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Originally Posted by mrsd
and Calcium in the proper ratios?
Cymbalta has some usefulness in chronic pain states where the brain overfires and gives faulty responses. As in RSD and fibromyalgia. Cymbalta has some usefulness and it works centrally.
However, having SSRI actions (along with some norepi reuptake), is not a good idea for cramping. People using SSRIs can develop muscle tension and cramps.
This is due to the fact that SSRI drugs reduce dopamine over time. Dopamine agonists are typically used for cramping, and RLS symptoms like you describe.
These drugs are typically Sinemet or Requip or Mirapex. However, they too have side effects and people often don't like them.
The best thing to try is a good absorbable magnesium. Support that with high potassium containing foods, and good absorbable calcium, and leg spasms should improve.
I don't recall what other drugs you are on, but sometimes you get cramping/spasms as a result of nutrient depletions that other drugs cause.
For example: diuretics for blood pressure.
If you try Cymbalta--be advised that it is VERY difficult to come off of. This would be in the 6mos+ time frame. Even the sales reps who sell it and use it ...discuss this negative attribute (at www.cafepharma.com Eli Lilly board). It is similar to Effexor, and that too is hard to come off of, and requires a slow taper and time. |
Yes, as you point out they say the same thing about Effexor. I just came off Effexor (About 3 years on it). It was nothing like any of the horror stories I've heard. I was only ever on 75 mg so that may have something to do with it. It took me a total of about 3 months to come completely off Effexor. Took me 6 months to come off of 40mg of Celexa. The withdrawals I *did* experience were the same for both drugs, oddly enough. The worst symptom I had and it was more annoying than anything was this odd feeling behind my eyes. Like when you have a fever and you move your eyes. I never did have any brain zaps or anything like that. No nausea... What I'm trying to say is these drugs effect each of us very differently. Which one of the SSRI's (dual inhibitors included) works well for me may not work for anyone else the same way. Weaning off can be an individual process as well. There is no "one-size-fits-all" when it comes to these kinds of drugs. Period.
My NP is probably one of only a few of the GP type docs that I know of that is familiar with what the withdrawal time frame really is for SSRI's. So many people have told me their docs think they can just stop taking it in a few weeks. 3 at most. Many of them have told their patients they can simply stop taking it.
I agree: Try the mag first. Try anything else that has a hope of working before going to any kind of drug that 'plays' with your brain chemicals.
I experienced the first and only suicidal depression I have ever had late last fall or there abouts. And it was due to medication I was given for PN. It seemed to be a bad reaction between the Gabapentin and the Effexor Gabapentin did a big number on me. It just occurred to me while writing this post that my determination to not be on these kinds of drugs anymore is because of that suicidal depression. Now I *know* what the worst feels like for me. And nothing I had ever experienced prior to that was as bad. Well, perhaps the anxiety...that felt pretty bad.
But I don't think I'll be needing any kind of AD anymore.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think a lot of us find this board because we're pro-active when it comes to our own care. I don't know about anyone else but I *know* that doctors are just human and make mistakes and they certainly do not have all the answers. When my neuro told me no known cause I was a bit confused. How could something that causes such damage and discomfort have no known cause? Granted, there are some Dx's of PN that don't have any cause that is found easily. But I also believe that eventually they will find all the causes. And that treatments will involve more than simply throwing meds at the symptoms. That's what many people are dealing with right now, only treating the symptoms not the underlying causes.