Cymbalta and Anxiety: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Nat...
• March 14, 2013

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I was prescribed Cymbalta after taking Zoloft for a few months. Zoloft was horrible, but when my prescription was changed to Cymbalta, my anxiety and everything else seemed to lessen. I was more calm in handling situations, and my husband seemed pleased with the change in my attitude. For the first week while on Cymbalta, the experience was horrible. I had all the side effects listed and more, but I was determined to stay on it. It only lasted a week, then things became more clear. The only thing I fear is the withdrawals. I've experienced it accidentally when the medication wasn't available to me."

• Smi...
• October 23, 2019

For Depression "Cymbalta is good for depression and did help my relative for 10 years, 60 mg every day, but my relative wanted to be free from using antidepressants and so stopped it slowly, reducing the dose, which later worked and they felt relieved but got the worst depression and even attempted suicide. I am here to warn everyone not to try to stop taking Cymbalta if it is working for you, just stick to it - the withdrawal was a horror and after withdrawing, it gave them 2 months of peace, and the third month a very bad depression that they have never experienced came back that they attempted suicide. They then had to put my relative to bed rest for 7 months, every medication failed to work, so they were switched back on Cymbalta but it was also not helping even after increasing the dose, so finally at the dose of 90 mg, it didn't help until Aripiprazole was added, that's when it helped with depression but caused bad anxiety, which we stopped with 0.5 g lorazepam morning and evening."

• Anonymous
• August 7, 2009

For Depression "I am on 120mg of Cymbalta to treat my chronic depression, PTSD, and anxiety (severe child abuse survivor and adult sexual assault survivor) and chronic pain (spinal disorder required fusing all but one vertebra in my neck and the vertebra in my lower back; plus severe arthritis in my knees, hips, and both AC joints). I have been on 24-hour narcotics, Ativan, and many antidepressants. Of course, narcotics work, but they caused me to have heart problems. Ativan is great, but doctors are reluctant to prescribe long-term. I thought the panic attacks, insomnia, hot flashes, obsessive worry and dread, gloom, weepiness, and loss of interest in everything would be forever. Cymbalta helped me get my life back."

• Anonymous
• August 7, 2009

For Depression "I am on 120mg of Cymbalta to treat my chronic depression, PTSD, and anxiety (severe child abuse survivor and adult sexual assault survivor) and chronic pain (spinal disorder required fusing all but one vertebra in my neck and the vertebra in my lower back; plus severe arthritis in my knees, hips, and both AC joints). I have been on 24-hour narcotics, Ativan, and many antidepressants. Of course, narcotics work, but they caused me to have heart problems. Ativan is great, but doctors are reluctant to prescribe long-term. I thought the panic attacks, insomnia, hot flashes, obsessive worry and dread, gloom, weepiness, and loss of interest in everything would be forever. Cymbalta helped me get my life back."

• Cal...
• April 10, 2015

For Anxiety "I have GAD, tried Celexa, worked for a while, mental fog. I then tried Lexapro which worked but I decided to try Cymbalta for its chronic low back pain effectiveness. I have a bulged disc, arthritis from home care for many years. I will not even consider narcotics for pain... Cymbalta has been a lifesaver, I too have dry mouth, night sweats, increased weight of 10 lbs. But I feel calmer, I started off on 30 mg for 2 wks then increased the dose per my HCP. I can tell when I don't take it. Chronic low back pain, dizziness as well, and anxiety symptoms return... I am a nurse and I hate taking medicine but this is one medicine I don't mind taking. The benefits outweigh everything else."

• xxo...
• November 18, 2007

For Anxiety "I'm 29 & been on Cymbalta 1 week, prior to taking, couldn't sleep (4 hrs on average), panic attacks, acne breakouts, hair falling out, highly stressed, now a little disoriented at times, loss of appetite (not a bad thing), great sleep (much needed) and I'm much calmer. The doctor wants to add Wellbutrin in 30 days but I am not going that route. I am very pleased with the direction we are going in now it is just taking some time to adjust to the side effects and new routine of actually resting!!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 19, 2017

For Depression "I was put on Cymbalta 60mg when I was in the psych ward for a suicide attempt. This medication significantly helped my depression and my thoughts of suicide went away. Cymbalta has been life changing for me. I thought I didn't need it anymore so I took myself off of it a month ago. The withdrawals are terrible! Worse than withdrawing from benzos, I was shaky for a straight week. After being off of it for a couple weeks my depression and anxiety came back full force, I realized how much it had been helping me and asked my doctor to put me back on it. I'm now on 30mg and feel less anxious and less sad."

• Lpa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 27, 2020

For Depression "I started taking Cymbalta 30 mg 9 weeks ago under my primary doctor's recommendation. I had severe anxiety and insomnia and very serious depression. I slept all day and had no motivation and couldn't shake it off no matter what I did. I have tried Prozac 50 mg for depression and expressed that I didn't like that it made me eat all the time (which led to a 50 lb weight gain) and no libido. So she recommended this. I feel very numb (but not high) as if I have no more conscience. I also have a slow reaction time to everything. People will speak to me, and I don't realize until they repeat my name over 3 times. I also cannot sleep still even with all types of OTC sleep medications. I take Cymbalta in the morning, so it has no effect on my sleep. I am going to keep taking this medication as suggested but will make a follow-up appointment. Should there be any secret to make this drug less numbing, I will add another review."

• Sha...
• December 22, 2019

For Anxiety "I’ve been taking Cymbalta for 7 days for anxiety, and I hate it! Today has been the worst. I keep forgetting where I’m parked and/or where I’m going as I’m driving down the street. I will suddenly just be like, where was I going?! Also, I have been extremely paranoid. Friends think I’m on drugs that are making me twitchy and nervous, and that just adds to the anxiety. The one thing I specified to my doctor is that I don’t want to feel like I’m out of control and not myself! I’m only taking 30 mg. I’m weaning off ASAP. Thank goodness it’s only been a week."

• Gen...
• August 15, 2017

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "To the gentleman whose doctor switched him from Klonopin to Cymbalta: The reason you are suffering from severe anxiety is that you were taken off a benzodiazepine too quickly instead of having been tapered off the drug. Cymbalta is no substitute for Klonopin. Your doctor needs to go back to med school! I've been taking 60 mg of Cymbalta since 2009, after my husband committed suicide. It has helped me a lot with depression and anxiety, but I'm finding that my anxiety has recently increased because my new husband has lung cancer. I was put on 90 mg of Cymbalta recently, and I'm hoping that the higher dose will decrease, and not increase, my anxiety levels."

• Bel...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 24, 2021

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "This is my first time taking Cymbalta. Today was my day one. Let me say, I took it with food, and within two to three hours, I started experiencing severe nausea. Within another hour, I became very jittery, and it felt like my skin was humming with electricity. Fast forward an hour, and I can only compare this feeling to doing a tab of acid minus the hallucinations, or what I assume people feel like doing speed because I bounced on a yoga ball for two hours while feeling very manic. Crazy. Edgy. Like I was pumped full of adrenaline and needed to jump out of my skin while laughing and humming. I kept twitching and kicking my legs, doing hand snaps and rubbing my hands up and down my jeans to the point where I have rubbed my palms raw. I took ONE pill. The ONLY upside is that my sciatic pain is basically gone, which is heaven. I'm about 9 hours in, and I'm finally sitting down, but I can't stop fidgeting or bring myself to eat anything despite my stomach gnawing at me. Will update in a week."

• Ell...
• April 11, 2016

For Anxiety "Was prescribed for depression, but it affected my panic disorder very much. I went from 6-7 panic attacks a day to 1-2 a week/month. It really helped with my anxiety. The initial 2 weeks were horrible though, increased anxiety, hot flashes. And it interacts with a lot of medications (including vitamin D supplements)"

• hol...
• January 13, 2013

For Depression "I'm a 21-year-old female and have suffered with depression and horrible thoughts for as long as I can remember. I was started on one medicine (can't remember what it was), then Zoloft, which did not work, and was recently put on Cymbalta about three weeks ago. My depression had gotten so bad that I was willing to try everything. I was having emotional breakdowns at work, having horrible thoughts, bad dreams, and was withdrawn from everything. My depression is a brain imbalance rather than caused by other things. Only being about two weeks on Cymbalta, I can already notice a difference. I'm more peppy, I don't think bad thoughts nearly as much, much more patient, haven't cried since I've been put on the medicine. I was a little jittery at first."

• par...
• August 26, 2015

For Anxiety "At 25, I started taking Celexa. When I became pregnant less than a year later, I noticed it not working anymore. Then after my daughter was born, I noticed a huge difference. My doctor prescribed me Cymbalta, starting at 30mg and finally leveling out at 90mg. This is the best I have ever felt and I have now been taking it for almost 5 years. A year ago, I tried to lower my dosage (through my doctor of course) and within the week, noticed a huge difference. I was more irritable, less patient, and more anxious. And when I don't take it for a few days, my head pounds, I feel nauseous, and not like myself at all. At the end of the day, the good outweighs the bad. Although I do wish they were not so expensive, how can you put a price on feeling normal?"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 11, 2020

For Major Depressive Disorder "HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!! I was on Cymbalta for almost a year, it hardly helped with my depression and did NOT help with anxiety, and intrusive thoughts came back. I tried every dose, but it just made me worse. I was constantly crying and panicking over things that I thought were going to happen. And let me tell you, it’s absolutely sickening how horrible the withdrawal is. Cymbalta isn’t for everyone, but it messed me up."

• ell...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 21, 2022

For Major Depressive Disorder "Cymbalta is the worst medication I have ever been on. I took it for depression and anxiety, on the lowest dosage, and started getting terrible anxiety symptoms. Constantly sweaty but cold, shaking, a feeling of imminent doom, dizziness, headaches, and daily panic attacks for the first time in years. I couldn't grip the wheel well while driving. I started slowly decreasing my dose, which was super hard because you have to do it extremely gradually, but this medication was causing me so much pain and anxiety that I tapered too quickly. I had brain zaps (an electric shock going through my brain every time I moved my eyes), terrible pressure in my head, chest pains, nausea, dizziness, and even more panic attacks. This medication is genuinely the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I got chronic daily headaches when I started it, and they have not gone away, over a year later. Talk to your doctor about a different medication, unless you want to be on it for the rest of your life because tapering is impossible."

• cho...
• August 15, 2015

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I was on Celexa for a few years. When I started feeling 'well' again, I decided to stop taking it. Within a year, I was constantly crying and went back on it, but it affected my ability to fully enjoy intimacy, so the mental health nurse told me to ask my doctor for Pristiq, which I did, and he prescribed me Cymbalta instead, which I took along with my Celexa. When I went back to see him, he said that he told me to stop the Celexa and prescribed me 60 mg of Cymbalta a day, which I now have been on for about a year. To say it's a godsend is an understatement. I actually went to an outside concert with approximately 5,000 people in attendance. Although I was still a little anxious, a couple of drinks helped me to somewhat enjoy myself. Normally, crowds cause me unbearable anxiety."

• Ash...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 4, 2013

For Depression "I suffer from mild depression and back pain associated with scoliosis. I hoped Cymbalta could help. It did not help me. Initially (first few days), it was positive mentally, despite side effects: headache, nausea, then bad anxiety. As I took it more, I just started to feel not like myself, lethargic and weak. I almost felt too calm and didn't care. I can see how this might be helpful to those that are severely depressed. I am not. I'm sharing my experience because if you only suffer from minor blues, I would not recommend a strong antidepressant. I told my doctor it was minor, yet he prescribed me 60 mg immediately. I gave it a month and felt worse each day."

• Ela...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 2, 2018

For Depression "I've been on Cymbalta 60 mg for about 5 years. It was working fine for me, I thought - until people started telling me that I was snappy. But I had a lot of trials in life happening all at once. Anyhow, I decided to switch, and what a nightmare it has been. The new psychiatrist tried me on Lamictal for a bit, that made me hyper and jittery, so I thought I'd try Zoloft since my sister has been on it. Sometimes meds can work the same, but, yikes, not for me. I'm in an awful depression and working on getting back on Cymbalta, what I hope will work for me. I guess the old saying goes, 'if it's not broken, why fix it?' I will keep you all in my prayers and hope you will do the same."

• woo...
• July 31, 2013

For Depression "Been on most antidepressants and ended up with mirtazapine, which although very good, does make you really fat. Cut dose right down, but then the old feeling of depression, anxiety, and suicidal feelings came back. My psych doc put me on Cymbalta (after a roundabout of others that I couldn't cope with) and Cymbalta works. 30mg is lovely, but 60mg is way too strong for me. Blurred vision, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, etc., etc. So went back to 30mg and now feel great. I do take half a mirtazapine at night to help me sleep and don't know if it's the combination or just the Cymbalta (as half a mirtazapine is a very tiny dose) working. It has taken about 3 months for it to fully kick in, but now I feel hopefully optimistic and more at ease about life."

• Lon...
• July 12, 2016

For Anxiety "I'm on at this time 1 mg alprazolam 3× a day. And Cymbalta 60 milligrams once a day. Ever since I started taking the Cymbalta, my anxiety, my mood, my pain, it all feels way better. I used to take 8 or as many as I needed bars a day for my anxiety. Finally got into a psychiatrist, I was so freaked out that they were going to prescribe me Xanax for anxiety because doctors are so blah blah blah about it because people screw it up for people like me that need it. Well, the Cymbalta lowered my Xanax use basically in half. I think it's really more mental on my part, and the Cymbalta has been really good for me. I had one time that I went off of it for 2 days because I couldn't make it to the pharmacy, and yes, my anxiety came back in full-blown anxiety."

• hap...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 1, 2013

For Depression "After 5 years on Cymbalta, I cannot say enough about its effectiveness. I really can't speak to the claims of pain relief, but as far as depression and anxiety, it's the best I can recommend. The insurance has tried several times to get my Dr to prescribe Celexa, or Effexor, but neither work like Cymbalta. Initially, I was a little spacey and jittery, but those went away with time. I'd hate to have to pay for it as is. But overall, I'd rather not take anything than to have to switch."

• Doe...
• September 1, 2019

For Anxiety "A heart specialist changed me from Effexor to Cymbalta. I stayed on a 37.5 mg dose of Effexor and started 60 mg Cymbalta. This med is not for me. After 3 weeks, I felt like I was falling apart. Severe anxiety like never before. I thought I was having a heart attack! So much tightness and pain. Called 911. Lots of tests later, it wasn't a heart attack at all. That was after 2 weeks on it. I was so deeply sad, severe nausea and vomiting, nightmares, sweats, biting down on my dentures constantly, itching all over. Dizziness, bad vision. My muscles ached. I've had serotonin syndrome before, and this terrified me. I could not eat. I'm diabetic, so I have to eat, but food made me sick. Headaches, dark thoughts. Could not take it anymore and switched back to Effexor 4 days ago, off the Cymbalta. Today I feel great! I had a spell of nausea and an overall feeling of so awful, lasted 20 minutes or so. I also had pain in my right side and abdomen, which is still tender but better. So glad to be feeling better."

• MDG...
• April 17, 2008

For Depression "I have been suffering with serious depression for the last year. I was on a different medication. I gained a lot of weight from eating without thinking (compulsive) and started to feel the social anxiety again. Honestly, I was very hesitant about starting Cymbalta because I had read all the side effects, but I have had almost none. I drink lots of water all day long so that might have something to do with it. I got control of my appetite again."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 5, 2022

For Major Depressive Disorder "Cymbalta nearly ruined my grades in college. I was weak and faint all the time, going home and passing out, having memory problems, extreme anxiety, and confusion. Several people I know described the same side effects. I tried it out for months, and in those months, I was a zombie and having even more panic attacks. I hated it so much that I don’t recommend even giving it a try because it’s not worth how it made me feel."