Cymbalta and Tiredness: What Users Say (Page 3)

• Anonymous
• January 11, 2010

For Depression "I took Cymbalta for 1 year. It did help with my depression, however, I became very lethargic and gained 25 lbs within 3 months. The weight gain scared me because I had never gained that much in such a short period of time. Also, I did have serious constipation with Cymbalta. If you can handle the weight gain and constipation, I think Cymbalta is the medication to at least try. It does work-or it at least worked with my depression."

• Hey...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 14, 2020

For Anxiety "Took my first Cymbalta yesterday. About 2 hours after taking it, I felt like I had no energy. About 2 hours after that, I was running to the bathroom. That night, I went to sleep fine, but woke up at 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I got out of bed at 5:30 am, grabbed a cup of coffee, and within 3 minutes, I was having heat flashes followed by freezing flashes, felt like I was going to get sick, and had zero energy. Went to the doctor at 8:45 am and was having a reaction to the drug and broke out in a cold sweat in the office. It is now 5 pm, and I still feel like I was run over by a train, no energy, stomach is still iffy, and my head has pins and needles."

• Boo...
• February 24, 2021

For Depression "I have depression and anxiety, so my doctor prescribed me Duloxetine (generic for Cymbalta). I tried other ones, but they either made me too sick or suicidal. He started me at 20 mg and moved me up to 60 mg. It’s helped me a lot. I take it with a combination of going to therapy. I admit when I don’t take it, I become an emotional psychopath. I start to pick fights with people and cry all the time. I also get lethargic, headaches, brain zaps, and dizzy (what happens depends on how long I stop taking it). It’s really great when I’m not being careless or self-destructive. Something I really like about it is that I don’t get sick if I don’t take it with meals. Sometimes I have to skip breakfast, so that makes it convenient. If you choose to take it, I recommend the first week or two to take it at night because it’ll make you really sleepy, but after that, start taking it in the morning because your serotonin starts flowing. It’ll prevent you from sleeping if you continue to take it at night."

• Sha...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 10, 2017

For Depression "I've been taking Cymbalta for depression for two and a half years. My doctor titrated me up to 120 mg. I was at 120 mg for over two and a half years, and almost constantly I was severely depressed, severe anxiety, some paranoia, no energy, overreaction, self-harm, extreme anger, just to name a few. That's not to say I do have some of those problems normally, but not as severe or as constant. So Cymbalta was overlooked as a cause of my worsening issues. Two weeks ago, I was admitted to an inpatient hospital to basically save my life. While I was in there, I was abruptly taken off, then titrated up to 60 mg. I'm a totally different person now. I did a complete 180°. I can't believe what a difference it makes being on the right dose."

• AKX...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 27, 2024

For Fibromyalgia "30 mg now in week 6. Pain is much less, still flare-ups, but it has allowed me to do hard exercise with weights. I do get flare-ups and still experience some anxiety/panic attacks. Alcohol is okay on the night, but the next day makes one very tired. It took over 4 weeks to get past the side effects, including sexual ones, and I'm reluctant to ramp up to 60 mg as the foggy feelings held me back a lot for the first 4 weeks."

• Lot...
• October 17, 2016

For Fibromyalgia "Helped the fibro pain completely. But my sleep is totally messed up, and I am tired all the time. Also, I feel emotionally flat. No motivation at all. For now, I'll keep on it, as having total body pain 24/7 was hell on earth."

• mll...
• July 14, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "I've been taking it for less than a month, and I already want to stop. I would rather be in pain than be how I am with this medicine. It makes me foggy and extremely tired, and depression symptoms I haven't had in months are coming back. I can barely do anything because all I feel like doing is sleeping. My fibro pain isn't horrible anymore, but this is worse. I'm going to stop now while I'm still on 20 mg before weaning off becomes harder."

• Sin...
• July 1, 2016

For Back Pain "I wanted to write this in the hope of helping others. I've been dealing with chronic back pain that got a lot worse and intolerable the last few months. I couldn't sit or drive without back spasms and shooting nerve pain. I was at my wits' end. I tried a Medrol 5-day pack, it didn't seem to help much. My doctor suggested a low dose of 20 mg of Cymbalta. I was desperate, so I thought I would try it, and it's made a major difference-almost immediately. The side effects were bad for about 3-4 days: super tired, yawning nonstop, very fuzzy, and no appetite. But I've been on it now for almost a month, and I'm back to light workouts and able to do mostly normal things. It does affect your libido, though. My doctor also recommended Valium at night."

• CNA...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 28, 2013

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on Cymbalta, 60 mg, for over 5 years. It did work for the fibro pain, even though at stressful times I still felt a minimum of pain. I began to notice after about 3 years that I was very tired all the time and foggy in the brain. It was hard for me to concentrate when someone was talking, and words were hard to find when answering them. I finally told my doctor that I wanted to wean off of Cymbalta, but I haven't found this to be very easy. Been working on it since June, and if I try to lower the dose too fast, I become sick like a very bad flu. I am now more clear-headed and can talk with clarity since my dose was lowered to around 20 mg."

• Ash...
• January 26, 2018

For Fibromyalgia "Started this medicine on 1/17/2018. It has worked wonders for me. I haven't known what pain-free was for 10+ years. The first day or two, I was a bit nauseous and had on-and-off headaches, but felt a decrease in pain immediately. After the 2nd day, nausea passed, and I've felt great, other than being tired all the time, but I'm used to that. I hope everyone else can feel relief with this medicine like I have."

• Que...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 15, 2014

For Depression "I have been on Cymbalta, 60 mg for several months now. I am more relaxed and my depression is not as bad, however, I do still have down moments. I too have noticed that I have dry mouth, yawning, not sleeping soundly every night, and have experienced upper, underneath my ribs on my right side pain. My joints hurt in my knees."

• Dan...
• July 23, 2015

For Fibromyalgia "I have fibromyalgia as well, and I stopped taking Cymbalta because my pains improved a great deal, but I had extreme nausea and exhaustion (especially in the AM). Now my pains have come back to kick my behind. Day 2 of Cymbalta. Seems as if it makes me light sensitive, which gives me a headache and dizziness. Like my eyes are heavy and my skin was clammy. I will continue. I'll get back to you in a few weeks."

• Sim...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 13, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "My confirmed diagnosis is fibromyalgia, Sjögren's, and severe arthritis, which I have suffered from for many years. The fibromyalgia tested the worst out of all other disorders. My PCP gave me 60 mg/day of Cymbalta, which was reduced quickly, for I slept all the time and couldn't control my eyes. My husband said I walked around with my eyes wide open, and I'd forget to blink, he said I resembled a zombie. My RA doctor advised me to combine Cymbalta with Lyrica to increase effectiveness, which I'm hesitant to try. My pain, tiredness, and sensitivity have increased severely with Cymbalta, and I honestly feel it's not worth the risk."

• Bra...
• January 16, 2015

For Depression "I've tried many antidepressants, Effexor XR worked best for me, but after complaining about back pain, my doctor switched me to Cymbalta: 30 mg the first week and then 60 mg. What a personality change in me. I was so aggravated all the time, very snappy. Just not myself. No energy, NOTHING, however, this medicine did work for my back pain. I am being weaned off."

• Ano...
• February 10, 2013

For Anxiety "I've been on Cymbalta for about 8 months now. I never had major side effects to begin with, but the last 3 months I've been experiencing nightmares or crazy dreams. I'm tired a lot, I sweat at night, I feel as if I'm in one mood and the only major emotion I get is anger. It's hard to laugh at things that I used to, and I can't cry anymore. Sometimes I just want to feel frustrated when I know I should, and sad, but I feel stuck and emotionless. I don't think Cymbalta has helped me. I think the only progress I've made with my anxiety, OCD, and depression has been on my own."

• Cal...
• November 13, 2011

For Depression "I have suffered from major depression since childhood and have had fibromyalgia since 2000. I've tried Effexor, Paxil, Elavil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Nortriptyline, Prozac, and on and on. All made my depression worse and left me so tired I couldn't function. I promised her that I wouldn't quit taking it because of side effects and without talking to her first. Three weeks I had had it, but my husband kept encouraging me, and my doctor was out of town. In the 5th week, all the side effects (super, super fatigue, dizziness, nausea, stomach cramps, yawning, no appetite) have disappeared, and I feel fabulous emotionally and physically. Give it time if you've had little success with other antidepressants. This one worked for me."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 21, 2019

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I was prescribed 30 mg of Cymbalta to deal with anxiety and slight depression. The medication is supposed to be titrated up to 120 mg, and I had a hard time even convincing my therapist to go to 60 mg. Once I hit 60 mg, it went downhill. I lost all ability to focus and found myself not enjoying much of anything. I was tired all the time and started nodding off all day, even at work. I stopped taking it, which I know isn't the brightest idea, but I've gotten some of my focus back."

• Use...
• January 17, 2010

For Anxiety "I am 42 and began taking Cymbalta 4 weeks ago. I started with 30 mg for 2 weeks, and am currently taking 60 mg a day. I began taking this drug due to the advice of my doctor after approaching him about my uncontrollable anger issues that have plagued me my entire adult life. I have to say that it has been a lifesaver. I have never gone 1 week, never mind 4 weeks, without an anger outburst or stress-related outburst. My family is happier. I am happier. I have never felt this great. The only side effects are some dry mouth at night and occasional tiredness during the day-an easy trade-off for a drug that has given me my life back!!!"

• Dgr...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 14, 2019

For Fibromyalgia "I have been taking Cymbalta for one month. I am at 30 mg and have not had a lot of bad side effects as others have noted. I do feel more tired, and I have had some minor nose bleeding that seems to have subsided now. I would say this medication has decreased my muscle pain by about 50 to 75% depending on the day. It has also helped with arthritis pain in my hips and back. I would say the joint pain relief is about 25%. I hope I don’t have severe withdrawal symptoms if I have to change medications or stop temporarily for surgery. I have read that it is much easier to taper off if you start taking a small dose of an SSRI like Prozac during the taper."

• R68...
• April 3, 2011

For Anxiety "Started off with a 30 mg dosage. Symptoms started out blurred vision, fogged feeling, mental confusion, mild anxiety, mild depression. Also clenched my jaw and was diagnosed with TMJ. After one week, bumped up to 60 mg. Side effects in the first week or two... tired and drowsy, which went away completely. Stick with it, and you'll see it works wonders. You will be left with clarity and peace of mind."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 3, 2015

For Depression "I have been on Cymbalta for about 3 months. It helped with depression but made me tired most of the time. A week ago, my doctor increased my dosage from 60 mg to 90 mg, and I developed a UTI and have very intense middle back pain. The UTI has been cured, but back pain persists. I just read on a few different threads that Cymbalta caused others to develop bladder infections and back pain, two things I never had prior to taking this drug. This drug also causes me to sweat profusely to the point I feel like I am about to drown in my own sweat. I was never a sweater. I am going to discontinue this drug."

• Sop...
• April 25, 2016

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "These pharmaceutical companies need to figure out ways to engineer better medications. I went on Cymbalta for about 8 months after a long struggle with anxiety. I had mild depressive episodes as well, but it didn't really bother me and mostly came as a result of having bad anxiety that I felt I couldn't control. Cymbalta was great at first, I seemed to actually lose a little weight (didn't need to, but any girl likes to see that), and I had a great mood much of the time. However, I started noticing that it wasn't doing anything for my actual anxiety. It started making me gain weight, I was too tired from the medicine to go to the gym, and had a hard time even making it to the library to study (I'm a college student)."

• eve...
• April 26, 2011

For Anxiety "Cymbalta has changed my life. I suffer from anxiety and trichotillomania, which is an obsessive hair pulling disorder that stems from the anxiety. I've tried many different medications, such as Prozac and Zoloft, etc. I had bad luck with those. The first two weeks on Cymbalta were rough. I was very, very dizzy, felt sick, and did not want to eat. I was very tired and would sweat. I started to take the medication at night because the dizziness was too much. After a week, they upped the dosage, and it got a little better. By three weeks, I felt relieved, and by week five, I felt amazing. I feel like a normal person, my mind is clear, I'm not anxious, and I stopped pulling my hair. The side effects went away except for being slightly tired."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 20, 2012

For Depression "I have been taking Cymbalta for the past 5 days and have noticed a significant change in my personality. My children told me that I am way cooler on my medication. I have not felt like this EVER. Cymbalta is better than Prozac, Paxil, and Depakote, for sure. Prozac made me more anxious and depressed, Paxil made me angry, and Depakote made me lethargic. I must say that I don't particularly like the side effects of Cymbalta, but this medication makes me feel like a human being instead of an irritable, depressed, worried mess."

• LE0...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 2, 2012

For Pain "This medicine is amazing! I have suffered from a bulging disc and facet joint issues for a year, with little lasting relief from injections. I was prescribed Cymbalta a little over a month ago, and by the 3rd or 4th day on it, I was almost literally pain-free. I was afraid to say it out loud for fear that I would jinx myself because it was almost too good to be true. Now, after being on it for 5 weeks, I can work out and get back into my exercise regimen with little to no pain. This has truly been a lifesaver! I did have tiredness and low motivation during the first two weeks, but my body seems very acclimated to it now. I do sweat a lot at night, but I can live with it. Love this medication."