momof4: Thank you.

I was thinking that exact thing. I cant even think about that because I was in so much pain. But my medications arent permanent. Mine get changed seasonally, as if I improve with the pain. If medication is taken AS PRESCRIBED, it has a great potential to help you. As we all know some medications arent for everyone.

what kind of life is it if you have no life at all?

But wouldnt you want to do anything you could to improve your life a little bit? Because then, when you have less pain you can do more things, which results in your limbs not losing muscle even more, etc. you get to do functional physical therapy. You lessen your pain do your therapy which then results in being able to do more things slowly. If we come with the offset mind of we don't want to 'get addicted' you don't have to get addicted. You can ween off of the medication. Everything to a point we are addicted to, diet coke, processed foods, those are horrible for us and alot of people are addicted to bad eating habits.
For me, it wasn't a matter of 'wanting' to take medication, it was a matter of me being able to get out of bed in the morning. And at 20 years old, thats a hard concept to have to grasp.

Take care of yourself, I think I can say most of us have tried many medications that haven't worked, but when we have found one or two that helped us, it was worth all that hard work and effort to get where we are. Don't look at it as getting addicted, obviously anything that we do daily and then we stop, our body will have withdrawals. Its a fact of life. Look at it as, one step in the right direction, and if it doesn't work, and you fall. Get back up again and try again. you have the support of us, but you have to try everything you can in your ability to help yourself. Be positive and even if the Cymbalta doesn't work for you, don't give up.

Oh and i have been on 60 mgs of Cymbalta for over a year now.