Posted by gapsgal on May 26, 2006, at 10:36:12
In reply to Re: Cymbalta withdrawal - Publicity, posted by SLS on May 26, 2006, at 10:24:09
I just fired this letter off to my local paper...
The anti-depressant age...
It seems that we now live in an anti-depressant world, me included. The problem is that not enough people including health-care providers are up-to-snuff on these various drugs. Two in particular (that seem to be given like candy around here) are Effexor and Cymbalta. The benefits of taking these drugs seems wonderful...that is until you have to quit taking them. Then your nightmare will begin or at least millions which can be heard on many online forums, articles and books. In fact I purchased a book written by a medical doctor telling about anti-depressants and withdrawal syndromes.
I have taken both of the above named drugs and in fact I am still taking Cymbalta, not because I want to mind you, but because the withdrawal is so devastating that I could not possibly function in daily life while enduring it. Even the smallest of tapers produces withdrawals and it could take months to withdraw without incident. For some reason unknown to me and so many others is that our physicians have no idea of this or why we are experiencing this, hello short half-life. Perhaps they believe the drug reps, after all would they lie just to sell their product and protect their company...never...yeah right. But they seem to take their word for this and dispense it like sweet-tarts.
In fact I have been to more than one doctor to inquire about this withdrawal night mare and they had no idea that this produced such bad withdrawals. I fully understand why drug addicts do the things that they do to get “their fix” now. The sad thing is that we are given no warning about how it may be when we can finally be rid of the poison (yes I consider it poison).
The drug companies should offer a taper program and the doctors should be more informed on this issue. This is just a partial list of complaints with these drugs, not to mention the damage that can be caused by them to for instance your liver and no one knows the long-term effects this could have.
The fact is no one could possibly know how this effects a person or their lives unless they themselves have been in the load baring shoes. I am sure there a few people who do not experience such harsh withdrawals, and who knows why and who cares...least of all those of us that do. The fact is that millions are experiencing this and it is going on and no one cares and doctors look at you as if you are over-reacting...listen doctors take this for about a year or two yourselves and then try discontinuing.
The point is it is not worth it, and doctors should strongly caution and warn patients of the possibility of these happenings. They should not dispense it so readily and should always monitor their patients withdrawal period more closely. The withdrawal schedules I was given by one of my doctors was laughable.
If this keeps just one person from going through the atrocity of withdrawal from these drugs then it has been worth it to put my name out there for scrutiny.
Donna
> Hi.
>
> Do you think that publicity and more visible caution statements are enough, or would you like to see Cymbalta removed from the market?
>
>
> - Scott
poster:gapsgal
thread:466069
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060505/msgs/648820.html