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A Midwestern Doctor's avatar

The zap thing is a very common side effect people experience.

Was your friend on duloxetine (Cymbalta)? On a lot of examinations I took in the past, there was always a random question that required you to know the one gold standard FDA approved treatment for fibromyalgia was duloxetine. ( Milnacipran (Savella) and venlafaxine (Effexor XR) also have FDA approval though).

If so, this would provide an interesting context to that thing we were always tested on and provide a great example of how doctors think (defaulting to the list they memorized for treatment of a complex issue...this was discussed in my article about medical blindness)

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Mary Poindexter McLaughlin's avatar

Yes, my friend was on Cymbalta. "Medical blindness" is the perfect term -- and it goes hand-in-surgical-glove with "patient prostration." I'm always stunned at how most individuals unquestioningly cede their health to "the experts." Even really smart individuals.

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A Midwestern Doctor's avatar

Unfortunately intellectual intelligence has no correlation with the ability to resist mind control. It is a hard lesson to learn :l

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Mary Poindexter McLaughlin's avatar

SO TRUE. I feel so incredibly lucky that my husband is a hypnotherapist. We've seen and discussed the power of propaganda for years. Just couldn't imagine the extent to which it could be deployed... until recently.

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A Midwestern Doctor's avatar

More money than you could possibly imagine has been invested in propoganda. Those investments would not be done if they did not have a good ROI.

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Con Sider's avatar

Thanks for sharing your friend's experience... and I am heartbroken concerning her death.

I recently educated a friend about a psych drug (duloxetine/Cymbalta) which her doctor prescribed her for the same reason. It had her feeling very bad in several ways... and she was supposed to double the dosage twice over a relatively short timeframe! It had begun to help with the nerve pain... but at a terrible price.

Please name the drug your friend had been prescribed?

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Mary Poindexter McLaughlin's avatar

Hi Constance, you sound like a devoted friend! The drug was indeed Cymbalta.

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Con Sider's avatar

Thanks for the encouragement, Mary.

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