cymbalta - retina troubles?

[Guest montyface]

Is it true cymbalt can actually cause your freakin retinas to detach? I mean is the chance of going blind worth putting the med on the market?

[Velvet Elvis]

This is the first I've heard of it and I try and keep up with this stuff.

[Guest montyface]

I stumbled across the cymbalta and detached retina issues online, just google it. Apparently it isn't that common but also not totally a freaky rare side effect either, it does happen. Which to me is a HUGE risk of a med, eyes are far worse then weight, sex, sweating, or whatever else is out there really. The liver at least they can test for, not this shit though.

quote name='Velvet Elvis' date='May 20 2006, 09:25 PM' post='156163']

This is the first I've heard of it and I try and keep up with this stuff.

[olga]

Okay, calm down about retinal detachment. When Eli Lilly did their original study with Cymbalta, ONE PERSON had a retinal detachment while taking Cymbalta.

Retinal detachment happens for a number of reasons. When I was on Cymbalta for 8 weeks, I had an episode of Posterior Vitreous Detachment which can cause tears in the retina, which can lead to a detached retina if you don't follow up and get the retinal tears treated. (They fix them with lasers).

However, PVD and retinal detachment are not unusual for middle-aged people. If middle-aged people are depressed and taking Cymbalta.....well, maybe people would conclude that the Cymbalta caused the eye problems. (You can also get a detached retina if you sustain a hard blow to the head---as in an auto accident or running into a doorframe in the dark--that kind of blow).

Montyface, don't believe everything you read on the internet. There is a LOT of false information out there.

I have two opthalmologists: my glaucoma specialist and my retina specialist, and I checked with both of them about Cymbalta. They did some research and both of them told me that I didn't need to be concerned about Cymbalta causing my eye problems.

olga

[Bianca]

I got gingivitis at first when I started Cymbalta, then after a while it went away and I made a point to floss more often...

[johnnyzero]

Olga,

Let me start by saying that I certainly agree with you about one thing:

don't believe everything you read on the internet. There is a LOT of false information out there.

I also agree that it's tempting (human nature?) to falsely attribute strange side effects to a medication that you might be taking: "...after taking Prozac for two days I developed athlete's foot" or whatever. Also, see Bianca's witty post about gingivitis & Cymbalta.

Those things being said, and with all due respect, I have to say that I think you're somewhat misinformed and/or misguided on the whole Cymbalta/retinal-detachment issue. As I've posted elsewhere on the intenet, my 41-year-old wife developed a detached retina after taking Cymbalta for several weeks:

http://www.remedyfind.com/review_long.asp?...review_id=22704

Subsequently, we heard from another woman who experienced a detached retina in BOTH eyes after taking Cymbalta:

http://www.remedyfind.com/review_long.asp?...review_id=26332

In the intervening time, we've heard from at least 4 other people who have experienced similar problems. In fact, your own post makes me think that we've now found a FIFTH person:

When I was on Cymbalta for 8 weeks, I had an episode of Posterior Vitreous Detachment which can cause tears in the retina, which can lead to a detached retina if you don't follow up and get the retinal tears treated. (They fix them with lasers).

OK: in your case, you were fortunate enough to "merely" experience a precursor condition, PVD, and not a full-blown detached retina. If anything, your statement only strengthens the contention that Cymbalta can cause retinal detachment in certain people. Don't you see that your experience basically amounts to the same thing?

I have two opthalmologists: my glaucoma specialist and my retina specialist, and I checked with both of them about Cymbalta. They did some research and both of them told me that I didn't need to be concerned about Cymbalta causing my eye problems.

You have glaucoma? Cymbalta is explicitly contraindicated for patients with a history of certain types of glaucoma. How could any reasonable person, let alone a specialist, be aware of that fact and not suspect that Cymbalta may have caused your PVD?

When Eli Lilly did their original study with Cymbalta, ONE PERSON had a retinal detachment while taking Cymbalta.

I would be interested to see the data from the original clinical trials, and any data that Lilly & the FDA have gathered since that time. I find it curious that Lilly decided to list retinal detachment as an "Infrequent" side effect instead of "Rare" in their current monograph.

In conclusion, I hope that this post comes across in the spirit in which it's intended. Not as a rant, or to initiate a pi**ing match with anyone. As you can tell, it's something I feel very strongly about. My wife has suffered an 80% vision loss in one eye, and she has to deal with that every day.

I sincerely welcome any comments or feedback from you and any other forum members.

best,

JohnB

[olga]

Hi, John!

Well, I'm very sorry about your wife and the other people who have detached retinas.

First of all, Cymbalta is counter-indicated for people with Closed-angle Glaucoma. I have Open angle, which is entirely different. If you read packages of cold medicines and things like Nyquil, you will see the warning that people with Glaucoma should NOT take those meds. These warnings are referring to closed-angle glaucoma.

My glaucoma specialist did a fellowship at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. He teaches the ophthalmology students in our local university center, and he is head of Glaucoma treatment for our large University hospital. He has written 25 papers on glaucoma and is a very well-respected specialist in the field. Although I don't think he is God or anything, I do respect his opinion. He and my retina specialist would NOT want someone with closed angle glaucoma to take Cymbalta, but that isn't what I have.

I wil reiterate that PVD is very common in middle-aged people. As you age, your eyeball pulls away from the "back" of the eye---the retina. This is not unusual at all and was no big deal for me. When I had excessive "floaters," I went to see my glaucoma guy, who sent me down the hall to the retina lady. (I am seen at a large Lions Eye Center, with specialists for every kind of eye problem). She zapped the two little tears with a laser and I was out of there in an hour.

Maybe the Cymbalta caused it, but the day before I got the tears, I cracked my head a good one on the low doorway of our chicken coop. Right on the forehead---prime place to injure yourself and cause a detachment.

I just don't see a direct cause and effect progression with Cymbalta. I stayed on it for a year. My PVD happened 8 weeks after I started it. I was seen by my Glaucoma guy every 6 weeks last summer, and the retina doc saw me twice for followups. They see/saw no additional damage, and in fact, the field of vision test that I had in Jan. 2006 showed NO progession of damage to my optic nerve. My glaucoma guy was very pleased and I only have to go in every 3 months, now. My interocular pressures have dropped a little in the past year.

I'm off Cymbalta anyway. It was an effective AD for about 9 months, and then it seemed to poop out on me.

If you want to see the original stats on retinal detachment, get the patient Information sheets. Or go to crazymeds.us and see what Jerod has posted about Cymbalta.

I'm very sorry for your wife's condition, but I just don't know that Cymbalta caused my tears. It's a possibility, I suppose, but it could also have been the blow to the head.

The Wills Eye Hospital also has an excellent website if you would like more information about eye stuff. They are at: http://www.wills-glaucoma.org/index.htm.

I hang around with a lot of Glaucoma people in our chat room, and they all have either cataract problems or leaky blebs or PVD or some damn thing. Our meds cause thinning of the cornea and the retina, so that contributes to our problems, too. Why do I have rhinitis? Why do I have dry mouth? Why did I put on 40 pounds in 4 months? I'm on two glaucoma meds, one for blood pressure, one for cholesterol, 3 aspirin for stroke prevention and now Wellbutrin. I just don't think you can point the finger at any one med for something happening to me that's normal with middle age. (I'm mid-50s)

If you really think there's a problem, go to Eli Lily. I don't blame you for doing it, but I doubt if they'll respond.

And thanks for caring enough to write! Your wife is a lucky lady to have such a concerned hubby. When I was diagnosed with advanced Glaucoma, my husband offered to get me a cane. He has a sick sense of humor.

olga

[johnnyzero]

Hi Olga,

Thanks for your kind & thoughtful reply. I'm sorry to hear about your health woes too - eye-related, mood-related, and anything else.

It sounds like you had quite a few pre-existing conditions, which certainly "muddies the waters" & would make it more difficult to determine whether Cymbalta played a role in your particular case, if any. You also didn't mention anything in your original post about the chicken coop incident - ouch.

Yes, I'm aware that Cymbalta is only contriandicated for what the monograph calls "Narrow Angle Glaucoma"; and it sounds like you & your specialists were on top of that. From the credentials you mentioned, I'm sure they are at the top of their field.

On the other hand, I would bet that at some point in the early 1960's at least one reknowned specialist said something like "Mr. & Mrs. Jones, I can assure you that Thalidomide had absolutely nothing to do with your baby being born with 3 arms & flippers".

I agree with you that these types of symptoms (floaters, PVD, spontaneous retinal detachment, etc.) can, and do, sometimes occur for no apparent reason - especially in those of us who are aging baby boomers. My main question is whether Cymbalta indeed makes these types of problems significantly more likely to occur.

Maybe some day there will be enough data to prove things one way or the other. Until then, we can certainly agree to disagree.

Wishing you the best,

JohnB

[Guest off cymbalta for now]

I happened to stumble upon this (and many other) chats when trying to find information about Cymbalta's effect on eyes - particularly WHAT EXACTLY IT DOES TO GLAUCOMA PATIENTS. Imagine that - I can't find a reliable source for that exact information. Just to let anyone - including those CONFIRMED EXPERTS - know, my eyesight was particularly bad during the time I took Cymbalta. It was a cummulative effect over a period of 8 months, during which I went from 30mg 1pd to 60 mg 1pday. I started experiencing dilated pupils so much so that the technicians at the opthamology office came in a few times and thought my eyes had been manually dilated with drops. Often I would know this was occurring as my vision would suddenly get very blurry or halos around lights would suddenly become worse. After already suffering with vision problems prior to starting Cymbalta, I was naturally very concerned. After being given an MRI - I kid you not they thought it was brain tumor before ever suspecting Cymbalta - the only guess the neurologist would go with was stopping Cymbalta. I bet you can guess what happened - no more dilated pupils. So, no matter what Lily or doctors are telling their patients, something needs to be checked about the actual clinical data. I don't think the doctors are reporting this. It is up to the patients to let the public know. For those who want to believe that everyone on these websites are crazy and overreactive, that kind of thinking is what keeps dangerous drugs in the marketplace. The public has the right to know when a drug is not working after being released into the market. This wouldn't be the first time that a drug was found to be dangerous after "clinical trials".

[Guest stefania]

used cymbalta for about a year.

I had a retinal detachment. Please who has happened to me the contacts

email (email removed)

Please consider the drug dangerous

We generally removed emails from posts to prevent spam.

Please consider joining the community and signing up for an account.

Luna

Edited May 6, 2010 by LunaRufina
email removed

[Guest Noster]

Was put on cymbalta for last 6 months. Detached retina, no concurrent head trauma, mid 40's.

[notfred]

Detached retina's are common in middle age. I have had one as had my father. Neither of us take/took Cymbalta.

nf

[olga]

I took cymbalta for 9 months, and I have Glaucoma and I had a PVD. (Posterior vitreous detachment) My retina specialist said that PVDs and other retinal conditions are not unusual for people 45 and up. She saw no correlation to my medicines.

olga

[Guest lis]

my mum had glaucoma (low preassure rare kind) vitrial detachment in both eyes, floaters and cataracts.. she developed these in her mid 50s and was NEVER on cymbalta.

she was on doxepin, and serapax (very old 1970s anti depressant and sleeping pill) very unlikely her eye issues were drug induced.

I am on cymbalta and right now day 5 and my vision is kinda blurry

[Guest randi]

my mum had glaucoma (low preassure rare kind) vitrial detachment in both eyes, floaters and cataracts.. she developed these in her mid 50s and was NEVER on cymbalta.

she was on doxepin, and serapax (very old 1970s anti depressant and sleeping pill) very unlikely her eye issues were drug induced.

I am on cymbalta and right now day 5 and my vision is kinda blurry

[Elizabeth A]

I was on Cymbalta for 2 months. Had almost every side effect and had to be taken off. I was just diagnosed  with a retinal tear and cataracts in one eye. I found the FDA warning about takingCymbalta 1-6 months increasing risk of cataracts and now I'm seeing discussions about Cymbalta and retinal compromise. 

I also found the FDA warning about  taking Cymbalta 1-6 months  increasing the risk of kidney stones. I had kidney stones 1 month after stopping Cymbalta.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Elizabeth A
Spelling errors

[rextasy]

A rare side effect of Cymbalta is mydriasis (dilated pupils), which could be a problem for people with narrow angle glaucoma. Otherwise, where (other than on homeopathic remedy websites) are you getting this information about PVDs and retinal detachments? 

As an eye professional, I can concur that PVDs are common, especially in older people. PVDs can uncommonly lead to retinal detachments, but in themselves are merely troublesome. If you're nearsighted (have a - eyeglasses prescription), your chance of PVD is greater.

Edited February 20, 2018 by rextasy