u/Angelic_threat

I need some advice from people here. I started taking cymbalta around a month ago and first started with a 30mg dose. I experienced the typical side effects that other people here mention- drowsiness, feeling constantly hot, excessive sweatiness, feeling jittery, a little nausea and change of appetite (usually loss of it).

4 days ago my doctor upped my dose to 60mg a day, and its been a wild ride.

(I think I might have experienced serotonin syndrome yesterday, because I had extreme anxiety, my body was slightly jerking, my hands shaking, I was feeling dread, and even more sleepiness.)

As of today I feel fine, athough even after perfect amount of sleep I feel extremely tired and fatigued.

Is that normal? When will the fatigue go away?

(Background)

Before starting duloxetine (for my depression and GAD)

I already had complete lack of motivation and no energy to do basic things, but ever since cymbalta, I feel like its only gotten worse. I need to sleep all of the time- not talking crashes after 2pm- but even after 2 hours of waking up.

Do anyone have some tips on how to cope with it?

I really want to wait it out, but Ive been reading a lot of posts on this subreddit and it seems like bunch of people are saying the same thing. Should I give up on it? Had anyone at all had positive experience with cymbalta and experienced better mood and uplifted energy?

I want to hear from people who feel better after the drug.

I was also thinking about adding some welbutrin to my "case" to help myself add some energy and also neutralize sexual dysfunctions, which are incredibly bad for me.

Please guys let me know what should I do, thanks.

Hey to you all. This is the first time ever I will be posting something on reddit, usually Im just a reader, so it wont be perfect. I'm hoping to see what can be made of my situation, if other people out here are able to relate, or just generally work this over. I (18yo) (I want to make this gender neutral) have been struggling with a really difficult attachment in my life. At first, I wasn't even acknowledging it, or even call it my personal quirks, but Im getting older and its just unbearable.

To make this short enough:

When I was just 15 years old I got into my first relationship- or rather a dating situation, with a girl that gave me the definition of an "on and off" kind of love. She liked me first, I couldnt make much of my feelings for her yet, so to her favor I decided to go with it. She was giving me lots of love, affection and then on some days she would switch it off even if nothing happened. She could dissapear for days or even weeks, then come back and still be welcomed by me with open arms. She was my first introduction to some sexual things, so that "first, puppy love" syndrom was hitting hard. The thing is- I could be as hurt and angry at her for disappearing on me, yet one simple "sorry" from her was enough to melt me and instantly forget. I couldnt stay mad at her at all- because somewhere deep down I was depending on her emotionally and her presence alone made me feel more whole, in a way. It continued for around 2 years, and then I had a break from meeting any new people.

Forward to late 2025, I met a guy (who is now 20yo) who made my entire little world crash with everything he was. Me- shy, scared of things, still unexperienced, met someone who wanted everything all at once, and wanted it fast. We barely started talking and a few weeks in he already seemed obssesed with me. Two months in he was talking about future together- moving in, sex, quitting his college he was paying for and finding a manual job instead. And even though everything seemed perfect, having someone so dedicated to you and sure of you for some reason- I started pulling away. Drastically. I didnt feel ready for any of this, not the pace we were moving in, not for moving in together- not even the heaviness of his feelings for me. Around 4 months in I broke up with him, asking to be friends. (Im pretty much antisocial, so every person I meet becomes important, he was too.) And it went smoothly at first. Then around some mutual friends I started sensing a lot of shading from him towards me that wasnt exactly sneaky. He generally just switched from all his previous personality traits to kind of a jerk. I started feeling lost, guilty and started feeling like I made a terrible mistake. Kind of wanted to give it another chance and get the old him back. Didnt act out on it yet- just started asking small questions on why he is acting like a completely different person now. Then, out of nowhere, barely two weeks after the break-up, he met someone completely new off of dating app and repeated the same cycle he did with me- except that this person was ready for everything. They started officialy dating after a month, and everything moved so fast I barely kept track. Around the same time as they made it official he cut me off completely. And ever since, I have been just painfully stuck on it. Reliving that same chapter of my life over and over again. I have not been able to stop thinking about him, and for some twisted reason that I despise myself- I only started feeling more things towards the guy as I was processing on my own all the things he used to say to me. The things that first seemed absurd at how fast they came- but now feel like "I wont ever meet that kind of love again.". It feels horrible, wrong, and all kinds of bad, but I feel like I truly needed something as simple as more time to process this all, meanwhile I already got replaced completely. My thoughts are stuck on the guy, even though Im obviously not planning on ruining anything between him and new partner. This would be wrong. Im just stuck in this shit all by my own, tried meeting new people, but its like a war inside my head because I havent really ever moved. Tried to so much. Nothing really compares, and I almost feel loyal to someone not mine.

Im able to look at it from the outside view, and understand that all of this is absurd. But there is still a difference between what I know makes sense, and what my heart feels. This guy had a huge impact on how I viewed life, rewired my brain chemistry, meanwhile Im not sure I even cross his mind no more.

I need that outside view. Wondering if someone went through something similiar as me, too. If someone goes through similiar things right now. I want to hear opinions, because its been eating at me for a while now. I know that logically I am at fault.

I also know whatever Im experiencing is probably known in psychology, and I wish to know more about it.

Im just struggling, and I wish I didnt feel this loyalty to someone so specifically out of my reach.

Any kind of feedback- I will be thankful for. Help me understand this better.

Tl;dr