cymbalta is EVIL

I know you’re not supposed to go off certain medications (esp anti-depressants) cold turkey, but I’ve done it before & I never had too much of a problem.  I can’t even begin to tell you the HELL my body went through from last Wed night until *yesterday* when I finally figured out what was going on.  I ran out of my cymbalta on Mon or Tues, & on Wed night out of the blue I got diarrhea (sp?).  I figured it was something I ate.  It continued into  Thurs so I decided to see the doc, b/c I’d felt not so great the past few days before that.  (At this point I didn’t realize that the cymbalta had anything to do w/ it.)  The doc didn’t think it was a virus & instructed me to get an x-ray & a stool sample & come back in a week.  Friday & Saturday more diarrhea, NOTHING that I ate avoided coming out of me 30 min or so later.  Also on Thurs, Fri & Sat I was having dizziness & lightheadedness, which I just assumed was from the diarrhea.

Finally on Sat night I start thinking maybe its the medicine b/c sometimes when I used to forget to take my meds I’d get dizzy & lightheaded until I remembered & took them.  So I looked up "cymbalta withdrawals" online & was SHOCKED by what I read.  HORROR stories of people feeling awful after going off this med, some even from WEANING off it like you’re supposed to!!!!  Everyone had dizziness, lightheadedness (tho diarrhea wasn’t really mentioned) & "brain zaps", which are hard to explain if you’ve never had 1.  It kinda feels like a moment of disoreintation that comes & goes very fast.  There are SO many awful withdrawal symptoms from cymbalta that I can’t BELIEVE this medicine was even allowed on the market!!!!!  I wish I had known about this before I let my doc put me on it!!!! 

I called the pharmacy yesterday & explained the sitch to them & thankfully they gave me 2 pills to get me thru until tomorrow when I see the doc.  I am telling her I want OFF this medicine, but I know obviously this time I have to WEAN off.  This experience has really scared me, but it’s also made me realize that you can’t just take your doctor’s word on everything.  You need to do your own research before you just say "ok I’ll try that medicine" when you have NO idea what it could do to you!  And PLEASE if you or anyone you know is considering taking medication for depression, please do NOT take cymbalta!  And don’t just take my word for it either, type "cymbalta withdrawals" into a search engine & read for yourself!!!!  I also read some people suffering with bad side-effects of the med which I never had, but if it bothers them to take it I only hope it won’t bother them getting off it too!

Anyway enough of that subject.  Everything else has been pretty dull, I stayed in all weekend since I felt like crap.  Today I started the part time job & it was ok.  I had to make some calls which is my least favorite thing to do, but overall it’s all right.  The best part is that it’s less than 5 min from my house which makes for a wonderful commute.  The people seem pretty nice too.  But it’s such a small place (its actually a house converted into an office) that I don’t have a desk yet which kinda sucks.  Oh well, at least I’m only there 20 hrs a week.  I just need a little income so I can make sure I can pay my bills lol.

I guess that’s it for now, I woulda updated sooner if I hadn’t been down w/ the sickness!  Hope everyone is well & I’ll update soon!