Cymbalta Withdrawal Symptoms Being Kept Secret? (Personal Story Inside)

reply to post by Tentickles

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Well stated and thought-out post Tentickles.

Thank you for making that accessible to those of us with little understanding of depression and it's many forms.

I haven't read this whole thread. only the OP and first page but I wanted to respond because I take cymbalta and have also gone off cymbalta so want to pass on what I learned.

First of all, I have suffered from depression all my life but managed without medication for decades, until I entered menopause. At that time the hormonal fluctuations made it impossible to deal with so I started taking hormones and antidepressant. Now, about 15 years later, I have left hormones behind and have changed antidepressants a couple of times, ending up with cymbalta about 3 years ago, which worked extremely well.

all drugs have side effects, including cymbalta, but the side effects seemed less horrible than being depressed.

about a year and a half ago, I decided to go off. I had changed many things in my life to the better and thought maybe i didn't need it. i felt good.

I went to half dose for two months, then nothing. Weaning off involved the brain zaps which are strange and scary and extremely poor judgment but nothing too terrible until i went off completely. when I say extremely poor judgment, i mean about fairly small things. taking a route to get somewhere that much worse than the one i normally did. spending money strangely, stuff like that. nothing disastrous. I knew that would pass.

when I went off completely I had total insomnia and extreme anxiety about everything and nothing. This went on for four months. I kept believing things were improving by concentrating on one thing at a time but in fact my depression had returned and although I was not suicidal, I knew my life was over and waited to die. the days and nights were endless.

eventually my son, a physician, recognized what was going on and asked me to fill out some symptom inventories. i'm sure you can find them online. I did one for anxiety and depression and discovered that i had gone back to experiencing many of the things i'd suffered for years without quite realizing it because I wanted to be okay and not need a drug.

Getting back on medication was a chore because it takes me a full 6 weeks to get the antidepressant effect, but my life has improved dramatically. not perfect but much better.

I realize that you have fibromyalgia rather than depression but those are just terms that don't describe accurately. If cymbalta was helping you, you have an inbalance it corrects. I realize that you went off involuntarily, but instead of seeing this drug as the culprit I urge you to go back on. I realize you can't afford it. maybe you can take effexor, which is supposed to be similar and is generic. you can probably afford that one. I would also urge you to check with the drug company to see if they would help you out with a supply. the commercials claim they do that! don't know if it's true.

be careful of all the people who will tell you about the evil drug. they might not have a condition that is helped by it, and they cannot possibly know how miserable life can be without it, and how much your quality of life can improve with it.

my son said this: you might be able to eventually get to the point where you can get along without it, but you will spend a great deal of energy just trying to cope with every day life. why spend all that energy if this drug can allow you to spend that energy on other things.

what people who don't have the internal problem don't know is that we aren't seeking a panacea, a cure for being blue. this is much worse. fibromyalgia consumes your life. if cymbalta, or any other drug, can help you, TAKE IT! pay no attention to those naysayers. it's your life and you deserve to live it as well as you can.

quit taking that crap years ago,,, though my doctor still prescribes them each month,,,, so now i empty the capsules out and use them for filling with baking soda to keep my ph up and taking other herbs that are nasty to swallow or take in



your right,,, the withdraw is horrible,,,,,, and while on it i was a zombie and terribly fatigued

reply to post by Tentickles

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I don't know Tentickles you found your way here, your not inside the neat society box already for whatever reasons, I think to say there is inherently something wrong with your brain and that needs to be treated with chemicals (which may not even be aimed at fixing the particular problem in question, which in reality your doctors may never know), is a dangerous track to go down.

Psychological health and well being is an ever evolving set of theories, and big pharma do not have your best interest at heart, and ever year more and more of our doctors become nothing more than sales rep for big pharma rather than doing what they should be doing in looking at ways to really help their patients.

You cant blame the doctors but the system is messed up, be very sure of what your doing, you'd be amazed what control you can exert yourself, through conditioning.

I feel for you Tentickles! You are not alone in this swindle, more closer to the norm? My only advice is to research herbal remedies to, not only your withdrawal symptoms, but your original needs too.

I have been noticing this trend for awhile now. Pharma groomed docs look more and more to be turning into glamorized drug pushers. Everyone I know is either, on some horribly addictive maintenance drug, or has been harassed by their doctor to try one. My aunt is a zombie since she agreed to one and my mother was solicited at her last visit.

I also learned this the hard way after a shoulder injury. While being treated for some torn tendons in my shoulder, my doc created for me a pain killer addiction? I actually used the pills less frequently than prescribed, yet still ended up with an addiction that basically is exactly that of a heroine one? This infuriated me and has been impossible to shake. As a small business owner, maintaining this without insurance quickly becomes a $400-$600 per month habit. The worst part is the amount needed just to feel normal is far beyond what your liver can handle and will destroy you eventually!

My doctors solution was a maintenance drug. He told me it would be cheaper, way easier to get off of, and wouldn't tax my liver? Turns out it is only fractionally cheaper, but way harder to stop taking. I have been on it for over a year now and have difficult side effects. It seems to be enlarging my prostrate, creating intestinal problems, and makes it near impossible to awaken in the morning.

Everyone should know that this is an epidemic! Drug makers are lobbying doctors to push these forever drugs on everyone. Anyone that doubts this only needs to ask family and friends. You may be shocked at the results.

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch

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I started to have the hormonal change panic attacks two years ago that put me in the ER several times in a year, with high blood pressure to 180, I got rid of the frequency and even been able to stop them as soon I feel one is coming.

I practice heavy meditation at least one hour a day and before going to bed as the panic attacks were always during the night.

I also practice EFT is emotional freedom technique it takes times to master but it works for any emotional issues and more.

If you are interested this the link to information on how to get started.

www.emofree.com...

Their site is www.emofree.com...

Trust me is works when nothing else does.

Yeah, it would work for just about everyone that wanted "more energy". Vyvance is speed, and can also be hard to get a script for.

Any SSRI, when abruptly stopped, can have a withdrawal syndrome associated with it. When this occurs, most doctors prescribe Prozac to deal with these symptoms. Not every body experiences withdrawal, but when you do, it's very scary. Paxil and Cymbalta are the worse, although depending on the individual, any of them (the SSRI's) can cause them.

Anybody who says depression can be turned off "like the flip of a switch" is talking about "the blues", or some type situational depression. (THis reminds me of what Tom Cruise said about post-natal depression). Remember, he eventually apologized for those remarks.

Just no understanding whatsoever.

Clinical major depressive episodes, and even milder forms of depression called dysthymia, generally require medications and these can be life-savers for people who suffer with these disorders.

Please talk to your physician about another medication which will end the "zaps". I don't want to scare anybody, and it probably won't happen, but there is small incidence of seizure that has been associated with these "zaps", as it is electricity gone amuck in your brain. Most doctors, as I said above, prescribe Prozac to get you through the withdrawal as it has a longer half-life.

It's scary. Call your doctor, okay?

reply to post by Sonya610

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I just made the same recommendations you did. Sorry, didn't see your post until after. But yes, I think it is the way to go also. And it wouldn't have to be for a long time....just to get through the withdrawal. Hopefully there won't be any side effects from the Prozac. It's got it's little problems also, but at least not as severe as what is going on now.

Great post! I was on Cymbalta for for neuropathy and anxiety. All of these type of medications have terrible side effects and potential w/d symptoms. Luckily I was able to come off of the Cymbalta pretty easily but I have suffered intense, nearly deadly w/d from benzo's and that was with a supposedly safe chemical detox

Truth of the matter is, while we may find relief in a pill, there is always a price to pay, whether it be side effects or w/d symptoms...it's all awful. Sadly, for too many of us, there is no easy answer. You suffer with or you suffer without. The manufacturers will never be truthful. The government isn't trust worthy enough to regulate them. There are no means to protect us from the dangers of all these things.

I still suffer from intense anxiety but I am so paranoid about taking meds now (after my experiences) that I just have a few drinks instead (I know, I know, not the best solution...but w/e)

My heart goes out to everyone caught in this cycle. There is no good answer, no really great alternative. The one reassurance is that we can all come here to ATS and try to give eachother a little support.

Late joining into the discussion here, but I too so sympathise with anyone having to go through Cymbalta withdrawals. I've had every horrid symptom on this board. I am now three weeks off the drug and FINALLY beginning to feel somewhat like myself. Fortunately I don't need it for depression (Chronic pain is my foe) and it did nothing to actually alieve my chronic pain. Sleep is hard to come by and that is the reason I was first put on an SSRI and then an SSNRI by my doc.

I'll suffer through the sleep problems because I am now a self-employed, empty-nester who can tailor my days around my varying sleep issues. Coming off the stuff is nasty and needs to be done carefully. Although I must say that even with controlled weaning and eventual stoppage, I still experienced withdrawal so I don't think there is any easy way to escape it. Willpower is a strong thing and self-preservation is a strong incentive.

After reading all of the posts I guess it comes down to whether or not your situation merits treatment with SSRI's or SSNRI's. Everyone is different. I'll be the LAST to judge anyone's medical or pharmaceutical needs.

Lesson learned for me is that I am finally becoming more responsible about the medications I take and those that doc suggests I take. I'm learning a lot and taking a lot of things into my own hands versus the "objective" hands of a doc who is pressured by pharm. reps on a daily basis.

In the case of medications, LESS IS ALWAYS MORE. If you don't absolutely NEED it, don't take it. If you are already on multiple medications, weigh the severity of each presenting symptom and consider eliminating the drug or drugs you are taking for the least severe symptom/problem. Once you start eliminating various drugs you will find whether or not you can live without that drug. For me it was fairly simple. Cymbalta was prescribed to allow me to sleep through severe chronic pain. It was not treating symptoms for chronic pain. I decided that varying sleeplessness was an inconvenience but not as big as a problem as my severe pain issue. I dumped the Cymbalta.

I guess a realization came to me last winter when I was in the Costa Rican jungle and was told that major U.S. pharmacies spend millions of dollars in the CR economy studying rainforest plants and more recently buying up huge tracts of land to grow these species for U.S. drug companies. If the mega drug companies are finally turning back to plant based remedies, couldn't we all?? I realize that they compound them differently and often intensify or alter their composition, but something in the original plant carries properties drug makers are finding to be helpful.

So, I've been spending time learning more about herbs and tonics made from herbs and will see if that is an alternative route for me.

Since I would like to help to anyone else reading this forum I will tell you that I was first on 30 mg. of Cymbalta at bedtime. Never jumped to 60 mg. pharm co. pushes docs to recommend. Decided to quit and emptied out half of beads and took those capsules for 4 weeks, i.e. 15 mgs. You cannot get less than 20mg. of this pill from pharmacy so you either have to calculate the beads inside yourself or take them to a compounding pharmacist who can or will do it for you. Finally told my doc I was quitting and he suggested the typical route of taking one capsule every other day then every third day, etc. That did not work so i just stopped.

I have found the only way to stop is to STOP. Only the process of days gone by will return your body to normal. Saw on a forum that Benedryl helps with the headaches and nausea, and that did work for me. I also ramped up the vitamins, B12 complex and Omega 3 oils as suggested on the same forum. I slept A LOT the first two weeks and went in and out of bed most of the days. I am now doing OK and have not taken the Benedryl for three days. Hopefully I am at the end of this horrid period in my life. PATIENT BEWARE!

I've taken cymbalta before -- and withdrawing from it is a lot like having the flu for a solid month (or longer).

You definitely DON'T want to go off this stuff cold turkey. Sometimes it's inevitable, though.

BTW, I'm RX free now, and couldn't be happier.

You know what's always perplexed me about anti-depressants is how can a drug change what you are thinking about.

I've suffered from depression and I've tried anti-depressants but I gave up on them after about 3 months because they were having no effect on me at all. It was then, that got me thinking why would I take drugs to give me a false feeling of being happy when the unhappy thoughts still remain, it's not going to solve anything as when you stop the drugs you're still unhappy.

So for me to fight my depression, I got off my arse and went & did things to actively combat it, be it going out and having fun with friends and also getting myself back into education.

4 years ago I thought it was the end for me with no future prospects at all but doom & gloom, alot of bad stuff happened, and I'd just lost my girlfriend and I was as low as I could possibly be, I was a complete screw up and it was all my own fault mostly. But I bounced back and I'm now starting University in September at 26 (I thought I was too late at the time for going to uni), just completed an Access course in computer studies were I finished top in the college with an average above 90% and will hopefully finish degree in 4 years time with a first and go on to do a masters.

I've rambled off the track abit here, I personally think anti-depressants are a waste of time, they do nothing to solve the psychological problems at all and are only a band-aid solution to deep routed issues which only yourself can sort out.Finding the problem is the difficult thing, once you've found it, it becomes easy to find a solution.

In regards to addictiveness, I've never had an addictive personality and I've experimented alot with certain chemicals but never once been addicted to any of them, so I guess it depends on the person and how addictive they can be to certain things, but for me I'm yet to find anything I'm addicted to and hope I never get addicted to anything although I believe being stubborn and having plenty of willpower helps

I was just hoping the OP would check back in here and give us an update on how he is feeling.