Cymbalta is the ultimate nightmare drug. For my entire adult life except for two pregnancies, I weighed 115 lbs, during each pregnancy I gained 16 lbs, without any dieting my weight returned to 115 lbs within 12 months each time. I have a small frame. Never dieted, I ate a mostly very healthy diet. I took cymbalta for only a few months 8 years ago. I was given it for chronic pain from an injury. It did nothing for that, I was managing my pain very well with stretching and exercise, but an insurance company MD decided that I needed to take cymbalta. I stopped taking it because of the side effects and there were many, they were effecting my ability to function and some were extremely embarrassing like dribbling, tongue problems, restless legs, tachycardia, sleep walking, balance problems, agitation, constant yawning, plus many more.. The permanent side effects started slowly, I have developed extreme digestion problems, I am 40 lbs overweight mostly abdominal, my skin looks like plastic, I have aged dramatically, I now have severe diverticulosis, I also have breathing problems.... all these are only getting worse. I can go to gym 7 days a week, and nothing changes, most foods make me feel ill, I do not drink soda or alcohol, I don't eat junk food , I crave both sugar and salt, but most of the time I don't give in to the cravings. I can eat a meal, like a salad and a steak and still feel like I am starving. . Every time i eat, before I finish a meal, I start to feel desperately hungry. I have tried a number of diets, I have done 14 day water fasts and not lost one ounce. My weight can increase by 5-7 pounds in a few hours, yet there is no evidence of fluid retention of any kind... I have had so many medical tests, I am told the results are normal except for a little inflammation, I have no disease, medical syndromes, tumors or anything else. I tried psychiatrists who state my physical problems are definitely not psychiatric. Recently I saw yet another MD, she stated my problems are probably all from cymbalta, and that my metabolism has changed totally and that I am stuck like this. I went from being an attractive, slim, 50 something woman, to looking like an elderly woman pregnant with twins, with a swollen badly wrinkled face, the skin on my once fit and toned body now hangs loose, I am constantly severely dehydrated. I am not recognizable to people I have not seen for a while, others are shocked at the changes. Some totally avoid me, I guess it is out of fear... Historically all my family age very well, most generally looking many years younger than their chronological ages, skin remains youthful well into their nineties, with few wrinkles, there has never been any obesity, there have been no consistent health problems of any kind. Most have remained reasonably fit as they aged and most have died of natural causes.
I have become severely depressed over the way that I look and the fact that eating anything always causes me to feel ill, while I am eating my abdomen grows larger, then I start to have breathing problems because it presses on my lungs. I have been with people who stare at my abdomen when this happens it is so freakish and impossible to hide. It is a living nightmare....... If anyone ever suggests that you take cymbalta say NO,NO, NO..... My life is virtually over because of it..............I did not mention earlier that I have many drug allergies, from what I have been told these should never be given to anyone with multiple drug allergies. The prescribing MD was well aware of my drug allergies, I questioned her about possible problems, she stated that cymbalta had very few side effects, they were minor and that there was nothing to concern me.
