month ago and 4 days ago I stopped completely. Everyday seems worse. I am taking Omega 3s B6 and B12 to help me get througt the day. I am also dtinkg Mega Green when I can stomach it. This things have helped and that is what is scary... I just want the twitching and zaps to stop. When will it stop?

Shara, I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this terrible nightmare of withdrawls:( I have no idea how much longer you have to endure this hell,but hopefully it stops now. AWFUL garbage that big pharma makes and then Dr's push it on people. Our bodies were NOT made to accept such TRASH! I am getting all of these testimonies to my friend today, and hopefully she will see the light! Do a google search on THE EVIL OF PSYCHIATRY. Also go to that www.newstarget.com site and www.curezone.com lool into doing a total body detox, such as www.drnatura.com to get this poison out of the system.

Here is a great article to read from the Newstarget site. Mike Adams used to be depressed until he found out about natural health. hugs to you all here. Lynn
http://www.newstarget.com/001352.html

Also, there is a great new wesite that you folk's can go to and report the HELL you are going through with this drug. www.dangerousmedicine.com

Just register and post under antidepressants
Hugs to you all! Lynn

I've been off of cymbalta for a few months now, i went through all the hell everyone has described. the problem is, when i quite the drug my pain level increased 10xs, i have diabetic nueropathy, osteoarthritis on the knee, and fybromyalgia, the pain is unbearable, and the narcotics i am on (all day) only temper it a bit. The dr has given me another prescription for cymbalta, and i am considering it, i did well on it as long as i didnt miss a dose... i just dont know what else to do, im only 50 and really cant go on like this

I started Cymbalta in June 2006 at 20 mg. At first it seemed to work well and I was becoming my old self again. I went back to the Dr and he kept increasing my dosage- first 30, then 40. The higher the dosage, the worse the side effects. I could't concentrate, I was losing hair by the handful, I was crying constantly, dizzy, blurred vision, and many more that I won't list -you'll see them all from what others have typed. And all the time my MD is telling me it's all in my head. Jerk! I wish Drs would take the poisen they give us for awhile and then maybe they would believe us! By the time I was back down to 20 Mg I was still having terrible problems. I started coming off Cymbalta 6 weeks ago and even at 20 mg I couldn't stop. Since that is the smallest dose I too have been opening the capusle and counting out the tiny beads. This is my second day without Cymbalta. The Dr. says it should be completely out of my system in 2 weeks. From what I read, it's going to be much longer. I'm having a rough time of it. Irritable doesn't even begin to describe it. Constant headache. Vision problems. Suicidal Idealation (which I never had before going on Cymbalta). To those of you who can take this drug and get relief I'm glad. For me, this and all other SSRIs, SSNRIs have been hell. For those of you going through what I am now, I wish you the best. For those who have successfully tapered and are back to "normal", how long does is take to get this evil, evil stuff out of your system completely?

I started Cymbalta in June 2006 at 20 mg. At first it seemed to work well and I was becoming my old self again. I went back to the Dr and he kept increasing my dosage- first 30, then 40. The higher the dosage, the worse the side effects. I could't concentrate, I was losing hair by the handful, I was crying constantly, dizzy, blurred vision, and many more that I won't list -you'll see them all from what others have typed. And all the time my MD is telling me it's all in my head. Jerk! I wish Drs would take the poisen they give us for awhile and then maybe they would believe us! By the time I was back down to 20 Mg I was still having terrible problems. I started coming off Cymbalta 6 weeks ago and even at 20 mg I couldn't stop. Since that is the smallest dose I too have been opening the capusle and counting out the tiny beads. This is my second day without Cymbalta. The Dr. says it should be completely out of my system in 2 weeks. From what I read, it's going to be much longer. I'm having a rough time of it. Irritable doesn't even begin to describe it. Constant headache. Vision problems. Suicidal Idealation (which I never had before going on Cymbalta). To those of you who can take this drug and get relief I'm glad. For me, this and all other SSRIs, SSNRIs have been hell. For those of you going through what I am now, I wish you the best. For those who have successfully tapered and are back to "normal", how long does is take to get this evil, evil stuff out of your system completely?

I started taking Cymbalta a year ago as a treatment for diabetic nueropathy. Within a week I was taking 60mg twice a day. It really helped with the pain I was experiencing in my feet and hands. I started having nightmares immediately after taking the drug. For the first 3 months or so I found the nightmares rather entertaining. Then the nightmares became personal! I started dreaming about beating, raping, and killing people I know and love. The dreams soon centered around my loving wife of 25+ years. Every night, every time I nodded off I was having horrific dreams of brutalizing the love of my life! I would wake up soaked and disoriented and it started taking longer and longer to discern reality from the horrors I awoke from. I could no longer sleep in bed with my wife and when she would wake me from these nightmares I would have to get her to back away from me until I could get a grip on reality again. The last straw for me was one night in bed with my wife after an intimate encounter I dreamed that I snapped her neck in the throws of passion. I woke up screaming, the bed was soaked and I was scared to get close enough to her to check and make sure I had not killed her. I called the Doc the next day and he switched me to Lyrica and Metanx to treat the diabetic nueropathy. It is helping the pain but the cold turkey withdrawl from the Cymbalta is severe. My brain is fried and the nightmares have moved into the semi-coherent state. I can not sleep. I have dropped off the edge into a dark depression and for the first time in my life I feel truly suicidal. I am not in control of my thoughts and my desires. I take so many other drugs for severe pain, Hypertension, diabetes, and nueropathy that I don't know which way to turn for help. It has been 5 days now since I stopped the drug via a 50% reduction for one week (that in itself was brutal) before stopping the Cymbalta all together. I fade in and out, my head constantly rolls thru the rushes and the feelings of blacking out, and my emotional responses have a hair trigger. Tomorrow I am supposed to start taking Seroquel to help boost the Ambien and clonazepam I take now to induce sleep. I am more than a bit leary at adding an Anti-psychotic to the mix. I too experience Vertigo and exxagerated colors and hues, from the Cymbalta while taking it and now while kicking it. Please read each of these comments and research any and all drugs prescibed to you before blindly swallowing the newest, latest and greatest pill to be pushed upon your Doctor. BTW I found the effectiveness of the drug to quickly rise and reach a plateau that deceptively started to receed after the first six months of use. by then I took it twice a day as prescribed just to keep from feeling so ill. If I missed a dose I would get dizzy, sick to my stomach, vomit, experience very flu-like symptoms and became lethargic. If not taking a pill makes you sick you WILL take it without thinking much about it just to keep feeling normal. Constant sweating and rapid weight gain without changing my diet were also problems I encountered. User beware!

maybe i am one of the lucky ones, i have been on it for a month, i am taking it for pmd, (pre menstral disorder)i have forgotten to take it up to three days, no problems, it pulled me outta a real bad spell of pms it seemed to last at least 3 weeks, the only thing i seem to be having now is very vivid dreams like every night, not bad dreams just weird and very life like, i came here looking to see if the meds could be why, now i'm scared shitless, not to offend anyone here, but you cannot take a pill once and be messed up forever, and no way do withdraws go on for months, and to tell ya strait up, no doctor is going to subscribe the good meds to anyone who they think might be a pill hound, it's just how they have to be, this med is not suposed to taken for long periods of time, i was told it's used to just pull your head above water, which thank god it did, i am not a depressed person, just felt pms was outta control, once i started my period, like the hour i started it, i felt like i had been away from my life, then i spent days trying to repair my family from my mood swings, and being a total nut job for 2 weeks prior, i honestly dont want to take it anyomre because i need for these dreams to stop, cause there very strange, but i will start taking them again when i feel like pms is starting, cause they made me feel normal, but every day not good, dont need em every day, chances are if you have been going to the same doc for years and trying 10 different depression meds, dont like any of them, and keep asking for something else, the doc thinks you just want to be high, they dont want to help you then, it's just the way they have to be,

Hi Tina,

Pills can mess up your system. Good for you that you went three days wothout symptoms. Wait until day 4 or 5.
I could handle withdrawal until day 4. AFter that, I went "psycho" from the constant shocking. I was forced torestart Cymbalta, so that I could start my new job.

If it is helping ou good. However, I thought cymbalta was great until around month 5 and now that I am trying to stop... it is hell. Good luck to you. If you can stop it NOW, I would highly recommend it.

Before Cymbalta, I was on Lexapro 10 mg. for 6 months for anxiety & mild depression. I felt I needed something stronger, so I was upped to 20 mg. Lexapro for another six months. It totally cured the anxiety, but I felt "sad" all the time and my heart weighed heavy.

Then I was given 30 mg. Cymbalta for the first week, then 60 mg. thereafter. I'm on my third week and I feel so light and breezy and wonderful. The only side effect is that I cannot get to sleep at night & get "jimmy legs" or restless legs (and tired the next day). I'm offsetting this with a glass of milk and an ibuproferen before bed, which helps me sleep. Anyway, I love it so far and my co-workers say the change in me shows physically,too. I'm spunkier and smiling again.

I hope this is proper to refer readers to a web site for help/understanding... http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/focussober

Good luck to all!

Please share your story in this support forum which is seeking entries for people in withdrawal, as well as any success stories.

www.christahines.com

I hope this was okay to post.

Myself...this is day 23 without cymbalta. Over 4 months total withdrawals as I had to try 3 different weaning plans.

I have been on cymbalta now for 2 months and I think we (my dr.) now have finally found the one that works for me. I was diagnosed with depression in 2001. I take 30mg each a.m. I have been on effexor, zoloft, lexapro, and wellbutrin, all to make me feel extremely tired, lethargic, or has swelled my tongue. I can now fall asleep at night and be alert and functional during the day. No more sleep aids. I also take a B.P. med to help control my chronic (and very painful) migraines and I can count on one hand how many migraines I have had since starting cymbalta. It is truly so nice to not be in tremendous pain anymore. Whether this is harmful in the long run or not, I am now able to have a more productive life and not miss so much work or spend my weekends in bed or in the bathroom --vomiting.

I've been on Cymbalta for ten months to a year for depression and chronic pain (neck and back following an auto accident). At first, I thought it was fabulous. Whenever I missed a dose, I had a HORRIBLE headache, making me think it was neck related pain coming through from missing the dose. (Now, though, I realize it was probably a withdrawal h/a.) During the time on it, I gained 10 pounds or so--also experienced heavy sweating, mostly with activity or bending over (but not like the hot flashes some of my friends describe). Over the past month, I had an increase in suicidal ideation, different and more serious than in the past. I tapered off over 8-10 days. WOW! Horrible headache for 3 days, DIZZINESS, crying jags, suicidal ideation spike (no attempts, thank God), bad dreams, extreme irritability, unable to restrain bitchiness (sorry--no other word), ITCHING, dry skin and hair, and diarrhea. I look horrible (pale, weird coloring). Frankly, I'm relieved to find out that it might be caused by something other than my just totally going crazy. I am 50 and haven't been having menopausal symptoms--but don't know whether the two together exacerbate each other.

Good news! I gave my dear friend all of your testimonies here and she has decided that no way in H is she going to take this drug or ANY drug for her depression. I have finally convinced her that poisonus drug's are not the route to take. she is going to start following my advice and make some very serious lifestyle changes. the first being stopping her nutrasweet and splenda consumption. one thing at a time for her. If you folk's here are interested in a wonderful quality of life, go to http://newstarget.com/ and hop on the health wagon today. drug's are only going to make you sicker because your body does not respond to this poison in a positive way! My heart goes out to you all, and if you want to email me for support, please do so. mrscm4871@aol.com

THE TOP FIFOODS FOR BEATING DEPRESSION ARE HERE.......

http://www.newstarget.com/020611.html

http://www.stopshrinks.org/reading_room/antipsych/psych_drugs_shorten_life.html

These dangerous psych drugs shorten your lifespan as well:(

i took my last cymbalta 10/31 and my psychiatrist admitted me to the psych ward to adjust my medication. she switched me to celexa and lemectal (spelling?) and topomax and seroquel at night. did not have too many withdrawals so far. the thing i've noticed most is horrible headaches and nightmares - awful nightmares, violent. in one i'm somebody else and my father shoots me in the neck. yesterday, at hour 55 past my last dose - i got horrible pains in my kidney (i only have one) and started vomiting violently. i puked and puked. my blood pressure shot up 50%. i could not pee. this continued for 8 hours. after getting out of the psych ward i had to go to another hospital ER and have a CT scan plus 2 shots of pain medicine finally they gave me Toradol and the pain went away. i had to be catheterized because i could not pee. it was awful. i finally had to chalk it up to withdrawals from cymbalta because they could find nothing wrong with my kidney.

I tried Cymbalta yesterday at 2:00 PM. the doctor started me with 60 mg.

I had tremmors. My chest, jaw felt tight and breathing felt heavy and restricted. It felt like a weight was on top of me. I was also a little light headed.

I don't think I should use it anymore. Did anybody else have these side effects?

well, just quit taking cymbalta cold turkey yesterday. My blood pressure is 150/70. . . and I'm only 28 (& no Hx of HTN). Having heart flutters. Will post results on how things go. . . The drug didn't work for my anxiety/depression, just made me feel sleepy all day long & have wild & vivid dreams. If I have another dream about my boyfriends ex-girlfriend, I think I might have to hire a PI. ha ha. wish me luck!

BIG PHARMA DRUGS FAR MORE DANGEROUS THAN TERRORISTS.

http://www.newstarget.com/009278.html

Took my first Cymbalta lastnight Jim and I'm having the same side effects.

Geez! My physiatrist prescribed Cymbalta to me for its off formula benefit of relieving neck and back pain. I was also mildly situationally depressed because it was the 4-year anniversary of my accident and I realized I was never going to be rid of the daily pain. I was also unhappy about having gained weight in the 4 years since my accident due to feeling unable to perform physical activites the way I used to.

I took 30 mg at 2 nights ago and couldn't sleep all night. I asked the pharmacist about this and she said insomnia cases are more rare than being sleepy and then she suggested I take it in the morning instead. So I skipped taking the Cymbalta last night, took 3mg of melatonin to help me sleep, slept like a baby, and then took my second 30 mg this morning. I just found this website and I am now terrified of all that I've read.

For what it's worth, the Cymbalta made me quite jazzed but not really anxious, more like energized and I was grateful to be able to get some things done around the house that I had deferred. I am not ordinarly a depressed person and am usually upbeat but I can see how this drug would upilft people. I haven't felt the pain since before I took my first pill (almost 2 days). I love that I have no appetite. I had no other side effects.

All that being said, I am going to throw the rest of these away and hope that I don't experience all the horrors you people have cited.

Good luck to all of us!

I have posted here before about Cymbalta and weight gain. Well, I decided to reduce my meal portions and eliminate a certain amount of bread and whole milk from my diet in the last two weeks. Fortunately, I have lost about 6 pounds in two weeks! therefore I believe that controlling apetite could help with the weight gain on Cymbalta. Still, if I even miss one dose of Cymbalta, I get these horrible side effects! Otherwise, I think I'm ok. But, I would like to be well enough eventually, and be taken off the drug permanently.

On 11/1, Tina wrote:
maybe i am one of the lucky ones, i have been on it for a month, i am taking it for pmd, (pre menstral disorder)i have forgotten to take it up to three days, no problems, it pulled me outta a real bad spell of pms it seemed to last at least 3 weeks, the only thing i seem to be having now is very vivid dreams like every night, not bad dreams just weird and very life like, i came here looking to see if the meds could be why, now i'm scared shitless, not to offend anyone here, but you cannot take a pill once and be messed up forever, and no way do withdraws go on for months, and to tell ya strait up, no doctor is going to subscribe the good meds to anyone who they think might be a pill hound, it's just how they have to be, this med is not suposed to taken for long periods of time, i was told it's used to just pull your head above water, which thank god it did, i am not a depressed person, just felt pms was outta control, once i started my period, like the hour i started it, i felt like i had been away from my life, then i spent days trying to repair my family from my mood swings, and being a total nut job for 2 weeks prior, i honestly dont want to take it anyomre because i need for these dreams to stop, cause there very strange, but i will start taking them again when i feel like pms is starting, cause they made me feel normal, but every day not good, dont need em every day, chances are if you have been going to the same doc for years and trying 10 different depression meds, dont like any of them, and keep asking for something else, the doc thinks you just want to be high, they dont want to help you then, it's just the way they have to be,

"No doctor is going to prescribe the good meds to a pill hound?" Is this an offhand way of saying that because some people are depressed and therapies through the years have stopped working that we "deserve" to be given medications that screw us up?

also, if a doctor gets to a point that they "don't want to help a patient" they have a moral obligation to stop seeing that patient, rather than prescribe poison and kill them.

I'm sorry, but I do not agree with you.

You are having to take anti depressants for PMS? What kind of quack do YOU see?

go to www.google.com and google Cymbalta + Withdrawals and you will find THOUSANDS of people who have had horrible side effects from this drug. If it works for you, more power to you. Perhaps you should become a spokesperson for Eli Lilly, and help sell the poison that has damaged the rest of us.

Just wait until the day that you have to come off of it permanently, and maybe you'll be back with your tail between your legs looking for a little support as your brain feels fried and your heart wants to pop and you can't keep any food down because your digestive tract is screwed up from Cymbalta. sorry if this sounds a little harsh, just a little tit for tat from the post you gave us earlier.

I would like to comment to the current discussion that seems to be going on that Cymbalta is not only prescribed for depression, but also approved for diabetic neuropathy. I have neuropathy (not diabetic) and am a bit depressed because of anillness that I got with neuropathy as a residual over 10 years ago. I don't think this is the place to be discussing who or who should not be taking this medication. Could we please limit it to our experience with it (period).


It's been over 3 weeks since I stopped it and I guess the jaw pain it incited may stay with me a while. I go back to my doctor next week for follow-up and plan to stay on Paxil and amitryptiline, but maybe increase doses to get rid of the jaw pain.

Most antidepression drugs to bring on vivid dreams. I understand.

Hi, I just wanted to share this with you. For three years I had been on Seroxat (Paxil in the States I think) due to my depression. I had very minor side effects with the exception of gaining little weight and occasional night-sweats. So in short, I was doing very well and finally decided to quit the intake because like you all I wanted to be drug free. Getting of the drug was easy just by gradually reducing the intake until the drug was out of my system. Man, I was felling happy. Than last fall I lost my job due to lay-offs at the company I used to work for. I took it very seriously because I loved that job. Than the depression symptoms returned but I was determined to deal with the situation drug-free. Well in short, the situation became very bad and I visited my doctor who prescribed Cymbalta. Prior to taking the drugs, I read various reviews on sites like this and became very skeptical. However, I decided to give a try. After three days on this drug, I thought I was going to die, I had very bad headaches, began having all kinds of weird thoughts and felt really afraid. During this time, I kept to myself and could not event talk to friends or family. I am sure that my guarding angle stepped in and Cymbalta ended in the dumpster for good. I am back on Seroxat now and am feeling a lot better. Be careful and do your studying before trying new drugs and learn to listen to you body. Also, remember that depression in not nessessary something that last forever and can be cured. Wish you all the best.
Leon

WOW...I started taking Cymbalta in April 06 for anxiety and chronic pain from 5 back surgeries and spinal disease...I have been miserable- and did not realize all of this was the Cymbalta until I read these posts. My main complaint was weight gain- I went to my Dr yesterday and got switched to Wellbutrin- due to the weight gain- which is what my main concern was when I went on it...I weighed 135 (am 5'7) the day I went to the Dr and started on the Cymbalta. Yesterday, 11/6 I weighed 153...I have been craving sugar like crazy (never been an issue for me), and I did not increase my caloric intake- actually I kept dropping weight before cymbalta- and I have not changed any eating habits- and I can not stop gaining...and like 7lbs in past 2 weeks- it is crazy- I also have bizzare sleep patterns- where I am up til 4-5 am waking every hour...NO LIBIDO...and I feel like a lump- not motivated to get out and do anything...I work from home- and I have become a hermit- withdrawing from family and hobbies...I am always very sleepy but not drowsy. I take 120 my daily- and started on 150mg Wellbutrin today- taking 60mg Cymbalta next 7 days, then to 30mg for 7 days then none- and only Wellbutrin- I pray the Wellbutrin STOPS the gaining- I told my DR in the first place that Weight Gain would make me more depressed than anything on this earth- and it all of a sudden crept up on me- I lost a bit more the first month- I still have no appetite or interest in food at all- I rarely eat- and I am GAINING- this is insane!!! I thought I was "fine" with the weight side effect- then the next thing I know I am almost 20lbs heavier...holy crap! Any good weight stories with Wellbutrin? any others with huge sugar cravings? I only crave those Sour Punch Straws- no other form of sugar...very odd...

I was on Cymbalta (120mg/day) for 2.5 years for depression. Then added Lexapro(10 mg/day) the past 8 months for more energy and pain releif for Fibermyalgia (diagnosed 12 years ago). I had a few problems going on Cymbalta. A few head aches, the usual dry mouth, and shaking. The shaking lasted about 10 weeks and would reoccur for a couple days when my dosage was readjusted. When I added Lexapro I had more energy as a "side affect". However my head was always in a fog. The meds slowed the bad depression feelings but they also took my ability to care about anything! About a month ago I went off both meds, the Cybalta I went off in one day and the Leapro I took 3 days to go off. The side affects were headache, skin crawling-like being covered with biting ants, and nervousness. These only lasted a few days. Now I feel great but forget words, or use a totally wrong one in a sentance. Like I might tell my son to pick up his backpack and it will come out as pick up the turkeys. It must take a while to totally leave the system. Cybalta is a nice drug but seems like the dosage needs to be upped often. I started whith 30mg and ended with 120mg/day.

Please, cymbalta is not a nice drug:( this drug and all drugs can make your life a living hell or kill you! Go here and look at Mike Adams recent comic and THE FACTS behind it. For one's own wellbeing, it is never a good idea to get started on drug's!
http://www.newstarget.com/021027.html

And here's one more for everyone here......only because I care! your dr's and big pharma could care less about your well being!
http://www.antipsychiatry.org/lawson.htm

This site has been an eye opener! I have come to the conclusion that we are all different, yet some people experience the same side effects of withdrawl. It is sort of like how caffeine affects some people by making them jittery, yet affects ADD folks by making them drowsy. So we do what we can with what we know and how we feel....My Cymabalta experience has been very positive. It helped me out of a deep depression after a divorce and has kept me going through lots of changes. It helped me to lose a few pounds, too! But the only bad part is that when I get home from work, I want to crawl in bed and snooze! Not good for a single mom, though, so I want to wean myself so I can be more available to my kids! I also never was smart enough to think maybe my hair was coming out in handfuls because of cymbalta--it could easily be from stress, too, but I hope it will stop once I am weaned. I am glad to know what to expect and to gradually taper the dosage. I would recommend cymbalta to anyone feeling so low they don't want to live. I have to believe the side effects of sleepiness were definitely worth the trouble so I could dig myself out of the depths of a dark depression. As my anatomy teacher used to say-"Life is a trade-off" and it is so true. Good luck to everyone and know that tomorrow is another day.

Tomorrow is indeed another day, and would'nt it be nice to step off from the right side of the bed and make a choice to become drug free for life? A choice that from today on you are going to do everything in your power to make yourself well with nutrition, supplements, sunlight, exercise, detox, getting outside yourself and learning how to help other's in need. become Yogi minded! This is not a joke folk's! Many have taken this road to take their healh back, and oh what a wonderful adventure to partake in:) I swear, some of the folk's here have no idea about giving the bodies cells what they need in order to thrive. Say NO MORE to these evil, life killing drug's and fire the dr. who has pushed them on you. take the links I have given above and do something constructive with them. I am a prime example of someone who has been down your road, and i made the choice to get well and live my life the way I deserve to live life! You can do it too! I believe in you all here:) {{HUGS}} Lynn

Oh wow, I'm scared! Because of severe fibromyalgia pain, I switched from Prozac to Cymbalta in mid August of this year. I'd been on Prozac for ~5 years, started with depression and severe menstrual emotional episodes. It was a miracle drug for me, and I've done extremely well with minimum side effect for years. At one point I had dreams/reality blurring and they added welbutrin for that.
Because of the fibro, I had the dry mouth, sweating, and constipation symptoms pretty bad for the first few weeks. The sweating thing was so bad it went back and forth from chills to sweats, put me in bed for 4 days at one point and doctors thought I had a virus. right. I asked if Cymbalta could be the cause and was told no, unequivocally. Eventually I thought the sweats were just extra Hot Flashes, since I"m that age. I figured the cymbalta didn't help them the way the prozac did (inadvertantly, not the reason I took the prozac).
When I made the switch, I was told that the two drugs were so closely related (prozac and welbrutrin) that it would not be an issue to switch. They put me on 30 mg for a week then the 60 mg since then. I'm starting to have memory loss issues and concentration issues. It is starting to affect my work. What do I do?? Is it too late to start a switch back to Prozac or off of all of it?

I'm sorry that was a little disjointed. Can you believe I do tech writing for a living?! It's concentration problems on the cymbalta I'm sure. My main Qs... can I go back to Prozac? I want to wean down even from that. Has anyone else gone prozac to cimbalta or reverse?

I lost a sentence in there. Because of the fibromyalgia, I was switched to the Cymbalta. Two docs recommended it. It has helped the fibro pain a lot. But now the side effects or truly the EFFECTS are getting bad.

I have been on cymbalta now for 2 monts for bi-polar I have been getting hot and cold sweats, no appetaite,lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks I feel sick all the time and sleepy I didnt feel this when I first started taking this cymbalta, I am taking 90mg of cymbalta was taking 60 at first then my dr raised it,2 weeks ago He didnt tell me all the side effects he only told me about a rash or diaria so I thought they was someting realy wrong with me thought I was coming down with something like the flue but the flue dont last this long.I got blurred vision,neck and chest pain,cant sleep, have no taste for food food taste weird to me now, and it goes on.I wish i was told about these systoms before I took this now I am scared to come off of it scared of the withdraws.

I have been taking Cymbalta for about 4 months now. I absolutely love it. I don't feel apathetic like I did on Prozac. I feel like myself, only I don't have panic attacks all the time. I sleep fine, not too much, not too little. I have a healthy sex drive. No jaw pain or anything else. I used to be on Lexapro but gained weight so I changed to Cymbalta because my mom's on it. She has had problems with constipation. I actually lost a little weight with Cymbalta and don't have constipation or other issues.

HERE IS ANOTHER LINK TO HELP ANYONE HERE ON THE DANGEROUS WITHDRAWLS OF CYMBALTA. HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AS SIDE EFFECTS WHILE TAKING THIS DRUG OR WITHDRAWING FROM IT. THIS ALONG WITH ALL OF THESE CHEMICAL LOBOTOMY DRUGS ARE PURE FILTH!
http://www.prozactruth.com/cymbalta.htm

I was on cymbalta for two months for dysthymia and started to feel like I was just in a "fuzz." I started to wean myself off of it and was doing fine, but I immediately noticed when I stopped that I would get these shooting leg pains everytime I stand up or sit for too long. I am an otherwise healthy 27 year old. My doctor told me I need to stretch more, but I am fairly active and never had issues before! I feel like Cymbalta may have something to do with it!

I quit taking cymbalta 3 days ago went cold turkey,going through some withdraws but to bad right now,having alot of irtilbilty ,and panic atacks,and feeling drowsy, for the first part of the day til about 1:00pm then I start to adjust to the feeling and go about the day,got trembles most of the day but I am detirmend to stay off this cymbalta with all the side efects, that I have read and was feeeling with it,I have 7 kids I cant feel the that my whole life I want to enjoy my kids while I am young and they still need me, so in the long run I think I made a good dicesion, by going cold turkey because I know when you get adicted to something no matter how you wean yourself it could take months and years to wean off something thats so addictive.

Thanks for opening my eyes to something I thought was a cure where in fact it was a cause to a point of feeling worse than being bi_polar and depressed.I would rather keep the mood swings they are no where near as bad as the side efects of cymbalta.
I will Keep Posting how I am doing on staying off this terrable drug.

I came on this website for some clarity in dealing with my own situation, but I decided to leave my own comment. I have been on Cymbalta 60 mg for 14 months and I wish that I had been in a better mindset to have been able to decline this med. After an eval. I was diagnosed with depression and immediately prescribed this dosage. The first day I took cymbalta I experienced dizziness, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, chills, tremors, overall malaise, among other things. I asked my psych. if I could stop taking it and he said that my symptoms would worsen if I stopped. Eventually the symptoms disintegrated, and I felt normal again. If I took the meds on time I felt like myself. The min. I missed a dose the withdrawal symptoms kicked in which included but were not limited to chills, tremors, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, brain zaps,involuntary muscle spasms, etc. Now I want to get off of this cymbalta, b/c I feel I don't need it anymore and am ready to save some of that money and I have no idea what to do. My psych. tried weaning and the withdrawal symptoms were too horrid for me to handle. I am at a lost now, b/c I just want off of this medication!!!!

I have been taking Cymbalta for almost 3 years due to depression. It has become clear that the effect of the drug for the better has become less and less as time has gone by. For me, this was particularly true of sexual function, causing a great amount of added emotional stress for both me and my wife.
I was taking 60mg but cut this down to half starting about 10 days ago, then I decided that I might as well go down to zero as gradual reduction didn't seem to be any better or worse. (I had tried to wean off under doctors advice previously, about 6 months ago, without success). This is my 4 day at zero, and probably my worst. Didn't sleep well last night. Pains in my back/kidney area. Crazy dreams, very intense but confusing at the same time. I get a "fuzzy" detached feeling in my head, with tinitus (like someone changing a radio station frequency to static and then back again). I've been going to the bathroom more, particularly at night. For some reason I've found that taking two aspirin at the bad times helps, although this may be purely psychological! I also try to carry on with my painting hobby, despite my brain telling me not to bother, and I feel it is very theraputical for me. Trying to enjoy something helps me realise that I'm determined to give this stuff up! The short term pain to me, will be worth the long term relief.

I was on Wellbutrin 450 mg for months, but it wasn't doing anything for my anxiety. My psych then switched me over to Cymbalta 60 mg. It seemed okay at first, but my sex drive went down the TUBES and I gained about 12 lbs in less than two months.
My psych then cut my Cymbalta down to 30 mg and put me back on Wellbutrin 300 mg. The Wellbutrin was supposed to counter-act the weight gain. It didn't really work that well, and anyway, I am a student and the psychiatrist at the school health center quit and they did not hire another one. In order to get a prescription we would have to get a referral and blah blah. So I decided to NOT refill my Cymbalta at all. Three weeks later, I feel nauseous all the time, and I feel teary-eyed at any stupid thing. I also have bad muscle aches and fatigue, almost flu-like!
In short, I feel like CRAP, but do not want to go back on Cymbalta, since I hated how "dulled down" it made me feel. I am still taking 300 mg of the Wellbutrin but going to cut that out as soon as my prescription ends. I feel like HELL, but my sex life is once again OFF THE CHIZZY, as the kids used to say. Cymbalta withdrawal is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!

I have been taking Cymbalta for approximately 4 months. Prior to that I had been taking Celexa for about 4 years, however switched to Cymbalta after the Celexa stopped working for me. Recently I went away for the weekend and didn't take my 60 mg pills for 72 hours....what a mistake! By Monday mid-day I was rushed to the hospital from work due to a unconscious, tremor attack that left me balled up with cold sweats and uncontrolled shaking. It scared me and my husband so bad that I did more research and found out we're not alone. I just wish that Lily would have warmed me of the terrible withdrawal symptons I would experience by not taking this medication. I'm going to get off of this drug with the help of my doctor. This drug should have never been approved by the FDA.

I took cymbalta for about 6 months. It was causing blackouts and a strong desire to drink. I have stopped taking cymbalta for about two months. In one month I have had a 20% increase in weight gain, a swollen stomach, headaches, and sharp pains in my abdomen.

I was prescribed Cymbalta to treat pain from spinal neuropathy.

Started throwing up the first week. Severe flu-like symptoms, headaches, dizziness, nausea. Night sweats so bad I had to sleep on a towel. Insomnia - but now what I think it was is that I just wanted to be awake so I wouldn't die. Sounds silly, doesn't it? It wasn't. Just one day before I was supposed to move up to 60MG per day, I decided to quit - and then the real fun started. Nobody warned me about stopping 'cold turkey'. Hallucinations, trouble talking, unspeakable nausea.

It's been 90 days since I kicked Cymbalta, and I still have speech problems, and bad dreams - BAD BAD dreams. I've never had a bad dream in my entire adult life until this stuff. I still sweat abnormally, and I threw up so much that I think I may have developed permanent esophageal and dental problems because of it. The smell of mint was a vomit 'trigger' for me, so I didn't/couldn't brush my teeth for almost a month... the list goes on. What Cymbalta DIDN'T do was reduce my pain - or maybe it did, but I was too busy blowing chunks to tell.

Seriously, how could this stuff have passed any clinical trials?

Phil, It passed due to the fact that the FDA and Big Pharma are in the sack with one another! Anything will pass as long as the price is right:(

I've been on cymbalta for over six months and now am starting to get many of the the side affects often. Really, really ... really afraid based on the w/d stories but fear staying on it too... is there anyone who is feeling any better after you have been off this stuff???? How long did it take to feel somewhat normal?

I have been taking Cymbalta now for about 3 weeks. I was on 200mg Zoloft for a few years before being put on this. I expierience nausea really bad with it, so i take it a night w/food, and time it so when the nausea begins,I will already have been asleep for an hour or two. I also have expirienced the electric zapping that people have described (it was CRAZY!! Like lighting had struck me!!) The first week on it I felt like I had my sexual drive back,and even felt more social...but after a week,that all stopped...
I have been EXTREMLY tired tho lately (started about a week into taking it) and was wondering if anyone has had the same problem. My whole body just seems exhausted, and I feel like I could fall asleep at any moment, in any situation. It's torture to stay awake it seems.
Anyone???

Well, here we go. After ab