While many users of antidepressants experience some form of withdrawal symptoms when they stop using the drug, none are so painful and long lasting as Cymbalta. It has been suggested that between 50 and 78 percent of all users experience Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome. Many experienced side effects for many months or even years. As a result, users have chosen to file Cymbalta lawsuits against Eli Lilly, the manufacturer, for failing to warn against Cymbalta withdrawal side effects.

When individuals experience withdrawal side effects, medical professionals say it is antidepressant discontinuation syndrome. However, as Cymbalta side effects stand out from other drugs, the medical community has given it its own name – Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome.

Cymbalta Discontinuation Syndrome vs. Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome

Despite the fact that most Cymbalta users may experience adverse withdrawal side effects, the warning label only claims that 1 to 2 percent may experience Cymbalta withdrawal. Furthermore, people tend to experience antidepressant discontinuation syndrome for one to two weeks before the condition subsides on its own. Some plaintiffs in Cymbalta lawsuits have claimed that the drug side effects stayed with them for two years.

Symptoms of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome typically include flu-like symptoms and abrupt interruptions in sleep, movement, or in other areas. Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome may include any of the following symptoms:

• Severe nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness, light-headedness, and vertigo
• Headaches
• Hot and cold flashes
• Mood swings, anxiety, irritability, hostility
• Nightmares
• Brain “zaps” (electric-shock-like sensations in the brain)
• Paresthesia (sensation of tingling, tickling, prickling, pricking, or burning of a person’s skin)
• Tremors, shaking hands
• Visual disturbances

What Causes Cymbalta Side Effects?

The biggest problem with Cymbalta is with its half-life. The half-life of a drug is the amount of time it takes for the drug’s effects in the body to be reduced by half. While other antidepressants have half-lives of a few days, Cymbalta has one of 12 hours. This means a person needs to take the pill every day in order for the effects to remain. In general, the body will send signals once the effects are truly wearing off. This is what eventually turns into withdrawal symptoms.

Cymbalta users can experience Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome if they forget to take their medication one day or the first day they are attempting to stop using the drug.

The instructions on the Cymbalta label make it impossible to wean off of the drug slowly. The instructions clearly state that the drug must be swallowed whole and not cut in half or taken in some other form. The lowest dosage is 20 mg. Due to the short half-life, the users must take Cymbalta every day, at the least, at this dosage. If they wish to stop using the drug, their only option appears to be to stop using it all together. This ceasing is what leads to the painful Cymbalta discontinuation syndrome.

Cymbalta withdrawal side effects have caused countless individuals to file lawsuits against Eli Lilly for failing to warn them about Cymbalta withdrawal. Plaintiffs may hope to win compensation for the pain and suffering they have endured.