Anybody here ever taken Cymbalta?

[morgana]

New doctor has me on it (since Monday) and I'm feeling really weird. Almost like I was drunk. Is this normal? Help?

[katie kaboom]

No, but i just found a letter about it on PFB. Sounds like you're not the only one suffering from side effects...

http://www.planetfeedback.com/eli+lilly/information+availability/cymbalta+withdrawl+symptoms/309537

[Evil Queen]

I feel the same way when I take Ambian. I think it's just your body not being used to the drug.

But, whatever you do, DON'T DRIVE. No.

[crazylegs]

There should be a leaflet with the drugs which lists all possible side effects, it might be on there.

[Heksubah]

I just started on it today for my headaches and yeah... I went through that earlier. (I took mine in the morning and it is now midnight so I don't feel as messed up.) I went through a twitchy period where I felt quite a bit shaky, drunk, wired and very spastic all at the same time. My body wasn't shaking, but it felt like I wanted to make it shake and twitch and I was very high strung. When I stood up the world felt blurry and floaty like when drunk, very disconnected.

What sucks is I'm on step therapy so I'm on the lower dosage 'til I adapt to it and then I step up to a higher dosage so I'll get to go through it twice.

I'm on so many meds right now... bleh. Pain meds, muscle relaxers (which knock me out at my desk at night and keep me so fried that it takes me 2-3 hours to wake up enough to make myself get up and go to bed. I keep waking up, but I can't get up!), anti-nausea meds, thyroid meds, soon to be on a blood pressure med that treats migraines, and now the cymbalta. BLARGH! That is my official response!

[morgana]

Heksubah, that sounds exactly like what I'm feeling. I take the stuff in the morning and by about 2 in the afternoon I'm completely out of it. Then it starts to clear a little about 10pm. I'm thinking I might start taking it about noon, then the weirdness would hit about time to go to bed.

I'm on it for pain and possible ADD. I do actually feel like it's helping a little physically, but, wow . . . And I'm supposed to step up in a couple of weeks myself. If it's this bad on the lower dose, I don't know how I'm going to cope if the doctor decides to double it.

Oy.

[Misanthropical]

morgana, does it help with pain? does it help with ADD? Why am I sounding like Dr. Suess?

I ask about the pain and ADD with all seriousness, though.

[Heksubah]

Just to throw in another voice about the pain, I'm on day two of my Cymbalta and it seems to be reducing my pain to some degree. That said, I did still have to pop some percocets today just to keep it manageable. I blame that on the fact that I sit next to a door that makes a very loud CHUNK when people badge in at work.

As far as the weird symptoms... today it made me all wired and jittery again. I avoided moving from my desk so I don't know if the drunk feeling was as strong. It also added to my tiredness a whole ton. I actually kept passing out at my desk while trying to work. During my first break one of my pharmacists came and shook my shoulder (I nap during breaks) and asked if I was alright... I had overslept by 17 minutes! My alarm had even gone off! All my darn meds are trying to make me comatose!

[BookstoreEscapee]

I take Effexor, which is the same type of drug (selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor). When I first started on it I felt drunk, too; it lasted about a week. It should go away as your body adjusts. Just be careful moving around.

I don't know if Cymbalta has the same "half-life" (the time it takes for the drug to leave your system) as Effexor; if it does, be aware that if you miss a dose, you may feel it rather quickly. I take my pill at dinner, but if I forget I feel it by the next afternoon (I get queasy and dizzy). The faster the drug leaves your system the more withdrawal effects you'll get, so you want to make sure to take it around the same time every day.

www.cymbalta.com (http://www.cymbalta.com) is the official website; you might also try searching on www.webmd.com (http://www.webmd.com) for more info.