So I am on the maximum dose of cymbalta 120mg divided 60mg morning and night.I missed my morning dose yesterday which is the first time I have missed a dose since getting on it. The half life of cymbalta is 8 to 17 hours so the good thing is my anxiety didn’t return which was also an issue for me when this rubbish illness first hit. However today I have felt more swimmy and woozy something which I have not felt since being on 120mg. I am always rocking swayiing 24/7 and was used to that. But I hate this swimmy/wooozy being pulled to one side feeling. This shows that I am so reliant on this medication that even missing one dose can have such a huge effect in me that can last till the next day which really sux. Does MAV ever calm down at all? I am sure I will be back to baseline in a day or two but it sux that I gotta pop pills to keep me functioning. Lol
part of what you are feeling maybe some withdrawal symptoms…why do you split your dose in half? does it work better that way? when i took it pre-mav, i would take it all at night.
have you decided about adding verapamil or something else?
Sarah
I split it Cz that’s wat is indicated in the booklet and Also as per the advice of my neuro. I don’t I wanna make any changes as its working for me
What dose were u on pre mav?
pre-mav i did go all the way up to 120 mg- at 90 and above it made me super constipated- so i settled at 60 for awhile but it didnt do much for my mood or my chronic pain. how long have you been on it for?
since May last year
I wonder if I can this drug for like?
I hope it doesn’t have any long term side effects. What do you think?
I do feel some anxiety creeping up again on and off and then when I just try and ignore it and for a few days and keep myself busy and then it goes away.
take this drug for life i mean
As far as this particular drug, I think it is impossible to say because it is relatively new. That said, even though I am not an expert, I think people have been taking ssri’s for years and I don’t know that there is long term harm…I have never read that in any of the leaflets or seen anything on the news about that sort of thing. I did take prozac for about 10 years and I have no health complications that I can tell from doing that. I am a total worry-wart and honestly I wouldn’t worry about taking this type of med for a long time. One that does concern me is topamax, because I think long-term use can cause osteoporosis, and I’m not sure about what does to the kidney/kidney stones?
That is great that it helps you with anxiety so much- even though some breakthrough anxiety does happen- kind of like finding a good mav drug and having breakthrough dizziness. What % do you feel like it has helped you with the anxiety? How about the MAV? Is your worst MAV day as bad as it was pre-meds?
Funny for me Cymbalta did zero for my anxiety- at times I thought maybe it even increased it??? Was useless for me for that.
I think with anxiety its helped about 80%
And with VM its helped about 70% and I don’t seem to be improving 
I have started the topamax again and this time will stick on a lower dose
I might get on a Inderal as my third preventative soon if I don’t seen results on the topamax
Nabeel,
WHen you missed your dose, did you take it at a later date or just forgo it altogether?
I have been late taking my morning dose and got woozy etc…but then I would take it to make up for the loss/lateness and then I would get good again.
The reason some people do better when splitting the dose, is because Cymbalta has a fairly short half life, and some of us metabolize quickly…therefor to keep a steady amount in our systems, we need to dose twice a day.
Sarah,
How long were you on it?
Kelley
I was on it maybe 3 months but this was pre-mav.
Kelley
I forgot my morning dose all together. I take 60mg morning and 60mg night. So at night I took the 60mg and was still smashed the next day…I did my blood test recently. My cgt is has a figure above the recommended parameters and that apparently means my liver is screwed due to the meds. And my cholosterol was very high. Cymbalta has made me put on so much weight. What do I do about this cholosterol and liver issue now?
Nabeel,
The issue is that you missed 60mg, even though you took your nightly dose. The drop in the Cymbalta is what did you in. You’d have to have taken the 60 you missed, in ADDITION to your normal dosing, unless it was too close together and you worried about too much at one time.
My cholesterol went up, too. Mine was always fine and now it’s high…I need to update my bloodwork. I guess eating clean and working out will help, but I’m not sure…
As for the liver…I know there are supplements that help detox the liver…If you were to google “supplements to detox liver” you will see a bunch of stuff come up. Before giving up on the Cymbalta, I would try and see if that helps.
Otherwise, it may be time to try to lower your dose to a less offending level? You may have to add in another medicine but preferably one that doesn’t hurt the liver.
I gained weight too…and fatty weight, not just weight…its like a big ol roll of dough around my middle that wasn’t there (or wasn’t that bad) before…
Kelley
How much weight have you both gained from cymbalta? you guys are going to punch me but when i took it (pre mav of course) it made me LOSE 10 lbs!!! It was great.
That being said, every new med seems to put on more weight for me. I am now about 25 lbs oveweight from trying these drugs- it is horrendous. The worst one seems to be Lyrica- I keep gaining…and gaining…and gaining…it’s really not doing much for me so I want to stop it. I dont know if being on nortriptiline is preventing me from losing weight (also gained 10 lbs from depakote)… what the fuck??? thats all i can say.
Hey Sarah,
I gained about 10 pounds…it was 15, but I’ve been working on keeping it around 10…I suppose if I got really strict with my diet, I could drop a few more, but…I’m a weak ass I guess 
I think mine is the combination of drugs, as they all are suppressing my nervous system…it makes me more nervous that I have high cholesterol and triglycerides…never had those before…I am going to schedule
blood work, and also check my liver enzymes…
Kelley
Kelley/sarah
Yes I cud not take that missed dose of 60mg cz it was too close to my night dose of 60mg and I was too afraid of doubling up. My mid section is so big now my shorts and jeans which I bought 2 months ago do not fit me any longer. I look like a fat blob. I am on a second med topamax low dose 50mg only as I cannot tolerate anymore than that. As topamax is known to lower weight I really really hope it begins to work on my MAV soon and also counters the weight gaining properties of the cymbalta. At this stage I can’t lower my cymbalta dose Cz anything lower than 120mg brings back anxiety. So I might have to try the liver detox supplements you mentioned and also go work on my diet again to reverse cholesterol build up. Do u know if cholesterol can he reversed? I certainly don’t wanna take cholesterol controlling drugs for life.
Nabeel
Yes, cholesterol is reversible and lifestyle affected. Although it is also genetic. For me, I never had high cholesterol until these meds. I’m sure there is a ton of research on line for it. I know diet is key, as is excersize.
If you visit a health food type of store, there is an area for liver detox supplements…maybe speak to someone who works there to find out what is best. I think Milk Thistle is a common one.
Good luck!!
Kelley
Thanks Kelley