I was diagnosed with fibromyalsia in December of 2017. Was initially prescribed Nortriptyline which helped a little. Four weeks later adding Cymbalta and it felt like a miracle drug and I slowly got back to having a life again. But immediately started craving sugar and despite getting back to the gym was experiencing extreme water weight and bloat. Has anyone else stuggled with these side effects ? And is the positive out weighting the negative? I'm just scared nothing else will work with out major side effects.
Are people experience sever bloating and water weight on Cymbalta?
Question posted by Roseberywine on 3 March 2018
Last updated on 23 January 2023 by dawnfulm3239
11 Answers
dawnfulm3239
23 Jan 2023
Yes And I keep gaining I’ve been on it for 3 months I take it for nerve pain and it really helps Now I’m having stomach issue not sure if it’s from this drug or not.Any one have stomach issues?
divergeorge
22 Sep 2020
Ouch! I hope your physician can offer some help. You might wish to talk to your Dr. about lasix or similar med to help eliminate water, and also get some physical therapy based on your current physical condition.
In my case, I am on Cymbalta, Lyrica, and Percocet for spinal stenosis. My experience is that the pain is reduced and I am losing weight. Side effects are tiredness, and memory issues. I can’t walk far; but, the physical therapy is helping a lot, and I am seeing improvements in my life.
Only you can determine if the positive outweighs the negatives.
sfw58
22 Sep 2020
09/22/2020
I started using cymbalta For fibromyalgia and chronic pain 3/15/2020
Since then I have gained 25 lbs already, it is all belly bloat and I am exhausted all the time!
My dr paired this with Celebrex
I want off of the cymbalta, I am seeing my dr tomorrow and having this discussion
I once weighed 250 lbs, lost 120lbs All on My Own, no pills or sleeves or bypasses
Me & Richard Simmons
Kept that weight off 30+ years
I maintain that same diet as well
(I battle that sugar urge daily)
until An auto accident 5 years ago
Since then I’ve had lumbar fusion (failed) and I’m unable to do
Those workouts or even speed walk, any walk with plantar fasciitis & heel spurs in both feet
I look 7 months pregnant and I am
Miserable, I spent the entire summer indoors and that is not me! I just don’t want to be seen
Slim5555
25 June 2020
I have been on Cymbalta for eleven days, I am taking this for neuropathy caused by an emergency room MD who reinserted my femur into the artificial hip joint, the upshot is that my left foot is permanently paralyzed. I am telling the forum this they can see the various reasons that this drug was prescribed. I take 30mg. once a day, at 5'6" and 115 pounds I can feel even a one-pound weight gain or loss in this short of a period of time the bloating has become so bad that my eyelids are swollen, due to that I am having difficulty focusing/seeing with my right eye and I cannot fit into any shoe on the right foot. I have had hardly any appetite, which is highly unusual for me but I am a low carb eater so I get plenty of good fats.
leafy greens, fish, and meat, which by the way the meat doesn't have hormones and all the bad stuff I have added this so as to point out that I am 100% positive that this drug is the source of my problems..oh and by the way, in less than ten days I went from 116lbs to 121.5 lbs. I have a low dose diuretic which really makes no difference as my kidneys, bladder, etc are in fine working order.
I am so thankful that I found these posts thank you to everybody.
Macska18
2 Oct 2018
Yes... I’ve been taking it for about 3-1/2 months. About 3-4 weeks ago I noticed how bloated I was and thought I gained weight. I also took phazyme and activated charcoal and neither worked. Today was the last straw , I went to put on a pair of jeans and I couldn’t get them shut. I’ll be calling my dr about weaning off this drug. I didn’t gain weight I’m just bloated. I run and work my core so I’m pretty sure it’s the cymbalta. Good luck to you.
Jen8765
11 Aug 2018
Yes I too have gained all this water weight! I started Cymbalta January 2018 and noticed right away that I was gaining weight. I luckily haven’t struggle with my weight my entire life... until now. I also suffer from extreme night sweats. The side effects are awful but I am happy with the relief from my anxiety and pain. I am hoping the weight gain stops otherwise I may need to find an alternative medication.
qpwoeiruty
9 Aug 2018
At 48 years old, I had never taken any mental health medications, despite being aware I suffer from major depression. I am happy with Cymbalta as it raises my overall alertness, mental energy, motivation, and most importantly my self-talk is much more positive. Prior to Cymbalta, my baseline was often feeling drained and sluggish, with many negative thoughts. For example, before Cymbalta, I often could not bring myself to get out of the house to take my dog for a walk, or if I did take him out, I would want to go straight back home, as I had no desire or patience to walk him--just wanted to vegetate back on the couch. After Cymbalta, I found I did not have to fight with myself to get up and walk the dog, and enjoyed long walks.
Here is my take away on the negative: (1) definitely retaining water, and have to drink more than usual these days to get my bladder to fill up. (2) I get regular exercise (due to a long bicycle commute to/from work), so weight gain is not an issue, noting I think I would lose a couple pounds of water weight if I came off the Cymbalta. [Exercise helps, but for me it is not enough, and as soon I stop riding, I feel the way I did before I started.] (3) I have had sore, sluggish feelings in my hands and particularly in my middle fingers for both hands. (4) I now get quite nauseous when I am hungry or exercise on an empty stomach, not a problem I used to have. (5) I often feel a little sick to my stomach, in any case, since starting the Cymbalta.
--On a side note: after careful trial and error, we determined that I suffered side effects from Deplin: mainly made my food taste horrible after a few minutes of eating, and left me really sick to my stomach. I reduced my dose by taking the pills apart and I now take only about 2-3mg per day. Not sure if it really helps, not sure if it does not; but being just folic acid, I am okay with that. Genetic testing indicated I would benefit from Deplin: Genecept Assay Report from Genemind Inc. Also said SSRIs could have adverse effects for me--which told me what I already had experienced!
--And on another note: when I made the decision to cold turkey Cymbalta at one point cause I was not sure where the side effects were coming from, I experienced visual disturbance (like a visual migraine), dark feelings, and vividly unpleasant dreams (not quite nightmares).
managehealth
23 July 2018
YES. I have been on Cymbalta for a year and have gained a pound each month thus far. I complained of tight fingers, and toes and bloating to my dr., but she said my ankles were't swollen, even tho I insisted this was water. This even affected my "hunger button", something was off. I'd have a little pang of hunger and if I didn't eat something, in 30 minutes I'd almost collapse. This was not normal for me. Then, my blood pressure (also, over the year) started going up. THIS is a reported side effect of norepinephrine. Now, she was willing to prescribe something to eliminate water weight because it was constricting my blood vessels. Over 2 days I lost 5.5 pounds thru urination after taking a prescribed diuretic. On that second day, I had hunger like I'd been been starved for 2 months. I could't get food in me fast enough. My chiropractor told me he had seen this before.
He told me the water weight effected that part of the brain that regulates hunger and it told me I was "full" albeit... full of water. Now I want off this drug. At this point I am ready to go back to my tried and true antidepressant... prozac.
ABBA GIRL
18 March 2018
Hi!
Unfortunately, I also gained about 20Lbs on Cymbalta. I didn’t notice it right away. I was on it for about two years. I didn’t really notice the weight gain/Cymbalta correlation until I quit the drug. The weight just started coming off. I was normally a size 4 and went up to a size 6-8 in pants and still wore a medium in tops, but I was much bigger around the bra line, so my sweaters were tight. I didn’t stop Cymbalta because of weight gain, it just wasn’t working well for my depression. When I switched back to Zoloft and Wellbutrin, I stopped having rapid mood swings and it really helped with depression! The Wellbutrin has the opposite effect. I started losing weight rapidly (too rapidly). I’m 5’4” I normally weigh around 127. I dropped to 103 in 6 months.
I also have fibromyalgia, but don’t take anything for it as I already take many drugs to manage my psych probs. I have had to change my life style and don’t work any longer as the fibro flares would make for too many sick days. Honestly, I am lucky to have a husband that works full time. When the fibro is so bad that I can’t get out of bed to use the restroom or roll over; I have a med card for medical marijuana. I only take it in capsule form. I know I can’t drive or anything for at least 24 hours, but it works. I only use it when the pain is completely debilitating. It’s definitely a last resort because I want it to keep working. I wish you the best of luck. Please Email me privately if you have questions about the medical marijuana as it was a trial and error process with some big mistakes along the way.
mwjwriter
4 March 2018
Hi Roseberywine. I have been on Cymbalta for over 10 years, and it has been like a miracle drug for me. I'm on 90mg a day for Bi-Polar Disorder. The SSRIs did not work for me as they dealt with the brain chemical Serotonin only and made me very sleepy and to have no motivation. Cymbalta works on the Norepinephrine brain chemical as well. I'm not sleepy, and I feel a lot better. It also has helped with my chronic back pain, so chances are good that it will help your pain. I haven't ever noticed water weight gain or bloat, maybe the craving for sugar. I do have quite the sweet tooth! I would encourage you to continue giving it a good try-a few months at least. Hopefully, this helps.
cindy-59
3 March 2018
Hi Roseberrywine. I was on Cymbalta for 8-9 years. I started to crave chocolate and sweets shortly after I started taking it. I started with the water weight and at the end I had gained over 80 pounds! My stomach looked like I was at least 5-6 months pregnant. I was always a small person; but I went from a size 5 to a size 16 and I was miserable all the time. I was sweating profusely, having nightmares, dizzy and falling down, couldn't remember words, forgot how to spell. couldn't concentrate, had no energy, lost interest in everything, was extremely tired all the time and was in my nightie 95% of the time. Needless to say that the negative outweighed the positive for me. I decided I had to get off this poison (imo) or I would never have a life again. I started tapering June 2017 and I'm down from 60 mg. to 25 mg. I have lost almost all the water weight and I'm losing weight. I no longer look like I'm pregnant.
It has been a nightmare for me and I still have a long way to go; but I am so much better than I was. I am slowly getting back to... me! I wish I knew then what I know now; I would have never started taking this drug. Take care and I wish you the best in your journey.
Cindy59
Roseberywine
3 March 2018
Dear Cindy ,
I'm am so happy to hear is not my imagination! I'm glad you figured it out and good luck on regaining you own body back from that hell.
I'm using it for fibromyalsia... and the pain is gone with Cymbalta. Will you be getting on another medication and which ones are you considering?
cindy-59
3 March 2018
Thank you Roseberrywine
cindy-59
10 Aug 2018
Hi Roseberrywine. My pain is almost gone now. I only have a bit of back pain. I will never take another medication that is anything like Cymbalta again. I’m just so relieved that the side effects went away. At times I was so afraid that they would be permanent. How are you doing?
Related topics
cymbalta, abdominal distension, fibromyalgia, nortriptyline, weight, prescription, diagnosis, drug
Further information
Similar questions
Search for questions
Still looking for answers? Try searching for what you seek or ask your own question.
