Cymbalta Withdrawals

[Guest guest]

I have been diagnosed with fibro since 2004. I have tried just about

any and everything there is to try and I just have gotten to a point

that I feel that there is nothing left for me to do but to make the

best of it. This is the first post to this group for me. I happen to

be home today because I'm having one of those days. I have been on

Cymbalta for a couple of years to help with the pain I have with the

fibro. About 4 or 5 months ago I started having very vivid dreams and

weird sensations in my head so my neurologist took me off of the

Cymbalta. I also have seizures and that is why I have the neurologist.

I'm still having the dreams and the sensations in my head and was

wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them while on the

Cymbalta and after begin taken off of the medication. I have an

appointment in a couple of weeks with my neurologist so I would like to

have some feedback before I go.

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

- Try a search for " Cymbalta " in my newsletter archives at

http://www.fms-help.com/newsletters.htm

Then hit ALT-F to find the reference to Cymbalta on each page. Many

readers wrote in about it.

Dom

[Guest guest]

I too was on Cymbalta, which made me more depressed and I gained about 60 pounds in 3 months. Then I was having major creepy nightmares and tremors. I shook all of the time and the doctors said they were mild seizurs but he thought they were not caused by any medication. I have been off of Cymbalta now for 3 years and retained the weight, but finally after 3 years I am not having as many nightmares. I only have about one every 2 or 3 months and they aren't as creepy as they used to be. I used to get so deep in sleep when taking the medicine that I was be awake but in a paralytic state to where I couldn't move. I think the Cymbalta left a permanent change in my brain. I only took it for a year but it seems to have made things significantly worse. I hope you don't have the same issues and are able to recover from the Cymbalta completely. I think doctors should be more responsive to the side effects. They really can leave permanent damage and they should listen to patients when they tell them it isn't right and it needs to be changed. I still get the tingling sensations in my brain and it seems to hit harder when I am under an allergy attack. It is still frequent, and often times when it hits and I am having a bad mucus day, I can end up on the floor with vertigo that knocks me out. Be sure and tell your doctor that you know of other people who have had lasting effects from it and perhaps he can give you better care for it. Good luck.

Stacie

[Guest guest]

Stacie and others: I, too, have heard these Cymbalta horror stories.

I have a close friend who was having severe memory problems and had no

energy or emotion. He was taking 120 mgs a day. He was always calm on

it, but not much better than comatose. I kept encouraging him to cut

down with his doc's help.

We finally got him to a doc who did neuro psych testing and said that

his memory wasn't really bad but his ability to concentrate was next to

zero. The doc told him that it was due to too much medicine! Then the

part that really blew me away was when the doc suggested he take yet

another medicine to help him be alert in the day! Can you imagine?

Well, he is cutting back on the Cymbalta and is almost human again. A

stern warning to anyone though: Cut down very slowly over a period of

months. He cut back a bit too fast and got a case of the shingles due

to the stress and his personality went from docile to hostile!

He is now holding at 60 mgs a day for now and will go slowly to get off

the rest of the way. The pharmaceutical industry has its hands around

our throats and they DON'T tell the whole story. Thousands of people

in this country alone die due to meds that they are taking AS ORDERED.

S.

[Guest guest]

>

> I too was on Cymbalta, which made me more depressed and I gained

about 60 pounds in 3 months. Then I was having major creepy

nightmares and tremors. I shook all of the time and the doctors said

they were mild seizurs but he thought they were not caused by any

medication. I have been off of Cymbalta now for 3 years and retained

the weight, but finally after 3 years I am not having as many

nightmares. I only have about one every 2 or 3 months and they

aren't as creepy as they used to be. I used to get so deep in sleep

when taking the medicine that I was be awake but in a paralytic

state to where I couldn't move. I think the Cymbalta left a

permanent change in my brain. I only took it for a year but it seems

to have made things significantly worse. I hope you don't have the

same issues and are able to recover from the Cymbalta completely. I

think doctors should be more responsive to the side effects. They

really can leave permanent damage and they should listen to patients

when they tell them it isn't right and it needs to be changed. I

still get the tingling sensations in my brain and it seems to hit

harder when I am under an allergy attack. It is still frequent, and

often times when it hits and I am having a bad mucus day, I can end

up on the floor with vertigo that knocks me out. Be sure and tell

your doctor that you know of other people who have had lasting

effects from it and perhaps he can give you better care for it. Good

luck.

> Stacie

>

I gained 40 lbs very quickly also and am not able to lose it even

though I have tried diligently. I really hoped that after stopping

the medication that it would help lose the weight.

I too would be asleep and wake up and feel like I needed to get my

husband's attention to help me because I was feeling some kind of

terror but would not be able to feel like I could move or speak. It

is very frightening.

I took the medication for 3 yrs and have been off for around a

month. I feel both my family doctor and my neruologist should have

known that the symptoms that I had been complaing of almost since I

first started the medication were from the Cymbalta. I went numerous

times trying to find some help with the symptoms. The knowledge that

it has other side effects other that those listed in the patient

info sheet are pretty common knowledge though at the time I started

taking it, I had no idea but doctors should have known. I don't

want to sound like I'm bashing my family doctor because, he has been

wonderful to me, but, I feel the ball was dropped. This is just

another confirmation that we need to carefully research for

ourselves everything given to us. Fibro has enough symptoms to deal

with without adding additional complications.

I find I still have the weird sensations in my head and after

reading other comments I probably have a long way to go before they

quit.

[Guest guest]

I take Cymbalta with very few side effects. One time when I had just lost my doctor and had yet to find a new one, my prescription ran out and I did not take it for about 3 months--no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. It really surprised me too because I had previously taken Effexor, which, when I tried to stop taking that (getting weined from it by the doctor), I got terrible withdrawal symptoms. It was awful. I guess we are all so differently made that each medicine affects each of us in a slightly-to-majorly way. It's kind of scary, actually.

Pam

Re:Cymbalta Withdrawals

>> I too was on Cymbalta, which made me more depressed and I gained about 60 pounds in 3 months. Then I was having major creepy nightmares and tremors. I shook all of the time and the doctors said they were mild seizurs but he thought they were not caused by any medication. I have been off of Cymbalta now for 3 years and retained the weight, but finally after 3 years I am not having as many nightmares. I only have about one every 2 or 3 months and they aren't as creepy as they used to be. I used to get so deep in sleep when taking the medicine that I was be awake but in a paralytic state to where I couldn't move. I think the Cymbalta left a permanent change in my brain. I only took it for a year but it seems to have made things significantly worse. I hope you don't have the same issues and are able to recover from the Cymbalta completely. I think doctors should be more responsive to the side effects. They really can leave permanent damage and they should listen to patients when they tell them it isn't right and it needs to be changed. I still get the tingling sensations in my brain and it seems to hit harder when I am under an allergy attack. It is still frequent, and often times when it hits and I am having a bad mucus day, I can end up on the floor with vertigo that knocks me out. Be sure and tell your doctor that you know of other people who have had lasting effects from it and perhaps he can give you better care for it. Good luck.> Stacie>I gained 40 lbs very quickly also and am not able to lose it even though I have tried diligently. I really hoped that after stopping the medication that it would help lose the weight. I too would be asleep and wake up and feel like I needed to get my husband's attention to help me because I was feeling some kind of terror but would not be able to feel like I could move or speak. It is very frightening. I took the medication for 3 yrs and have been off for around a month. I feel both my family doctor and my neruologist should have known that the symptoms that I had been complaing of almost since I first started the medication were from the Cymbalta. I went numerous times trying to find some help with the symptoms. The knowledge that it has other side effects other that those listed in the patient info sheet are pretty common knowledge though at the time I started taking it, I had no idea but doctors should have known. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing my family doctor because, he has been wonderful to me, but, I feel the ball was dropped. This is just another confirmation that we need to carefully research for ourselves everything given to us. Fibro has enough symptoms to deal with without adding additional complications. I find I still have the weird sensations in my head and after reading other comments I probably have a long way to go before they quit.