A Cymbalta lawsuit was filed by a woman who said she experienced severe Cymbalta withdrawal side effects and continues to suffer these withdrawal symptoms years later.

Defendant Eli Lilly and Company is accused of not only failing to warn plaintiff Sheila L. about potential Cymbalta side effects but also creating the drug in such a way that it was inevitable for her to experience them.

Sheila, an Alabama resident, was prescribed Cymbalta to treat fibromyalgia and depression in January 2011. In April 2013, she decided to wean off of the drug due to adverse Cymbalta side effects, “including that her hands were breaking out,” according to the Cymbalta lawsuit.

As a result, Sheila allegedly experienced Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome and experienced side effects such as “extreme mood swings, crying spells, agitation, irritability, aggressiveness, nightmares, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, panic attacks, insomnia, auditory hallucinations, involuntary muscle spasms, and what is commonly called, ‘brain zaps.’” She allegedly still experiences some of these Cymbalta withdrawal side effects, even years later.

Sheila claims that had Lilly provided an accurate warning as to Cymbalta withdrawal side effects, she never would have taken the drug and would have avoided all side effects.

Cymbalta Discontinuation Syndrome

Cymbalta is an antidepressant. While many people may experience some form of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, Cymbalta allegedly has caused withdrawal symptoms so severe and long-lasting that the medical community has given it its own name: Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome.

Cymbalta can be taken in 20mg, 30mg or 60mg doses in the form of a delayed-release capsule. The instructions specifically state that Cymbalta “should be swallowed whole and should not be chewed or crushed, nor the capsule be opened and its contents be sprinkled on food or mixed with liquids.”

This prevented Sheila and other plaintiffs from weaning off of the drug slowly, as the lowest dosage they could possibly take was 20mg.

Furthermore, Cymbalta has an extremely short half-life. A half-life is the amount of time it takes for a drugs effects to be reduced in the body by half.

For many antidepressants, the half-life is several days. Cymbalta’s half-life is 12 hours. This means a patient may experience Cymbalta withdrawal side effects after one day of not taking the drug, whether they were trying to stop using the drug or if they forgot to take their medication one day.

Failure to Warn

Lilly is accused in the Cymbalta lawsuits of failing to warn against the severe Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome and the rapid, long-lasting Cymbalta side effects. The Cymbalta lawsuit stated, “as Lilly was fully aware of the issue of antidepressant withdrawal and of Cymbalta’s elevated withdrawal risk, Lilly should not only have included a strong warning to physicians and patients, but it should have also designed the drug in such a way that would easily allow for a gradual tapering off of the drug.”

In 2011, Lilly changed Cymbalta’s warning label to state that Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome was possible, but it also minimized the risk stating that the Cymbalta side effects only “occurred at 1% or greater.”

Cymbalta withdrawal side effects, as listed on the warning label, include “dizziness, nausea, headache, paresthesia, fatigue, vomiting, irritability, insomnia, diarrhea, anxiety, hyperhidrosis.”

Many individuals have filed Cymbalta lawsuits after experiencing Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome.

This Cymbalta Lawsuit is Case No. 7:14-cv-02097, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Western Division.