Cymbalta and Withdrawal: What Users Say (Page 4)

• Anonymous
• April 22, 2012

For Peripheral Neuropathy "I was given this originally for fibromyalgia. It worked well for the pain, however, it took a higher dosage to keep the pain away. The side effects became a problem, spacey and fuzzy all day. I tried to stop taking it, yet the doctor did not want me to stop. I stopped on my own, cold turkey. Wow, 6 weeks to get it out of my system! Went to the hospital with withdrawal symptoms, bad."

• skb...
• February 16, 2012

For Fibromyalgia "My doctor put me on Cymbalta for fibromyalgia, and I have to say that it was really effective at reducing my pain, helping me sleep, and clearing up the brain fog. However, I began having some side effects that became serious when my doctor increased my dosage - being clumsy, hot all the time and sweating profusely, and agitation bordering on hypomania. I also noticed my blood pressure seemed to be high - around 150/94 - which was unusual for me. The last straw was the day my blood pressure went up to 170/120. Turns out that the Vyvanse I take for ADHD plus the Cymbalta caused serotonin syndrome. Then I had horrible withdrawal coming off of it. Make sure your medicines won't interact before starting Cymbalta!"

• Anonymous
• October 27, 2011

For Depression "I was prescribed 30 mg of Cymbalta in February 2010 and took a daily dose until now. I am currently on Day 12 of being Cymbalta-free. For a period of time, Cymbalta worked really well for me; however, after over a year and a half on it, I was beginning to feel like a zombie, and there were serious sexual side effects that interfered with my quality of life. My doctor instructed me to stop Cymbalta cold turkey, and so far, it has been the worst 12 days of my life. Horrible, HORRIBLE withdrawal symptoms that actually sent me to the hospital. Although Cymbalta did work well for me in the beginning, had I known about the withdrawals, I wouldn't have taken it."

• Anonymous
• August 25, 2011

For Fibromyalgia "Wonderful medicine, but beware of withdrawal if you have to get off the medicine. I had to when I lost my insurance, and I had severe withdrawals ranging from brain shocks (feeling like on a constant merry-go-round), severe nausea, suicidal thoughts, anger outbursts, extreme confusion. These lasted for about 6 weeks."

• Lau...
• July 5, 2011

For Depression "Cymbalta has given me my life back. I finally feel like me again. The loving, caring, free-spirited person I had forgotten about. I can finally function, which is so important to me. I am getting a 4.0 in college. I feel like a walking miracle! I can't believe where I am today; that a pill could literally save my life. I was so close to suicide, so violent, and so depressed. I wanted to die. I'm FINALLY HAPPY! It's sad that Cymbalta has low reviews from people withdrawing from it. I'm sure it's difficult. But does that take away from how much it helps!? I might be on it the rest of my life, who knows?"

• sen...
• May 21, 2011

For Depression "It worked pretty good for a while. Didn't stop the suicidal urges, but it was better than other antidepressants I tried. I had to have the dose increased over time to 90 mg to keep getting the same effect, and then it quit working entirely after a couple of years, leaving only the side effects to contend with. Reaching orgasm was pretty difficult, and sometimes I would only be able to once every week or two. It took 3 months to taper off of this, withdrawal was troublesome but not impossible to deal with."

• Dau...
• May 10, 2011

For Fibromyalgia "My mother started taking this medicine to help with her fibromyalgia and depression. A few weeks after she started taking it, she developed pain and stiffness (a rare side effect) in her right calf. (This was different from her fibromyalgia pain. Blood clots and various other problems were ruled out with dozens of visits to doctors.) She stopped taking the medicine, but withdrawal was bad. Her doctor was of no help and was ignorant of the withdrawal effects. She still suffers from the effects of withdrawal, although most days are better than they were. However, she still has immense pain in her leg, and finally a doctor discovered that she had actual muscle damage."

• cot...
• February 8, 2011

For Depression "Cymbalta works great, but withdrawals are ridiculous."

• dgf...
• September 5, 2010

For Anxiety "Prescribed via a psychiatrist for severe panic attacks for 2 years. If I take the dosage late or forget to take it, the withdrawal symptoms kick in. Gnawing physical pain, breathlessness, disorientation to time, difficulties in word finding while speaking, severe muscle pain and stiffness, nausea, labile emotions, and panic."

• veg...
• January 4, 2010

For Generalized Anxiety Disorder "After trying around 8 different drugs for my GAD (General Anxiety Disorder), this one seems to be helping. I don't want to jump the gun too quick, it's been a month with a 30 mg every other day and about 3 weeks at 30 mg a day, but I think it's working somewhat. Still don't like the idea I have to take it and always worried about side effects and getting off it, if and when I'm ready. Have had some bad withdrawal symptoms with some of the others that rivaled getting off pain medicines... no fun!"

• Ace...
• November 17, 2009

For Anxiety "This medicine was the 1st thing in YEARS that made me feel like myself again. It started working within a few days. The panic attacks subsided almost immediately, and the depression lifted. The side effects I experienced (although annoying) were nothing compared to the benefits it gave me. The 1st 2 weeks, I was nauseous and tired, felt out of it, but my head was clearer and thoughts focused after that. I did lose like 20 pounds, it stopped my emotional eating. The worst part was the night sweats I had for about 2 months or so. I was on it for about 5 months but had to wean off due to lack of insurance. Coming off was terrible, though... total withdrawal, brain zaps, confusion, etc. I'll get back on it as soon as I can because I know it did wonders."

• Anonymous
• October 2, 2009

For Anxiety "I took Cymbalta for 7 weeks for postpartum anxiety/depression. After the initial week of feeling nausea and fatigue, I started to feel better. I stayed on 30 mg, but found after 5 weeks I was having vivid, disturbing dreams, insomnia, sweating, and the anxiety came back. I started tapering off, and even at the low dose, the withdrawals are quite uncomfortable - after tapering and stopping the drug I still get a buzz/pulse/shock-like sensation in my head almost constantly after a week. Great if it helps, but hard to get off!"

• Anonymous
• September 29, 2009

For Depression "This medicine worked while I was taking it, but when my doctor stopped my use, the withdrawals were awful! Be very careful! It was the worst thing I had ever been through in my life! He took me slowly off the medicine, but that did not matter. I've heard others with the same response as myself."

• Kri...
• July 4, 2009

For Depression "I was on this medication for three days, missed one day, and for a week, my body was in the most excruciating pain. It was almost as if the withdrawal gave me fibromyalgia. Also, I was a different person on all of the medications I tried. Be careful with any medicine you take. It was painful, but I also needed it because of severe suicidal ideation."

• ki_...
• June 11, 2009

For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome "I have been experiencing chronic fatigue (inability to muster up energy for anything) for as long as I can recall. My doctor gave me a trial for Cymbalta for approximately two months, and I noticed an improvement. My mom had a stroke, and I was away for a few weeks, and unfortunately, I ran out of my medication, so I thought I would be okay without it. I was wrong! I experienced major withdrawals after about two weeks. I was easily agitated. I did not leave my apartment. I could not sleep. Some nights I was up until 4:00 AM. Earlier in the week, I went back on it, and things seem to be slowly getting back on track."

• Anonymous
• June 20, 2008

For Anxiety "I was on Cymbalta for two years. I had no side effects and it worked really well for my anxiety. I had no sexual side effects, which was great. I decided to go off of it thinking that I didn't need it anymore. I thought that I tapered it by taking 20 mg for a month. Once I started taking 20 mg every other day, it was like experiencing the withdrawal symptoms over again each time. I finally just stopped taking it and had awful withdrawal symptoms - more monitoring would have helped."

• jom...
• September 27, 2007

For Pain "Cymbalta provided amazing relief for my neuropathic pain and depression, though it also seemed to have bad side effects. The night terrors I experienced were unimaginable and occurred almost nightly. I had taken this medication for over a year, and after choosing to discontinue it, the withdrawal symptoms that followed seemed severe. I would advise a cautious approach."