Mental Health Notes

35 opinions for Depression Hurts…Yeah, So Does Cymbalta

• Erin
  Oct 29, 2007 at 2:47 pm

  I had actually written an article on a diabetes site that I’m affiliated with in which I talked about how Cymbalta was recently approved by the FDA to treat neuropathy. (here is the link if you are interested http://www.battlediabetes.com/cymbalta-diabetes-nerve-pain/)

  I see that some of the articles you have pointed to talk about the FDA advising Eli Lilly to stop their claims that Cymbalta treats pain…I wonder what changed to get the FDA to approve it to treat pain? It certainly wasn’t the drug.

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  Oct 29, 2007 at 3:16 pm

  That’s a good question. I’m beginning to feel like there will never be clear answers about this anti-christ of a drug.

  I’ve just commented on your article.

• amy
  Oct 29, 2007 at 7:28 pm

  A man who murdered his wife while on Cymbalta was found not guilty by reason of “involuntary intoxication”. The full media article is available for this tragic case. This case and other Cymbalta stories can be read at: http://www.ssristories.com

• Gianna
  Oct 29, 2007 at 11:01 pm

  I have yet to take an anti-depressant that doesn’t hurt….not to minimize your particular hell. Effexor is what killed me and now I refuse to ever go on an SSRI or SNRI ever again.

  In fact I am so disenchanted with psych meds I’m going off all of them.

  You know, I guess, that NAMI has heavy funding from pharmaceutical companies and often pushes unnecessary drugs?

  In any case I hope you feel better soon. I understand your suffering.

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  Oct 30, 2007 at 5:59 am

  Amy: WOW. Thank you so much for sharing that Web site.

  Gianna: I had great success with Zoloft and can’t seem to remember why I ever started on this roller coaster of anti-depressants. However, now that I’m med-free, I don’t plan to go back - even to Zoloft. I, too, am disenchanted, and am going to try to tackle this thing naturally. Wish me luck, haha :)

  It seems NAMI has left a bad taste in your mouth, and for that I am sorry. During my time as someone merely interested in NAMI and then as someone currently working with NAMI WV to foster a successful NAMI support group in my county, “[pushing] unnecessary drugs” is something I’ve never witnessed. NAMI support groups’ goals are to eradicate mental illness and provide education, research, advocacy, and support to people with mental illness, their family members, and their friends - and fortunately, that’s all my experience has been. I wish it had provided you with the same kind of help.

  Each member of NAMI National’s Board of Directors has some kind of background with mental illness, whether it’s educational and professional training or mere personal experience. I doubt, if any of them backed a particular drug individually or as a whole, that they’re doing it haphazardly. Of course, regardless of what one person or group backs, we all have to make our own decisions, preferably with the help of our own mental health professionals who know us and our conditions.

  I don’t agree with the phrase “unnecessary drugs,” because for many, help in the form of medication is necessary and what that medication is varies from person to person. At the same time, I feel that in order to determine whether or not a particular drug is right for a person, the person needs to know all pros and cons of the drug and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of taking the drug in relation to his or her mental health state with a doctor.

  For example, a close friend of mine swears by Cymbalta - her testimony, in addition to those God-forsaken “Depression hurts…” Cymbalta commercials, is what made me think, “Hey, I should give this a try.” Did my doctor offer any opinion, or try to further explore my options or decision? No. Was Cymbalta unnecessary for me? Yes.

  Here’s to going it med-free!

• Mary Ann Walsh
  Oct 30, 2007 at 8:38 am

  hi I want to get off effexor, i have been on this med for almost 3 years, prior to this prozac since 1990, can you give me some information re withdrawal and do these medications make your brain ‘addicted’ to them? what else do i need to prepare myself? I cannot stand the brain zaps on the effexor, i never experienced this on the prozac, i dont want anything to do with them anymore, please help me thanks mary ann

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  Oct 30, 2007 at 9:06 am

  Hi Mary Ann -

  The first thing I would recommend to prepare yourself for weaning off of any medication is talk to your current doctor. S/he will hopefully be helpful in providing information about possible withdrawal symptoms - from my experience and from reading the comments left here at MHN and other Web sites, it’s a toss up - some doctors seem helpful, and some seem to deny that there are any withdrawal symptoms. If you and your doctor determine it’s OK for you to stop taking Effexor, and develop a plan to safely do so, make sure you let him or her know about any withdrawal symptoms you have - and make sure he or she listens.

  As for Effexor, I don’t have any experience with it but the reader who commented above - Gianna - has, so maybe she’ll see your comment and offer some insight. If she doesn’t see it, you may want to visit her blog (you can access it by clicking on her name beside her comment).

  To my knowledge, Effexor is an SNRI; however, I have heard that people can experience SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome, even if it is an SNRI that they’re withdrawing from. Ask your doctor about SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome - I also recommend you read up on it so you can be on the look-out for symptoms, if you do indeed stop taking Effexor. Here are some useful sites:

  http://bipolar.about.com/cs/antidep/a/0207_ssridisc1.htm

  http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/treatment/antidepressants/discontinuation_events.asp

  http://www.webmd.com/depression/selective-seroton-reuptake-hibitors-ssris?page=6

  Remember, these sites should be used as reference points only - always talk with your doctor.

  Good luck!

• Gianna
  Oct 30, 2007 at 1:26 pm

  Mary Ann,
  I got off Effexor by going painstakingly slow after trying initially to go off quickly per my doctor who did not have a clue. I got off by breaking the capsules and counting pellets. Just a few less pellets a day. I took several months and had virtually no symptoms at all once I did it that way. My doctor wanted me going off 37.5 mg at a time which was WAY to fast and caused all the radical symptoms.

  Counting pellets is a bit of a hassle but I can assure you it’s worth the symptom free withdrawal. And just so you know, Effexor, Paxil and now it seems Cymbalta have the worst reputations with withdrawal. It seems to me, though that most people simply rush it. If you start having symptoms at any time you can just stop and wait and then cut a couple of more pellets.

  I don’t know what your original dose is but you can cut by more earlier on and then less and less the closer you get to getting off. Your body feels smaller changes more as you approach zero.

  good luck!

  And Alicia,
  I know some local NAMI chapters can be quite helpful and have good people involved…but the national NAMI really does have a frightening agenda and policies including supporting forced drugging and having a cozy relationship with the Treatment Advocacy Center which does nothing but promote fear and stigma in the name of “helping” us.

• Jeri
  Oct 30, 2007 at 6:57 pm

  Alicia - Thanks so much for researching and posting the links on Cymbalta.

  Mary Ann - Having hit the wall with Cymbalta twice in the last 10 months and then experiencing the withdrawal from hell, I can attest to the benefits of weaing slowly - wish I had done it way back in early Sept!!! However my symptoms have really decreased in the last week, espcially the verigo-like dizziness. I am cautiously increasing Mirtazipine tonte to 30 mg. Have added Provigil 15 mg to combat the fatigue.

  I went through Effexor withdrawal about 4-5 years ago and at that time every doc I consulted said it was ALL in my head - no such thing as withdrawal from an anti-depressant. Ha! Back in the mid-90’s I took Prozac until my stomach was so destroyed that the gastroenterologist who finally did an upper endoscopy on me said my symptoms were so severe he was sure I had stomach cancer. And that was a whole year after I kept telling everybody that Prozac was hurting me!!! Prozac permanently affected the lining of my stomach so that I need to take medication daily for the resw of my life so I can eat!!!

  I have done some research and found that a supplement called 5-HTP is used widely in Europe for depression with little side effects. I am going to discuss this with my pdoc and get his take on it. You can not take 5-HTP and also take a prescrition anti-depressant - so don’t take it without medical advice!!! Here is an artilce:http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsad/a/5HTP.htm

  I am beginning to think that Effexor, Cymbalta and other SSRIs can have lastng effects on brain chemistry and may interfere with the neurological system if you are a chemically sensitive individual. I have now been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia - same diagnosis I received after I had the Effexor withdrawal. Does withdrawal cause Fibromyalgia flares??? BTW - Fibromyalgia is now being looked at more and more as a central nervous sytem dysfunction including serotonin deficiency - which comes first - depression or fibro???

• Vicki
  Nov 8, 2007 at 2:05 pm

  I have been on Paxil for 6 years. Loved it but felt like it had helped me as much as it could so I asked my Dr. to change me to Cymbalt. I have been on it for 10 days. I am Dizzy, I feel with drawn, like I dont even want to leave my house. Is this going to get better. What is the difference between Paxil and Cymbalta? Maybe I should have let it alone.
  Can you help me out
  thanks

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  Nov 11, 2007 at 11:29 am

  Hi Vicki -

  I’m not sure about specific chemical differences between Paxil and Cymbalta, though all anti-depressants have some differences, just like those of us who take them have differences - that’s why what works for some of us doesn’t work for others. For example, Paxil worked well for you, and it was miserable to me, haha.

  Cymbalta is also prescribed for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP), and I’ve spoken with people who were taking it for chronic fatigue syndrome and even fibromyalgia. Maybe the fact that it also treats pain has something to do with the physical effects it causes those of us who don’t have that extreme kind of pain? I’m not sure.

  When I started taking Cymbalta, I felt jittery, anxious, fidgety, etc. I don’t know that I was on it long enough to see if those side effects would eventually subside (I was on it for a bit over two months, I think); however, they were present the entire time I was on it.

  Definitely talk to your doctor about the side effects, and I’d love to know what he or she says.

• christy
  Nov 13, 2007 at 12:10 am

  Oh my gosh. How long do the withdrawal symptoms last. I don’t think I can take it.

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  Nov 13, 2007 at 10:01 am

  Christy, for me they lasted for about three weeks. A brain zap trickles in every now and then, and I feel nauseous on occasion, but it gets better with each passing day. How long have you been off now?

  Over at http://www.mentalhealthnotes.com/2007/10/02/cymbalta-the-withdrawal-symptoms-from-hell/ lots of folks are discussing their withdrawal at more length if you want to browse through it. It may help.

• christy
  Nov 13, 2007 at 10:31 am

  just three days. the dr. prescribed depacote instead and said it would be an easy transition, no withdrawal symptoms. i was skeptical having come off other antidepressant meds. but i’ve never experienced anything like this before. if i knew it was just one more day i could hang in there, but three weeks?! i can’t hardly function.

• Gianna
  Nov 13, 2007 at 10:59 am

  Christy,
  I suggest reinstating and cutting down very slowly similar to the way I cut down on Effexor. I’ve heard of it taking months for some people to get over a cold turkey withdrawal.

  good luck.

• Vicki
  Nov 13, 2007 at 1:31 pm

  Well I tried!
  I made it 13 days, that was pure hell. I think most of my problem was the withdrawls from the Paxil. Cymbalta just wasnt for me, I know we are all different. I was so sick and I was getting worse, the depression was so severe that Saturday night I started back on paxil. I called my Dr. to talk about this but as of today nobody has called me back.
  I have been well though. I feel so much better its been 3 days back on Paxil.
  Just becareful when changing meds, I wish I would have looked into Cymbalta before I switched I know now that I would have never even went there.
  Good luck to all

• christy
  Nov 13, 2007 at 2:28 pm

  called my dr at about 9 this a.m. the nurse said she would talk with the dr and he would prescribe something to help take the edge off the withdrawal symptoms. nothing yet. no call back yet and the pharmacy hasn’t heard from him. . . kind of wish he could go thru some of this.

• christy
  Nov 13, 2007 at 5:18 pm

  finally heard back from the dr. his nurse tells me he says there should not be any withdrawal symptoms because i am now on depacote. hmmm. wonder what these are then. . . any suggestions? i have seroquel. i have taken about 1/4 of a 25 mg tablet and of course that just makes me more lethargic. isn’t there anything that can be done? if i’m not being a total raging lunatic i’m sobbing and crying. please help!

• Gianna
  Nov 13, 2007 at 5:28 pm

  Your doctor is WRONG! I didn’t think there were doctors so totally ignorant anymore. Tell him to look up SSRI discontinuation syndrome and tell him SNRI’s are the same. The two anti-depressants are similar. He can also simply do a search for “Cymbalta withdrawa” and find all sorts of stuff. If he still doesn’t believe find a new doctor—seriously.

  You need to do some serious self-advocacy Christy. Take care of yourself and demand enough of the drug to titrate slowly.

• Larry
  Jan 31, 2008 at 11:37 pm

  I Have Migraines, went to the doctor and this has been a nightmare. First it was Zoloft, then lexapro, and for the past year cymbalta. I wish i had dealt with the headaches and depression. I quit taking cymbalta cold turkey 3 days ago and feel like shit. Tonight is the first time i bothered to research the problems i have had and ran across posts that are exactly how i feel especially Alicia’s. I am a 42 year old man and this crap has made me feel like a confused teenager, suicidal thoughts, indecissiveness, forgetful, a zombie. I have had enough, thank you all for your insight and at least now i know it is the cymbalta and not me. Good Luck to you all and the hell with medicine.

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  Feb 1, 2008 at 1:52 am

  Good luck to you, too, Larry. Feel free to let us know how it goes. I wish you the best.

• Jenni Schaeffer
  Mar 12, 2008 at 10:19 am

  God help me I am in serious withdrawl from Cymbalta and I was only on it for 4 months! My doctor stopped me cold turkey to try and add two other medications that I didn’t need for problems I didn’t have. She stopped the Cymbalta (60mg) and added Lamictal (100mg) and Depakote (250mg). After 5 days I stopped the Lamictal and Depakote because I have never been diagnosed with bi-polar or seizures. I don’t have either problem. My doctor even told me I didn’t have bi-polar - or depression anymore for that matter. I battled with depression for many years and was on Celexa (40 mg) for probably close to 10 years. My doctor stopped that - put me on Cymbalta (60 mg) for about 4 months then stopped that and added the other two drugs. I am so done being a guinnea pig - I am not depressed, I am not bi-polar, I am just withdrawing and the brain zaps are killing me!!! I am angry and aggitated and short fused with my daughter so much that she is afraid to be around me. I have been off Cymbalta for about 2 weeks now - how much longer do I get to look forward to the zaps and anger? Do you have any idea? Please e mail me - I think you may have the answers I am seeking.
  Thank you!!

• christy
  Mar 12, 2008 at 11:42 am

  I am so sorry you are going through this.

  I was off Cymbalta for 13 days before I had to go back on it. I felt like I could have handled the withdrawal if someone could tell me how long it lasted. Only three more days, or only 6 more days. But it hadn’t gotten any easier.

  I had been on 60mg but then when I went back on they gave me 30mg. Eventually I hope to be able to get off of it but I wasn’t strong enough to handle the illness that came with withdrawal.

  I have 2 kids and I understand what you mean about the kids being afraid to be around you. I exhibited some behavior that was so frightening.

  Cold turkey is not the way to go. Please tell your doctor about the symptoms. You might be able to get back on it for a time and when you feel better you can start to think about slowly coming off.

  Good luck to you. I feel your pain. I’m sorry you have been going through such a rough time.

  Christy

• Jenni Schaeffer
  Mar 18, 2008 at 11:20 am

  I started my own blog about this issue - it’s http://mustyoudothatdoc.blogspot.com Please come and visit. Also, it has been about 2 and a half weeks and I am feeling better. The “zaps” have slowed down and I am feeling like a person again! I would say a month is a good estimate of about how long it will take to get cymbalta out of my system.

  I thank God for His strength. Couldn’t do it without HIM!

• Gianna
  Mar 18, 2008 at 12:01 pm

  Jenni,
  It’s really not possible to generalize about how long withdrawals last. They can be hugely different times for different people—I’ve heard of protracted withdrawals lasting months.

  this is why it is so critical to taper off very very slowly. 10% or less of current dose every two weeks….and so yes, that’s smaller and smaller amounts as you go down the latter. There is room to experiment some but if you’re one of the sensitive people some of them are sorry they ever experimented coming off faster.

• Jenni Schaeffer
  Mar 18, 2008 at 12:12 pm

  Gianna,
  I agree, everyone is different but I didn’t stop my Cymbalta - my doctor advised me to stop it cold turkey. I just followed directions. Being off of it so long I am to the point where I refuse to go back on it just to taper down. I’m just going to ride out the withdrawal and move on.

  But I agree that tapering is the way to go. My doctor told me it wouldn’t be a problem to go cold turkey - she lied. I have a new doctor now.

• Gianna
  Mar 18, 2008 at 12:36 pm

  good luck Jenni…

• shanay
  May 6, 2008 at 1:35 pm

  cymbalta has really helped me.

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  May 6, 2008 at 11:09 pm

  @ shanay - I’m glad Cymbalta is working well for you. Different medications affect different people in different ways; two friends of mine are currently taking Cymbalta and like it very much (actually, one of them swears by it and her high praises of it are actually what made me want to try it out). In the end, however, it just wasn’t the medicine for me. The withdrawal was so much worse than being on it, and I’m thankful it’s over.

• Gianna
  May 6, 2008 at 11:27 pm

  You know the thing with these meds is that they may feel like they work for a while but if they backfire withdrawal is hell. I truly wish I had never touched a drug and dealt with my issues naturally which is what I’m doing now, but not without a lot of damage from the drugs…I’m physically ill from the toxicity and need to heal from it all.

  Luckily I found a psychiatrist who understands psychotropic toxicity. Healing is just a matter of time now.

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  May 6, 2008 at 11:40 pm

  @ Gianna - You are indeed very lucky to have found a psychiatrist who understands (and doesn’t ignore) this stuff!

  How is the natural way working for you (or is it too soon to tell)? I’m still moving forward with the flaxseed oil (which seems to be doing pretty well), and I’ve finally started getting more physically active (something I’ve been saying I was going to get back into for my brain for about a year now!).

• Mary Ann Walsh
  May 7, 2008 at 5:18 am

  hi I am down to 37.5mg of Effexor, was weaned too fast by my doctor and reived a verbal warning at work because I was inappropriate to a customer–something that I have NEVER done before and it was during the ‘peak’ withdrawal time from effexor, I decrease very slowly now and will ‘count’ pellets soon, my doctor did not know what was happening, work has not been the same and not supportive, however I am managing much better and there will certainly not be a repeat!!!!! I am determined to get off the medication entirely eventually but am not rushing it —I am NOT depressed on less amount of Effexor, I am ok and will not LOSE this battle, thank you for your website, it is important to know that you are not alone, also like others my child has suffered but she does understand and now I am more careful when decreasing the dose, thanks again mary ann

• Gianna
  May 7, 2008 at 6:27 am

  Hi Alicia,
  For my own recovery, it’s too soon to tell. I have withdrawn from 4 drugs and have two more to go at very low doses — I’ve come off most of those too — but then I have a fairly high dose of a benzo too.

  Unfortunately, I had so much contradictory information about how to do it, I know now in hindsight that I did it too quickly. I’m suffering for it physically strangely enough, not mentally. I’m profoundly weak and fatigued. Sometimes I can’t even drive because it’s like I feel drunk with weakness. I get headaches, nausea, dizziness.

  In any case, like I said, it was a joy to find this doctor because she got it immediately and had seen it before. I went to about 6 doctors and with careful research before finding this one.

  I know of many people who have gone natural and are doing fine, but recovery can take several years and lifestyle changes for some of them have to be quite radical. It’s not an easy undertaking, though I trust that it is worth it.

  My blog details my journey and offers resources for assistance if people are interested in going natural.

• Gianna
  May 7, 2008 at 7:08 am

  Mary Ann,
  Are you in NC? It’s possible we live near each other if you do…I seem to recall someone of your name in a local email group I used to be part of…?

• Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
  May 10, 2008 at 12:25 pm

  @ Gianna - I’ve just added your blog to MHN’s blogroll - would you like to swap links? I added it as “Bipolar Blast,” but if you’d like it under another name just let me know! I began reading through it last week, and you have lots of interesting stuff there from years of experience, and it always fascinates me to talk with people who’ve been dealing with this stuff for so long - especially given the changes in not only the way mental health is managed, but also in the ways mental health is looked at, over the years.

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