Anyone here on Cymbalta? It works very well for my depression BUT

[xultar]

if I miss a couple of doses it messes me up big time.

any one else get the zapps if they miss a couple of doses?

[WV_Biker]

1. Big Time n/t

[xultar]

2. i did soime research....apparently it takes tons of water to make it work

properly. i will admit to slacking on water. i increased my intake by quite a bit over the past 4 days and even though i missed a dose or two i haven't had the zapps as bad.

i luv the cymbalta though. it makes me feel normal, not like the cylexa or lexapro that made me feel fake happy. cymbalta lets me have natural emotions both up and down with out the deep downs that make me feel suicidal.

the only problems i have now are anxiety and ocd.

[hunter]

3. I'm having major brain zaps as I write this...

... med change.

:grr:

In answer to your question, yes. I happen to think Effexor is the worst.

Last night I was laying in bed with brain zaps and tinnitus and it got really freaky because I started hearing musical chords in the mess. After a while I could sort of bend the noise into actual music. It was almost sort of fun. I thought I was awake the entire time but then I woke up and realized most of it had been dreaming. Oh well.

Later I had very vivid dreams that I was wrestling with polar bears just like I might wrestle with my dogs. And they were huge full size polar bears, immensely strong, play biting and everything. It was fun, but terrifying too.

But mostly I've been sort of miserable and useless, yet not out of it so much that I can't write. Judging by my posting here on DU I'm a bit manic too, but that's one of the things that's almost fun too.

If one is prepared for the crap of missing doses or changing meds it's not so bad as if you don't know what's going on and it's unexpected.

God, I hate brain meds, and I hate my asthma meds too. I've been taking various meds for over forty years now. They're far more sophisticated now then they used to be, but I often imagine what it would be like not to have to take meds, not to have to worry about forgetting to bring them with me, not to have to worry that I might find myself in a situation where I couldn't afford them.

...sigh...

Good luck to you, xulter!

[xultar]

4. I had to go without for a few days due to COBRA screw ups and man let me tell you

the zapps were crazy. I also ended up with diarrhea which is also a withdrawal side effect.

The good thing is I still had enough in my system to not put me in a tail spin.

But I don't know how I'm going to come off this stuff. If I ever have too it is going to be brutal.

[tosh]

5. Effexor XR ....

served me well for 6 full years. The brain zapps ("electricity in the brain", my doctor called them) became less intense over time. I called them my med reminder. I came off in January and it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd read it might be, but it was a carefully managed withdrawal.

I told my pharmacist husband not to EVER let his cutomers miss their Effexor due to insurance issues or needing a new Rx. I'll tell him to add Cymbalta to that memo, LOL.

[xultar]

6. I took effexor for about a year. It made me want to kill people.

I was homicidal. I had a friend and she also had the same type of aggression thing as a side effect.
But, effexor did work, it just made me want to kill just about everyone I came across.

Cymbalta is great but if you don't drink enough water and or skip a day or two you are down for the count. I mean bed ridden sick down. Wanna cry for your mother down sick. They really ought to pull that shit, I just don't know what to do.

[hunter]

7. The pharmaceutical companies don't want you to call it "withdrawal."

They want us to talk about "discontinuation symptoms."

Fuck that, it's a sweating, shaking, screaming at the ceiling withdrawal for some people and thoroughly unpleasant for most people even when it's carefully managed.

These drugs work for a lot of people, but they should know what they are getting into. And I think it's malpractice to prescribe these drugs to people living in unstable situations. It's bad enough to find oneself in a situation where a prescription can't be refilled regularly, and it's just plain hell that some people end up having to deal with withdrawal symptoms at the same time they're hitting a rough spot in their lives.

[tosh]

8. Yeah, fuck that and fuck them.

I'll call it what I want, LOL! I advised my sis-in-law to think twice about my 23y/o nephew's trying it in his search for the right med(s) for that very reason. He's dealing with enough as it is.

[elleng]

9. My pharmacist was more than willing to allow me to miss mine,

in fact started to give me some 'the doctors say' b.s. I didn't cross-examine him on that! SO am without effex now, tho doc did call and I have it available. Just wrote an 'info' O.P. SO, should I just take what I've got, or wait for the 'grey cloud' and/or brain zapps?