Symptoms: Brain zaps, emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction, cognitive impairment, insomnia, depersonalization/derealization, suicidal ideation, tinnitus, neuropathy, severe anxiety/panic, muscle/joint pain, GI disturbances, dysautonomia, treatment-resistant migraines
I have tried and failed many antidepressants, but after getting off them I was able to bounce back and felt okay. I believed I had fibromyalgia; I know now that trials of those antidepressants caused the fibromyalgia symptoms.
Then a doctor that I trusted used Cymbalta as a diagnostic tool. They told me that if it didn’t work, I didn’t have fibromyalgia. Not only did the medication not work, but from the first dose it began to damage my nervous system. It took me a year to do a hyperbolic taper to safely get off the drug.
The “side effects” never went away. I got diagnosed with GERD and ADHD, and did countless tests to try to find out what was wrong. Years later, because I was misdiagnosed with ADHD, I tried another SNRI, which sent my system over the edge. That doctor refused to continue prescribing it so that I could taper properly.
I can’t list all of the symptoms I have, but it damaged my nervous system so badly that I have dysautonomia and migraines that are treatment-resistant and seemingly permanent. I was a normal, relatively healthy person, and these drugs—these doctors—stole my entire life from me.
I suffer and struggle to do basic things every single day. My entire life revolves around managing symptoms. I can’t work, I can’t shower, I can’t have meaningful relationships. This is a living nightmare I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.