Cymbalta and Headaches: What Users Say (Page 4)

• cad...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 12, 2017

For Depression "It alleviates my depression. But I have some headache, I am not sure if it is caused by the drug."

• Kyp...
• May 11, 2017

For Depression "Previous med Lexapro quit working after several years. Cymbalta seemed to work for the 1st week, but I think it may have been a placebo effect. After about a week, my body started hurting and feeling hot from the inside, especially my legs below my knees. After about 3 weeks, stiff neck, hot flashes, restlessness, anxiety, headaches. 4 weeks, all these plus talking in sleep, joint pain, body aches, stiff feeling, trouble focusing, and I asked to be taken off it. I was only at 30mg."

• lon...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 9, 2017

For Depression "Horrible headache, drowsiness, feeling of paralysis, and diarrhea."

• PJN...
• May 5, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "For almost 2 years, I had felt like I was exhausted and in pain all of the time. I was told that it was osteoarthritis and because of my getting adult acquired flat feet. Finally, I went to an arthritis doctor who said it was fibromyalgia and started on Cymbalta two weeks ago. Within 5 days, I felt relief. It has given me hope to be able to do things without constant pain. I still get tired easily, but I can finally sleep at night and not be nearly as stiff in the morning. I was scared to death when reading about the side effects. Other than a headache for a few days... that was all for me. I'm so glad it has changed my life."

• Rac...
• March 26, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "I was prescribed Cymbalta when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year. Cymbalta is by far the worst medicine I could ever imagine being on. It did nothing for my fibromyalgia pain. I stayed on it to see if it would work with time, nothing. I told my doctor I felt no better about my fibromyalgia pain and decided to wean off. This is the ugly part. My dose went from 60 mg to 30 mg for the next two weeks, and then I was told to take it every other day for 2 weeks, and so I did. Here I am, 3 days off of it completely, and I feel horrendous. Muscles are stiff, mouth is constantly dry, diarrhea is nonstop, vomiting, constant nausea, headache, body zaps, brain zaps, feeling exhausted but can't sleep. Cymbalta is hell. Please avoid at all costs."

• Sug...
• March 9, 2017

For Depression "I took it for 5 days, 30 mg, and have never felt so sick. The first day, I was crippled with diarrhea and a headache, which continued to the following day. I then got a tightness in my throat and couldn't stop yawning. I stopped eating due to the nausea. The headache didn't go away, and by day 3, it was joined by an earache and sweating. Yesterday was the worst. All of a sudden, my vision became blurry, and I couldn't talk properly. It was terrifying. Like my brain stopped working. I couldn't drive and was so dizzy I kept falling over. I stopped immediately and now have to wait 3 days for it to leave my system. I still feel horrendous, and I still can't see properly."

• Lea...
• January 5, 2017

For Depression "This medication saved my life. I was severely depressed with suicidal thoughts...felt miserable and completely hopeless. The hardest thing was the first couple of weeks on this drug. I had nausea, fatigue, headaches, etc. But please, if you are suffering, stick with it. 6 weeks later, I am happy, hopeful, trying new things, and loving life. This is a medication that takes TIME, so be patient. But it has completely changed my life and I am so grateful."

• CGW...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 6, 2016

For Depression "So far, so good. I haven't been on it very long, but I definitely feel like my overall quality of life has improved. Mild headache and nausea the first week or two, which went away. I still get sad when sad things happen, but it no longer feels overwhelming. The 'doom and gloom' is definitely gone. I take 2 a day in the morning."

• Sus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 28, 2016

For Depression "I had/having a horrible time with this medication. Currently trying to wean off with my MD's help. I've had every listed side effect and subsequent health problems that required expensive work-ups. Most dramatically, I developed vertigo and severe headaches after being on the med for about 3-4 months. Vertigo was debilitating and required time off of work and multiple doctor appointments to rule out other conditions. I also had electrical zings and numbness and tingling down my body. The weaning has been the most problematic, causing these awful side effects to worsen. I'm a registered nurse, and I would never recommend this drug to anybody. I did not feel any benefits for my depression."

• ItW...
• October 14, 2016

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I have GAD and mild depression. I initially had side effects such as insomnia, no appetite, and nausea, but they went away after a few days. This has helped my anxiety tremendously! It is not without side effects, though. If I forget to take it, I will get nausea, headaches, and dizziness. I did gain weight and some diarrhea, but it has had no bad sexual side effects. I have been taking this for a year now. I am finding that the depression is now increasing, so maybe time for a dosage change. Just keep in mind everyone is different, and sometimes the benefits outweigh the effects."

• WTH...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 3, 2016

For Depression "Started with 30 mg. First day taking it was okay, but from day two until now, I have had crippling diarrhea, wicked headaches, and nausea. Stopping this nasty medicine today. Unbelievable that I had to change doctors, and I told them what had worked for me: Lexapro and Alprazolam. But these doctors think they know best."

• the...
• August 8, 2016

For Chronic Pain "I started out on 30 mg for one week, then moved up to 60 mg. Since starting the larger dose, I am having frequent dizzy spells, headaches, and fatigue. I am planning to give it more time, this Rx, so far, has been the only Rx that has lowered my pain due to chemotherapy. Hopefully, these side effects will stop soon."

• Wor...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 19, 2016

For Depression "Then everything went haywire. The psychiatrist kept me going until I was at 120 mg a day. Depression worsened, experienced disassociative episodes (foggy memory while on these episodes where I do not remember certain events), increased headaches, insomnia, irritability, and suicidal thoughts. I'm appalled that my psychiatrist thought it was okay to keep increasing the dose until it was more than double what I was taking initially (20 mg), despite symptoms getting much worse. During this time, I also had 0 access to adequate talk therapies, whether in a group setting or 1-1 with a trained counselor. I am absolutely sickened that these dangerous drugs are promoted as a band-aid fix-all solution when talk therapies are completely disregarded."

• mr ...
• June 15, 2016

For Chronic Pain "I have taken Cymbalta for 5 days now, worked a bit to take some sharp pains away, but side effects outweighed the good. I started 30 mg, dizzy, headaches, very upset stomach, very gassy, burping, and farting. I had a lot of pain along the beltline from my belly button all the way to the left side of my hip. Today I passed bright red blood with clots 3 separate times. I had one other time months ago with severe pain in the same location and passed blood then too. Both times I was on Cymbalta, so today I got googly and found that Cymbalta can cause abnormal bleeding in intestines, stomach, etc., and mixing drugs such as aspirin can increase the risk of bleeding. It reads bleeding can get as bad as having a life-threatening hemorrhage. rxlist.com is 1 source."

• Fee...
• June 12, 2016

For Depression "Vomiting, headaches, loss of energy, suicidal thoughts, and urinary cramps. My doctor wants me to stay on this six to eight weeks, though, before he will let me try gabapentin. Military doctors must get paid a bunch to prescribe this mess!"

• Des...
• May 10, 2016

For Depression "I had started with Prozac (20 mg) about 4 months ago, but it wasn't steadily effective, and I felt worse the week before my period. It would also make me tired during the day. The doctor switched me to Cymbalta while weaning me off Prozac as such: - week 1: take 20 mg capsule of Prozac with 30 mg capsule of Cymbalta a day - week 2: take 30 mg capsule of Cymbalta a day - week 3: take 60 mg capsule of Cymbalta a day. Going forth, I felt great with Cymbalta just in my first week: more energy, felt kind of high like on E, but in a good way... just happy. I experienced a few days of insomnia my first week, which I battled with Melatonin an hour before bed (10 mg). I experienced headaches for a few days, but that also went away. Feel great!!"

• Pan...
• May 3, 2016

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I've been on Cymbalta for a few years now (on various doses) alongside clonazepam (0.5 mg twice/day), and I have to say it's been the worst experience of my life. I was put on it after Effexor XR basically stopped working after 4 yrs. At first, Cymbalta seemed to 'take the edge off.' I didn't notice many of the initial side effects because of my severe withdrawal from Effexor. But after about 9 months at 30 mg, Cymbalta just stopped working and actually started to make me experience anxiety and panic attacks that were insanely intense. I have moved up to 60 mg and back down to 30, upped my clonazepam, and it's just gotten worse and worse. Weight gain (50 lbs), severe panic attacks, GAD, severe depression, OCD, stomachache, IBS, headache, ..."

• Kim...
• March 17, 2016

For Chronic Pain "I thankfully have never had depression! However, I have chronic severe pain (ankylosing spondylitis). I tried Cymbalta in my mid-30s... YES, it made me EXTREMELY nauseous and I got headaches... But only for the first week! I felt like it gave me my life back. But it was short-lived, and I only took it for 6 months because I ended up getting immune to it. At 60 mg/day, it did nothing for pain! I went back on it at 39 after many failed attempts of other meds! But this time, I also take Dilaudid with it for breakthrough pain (usually only need once but sometimes twice a day). I've been back on Cymbalta for almost 2 years now and feel like I have my life back! I'm able to work (I'm a waitress) and drive and LIVE life!"

• She...
• March 6, 2016

For Depression "I took 1 30 mg capsule of Cymbalta yesterday. That will be the only dose of this medicine I will take. I had to leave work yesterday because of how sick to my stomach it made me. I felt jittery and lightheaded all day. I didn't take it this morning. I haven't felt jittery, but I have been extremely lightheaded and have had a headache all day. All that from one dose. I have been on many anti-depressants over the years. The only other one that made my head feel like this was Prozac, and I didn't stay on it long. Having a job, I can't afford to be sick from side effects. I will be calling the Dr. tomorrow and telling her I want to try something else. Also, I have heard a lot of reviews about this drug, and most that I have read are not very good."

• Led...
• February 17, 2016

For Depression "I was on the meds in 2014. I noticed black marks on my arms and legs, unusual. I stopped taking it, the marks went away. After suffering many traumatizing events, I went back on last year to find more random black marks on my body. I'm not sure if it's working for depression. I'm still sad most days. I also have constant headaches, mood swings, and still high pain levels. Depression runs deep. I know I need something, just scared to try the list. SMH."

• Ash...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 15, 2016

For Depression "This was the third medication I tried for my depression and anxiety. I'm not going to lie, the entire time I was on it, I felt like I was on ecstasy 24/7. Everything was rainbows and sunshine, and I felt so euphoric and amazing and warm and fuzzy. However, I had the nastiest headaches constantly, and they came on as soon as I'd take the meds. Almost the entire time, I felt so nauseous, and I had migraines, and it didn't let up. I switched at my monthly appointment because the headaches made the euphoria not worth it."

• In ...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 7, 2016

For Major Depressive Disorder "I was put on this med due to degenerative arthritis in my neck and depression. (I was taken off the other mood meds and swapped to just this.) For two weeks, I took 30 mg, which didn't seem to help much. I also suffer from headaches/migraines. I was upped to 60 mg, which after the 3rd day was the first time in over 40 years I didn't wake up with a headache. It's been 4 days now with no headache. I have a bit of a humming in my ear, like when an amp is left on, but I'll take that over headaches any day. Occasionally, I've had the runs, but not sure if this is med related. I have noticed an improvement in my mood. Also, I should mention I also started seeing a chiropractor for the first time, and she's also done some miracle work on the neck."

• dyo...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 8, 2015

For Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy "Not diabetic neuropathy, but neuropathic pain nonetheless. Works wonderfully... except for the terrible acne it's causing, and the relatively frequent but terrible headaches. I also have some issues with anxiety; it has done exactly nothing of use there."

• Mad...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 28, 2015

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I've been taking Cymbalta for about 3 weeks now. I started with 30 mg for the first week. I found it worked but not quite there for me, so I asked my doctor to increase it for me. I'm on 60 mg a day now, which I take in the morning. I feel much better on this dose. I feel happier, much calmer, relaxed, less worry, and I even find myself being more friendly to people in general. I also take 300 mg of Wellbutrin in the morning for my depression. This combo seems to be really working for depression and general anxiety. Side effects: frequent headaches (I just take Advil when needed), a little bit of increased body temperature, and I'm up later in the evening and wake up earlier in the morn. When I wake, I'm super wide awake and very clear-headed."

• Pop...
• November 22, 2015

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "This review is premature as I am on day 4. I awoke on day 3 with a peaceful mental outlook and very little anxiety, which is most unusual for me. I have a lot of work-related reasons to be anxious. I am very happy and look forward to continued improvement with Cymbalta. I feel hopeful, not hopeless! The only side effect has been a mild headache that went away with NSAID."