I would like to hear some opinions about Cymbalta. I saw my neuro on Tuesday and he suggested Cymbalta at night to relieve my nighttime pain. He wants to me wait until my bloodtests come back (I was just tested for Sojerns and Celiac) He has been calling my neuropathy diabetic but now he feels it is caused by something else. I think what I find hard about taking Cymbalta is the side effects. I have been reading about things I don't want to deal with...high blood pressure -mine is finally controlled - blurred vision -I have enough problems there and also I am concerned it is an antidepressant and I am not depressed. Yet it is the middle of the night and I can't sleep because f the pain. Help!

Dorothy

If you'd like to know more about Cymbalta from people that are actually taking it you might try the Cymbalta group at Yahoo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cymbalta

I moderate the Celexa and Lexapro groups there. The two largest, main, ones. I joined the Cymbalta group because my doc was thinking about putting me on Cymbalta at one point. What I've see so far is there is doesn't seem to an in between. It either works fairly well for you or it doesn't. Period. The 'doesn't' part includes intolerable side effects.

Cymbalta is widely used for all kinds of pain now. PN among them. I think some of the sides depends on the dose. *If* you experience sides that is. There are a number of people that have none at all after the first two weeks.

Look at it this way, if it's not helping in 2 or 3 weeks you can always try something else.

I'm sorry you're having trouble sleeping. That's when my pain is always the worst. I'm one of those people that cannot tolerate sleep deprivation at *any* level.

Hi. I'm on cymalta and was on it before for a few weeks but trying it again. I'm only on 30 because when I increase to 60 I felt dizzy and weird like the other meds. I had a hard time with lyrica and neurontin. Elavil was not great either. I have not noticed any change yet but only back on it for a week and very low dose. No side effects though I don't think. As I have so many weird things going on already. Sorry not much help. I have had before this the worst of sleep issues and it has just gotten worse like over the past 3 nights maybe 4 hours. So I'm not the best judge with the sleep meds. My docs are confused with that as I'm so sensitive to meds yet the ones that cause sleep do nothing. I don't know if its possible to be on a more sleep med and the another pain med if you don't want to take cymbalta? Like when I was on trazedone it helped the best with sleep. Did you discuss your fears with your doc? Also remember side effects like you know are different for everyone and they practically list every possible. Good luck.

What time of day are you taking the Cymbalta? If you're taking it at night and having increased trouble sleeping try taking it in the morning instead. That often helps that situation and it's the same, if it makes you groggy during the day and you're taking it in the morning switch to taking it at night about an hour or so before bed.

Oh thanks. No I have had the same sleeping issues before this med. Sleep meds don't make me sleep. In the hospital they gave me so much and I still was awake and everyone else was sound asleep. Not sure why. My old psych said I was on enough sleeping meds for a horse yet other meds I can barely handle at a low dose.Thank you though.

That brings to mind a lady I used to work for: Oddly enough, coffee had the exact opposite effect on her that it should have. She'd drink a cup of coffee and it would make her very sleepy. That might be the type of thing that's going on with you. What happens when you ingest a stimulant like caffeine?

Daniella:

Sounds like your brain chemistry is mis-firing. Like the kids who have ADHD, and they give them the stimulant Ritalin and it calms them down.

I bet you could down a fifth of vodka and go dancing.

Sleep meds have no effect on you at all!!!

How do you get to sleep???

Melody

I'm a nut I know but at least I admit it. I'm telling you I have seen so many psychiatrists and no one can figure it out. As for caffeine well I'm addicted to it and may I thought had something to do with sleep but then in the hospital I had to be off of it for 2 months. Lets talk hangovers it was the worst. I was given meds for that. Anyhow even after 2 months of no caffeine no sleep. No meds really helped with my anxiety/depression. For me it was more just self talk and therapy. I do know that when I was so underweight for 12 years it did effect my brain. When I got nurished I do see how my thinking is clearer. So maybe the sleep will come too.Makes for long days. All my friends sleep like 10 hours and can fall asleep anywhere. They joke with me that I'm like the mother of the group. If I ever get better in pain I need to be more young.
Dorothy what did you decide on the med?

I haven't decided anything yet. I appreciate the replies and the information. I work full time and it is important that I sleep. I get up at 5 Am and leave about 5:45. Usually, I don't get home until 6PM so my days are long and and I don't get the opportunity to nap during the day. You would think I would be sleepy but I am tired beyond sleepiness. I had been taking Quinine for leg cramps and now the FDA said they cannot be prescribed for leg cramps anymore so the cramping wakes me up. My neuro thought the Cymbalta might be able to lessen the pain and cramping. I am going to call my PCP next week and talk about it. My nuero will put the results of my bloodwork into his note (which he copies to me) and then I will decide. The last thing I need is somethingthat will make me worse. And in truth the thought of an antidepressant when I am not depressed scares me.

Dorothy

I myself, have never been a sleeper. From when I was a child. Guess it's something about my nervous system. The slightest thing will wake me up.
If I'm taking a nap, I always tell Alan, don't you dare come into the bedroom and turn off the tv, I'll wake up". What does he do? Because he can't stand anything being on if I'm asleep (now how silly is this??), he'll try and tiptoe into the room and close the tv. Each and every time, I turn over and say "thank you very much, you just woke me up"

I have (this is my term for it), over sensitive hearing. I do have some kind of high pitch hearing loss. I found that out years ago, when I went for a hearing test. I guess it comes from years of listening to my cassette player at full volume and all those concerts at the Fillmore East when I was 22 years old. I saw Santana, John Simon, Tom Jones perform. I saw everybody. I jumped up on chairs. But all that loud stuff affected some part of my hearing.

So while I do measure at having some degree of hearing loss, I also have this ability to hear stuff that no one else will hear. I can hear the people upstairs play music and I go to Alan: "doesn't that drive you crazy, and he goes "what???" oh that little music?? that drives you crazy?"

I can hear the old people downstairs when they play the italian music. I hear absoutely everything. If the people next door are fighting, or the people who live upstairs from the people next door, I can hear them turn on the music so they can fight and they think no one can hear them. I once heard bodies being thrown across the room. And this is another building over from my house.

I once went outside and asked their neighbor who lives on the other side of them (not near me), I asked him "did you hear the fight last night?" and he said: "you can hear them, you don't even live next door to them". I said "yeah, I hear everything". It can real annoying when your nervous system allows your brain to register unwanted sounds.

I used to have to sleep with ear plugs because of Alan's snoring. He lost weight and does not snore anymore, but I swear I almost killed him once. I need complete quiet to sleep. But now, since I take Alprazolam at 11 p.m. it doesn't matter. I go to sleep and get up at 8 a.m. and feel just fine.

I also don't like to hear the screech of tires, or, if Alan and I are in Dunkin Donuts and people sit down at another table, and they pull out the chairs and make that awful screeching sounds. Goes right through my head.

I believe I have some sort of sensory stuff going on. It's not enough to drive me bonkers, but since I know it gets to me, there's nothing I can do. I can't stop the people upstairs from moving their kitchen table and chairs so they can wash the floor, but boy, when they move the kitchen table and chairs, the screeching is horrible. So I just learned to live with it. I conditioned my responsiveness to not let it drive me nuts.

And this is a person who used to live at discos in the 70's. Makes no sense whatsoever. I can go to a wedding and dance all night. But if I go to the movies with Alan, I have to put stuff in my ears because the sound is SOOO loud.

I also listen to the tv with headphones, so I tune out the rest of the world. I try and not do this from time to time. If I know that no one outside is in the backyard, then I put my tv on regular. But if there's people in the backyard, they will hear my tv and I don't want anybody knocking on the window saying "melody, turn down the tv". So I got in the habit of using headphones. I'm an odd little duck aren't I?

I also don't jack up the sound. I know better. But we live in a world of cars, blaring horns, teens playing music right next door to me, etc.

I will never forget the time when Anthony, the little juvenile delinquent who lives next door, was playing his stereo at night. It was 1 a.m. Alan was at work as a night time security guard.

So there I was, walking in my backyard, wondering where on earth is this loud music coming from. I wasn't the only one. The people downstairs came out of their house and we all looked at Anthony's backyard and into his bedroom window (which was open), and there, at 1 a.m. in the morning, was Anthony listening to his stereo at full blast.

The people downstairs started yelling in italian and grabbed the water hose and were about to shove the hose into his open window. Thank god I stopped them. They were going crazy. I just yelled at him. He stopped. He closed the window.

I wish I sometimes lived in the country like my friend does. She goes in her backyard and there are deer, and little animals. Now I don't like that stuff about animals coming to the back door, but I sure would like to be surrounded by quiet.

Melody