Abuse of Cymbalta

[JimmyV]

I have a friend who was prescribed cymbalta for depression and anxiety. She was told by her doctor to discontinue taking the pills and she did. Recently however, she has been overwhelmed by school and relationship drama and has emptied as many as 4 pills out on her counter and snorted them. The result is a terrifying tear between getting her help and respecting her wishes for me to stay with her and not get help. She started abusing the drug like this more frequently until it got to the point where her boyfriend and i tried to get her to stop. She ended up fighting both of us off like she had completely gone insane. We flushed all of her cymbalta down the toilet much to her dismay. Her withdrawal symptoms are severe but neither me nor her boyfriend know exactly what to do as i cannot find anything about cymbalta being abused in this kind of manner.

[JimmyV]

See though, that's what every website i found said. None of them had anything about cymbalta being abused to get high and any ill effects to that end.

[Sandra Y, RPh]

Cymbalta is not known to be addictive, but abrupt discontinuation can cause mood changes, irritability, agitation, dizziness, anxiety, confusion, headache, lethargy,
insomnia, tinnitus, and seizures.

If you have additional questions about Cymbalta, you can call the Lilly Answers Center at 1-800-LILLY-RX (1-800-545-5979).