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Cymbalta and the Horrific Withdrawal
What your Pharmaceutically Trained Doctor Will Not Tell You
Cymbalta is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). Cymbalta (Pro) Generic name: duloxetine. It is used to treat depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, chronic musculoskeletal pain, and neuropathic pain. Fibromyalgia is curable, so be sure to read to the bottom and see our other articles on the cure to autoimmune diseases. We will discuss the details of the cure later. We wanted to put that out there upfront, so you understand that there is hope if that is why you take Cymbalta, but first, let’s dive into the plethora of substantial reasons why this medication should be pulled off of the market.
In rare cases, patients have suffered severe — and sometimes fatal — side effects, including liver damage, abnormal bleeding, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Suddenly stopping the drug may lead to severe withdrawal symptoms, such as electric shock sensations known as brain zaps, among many other life-altering adverse side effects.
If you are here because you are considering taking these drugs, please be very well aware that the Discontinuation Syndrome that occurs with these drugs may have permanent symptoms, and some are life-altering; the same is seen in all SNRI’s and SSRI’s.
The withdrawal symptoms are a group of symptoms that occur after discontinuing Cymbalta or an SNRI or SSRI medication, called Discontinuation Syndrome.
This syndrome can make your life a living hell according to the testimony of many people. What they report is no where near what pharma reports in thier study. You know the one that they backed and conducted themselves to get it approved.
SNRI’s also goes by many other brand names. SNRIs include desvenlafaxine (Pristiq), venlafaxine (Effexor), venlafaxine XR (Effexor XR), milnacipran (Savella), and levomilnacipran (Fetzima). SSRI’s include
- Citalopram (Celexa)
- Escitalopram (Lexapro)
- Fluoxetine (Prozac, Prozac Weekly, Selfemra, Sarafem)
- Fluvoxamine (Faverin, Luvox, Luvox CR)
- Paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR, Pexeva)
- Sertraline (Zoloft)
- Viibryd (Vilazodone)
Discontinuation Syndrome can happen with both SSRI’s and SNRI’s
SNRI’s also goes by many other brand names including:
- Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
- Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
- Milnacipran (Savella)2
- Venlafaxine (Effexor, Effexor XR )
Discontinuation has also been reported in Gabapentin (Neurontin)
SSRI’s include
- Citalopram (Celexa)
- Escitalopram (Lexapro)
- Fluoxetine (Prozac, Prozac Weekly, Selfemra, Sarafem)
- Fluvoxamine (Faverin, Luvox, Luvox CR)
- Paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR, Pexeva)
- Sertraline (Zoloft)
- Viibryd (Vilazodone)
We want to speak with more people who have had a horror story with SNRI’s. We are filming a documentary and doing a segment on this topic. We will also write about your experience here. We would like to have first-hand details of what the doctors told you about taking this drug, what you knew about it, what the pharmacist said if you asked, and your overall experience with what happened when you stopped taking the medication. We can keep your identification protected if you like.
There have been many Cymbalta lawsuits against the manufacturer Eli Lilly. They state that Eli Lilly misled the public by downplaying the drug’s risks and overstating its benefits. They say that the company committed fraud when they lied about the prevalence of withdrawal syndrome prevalence while also seriously downplaying these potential complications. They allege that Eli Lilly did not adequately warn patients and doctors of the risks of using Cymbalta.
Doctors are supposed to be versed in the black box warnings and side effects. It is rare that a doctor ever pulls out the package insert and discusses the possibility of the potentially life-altering debilitating side effects and the Discontinuation Syndrome associated with this drug. We feel doctors should rely on something other than the salesperson who works on commission to educate the doctor about the medicine, but they do. Even then, they must discuss and learn about the potentially life-altering effects. In our other articles, you can read how the salespeople hide the side effects from the doctors in an attempt to increase sales. The doctors should take some this responsibility in the lack of educating patients about the severe consequences that may occur.
Some lawsuits go as far as using the language “defective drug.” We believe that many drugs are toxic, but we would agree to the term defective. We could apply this to an abundance of other medications.
If we have not yet convinced you not to consider using this drug, you can go to a Group on Facebook that currently has over 20,000 members; the operators of this site have documented a way to slowly wean off this drug. They call it the SLOW TAPER METHOD. They seem entirely experienced in the details of the withdrawal process. We were surprised to see their guidelines and a list of herbs and supplements to avoid detoxing this horrific chemical out of the body. It seems our favorite supplements for anxiety and depressants are not suitable during withdrawal because they, too, have effects on serotonin levels. This group is well-versed in something that the industry should also study.
This group is incredibly supportive, highly educated, and can advise based on experiences where the pharma industry sweeps these people under the rug. This group truly cares and has solutions.
If you read the pharmaceutical companies’ studies, you will see many different results than you will see when discussing withdrawal symptoms with people who have had first-hand experiences. We believe there is deception here. This 2005 study says that the symptoms of discontinuation syndrome in 45% of the people resolved by the end of the study, but they do not tell you how long the study was. They state that 65% resolved all symptoms in a week. We have found a study that shows discontinuing antidepressants can have permanent or lasting side effects or last up to two years, but pharma won’t talk about that.
They also say the withdrawal effects in the studies were dizziness, nausea, headache, paresthesia (pins and needles), vomiting, irritability, and nightmares. Does not seem so horrible, right, if it’s all gone in a week? Wait for to you hear the first-hand experiences. This is not even close to what we have found. We found MS-type symptoms, major depressive disorder, insomnia, and a plethora of very severe issues that the study that the manufacturer did fail to report.
Yes, the pharmacuetucial manufacturers are responsible for all the testing to decide whether it is safe for the market. There is no deception possible here. Here is a story of pure deception by Mereck if you would like first-hand information on how they do it and get away with it. This story exposes how they falsified clinical trials back to our non-deceptive, completely honest Eli Lily trials.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY?
Declaration of interest. David Perahia, Daniel Kajdasz, and Durisala Desaiah are Eli Lilly and Company employees. Peter Haddad has received payment from Eli Lilly and Company and other pharmaceutical companies for attending advisory boards, lecturing and consultancy work.
Patient Online Report of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Induced Persistent Postwithdrawal Anxiety and Mood Disorders
You should follow the link and read this study first. Then, compare that study that followed real-life sufferers to the pharma-backed study. https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/341178
Eli Lily is the manufacturer of Cymbalta. This is their Study. Symptoms following abrupt discontinuation of duloxetine treatment in patients with major depressive disorder☆
- Lilly Research Centre, EMC Building, Erl Wood Manor, Sunninghill Road, Windlesham, Surrey, GU20 6PH, UK
- The Gordon Hospital, London SW1, UK
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, UK
BACKGROUND:
Discontinuation symptoms are common following antidepressant treatment. This report characterizes symptoms following duloxetine discontinuation.
METHODS:
Data were obtained from 9 clinical trials assessing the efficacy and safety of duloxetine in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).
RESULTS:
In a pooled analysis of 6 short-term treatment trials, in which treatment was stopped abruptly, discontinuation-emergent adverse events (DEAEs) were reported by 44.3% and 22.9% of duloxetine- and placebo-treated patients, respectively (p<0.05). The mean number of symptoms among duloxetine-treated patients reporting at least 1 DEAE was 2.4. DEAEs reported significantly more frequently on abrupt discontinuation of duloxetine compared with placebo were dizziness (12.4%), nausea (5.9%), headache (5.3%), paresthesia (2.9%), vomiting (2.4%), irritability (2.4%), and nightmares (2.0%). Dizziness was also the most frequently reported DEAE in the analyses of 3 long-term duloxetine studies.
Across the short- and long-term data sets, 45.1% of DEAEs had resolved in the duloxetine-treated populations by the end of the respective studies. Most of these (65.0%) resolved within seven days. Most patients rated the severity of their symptoms as mild or moderate. A higher proportion of patients reporting DEAEs were seen with 120 mg/day duloxetine compared with lower doses. For doses between 40 and 120 mg/day of duloxetine, the proportion of patients reporting at least one DEAE differed significantly from placebo. Extended treatment with duloxetine beyond 8-9 weeks did not appear to be associated with an increased incidence or severity of DEAEs.
CONCLUSIONS:
Abrupt discontinuation of duloxetine is associated with a DEAE profile similar to that seen with other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressants. It is recommended that, whenever possible, clinicians gradually reduce the dose no less than 2 weeks before discontinuation of duloxetine treatment.
LIMITATIONS: The main limitation is the use of spontaneously reported DEAEs ADLilly Research Centre, EMC Building, Erl Wood Manor, Sunninghill Road, Windlesham, Surrey, GU20 6PH, UK. d.perahia@lilly.com PMID16266753
“The benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo may be minimal or nonexistent…”
The Journal of the American Medical Association
“Depression is a serious problem, but drugs are not the answer. In the long run, psychotherapy is both cheaper and more effective, even for very serious levels of depression. Physical exercise and self-help books based on CBT can also be useful, either alone or in combination.”
Irving Kirsch Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School