Cymbalta and Dizziness: What Users Say (Page 2)

• sti...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 5, 2021

For Major Depressive Disorder "I started this medication to try to treat both my depression and fibromyalgia in one go, and it did not go well. My first dose was taken at around 10 a.m., and by 7 p.m. that day I was not feeling well. I was disoriented, dizzy, nauseous. An hour later my heart rate shot up to 145 (resting is 62), I was vomiting violently, shaking, and felt like I was drunk. I was admitted to the hospital, started on ondansetron. I was intermittently nauseous and dizzy, followed by extremely tired, weak, and cold. Symptoms stopped rather abruptly by 8 p.m. the next day (lasted approx 24 hours)."

• Fib...
• December 31, 2020

For Fibromyalgia "I put off taking this drug due to all the negative comments. I have had bad reactions and am very sensitive to most other medications, and this was literally my last resort. I was petrified, as I hate nausea and vomiting (a lot of people commented on this as a side effect). I take Tixol brand. I suffer from debilitating anxiety and fibromyalgia. I have been on 30 mg for approximately 7 weeks and am about to up my dose tomorrow. On other antidepressants, it has taken me about 10 days to actually half-function again. On duloxetine, I felt a little dizzy and had blurred vision for 2-3 days, and then I felt normal. The only side effect I’ve had is hair loss and brittle hair. It has alleviated mostly all my elbow pain from fibromyalgia, which was crippling pain, and anxiety is much better. This worked quite quickly. It’s a relief to not have ice packs strapped to my arms every night and tears that silently run down my face from the pain. If it wasn’t for hair loss, this would be a 10/10 for me."

• Din...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 30, 2020

For Osteoarthritis "I’ve been on this med for 3 long years for major depressive disorder and severe osteoarthritis. Not by choice, mind you, but because the withdrawal effects were so severe for me I couldn’t get off it even with tapering. It gives me massive brain zaps, increased insomnia and racing thoughts, nausea, the worst dizziness I ever experienced that I just can’t take anymore after 2 days nonstop. I don’t recommend this medication because of how differently it affects people. You could be a statistic like me and suffer hard from this medicine. As for the pain relief, I didn’t feel much of it, I have severe osteoarthritis in many joints, so I don’t really feel much relief from many medications."

• Kel...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 4, 2020

For Anxiety "I have been on Cymbalta 30 mg for about a year and a half for anxiety. When I first started taking it, I could not stay awake. If I sat down and got still, I was asleep. After about 3 months, that started wearing off (never fully). I have also had muscle spasms since I started, and they have not gone away. I recently started having panic attacks and couldn’t seem to focus at all. I talked to my doctor about switching meds, they decided that moving to 60 mg would help my anxiety more. I took 60 mg for about a week and was having so many more muscle spasms. I also had headaches every day. I felt all over the place. So I went to my doctor again, saying I thought I needed something else. I will start taking Wellbutrin. I really hope this is going to be the medicine for me. My anxiety is out of control right now coming off Cymbalta. I also am having a ton of dizziness."

• jul...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 5, 2020

For Depression "I took a 30mg Cymbalta capsule at 9 am. At 9:30 am, it was like someone threw a brick at my head. Then I started to get brain zaps. I thought it would wear off, but I started to get cramps, became very thirsty, vomited, became uncoordinated, and then called an ambulance. My sodium level dropped to 118, and I got hyponatremia. They took me straight to the emergency department and gave me a brain scan and a salty drink. I stayed in the emergency ward for 4 days, and they said never to have Cymbalta again or I could have a stroke or worse. I am a 58-year-old healthy female. I would be very cautious taking this drug and definitely have someone with you who can take you to the hospital if things go wrong as they did with me. I was lucky I still was thinking straight enough to call an ambulance. That saved my life."

• Jon...
• May 19, 2020

For Major Depressive Disorder "I suffered from crippling anxiety and depression for 8 years, in and out of hospitals, ECT, nothing seemed to work. I just felt absolutely hopeless. Even the sound of birds hurt my ears. I was so deep in the darkness and tried everything. Every med. You name it. Then Cymbalta came along. It took a long time to kick in. 12 weeks, but when it finally did, it killed the anxiety. It came with crippling fatigue, though, for the first few weeks, but it was amazing to sleep without panic attacks for the first time in years. I just countered it with a ton of coffee. I have been taking it for 9 years now, and it is really messing with my stomach and intestines. It didn't for the first 5-6 years, but now it's bad, so time to get off it. First week weaning, and it's a real tough go, dizzy as heck, brain zaps, really weak and tired, can't focus, grumpy for no reason, but it will pass if I push through. Even with the hard withdrawal, this med gave me another chance at life when I needed it."

• Lex...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 3, 2020

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I was scared to take this med after the reviews. An anxiety attack triggered me to finally try it. I took 1 tablet, 30 mg, yesterday afternoon with lunch and experienced nothing until night. I was having constant random visions all night. When I finally got up in the morning, I began shaking, my skin felt like it was burning, I was on fire hot, and my mouth was so incredibly dry. Then I got the chills. Shaking, burning skin, chills, dizziness went all day. I was wiped out tired and could not eat. I was in bed all of this beautiful day until 4:30 pm when I forced myself up. Honestly, I felt poisoned. I drank 2 gallons of water waiting to flush this out of my body. It was about 28 hours from the time I took it until I felt somewhat back to normal."

• Tho...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 26, 2019

For Major Depressive Disorder "While Cymbalta took care of my major depressive disorder and my chronic pain, I feel as though I've been chemically castrated from this medication. Not only can I not achieve an erection, but my desire to have sex has virtually disappeared. I decided to quit cold turkey, and man, it's tough. I've had crazy dreams, lots of dizziness, and nausea, but what's great is that my sex drive has exploded. I won't go back on it, especially since neither my chronic pain nor any symptoms of my major depressive disorder have returned. Stay off this stuff if you can. I won't go back on it, not for anything."

• Gle...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 20, 2019

For Chronic Pain "This is the only med that has helped my nerve pain/neuropathy. Lyrica & Neurontin didn’t work. One made me dizzy, the other made my nerve pain worse. I was scared to try Cymbalta after hearing some people say they hated it. Honestly, it’s been a godsend for me. I still have other kinds of pain, but the pins & needles, tingling, and burning are no longer there. I take a narcotic a few times a day, but 1/2 what I did before Cymbalta. I may have had some weight gain from it, but I don’t know if it’s this or just my age & diet mostly. I can’t get off the Cymbalta for now as it helps too much. I also used to have some anxiety/panic attacks & I don’t have them on this. I’m able to stop myself thank god. I have a happy sex life with my husband & no negative side effects (except possibly a few pounds). I also have low back pain less frequently. You don’t know til you try it how it might work for you. I take 60mg/night for about 4-5 years. I’m 45 years old."

• cap...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 14, 2019

For Back Pain "Do not take this drug Cymbalta! I am a 64-year-old female, otherwise healthy. I have L5 radiculopathy. After 6 days (6 pills 20 mg), I felt terrible. Sweating, dizzy, extremely fatigued, depressed, queasy. I would rather experience the discomfort in my left leg, foot, and low back than feel the way I feel right now or the potential side effects of waiting for this to 'kick in' and trying to come off of it. I'm doing a liver detox for a week and can't wait to get this out of my system."

• Sky...
• October 20, 2019

For Anxiety "Was given 30 mg/day for GAD with chronic nerve pain and insomnia. It caused nausea immediately. The doctor said that should pass in 7-10 days. Around day 9, the nausea passed. At this exact same time, the initial benefits I was starting to experience (lessened pain and improved sleep) returned to original baseline, and an itchy red facial rash developed on my cheeks. On day 18, the doctor said to stop the medication and that 'tapering was not necessary' (or an option). The 3rd day off the drug, I was incapacitated by severe dizziness and headache. This lasted 3 days. I have heard that the research on the efficacy of duloxetine/how it really shouldn't still be on the market, as Effexor XR and many other SNRIs/SSRIs have been repeatedly proven better than duloxetine. Side note - my doctor said that in 13 years of prescribing duloxetine, she's only had 2 cases of withdrawal that were problematic vs. 25% of all her patients on Effexor XR having protracted withdrawal problems."

• Nan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 29, 2019

For Depression "Absolutely terrible. I was prescribed 20 mg Cymbalta to replace Prozac, which didn’t help my depression at all. The first few weeks, there were no changes, so we increased it to 30 mg, then 60 mg. I lost the ability to feel emotions at all. I was numb. I couldn’t make myself eat. I lost 5% of my weight. I had started self-harming just to feel something and felt suicidal. For some reason, I told myself to go to the doc one last time. It’s recommended that Cymbalta should be tapered off slowly, but there’s almost no way to do that from 60 mg to 30 mg as it is a big jump and the capsules shouldn’t be opened. The doc said I should quit cold turkey since I was in such a dark place. The withdrawal was torture. I couldn’t leave the house for two weeks because of vertigo, “brain zaps,” headaches, and confusion. I’m on Wellbutrin now, and it’s a hundred times better in my experience."

• Dar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 19, 2019

For Fibromyalgia "I have just started on Cymbalta 30 mg. It's working wonders for my chronic pain, but the side effects are horrible, such as chest pains, dizziness, muscle weakness in arms and sometimes legs, drowsiness, mental confusion, insomnia, increased anxiety, nausea, and it feels like my throat is a bit tight, plus heart palpitations. It's also difficult to urinate - it seems I have to really push. I plan on taking Cymbalta 30 mg for the rest of my life because it helps with the chronic pain that I'm in and works well. But I could definitely go without the yucky side effects... bleh. I'm 21 years old. I have Borderline Personality Disorder, anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, and POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)... So yeah, I'm in constant pain."

• Car...
• September 16, 2019

For Depression "I have summer SAD (seasonal affective disorder) (yes, it's a thing). My insomnia was made worse by this drug, Cymbalta, but it did take away my anxiety, and I may have lost some pounds on it. After a couple of weeks, I dropped down to 20 mg every other day so I could sleep better. It was toward the end of summer, and I started to wean myself off. I haven't had one in 2 or 3 weeks, and I am still getting dizzy here and there. Did not experience zaps like others, but I have to agree the withdrawal is quite lengthy for someone taking only 20 mg and for a very short time. Withdrawal symptoms included dizziness and daytime sleepiness - I only took this drug for maybe 6 weeks, and not every day."

• Flo...
• September 12, 2019

For Depression "I had been taking Lexapro for years with no problems. Extreme fatigue had my doctor suggesting I change to Cymbalta. Immediately, the anxiety, fuzzy head, vertigo, hangover feeling started with nausea, diarrhea, unquenchable thirst, weakness, you name the side effect, and I had it. Within 3 weeks, I don't know how I was literally able to function. Very happy to be going back on Lexapro."

• you...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 4, 2019

For Fibromyalgia "So... after now being on these for the second time, I can review them properly. As someone who struggles with mental health issues and fibromyalgia, these tablets worked a treat for both my pain and emotional regulation BUT be prepared for around a month of side effects before you fully notice a difference and can't function. Sickness, constantly sleeping all day; no appetite, rash, dizziness, nausea, constant headaches, not sleeping at all at night, and struggling to move are just to name a few, but once you get past that, they’re better than any pain killer. Despite struggling to feel emotions, the positives outweigh the negatives."

• 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."

• MJa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 30, 2019

For Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy "I've been taking Cymbalta for 6 months, 20 mg once a day. It has helped with my neuropathy in my legs, but nothing has stopped it, so it's better than taking nothing, which causes pain that is unbearable. But when taking the 60 mg, it has me very nauseated and off balance. So I have not been able to take a larger amount than 20 mg a day. I tried taking it at night, but I was really restless, oh, so I take it in the morning with food."

• Me ...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 16, 2019

For Fibromyalgia "I took Cymbalta for 1 month for my pain. After about 2 weeks, bad side effects set in. I had stomach pain, memory loss, nauseated feeling, no hunger, dizziness - almost falling over. I felt so bad I knew not what to do. Finally, I told a few close people about what was going on, and I decided to call my doctor to get off Cymbalta. The doctor told me to stop immediately and rest. I did and slowly began to feel better. It's been 3 days and I'm still not normal, but a little better. I'm putting my words out there that if you're afraid of stuff like this, please stay away from Cymbalta. I think it should be taken out of the pharmacy. It is horrible."

• Mr ...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 26, 2019

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "Was hesitant to start the drug with all the horror stories, but I guess that's with any drug that's not right for that individual. I had a horrible experience with Prozac. I suffer from GAD, fatigue, and was dealing with back and neck pain. The drug started to work pretty quickly. My doc switched me from Zoloft to Cymbalta when Zoloft stopped working after a year. I had some dizziness and felt off for a couple of weeks, but nothing like Prozac. I started out at 30mg during the transition but jumped up to 60mg after 2 weeks when I stopped Zoloft. The drug has worked well so far. I can see a significant reduction in anxiety, which has given me the energy to start exercising again. It's also put me in a good mood and reduced pain by 80%. I'm on week 2 of 60mg so I hope it continues to improve."

• Ski...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 25, 2019

For Depression "I was prescribed 30 mg at first to help with depression. After talking with my doctor, he decided to increase the dosage to 60 mg. I was using it for 9 years, and at first, it seemed to help. But after a couple of years, it felt like I had a tight band around my head. And I was always dizzy when I stood up. I tried to stop taking it, and it felt like I had the flu. So I continued taking it. Then last year, I got tired of the head pain and dizziness. I opened up each capsule to remove 5 mg. I then waited for 2 weeks to remove another 5 mg. By doing it this way, I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms and am finally off of it! If it works for you, great! But be prepared for a struggle to quit taking it!"

• mrd...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 23, 2019

For Depression "Was put on this 5 years ago. It works well, but there is one thing they won't tell you. The withdrawal symptoms are horrendous. I will probably never be able to stop taking this. If I miss only one day, I get vertigo and brain zaps. Read up on it, and it turns out they lied to the FDA about how many people had withdrawal symptoms. It's 70 percent! Some people experience withdrawal symptoms that last a year! So what does the FDA do? A little fine and a class action lawsuit that already expired by the time I realized how bad the withdrawal symptoms are. Eli Lilly should have been sued out of existence, but of course, big pharma has the FDA in their pocket. Really read up on the documentation in the FDA report and what it says about how they fudged things. It's unbelievable. I wish I had never been put on this."

• Mik...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 15, 2019

For Back Pain "My doctor prescribed Cymbalta to me for my back pain. After 4 days, the awfulness started. This med is terrible! Dizziness, nausea, messing with my brain, anxiety, loopy. I don't recognize myself. I didn't have this before. Can't take it anymore because I feel like it will cause mental illness. Horrible."

• She...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 14, 2019

For Chronic Pain "Cymbalta has helped me so much for chronic pain. Initially, I felt dizzy and weird for about a month on 30mg a day. And, I didn't think it helped my pain. My doctor increased the dose to 60mg a day and said that is the standard dose for fibromyalgia. Since the dosage increased, my pain has been helped 70 to 80%. I am glad I stuck with it. I haven't gained weight, and my appetite has decreased a little, which is good."

• Fib...
• April 22, 2019

For Chronic Pain "I was prescribed Cymbalta for fibromyalgia and depression. I was taking it for over 3 years, but I developed a tolerance for it because it stopped working. While I was on it, it worked really well. It took some time to take effect, like 15 days, but when it did, it worked very well. I was able to continue working 50-hour weeks. The only horrible thing was when it finally stopped working, so I had to resign from my job and subsequently lost my health insurance. I couldn't afford the Rx, so I stopped taking it cold turkey. The side effects were horrendous! I was shaking, nauseous, had really bad headaches, dizzy. I finally had to borrow money to get the med back and then weaned off slowly."