I have taken 20-30 mg of Cymbalta daily to help with fibro and CFS. However, recently a friend was diagnosed with lung cancer. She did some research and is now part of a class action lawsuit of people who took Cymbalta and got lung cancer. There are no studies, may be coincidence but all showed skin sores also- on legs and arms.
Does anyone else know about this?
Addiction: In researching about any cancer connections (I didn't find any) I found that getting off of Cymbalta is very difficult, like getting off a highly addictive drug like morphine, cocaine, etc. This frightens me and I wonder if it might be better to take something else?
Any feedback from others? Have you gone off of Cymbalta and found something else that is just as effective?
I took Cymbalta at its highest dose 120mg to help with fibro pain. Help it did! However, it did nothing for my depression and anxiety. I was then put on abilify. Still didn't help and abilify gave me RLS. My psychiatrist slowly lowered my cymbalta (120mg...90mg...60mg...30mg...finally off) I'm back on Pristiq and feeling mentally better, but not so much physically. Ehh...
Getting off cymbalta and abilify wasn't difficult for me. Of course I would highly recommend doing it with the supervision of a physician.
Wow, what good questions you pose! I know nothing about any possible link between lung cancer and Cymbalta and I pray that there is no connection.
As to your other question, yes, some people have found it nearly impossible to get off Cymbalta, from what I've read. It's one of those drugs that can be a bear to get away from. Lyrica (which is what I'm taking) is another one. However, not everyone finds it impossible to get off them, I know someone who got off Cymbalta with no ill effects at all. Still, I think it's really important to discuss with your physician. Maybe you could start on a very small dose and then see if you have any problems if you don't take it for a day.
Yep, that's the flip side of it, it helps quite a few people. Like Lyrica. And since fibro has very few drugs that help with the pain, many of us choose to use the drug for pain relief and pray that we have no side effects.
Yes, absolutely! And also titrate your dose (take a little less each day or every other day.) You can't just go cold turkey from Cymbalta and Lyrica due to the possibility of extreme side effects kicking in.
I take 120mg of Cymbalta and I went off from it in January cold turkey. I will tell you, I will never do that again. I had a huge mess up with insurance, dr office and other things. It was the worst three weeks of my life. My head and brain felt so heavy, I was extremely tired all the time, very irritable, and when ever I moved my eyes it felt like everything took a little bit to catch up and click back into place. I heard and read that it can be worse for some people so I am thankful that is all I experienced but I don't plan to do it again. I will say this though, Cymbalta has helped me a lot. I am able to get so much more done during the day when I take it and for me, it truly helps with my pain.
I took lyrica 175 mg and quit taking it cold turkey under doc supervision. I had no bad side effects and was on it for quite a few months. I took cymbalta for only about 2 mo and had headaches so doc told me to stop taking cold turkey and I had no bad side effects from coming off and my headaches went away. I think everyone will be different in their reactions to taking and coming off medications so always do under doctors supervision as everyone mentioned.