Cymbalta and Tiredness: What Users Say (Page 3)

• Ann...
• May 15, 2017

For Major Depressive Disorder "Although OK when I first started to take this 30mg capsule, then increased to 60 mg daily... After some years, I am showing more signs of tiredness, confusion, anxiety, hot flushes, and forgetfulness, and general mental decline, and still get depressed, among symptoms... Am truly concerned about this, as is my husband and children (as I am not yet 65 years old)... And have always been in good health. I do not smoke, do drugs, and very seldom drink alcohol..."

• Dr ...
• April 14, 2017

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "Within 2 hours of taking the medication, my brain lit up, it felt like I was high. I couldn't contain the energy, so I went for a run. By midway through the day, I went to the park with my nephews, I took them on the swings. I thought I'd go on with them, so I started swinging, and it felt like I was going to die. The most terrible feeling of fear I have ever experienced. It felt like I was free falling. I had a total panic attack. At the end of it, I freaked out and just needed to get home. Could barely drive or focus. By day two, I started feeling a terrible raw feeling in my stomach, fought the feeling of vomiting most of the day, exhausted, detached. My brain would fluctuate between euphoria and complete inability to calculate or communicate."

• 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."

• 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."

• Pac...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 25, 2017

For Depression "Made me so tired, but still also was able to make my anxiety spike, but worse by far is I lost 80% of my once beautiful hair!"

• Lis...
• January 9, 2017

For Anxiety "I'm on Cymbalta 30 mg for my anxiety and depression, and I have been on it for a month. I have no side effects, but nausea and being tired, but that all went away in about 2 weeks. Great meds, works great for me."

• lif...
• November 30, 2016

For Osteoarthritis "I experienced chronic pain for 4 years. I had difficulty sleeping, would go to work, come home, and go to bed. Every time I physically exerted myself-taking a shower, preparing a meal, doing household chores-I would need to go lay down. My family would visit me in my bedroom, it was depressing. Cymbalta has changed my life. I can tolerate the cold, even the grocery store used to bother me. I am much more active and find myself only going to bed when it is time for sleep. I also sleep much better. My family has noticed a huge change in me, as far as being a part of life again. This is not without cost: I have the strangest dreams, +30 lbs, tired, and terribly constipated."

• 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."

• 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."

• cym...
• June 8, 2016

For Major Depressive Disorder "So I gave it an OK review score because it did make me feel less depressed. However, as a whole, I think Cymbalta is bad for you and can lead to terrible health consequences. The side effects I experienced while taking the drug (30 mg for 6 months) were horrible, and I gained a ton of weight, which didn't help the initial cause of me wanting to take the drug - depression (when you don't feel confident, you're less happy, what can I say). A few pounds to become a happier person is OK, but it really made me gain weight and also made me tired, nauseous, sweaty, and experience muscle spasms. Along with this, withdrawing was horrible. I wish big pharma would be less money-hungry and focus on creating effective medications with reduced side effects."

• 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)."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 29, 2016

For Depression "For over 20 years, I've used antidepressants, and this, by far, is the best I've ever used. However, there are some downsides. I'm constantly hungry all the time. I've put on 2 stone, which is giving me another problem to deal with because that doesn't make me feel good, and excessive sweating. I've reduced my dose with doctor's supervision to try to help these side effects, and the tiredness is so bad, but I've definitely had little or no anxiety."

• Fri...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 3, 2016

For Depression "Unusual tiredness and loss in stamina."

• Erz...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 24, 2016

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I've just been on 60mg for 4 weeks and the improvement has been great. My anxiety is all but gone, and I can't tell you how good it feels not to worry about every single thing in life. I enjoy things more and can focus longer as a result, absorbing things better, instead of just randomly seeing everything. I was a bit nauseous to start and tired, but it's all but gone as well. I've also lost 2 pounds. Very happy so far!"

• Mar...
• January 16, 2016

For Depression "After battling dysthymia alternating with moderate anxiety for years and trying all sorts of natural means to treat it, I slipped into major depression. I was prescribed a low dose of Cymbalta-20 mg. After taking just two pills over three days, it has been one awful drug trip. I'm hoping for the heavy, dizzy feeling of pressure on my brain to end. The lethargy, nausea, and chills have also been bad. I have two children, one of whom stayed home sick while I was on this, and I could barely care for her. It killed my appetite, which I didn't think would be a bad thing, but when you only feel like eating a banana and an orange all day, it becomes a problem. I'm looking forward to 'just' feeling depressed again."

• Anx...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 15, 2015

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I have experienced anxiety and mild depression for several years. I finally decided to get help. Cymbalta has really helped. I noticed a change in the first couple of days. My anxiety has all but disappeared. I experienced dry mouth and interrupted sleep the first several days. I have experienced tiredness, but that has lessened over this month, and I hope it will go away altogether."

• Ami...
• December 15, 2015

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I have been taking this medication for about 2 months and have found it very helpful. I have a bad chemical imbalance disorder, which just means that there are too many chemicals in my brain, they were causing me to faint, have twitches, and shivers nearly every hour, and seizures, to the point where I ended up in the hospital after smacking my head on tiles during an episode. So far, so good, the medication has helped a lot. I think for nerve damage or anxiety, this medication will help, but maybe not for depression. I am always exhausted, and my libido has significantly reduced, but no twitches or seizures. I do notice that if I forget to take the medication, or I drink, my twitches and fits return. :) Does not mix well with alcohol."

• Ski...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 9, 2015

For Fibromyalgia "Definitely didn't find enough pain relief until I was prescribed powerful pain meds - side effects, tired all the time, itchy all the time, very annoying!!"

• lik...
• November 11, 2015

For Back Pain "Though I read so many negative opinions about it, I decided to try taking Cymbalta. After two months, I decided to stop taking it. First of all, my relationships got bad, I was careless and numb. I also had a very strange feeling from time to time, like I was dreaming. Sometimes I was anxious and couldn't sleep, and had very vivid and bad dreams and panic attacks. It had an immediate effect on my libido, which got so low it almost disappeared. The main problem with the drug was that I felt good, even-tempered most of the time. This state always took my mind off the very bad side effects of the medicine, and I was so relieved from the pain, I set aside all the negative effects of it. It's day 1 without it, and I feel dizzy and so tired, I...zzz."

• Sti...
• November 3, 2015

"I suffer from PTSD and the associated issues: anxiety and depression that are part of the package. Started a generic brand. This is the 3rd drug I have been on, previously, I was on Lexapro, which worked but caused a very emotionless state after 2 years. Then Valdoxan worked slowly, great for sleep, then eventually leveled off after 2 years. As for Cymbalta, the first 5 days weren't fun: tired, anxious, negative thoughts, very spaced out, couldn't drive, and nausea. Then just as fast as the side effects came on, they went over 48 hours. Now just a week in, I feel better, more positive, and very little side effects: slight nausea that is improving every day. I'm confident that the drug will work and find myself looking forward to the future."

• Luc...
• October 15, 2015

For Depression "I was on Cymbalta for years but became incredibly exhausted. Doc said the accumulation of using the drug so long can lead to tiredness and also weight gain. Promptly changed drugs to Wellbutrin, Epitec, and Aspen Trazodone. Felt amazing and lost almost 15 kg. Wellbutrin started causing tremors, so now replaced Wellbutrin with Brintellix and gaining weight, sadly, as a great drug."

• Gae...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 8, 2015

For Depression "The initial side effects were horrible. I felt exhausted and nauseated all the time. After a month, I noticed a dramatic improvement in my mood. I had energy, I was less depressed and anxious. Prior to starting Cymbalta, I had tried two different antidepressants that did not seem to be effective. The decreased libido with Cymbalta is worth having my life back."

• Fin...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 14, 2015

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "I'm a mom in my 40s and though my life should have been happy (great husband and kids) I was constantly worried, paranoid, combative, and quick to anger. It took months to convince myself to call a psychiatrist but finally I did. At first she put me on Effexor but I hated it (brain zaps, teeth clenching, nausea, lethargy). I tried to hang in there but after 6 months I asked for something else. She gave me Cymbalta. WOW is all I can say. No real side effects, and most importantly, I'm laughing and smiling again. I don't feel angry all the time anymore, and for the first time in years, I'm calm. I also suffer back pain, and it is seriously lessened with Cymbalta. I pray my insurance continues to pay for it."

• 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."