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Brand Name Cymbalta by Eli Lilly is being discontinued!
I am seriously overwhelmed and scared. I just found out online that Cymbalta (brand name from Eli Lilly) is being discontinued worldwide. I called Eli Lilly customer service and they stated that it is discontinued. Whatever allotment is left with be distributed and that is it. I have tried the generic versions of Cymbalta along with other medications, such as Fetzima, Zoloft, Trintellix, Pristiq, Wellbutrin…none of them helped at all. I actually went into withdrawal in 2014 and 2016 when my health insurance wouldn’t cover the brand name Cymbalta, while having to take the generic duloxetine. It does not work the same, especially if you’ve been on the brand name first. I’ve contacted the FDA many times, and they could care less. There’s many articles out there that stated how many people have had issues with the generic version of Cymbalta. I currently Called the FDA to see if they could reach out to Eli Lilly for those of us who currently take Cymbalta. I have been on it now for almost 18 years, even emailing the CEO with no response from the company. Obviously they don’t care. They made their money over the last 20 off of the medication and now they have new medication to make more money off of. I literally have been getting severe panic attacks over this and I know when I’m not on the brand name, I will end up in the hospital or dead, and nobody is listening! What more can I do to change this? I feel like I’m planning my own funeral in my head, and none of these corporate people that make these decision could care less. The only med that works for me is being discontinued and I feel like my days are numbered. Never been this scared in my life.
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What does the form do? Because last time i tried a cheaper generic version of cymbalta i had a psychotic break.
It was so bad that Medicaid paid for me to stay on the name brand, What kills me is that Eli Lilly also makes the generics. All of them!!
Why would they do this to us, because I’m just envisioning the mental break I’m about to suffer because they didn’t have the decency to warn us at the pharmacy. This would have been nice to know before now, today my pharmacist said sorry we can’t get anymore and they gave me the last 60 that they had
How are you doing Rocker? I just found out today (09/11/2025) that Cymbalta is discontinued after months of being given the runaround by Kaiser about why they cannot refill my Rx.
I've been taking it for 20 years. Well, almost 20 years ... There was a year + when Kaiser switched me to the generic without telling me. (Since Kaiser repackaged it when I was getting the Eli Lilly version, I had no way of knowing, except that it made me very ill.) But since I didn't know there had been a medication switch it took a very long time to work out. First off, the generic made me throw up; the second clue was a debilitating 'Brain Fog' descended upon me which eventually got to the point I was expecting to be in an Alzheimer Care Facility within a year (years on, this 'Brain Fog' has yet to clear 100%); the third clue (that took a very long time to appear) was that the extreme neuralgia I was taking the Cymbalta for in the first place began to return.
I may never have worked it out except that the throwing up got worse and worse until eventually I was throwing up about a half-hour after each generic duloxetine capsule I took (I still thought that I was taking Eli Lilly brand Cymbalta), which made it pretty obvious just what the culprit was.
Everything I read about the generic was that it caused lots of problems while providing no benefit. It certainly didn’t provide any benefit for me! That garbage should have been pulled off the market immediately!
My situation sounds less dire than yours, but I will be reading through all the replies to you, hoping that someone has found an acceptable substitute.
I sincerely hope you have had success with your search for another medication. -- m
I was on 120mg for 13 years. The withdrawals are, indeed, horrendous. I’m so sorry. If you need guidance or support let me know.
I too have tried generic and it does not work the same. I am worried as well. I don't know of any drugs that work as well as name brand cymbalta for my diagnoses. Why can't they just make it exactly the same if the patent is done? I'm very scared too
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2 Reactions@mobiledork I'm going through the same situation, and my last supply of Cymbalta runs out in November. I'd like to know how to get Cymbalta from Blue Point Laboratories.
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I take Cymbalta for chronic pain. I have been on it for years. I am highly allergic to most compound materials and Cymbalta was "clean" enough that I could tolerate it. I have only four more pills left and beyond upset. I got the same answers everyone on this site did, the company is sorry but nothing can be done. So I spent hours and hours researching all the ingredients in all the types of generics that are on the market from every company around the world (stay away from India!). I can say that YAOPHARMA has a generic Cymbalta that is VERY close to the name brand. They have been approved by the FDA and have the right to distribute the medication. However that has not happened yet. I am going to contact NIH and find out. And just an FYI, all companies have to list their ingredients to apply for distribution. So the NIH website has been a lifesaver for information. In the meantime, I took one of my Cymbalta capsules to a compounding lab pharmacy. They are going to make the drug for me, however since it totally pure with so few additives I had go down in strength. Both the pharmacy and my Dr. agreed to go down. My insurance does not cover it, but until I can get a release date from YAO, that is what I am going to do. The compound pharmacy is in Deerfield, Illinois, Mark Drugs. They can send through the mail. Good luck to all of us!
I was just told by my doctor's office that I cannot get Cymbalta any longer. Not sure if I will be able to transition to the generic, I have been taking Cymbalta for 20 plus years. Sounds like I will have to do a lot of praying. I need my hands to work every day and Cymbalta was the blessing!
I have been taking duloxetine, the generic form of cymbalta, for pain for many years. That is not going away but it sounds like it doesn’t work for everyone. I do think that my body has gotten used to it over the years, and it’s not as effective at reducing pain as it once was. Or maybe as I’ve gotten older I am experiencing more physical pain.
@firefly70
Hi,
Could you share why you switched off Effexor?
Thank you
@rockerjock what did you end up transitioning to? My pharmacy JUST filled my last 10 days worth of cymbalta. I had ZERO warning the brand name is going away. Ive been on cymbalta for 15 plus years. My prescribor said maybe I should just go off my meds?!?!?!?!?! what the heck?