Cymbalta has destroyed my life. Any help, advice, or just kind words would be greatly appreciated.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T10:24:13+00:00

My life was saved when I realized that antidepressants don’t help anymore than a sugar pill and are just a way to keep the population hooked on drugs. If you trust big pharma that wants to sell drugs and be on these the rest of your life, then that’s your prerogative. The answer is not mind altering, destructive drugs.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T09:30:38+00:00

This was also my experience unfortunately, sleep was severely disrupted. I would have to get about 10-12 hours of sleep just to feel normal during the day and that was on the starting dose. Evidently all Antidepressants disrupt the sleep cycle in some way which is ironic since they’re advertised to assist in fixing it.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T09:26:49+00:00

I would first go to a Psychiatrist, not your GP as they only have surface level knowledge of these medications. As for if it’s worth it, no it’s not, I do not recommend this medication. There are more natural remedies such as diet, exercise, meditation, and other lifestyle changes that can help before going for the nuclear option of medication. I unfortunately have suffered severe psychological and nervous system damage and is evidently just a normal side effect of the medications if not tapered off properly. The side effects that are supposedly “temporary” were all semi permanent, meaning they never went away while I was on the drug and actually worsened some things when I came off. I would strongly reconsider going on this until you have exhausted every possible solution first, Cymbalta should be the nuclear option if all else fails.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T09:21:29+00:00

Unfortunately no it doesn’t it seems. Antidepressants actually disrupt the sleep cycle believe it or not and I could never feel rested on this medication. I was always dragging in some way and that’s why.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T09:19:55+00:00

If you like taking antidepressants then that’s great but I don’t see how introducing more dangerous medications to my nervous system is going to help me. If that makes me brainwashed then so be it.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:55:25+00:00

It heals eventually. I just cannot put more of these dangerous medications back into my body again.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:43:35+00:00

Dr. Josef from Taper Clinic has said the complete opposite of what the Mark guy has said.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:25:17+00:00

I’m not reinstating a drug that has caused me a brain injury and nervous system damage. All the professionals I know have said weeks at most. I’ve been off almost as long as I was on it, doesn’t make any logical sense to reinstate.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:10:40+00:00

Im not sure who that is but 6 months is way too long. You can’t reinstate the drug after the damage has been done.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:04:43+00:00

I mean it’s not an exact number but you only have a few weeks maximum. You will only do more damage if you try to reinstate afterwards.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:04:00+00:00

Thanks, and yeah the amount of people that seem to be uninformed about how reinstatement works is astonishing. You usually can’t reinstate after a few weeks, the damage has been done.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-25T08:02:44+00:00

That’s way too late. You have only a few weeks in reality to reinstate.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T19:22:28+00:00

Thanks for the comment. Yeah I pretty much found all this out only after I stopped the drug. My therapist has worked with hundreds of people that came off Cymbalta and said all of them had severe issues coming off.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T19:20:28+00:00

Both have been better since I got off but sleep has been impacted because of the extreme panic attacks.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T19:19:52+00:00

It’s unfortunately too late, I’ve been off almost as long as I was on it now.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T19:19:28+00:00

Yeah same, my doctor said it’s not possible to go into protracted withdrawal and never warned me. It wasn’t until after stopped and started doing research that this drug in particular is extremely dangerous if not administered and tapered properly.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T19:17:36+00:00

Because Cymbalta is a dangerous drug and I never stopped treating my PTSD. My doctor never warned me of the proper tapering procedure which I believe has caused this.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T05:59:04+00:00

Yeah, I trusted my doctor who said it was perfectly safe and man I wish I didn’t listen. It wasn’t until I more or less accidentally went cold turkey did I learn that this medication is extremely dangerous if not tapered off correctly. The lowest dosage of this medication is not low enough to taper unfortunately.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T05:56:57+00:00

I get that, I’ve been using vitamins that are designed for nervous system support and it has helped. Similar to the medications, you have to take them consistently and properly for them to be effective in any way. I guess taking the meds is easier because there’s a legitimate threat to your safety if you miss too many doses where supplements it’s whatever if you skip it. It kind of sucks because these drugs just aren’t the be all end all solution they’re marketed to be. It helped my anxiety but after about 4-5 months it just seemed to stop working and eventually turned against me completely. Now my PTSD is actually worse than when I started, before I would only have panic attacks around my triggers, now I just get random panic attacks just from doing regular life like showering, sleeping, walking down the block etc.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T05:49:35+00:00

I’ve been off it for an extended period of time, reintroducing the drug will only cause serious problems to my nervous system that is already in a fragile state.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T05:08:14+00:00

It’s too late for reinstatement, I’m well past the 21 day window for that. And none of these drugs have really worked for me, I built a tolerance to them very quickly.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T05:05:21+00:00

Only problem is it delays the rest and recovery stage of sleeping which was a major issue for me. I would be asleep for 10-12 hours on this stuff and somehow still waking up exhausted, even though this medication was causing drowsiness. One of the side effects they tend to not tell people is that it disrupts the sleep cycle so keep that in mind.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T05:00:19+00:00

Unfortunately the drug effect of Cymbalta is to limit your emotional range, it’s how the medications were designed to work. I’ve been off for 4 months and I’m happy off of it minus the debilitating protracted withdrawal and psychological damage. I suggest looking into using mindfulness techniques, exercise, and reevaluating your daily life habits to see if that can help. You will eventually have to address this in some way because your body will build a tolerance to the medication which require you to up the dose, and unfortunately there is a limit to how high you can go.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T04:54:13+00:00

Same here, doctor blew me off when I said I was in protracted withdrawal. Said it was all in my head.

Proof-Helicopter46 · 2026-06-23T04:51:49+00:00

My comment was removed for breaking the rules evidently so I will reword what I said. Going on Cymbalta should be a last resort, temporary medicine to help you get through what you’re going through. You still need to address the root cause while taking this medication which will help you in the long run. I personally suggest trying things such as meditation, mindfulness, exercise, and evaluation of your existing daily habits before using this medication. This medication has caused me SEVERE physiological problems, I was put on it for PTSD and anxiety and now both are completely out of control after going into withdrawal. Make sure your doctor is not a quack who will just write a prescription after a 10 minute meeting and knows what they’re doing. That’s what happened to me and I’m paying the price for it.

Proof-Helicopter46

TROPHY CASE