GJZH,

I have a compressed spinal cord in my neck which causes pain and tingling down both arms and into all fingers and thumbs.

I have neuropathy in my fingers/toes, hands/feet, forearms/lower legs from a blood condition. Numbness, loss of strength, loss of muscle mass, PAIN.

I also have fibromyalgia.

My son says if I were a horse they'd shoot me Good thing I'm a !!

I've found that both Duloxetine (Cymbalta) and Effexor XR work to pretty much stop the majority of the pain.

I could not open jars at all before I started taking the Cymbalta. Even if I hit them with a hammer beforehand. I can open brand new jars without pre-striking which means, I've gotten a lot of strength back -- especially in my left hand.

I stopped taking the Cymbalta when I left the clinical trial. I'm now taking Effexor SR. That's only because the Cymbalta was not available yet when I started taking this class of drugs.

For me, the Cymbalta worked faster -- full effect in one week. The Effexor XR took a full month to kick in.

The Effexor XR throws me into nasty withdrawals if I stop taking it for a week -- lousy transportation combined with snow sometimes makes it difficult to get to the pharmacy. I keep telling myself, I need to get my prescriptions mailed.

I could NOT tolerate the pain level before I started taking these drugs. The only other pain reliever I use is 800 mg Ibuprofen 1-3 times a day for the arthritis in my spine. I also get ESIs periodically in my neck and lumbar. I don't like them because they turn me into *THE* STEROID WITCH.

Barb