has anyone here been on cymbalta long term?

[laugh]

Hello. First I would like to state that I am not one who likes to use medication. I will try everything else before resorting to using it. I have to be in a pretty bad state before I use it. With that being said, I have had 2 major severe depressive episodes in my life. The first one about 15 years ago, and one more recently. For the first 15 years I was on zoloft, at various doses. I always tried to get on the lowest possible dose, but was never successful at coming off of it completely. During this last episode I was switched to cymbalta. My concern is this, after I feel more stable I would think I could lower my dose. But I am concerned that I may have to be on it long term. This bothers me. Is there anyone out there that has a sucess story, of having to be on antidepressants long term ? Is there anyone out there that is over 70 and has been on antidepressants for years? Believe me I do not want to be! But as I am in counseling the therapist and doctor seem to indicate it would not be a good thing for me to stop my meds.....and seeing others in group therapy who have tried to stop and became suicidal.....and looking at my past history, I tend to think I may have to be on meds long term. Is this possible? Do meds work for long periods....any sucess stories would be appreciated. I get discouraged hearing all the horror stories about meds.

[laugh]

Goodness gracious! No one out there that has been on anti-depressants long term?

[SADnomore]

Ohmigosh, sure there is, hun! I am currently taking venlaxafine and have been for about 4 1/2 months now. I am okay with knowing I will probably be on this medication for the rest of my life. If, at any time, it stops working, I know which other drugs can be substituted until it can be tried again. Some people cycle onto it and off onto another med regularly. So I am not worried about that. The risk of effects on the body in my generally-good health are not high. I try not to read the horror stories online. Of course, not every drug is "for" everyone, but at some point we have to trust that our doctors are prescribing what they believe is the best medication for us as individuals, and as long as the side effects are tolerable and they are working for us, then we need to try to stay the course, is how I feel. And many on this forum will concur that a lot of the online comments about medications are over-the-top because those who had a bad experience are generally those who post them. They are not being balanced out by comments from those who are satisfied. You are almost always going to get a skewed impression, so it is best not to put too much weight to them. I try to find medical sites to learn more about the meds I am being prescribed. The active ingredient in venlaxafine is what Cymbalta is.

This is from the Natiional Alliance on Mental Illness:

"Are there any risks of taking Cymbalta® for long periods of time?

To date, there are no known problems associated with long term use of duloxetine. It is a safe and effective medication when used as directed."

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Medications&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=51&ContentID=66267

Good luck! :hugs:
Marie

[laugh]

thanks so much for your response.

[MrRedShirt]

Hi, I have been on duloxetine for about 2.5 years with no problems. It really got me out of a very deep hole when I started it.

Please don't worry about taking medication, and ignore the scare stories.