Hi Everyone-New Here and just started taking Cymbalta-Could use a little advice

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Jesse, I'm turning 30 in October and I just joined this site today, after reading through the forums. It seems like a friendly enough place to discuss everything going on, since most of you deal with similar issues. The reason why I am posting in the depression forum, is because of the fact that I just started taking 20mg of Cymbalta, twice a day, yesterday. A little history about myself: I am taking .75mg of Klonopin, 3x per day and have been for the past 3 years or so. I suffer from generalized anxiety that has gotten worse over the past few months. I was pregnant and found out about it in June. I just recently lost the baby and the doctors suggested I try Cymbalta as well, so I went with it. I felt nothing last night, when I went to bed. Now, I know it takes at least 6 weeks or so to start working, but at 5am this morning, I woke up with severe cramping in my stomach and I was dealing with a ton of nausea. I also had cold chills and felt like I had the flu or something. It took a while for me to try going back to sleep, because the pain was bothering me. Now I have been going through pain the past few months from the pregnancy, losing the baby, etc. And now this? So what I did was called my Pharmacist who filled it yesterday, and told them what was going on. She said if I was dealing with the nausea, to stop taking it for now until I see my doctor. I think that is what I am going to do, because I've dealt with enough nausea, pain and everything else recently. My depression isn't that bad, it's more so my anxiety that bothers me. I've had many sleepless nights, or restless nights where I wake up every few hours. This is not like me and I just want to go back to normal. I didn't want to go on depression medication to begin with, but was doing what was suggested. Any advice here? I only took 2 pills at 20mg each, so I don't think there should be any side effects or withdrawals. The thing though, is I'm not honestly sure if the Cymbalta caused my nausea, or if something else did...Which I highly doubt. Thank you for any advice or writing that is sent back my way. Take care and have a wonderful day.

Post Edited (JD80) : 8/3/2010 8:41:44 AM (GMT-6)

Thank you for writing back, Karen. I have been on Xanax and because it is extremely difficult to get off of, they put me on Klonopin 3 years ago. I'm still taking that and it works fine for me. Unfortunately, I was also put on the Cymbalta, even though I really didn't want to be. I've only taken 2 dosages at 20mg each, as of yesterday. Today, I did not take it at all. As I stated earlier, I did call the Pharmacist and I also called my doctor and the mental health clinic, to seek advice. I just want to make sure since I didn't take it today, that I won't have any withdrawals. I had bad withdrawals from the Klonopin for my anxiety, while I was pregnant and had to wean off of it. I'm back on it now, and have not had any withdrawals from that, but am concerned about the Cymbalta. I read that it has a shelf life of 12 hours and if you stop it cold turkey, it could have serious side effects. So my main thing is since I only took the two pills yesterday, and it was only for one day, I don't want to have any kind of withdrawals from it. I know I'm repeating myself, but I just went through the worst experience while I was pregnant, getting off of the anxiety medication, Klonopin. So just to update, I did call doctors and I'm waiting for calls back. I know my main issue is anxiety and that's what we're working on, but the Psychiatrist seems to think I need something for depression too, and I really don't want to be on anything that is going to make me sick like last night. Thank you for the condolences on my loss. This would be number two. The first one was twins. Take care.

Jesse

Well the Mental Health Association did not return my call, which was very disappointing. I did however get a call back from one of the nurses over at my regular clinic. She said the doctor wanted me to take one pill, at 20mg, for 10 days, instead of the two dosages. I refused and explained why, so the nurse was asking me if I was going to wait to try something else and I told her no. Right now, I'm just going to stick to my anxiety medication, which is the Klonopin. If my depression gets bad, I'll go talk to my Priest and will eventually be seeing a Therapist again. My stomach is still killing me though and I wish I knew what I could do for that. On a different note, my friend's mother suggested I try St. John's wart, but I'm not sure about that. My mother mentioned it too and I told her the same thing. I'm actually terrified to try anything, right now. Thank you for listening though.......

Hugs in return, Jesse

Hi - so sorry for your loses. What a tough thing to go through.

I was on Cymbalta about 3yrs ago, for 6 months. It did not help me at all. The withdrawals were horrible. But I doubt you will have any troubles after only taking 2 pills. I was instead put on Abilify along with my Prozac. It has been a good combination for my depression, on a whole. For anxiety, I take Lorazepam. It's a good med. I've been on it for years.

keep postin' jd. different meds work good for some and not so for others. cymbalta at 120mg, is really helping me, esp as i am back in therapy as well. all the best, jamie.