Cymbalta
 

Well my doctor started me on Cymbalta today. I sure hope this works. I've also reduced my work hours to 4-6 hours each day as needed. I first went to talk to my company on good faith trying to keep my customers best interest at heart. My company said no problem, but wanted to adjust my benifits because I would be working less. The reduction was at the recommendation of the doctor. So I got a doctors note today reducing the hours for 2 months. Should have the cymbalta figured out by then. Hope everyone is doing as well as can be expected. I keep each and everyone in my thoughts and prayers.:grouphug:

Hi, I've been on Cymbalta for about 6 months for depression, I couldn't quit blubbering (and that's not like me). It helps with that, but I havent really noticed improvement in pain relief, but each one is different, hope it helps you. Have you noticed a weight gain with it?

No...actually i've lost a couple of pounds. I'll keep watch though.

I was prescribed Cymbalta several months ago, and took it for five or six weeks. At first I thought it was helping, but then I began having violent dreams and a feeling in my head which felt like a zap of electricity or something. I hope that you have good luck with it, though. I hear that many people do. Good luck, Warblesnap! :)

Its now been about 2 weeks...I think it is helping with the morning stiffness. I don't seem to be as stiff as before. But we'll see. Thanks for all the replies.

Hi Warbelsnap. I took Cymbalta from the day it was approved. Anxiously waited for that figuring it might help my fibro and deal with my lifelong depression.

My doctor told me that originally it was thought that 60 mg was an effective dose for the pain. But then that changed and the reps told him that 90 mg was the minimum effective dose for the pain.

I did stop the Cymbalta for other reasons. Once I stopped I did realize it had been helping the fibro pain in general.

I hope you have good luck with it.

At first, I didn't think it was helping. However, my husband said he noticed I was moving better in the mornings and didn't appear to be as stiff. I'm still on the 60mg, but my dr is flexible. Thanks for all the replies.

Sorry it didn't work for you. They are coming up with all kinds of meds. Maybe in the future, they will come up with one that will really work good for most everybody. I still take my pain drugs and I go through a lot of icy hot. The icy hot seems to help take the edge off somewhat. I go through a tube every week. After I take my roxicodone, I am very sleep. I usually sleep for 2 to 4 hours everyday. I am always tired. God Bless all. :grouphug: :D

Hi from Minnesota
 

I have been on Cymbalta for about 2 years now. I hate taking any type of meds but this is one I will not do without. My life has changed a lot for the better becuse of the pain level being down.

Cymbalta seems to help with the morning stiffness. My Rhuemi put me on neurotin also 3 times a day. That has helped also. But I am still having to take my roxicodone. But the neurotin has enabled me to decrease the amount of roxi I take. Instead of 4 to 6 times a day I only have to take it 2 to 4 times a day. Hugs to all.

I used Cymbalta for awhile with no improvement, but had definite weight gain. Have you tried Lyrica? It's my lifesaver. I've had definite relief.

I've been on Lyrica. It didn't help actually made my feet and legs swell and hurt even more. That's when my Dr put me on the Cymbalta.

I'm on both... I've definitely noticed the weight gain with the Cymbalta :(
I' was given that for mental health problems rather than MS however, although my psychuatrist did say it might help with the pain.

I haven't noticed any weight gain. I've actually been losing but that is probably from my throid medicine which is probably countering the cymbalta.

I tried Cymbalta (30 mg 1x a day) for just a few days and it really helped w/ the stiffness, weakness & pain. However, I couldn't cope with the nausea, dizziness & loss of balance. I did not leave my apt for fear of losing my balance & fracturing a bone.

I've since learned that it comes in 20 mg. doses and I am considering asking him to start me on that and then titrate up to 60 mg. pd. I began having FMS symptoms just before I was dx'd w/ cancer -- 10 years ago -- and it worsened during & after chemotherapy. The most common diagnoses I was given were that I had peripheral neuropathy from the chemo & maybe some kind of undifferentiated autoimmune thing. EMGs, MRIs, etc. came back negative. It has taken me about 8 years to get a "sort of" dx of FMS. As have most people on this forum, I've tried all kinds of medications (neurontin, elavil, celexa, welbutrin, valium, you name it). None has helped nearly as much as Cymbalta.

I've heard that the nausea & dizziness disappear after 2 weeks or so. I'd love to hear of others' experiences w/ Cymbalta.

Antonina~ The nausea and dizziness did go away after about a week or 2. My prob with cymbalta is that I have massive amounts of hair loss in the shower everyday. I feel like I am going bald. I have a lot of hair but when you rinse and get about 5 each time you wash your hair you tend to either want to stop taking it or not wash your hair. Now I will tell you the combination of the neurotin and my pain meds is wonderful. With the neurotin, instead of taking 4 to 6 pills 30mg of Roxicodone a day, I ususally only have to take 2 to 4. Pills are pills no matter how you slice it and I hate taking them. Good luck to you and we are always here to talk and listen when you need. Gentle hugs to you and everyone else.
:hug::hug::grouphug::grouphug:

OMG! My hair has gone from bushy to seriously thinning ever since menopause (many moons ago) so the last thing I would want to take is something which worsens it. Thanks for the info. I'll bet the rx insert would omit that particular unpleasant side effect. Yikes!!

I took neurontin for about a year and as I mentioned, it did little for me. Does the Roxicodone have any brain fog connected with it?

Antonina~no I don't notice a brain fog. It does make me sleepy. It does come in 15mgs and I've been on it for a while, so they upped it cause I was having to take to many of the 15s. When I first started several years ago, I would take 1/2 of the 15 and it would knock the pain out or at least make it annoying and bearable. It never goes away. I haven't found that miracle pain pill yet...but I'm hoping. ;) :D:D:D:D

No brain fog is good. When I took elavil, it was fine for staying asleep but the hangover/zombie effect was not worth it. I guess we are all awaiting magic pills.

Hey, Warbelsnap. Neurontin I believe has a side effect of hair loss? With Cymbalta it is more of a rare occurrence. I didn't experience hair loss or weight gain with Cymbalta. I didn't realize how much it was helping with the Fibro until I quit taking it. But, I felt it wasn't helping with my depression at all.

I have to have help for the depression and so far the Prozac seems to be going fine. I've also lost all the weight I had gained from years on that awful Paxil But the Prozac definitely doesn't do a thing for pain.

I'm flared right now with both the fibro and arthritis. :p Such fun...not!

I always highly recommend Nioxin hair products for anyone! It's great at preventing and stopping hair loss.

Doody,
You are right...the hair loss is a rare side affect. Not sure if it is one of the neurotin, but I wouldn't put it passed it. I've been on the cymbalta longer than the neurotin and the hair loss just seems to be getting worse. I will have to my Dr either way. I this rate I will be bald and suffering. :rolleyes: :D. Also sorry to hear about your flare up. The last couple of weeks have been worse than normal for me also. The weather changed down here from cold to not bad (low 70s) and just changed again to the mid to low 50s.
Have you tried zoloft? I've been taking it for at least 3 yrs and I love it. I had to have a full hysterectomy at the age of 29 because of endometriosis and they couldn't save anything. I still say zoloft saved my marriage. We were all leaving in heck because of the moodiness not just from day to day but from moment to moment.

Hugssss
I am undx, with many MS like sxs...my mom has fibro though. I was told once it was that from a neuro, but then he didnt put that in his report. Then my pcp, said no all this cant be fibro. So still getting figured out some day.

I have lots of stiffness in morning, and I walk like age 99 first thing, and have to be careful. I am mom of five kids, work a hard fast on the feet type of job.. Once up out of bed and around a bit, I loosen up enough to do my work.

I am on neurontin, for tingling pain I get with numbness, it helps that a LOT!

Just curious if anyone knows what is best for the stiffness stuff, is that what you are trying Cymbalta for?? Hoping neurontin isnt the hair loss culprit..I havent noticed much. But with each child after giving birth I was losing so much hair.

anyhow, wanted to say sorry about your pain and ailments..good luck on the meds. and was curious about the stiffness stuff hugssssssss,sarah

I always highly recommend Nioxin hair products for anyone! It's great at preventing and stopping hair loss.[/QUOTE]

I'd love to hear which Nioxin products you use for preventing/stopping hair loss.

Sabimax,

My short lived stint on Cymbalta seemed to help enormously w/ stiffness.

thanks antonina...someday maybe I will try that... just dont want to be taking lots of meds at once. Right now and probably forever I will be on the Neurontin, and right now taking Prednisone taper down med for my sxs flaring. hugsss,sarah

((Atonina)) I just use the Nioxin shampoo and conditioner, though they do have other heavy duty products for the scalp. My son-in-law used it when he had a bad bout with alopecia a few years ago and it helped him as well. If you want to look at this link, what I use are the Shampoo and Scalp Therapy. The scalp therapy also is wonderful on any area of your skin. There is also a Product Locator tab here. If you type in your zip code, you can find stores that sell it. http://nioxin.com/en/products/scalp-...em-1?xPos=10.5

My best story though is one of my best friends. Years ago I gave her a 'travel-pack' of Nioxin to try. Her hair was very thin and fine. Since then, she has never used another product! At salons sometimes you get lucky and can find a set of the shampoo and conditioner in a package for sale, in big bottles. It's not cheap. But it also takes very little to use!

((Sabimax)) BOY HOWDY on the stiffness! What you said describes me many mornings! Like a 99 year old woman. Once I get to work and get around for a bit, the stiffness starts to wear off. I do think that the Cymbalta helped me, but again...it wasn't for me in terms of depression. There have also been reports of 'suicidal' thinking while on it..I was one of those, but then...a lot of ADs warn about that. Plus at the time I was taking Ambien and that could have been the villain in my 'suicidal ideology'. :o

Often I also wake up with stiff and sore feet. Weird.

Doody,
I'm psyched!! I'm going to buy Nioxin and will report back. It certainly can't hurt since whatever I'm doing ain't working. Thank you for the info.

Doody,
I am in total agreement with antonina about trying the Nioxin. What I am doing right now is not helping. I'll ge back to you on how it work. Thank you friend for helping with another issue.
Gentle huggs to all.

Experience w/Cymbalta, Hair Loss, Stiffness, etc.
 

:)Morning,

New here but read the thread & thought I'd throw in my 2 cents ... I tried Cymablta for ~ 2.5 months. 30 mg/daily attempted an increase to 60 mg/daily but could not handle it. Aft. about 1 month I really started to question the effects of Cymbalta - if anything I seemed to be getting worse! Totally aggitated, stressed out, could not sleep, irritable, happy, then annoyed all within 45 sec span - as I put it "losing it"! No effect on the pain what so ever. I did not even know about the potential for weight gain until reading this forum but, I was gaining weight as well :( Thank God I am off now, as of 5 Jan 09 - the 1st night I did not take it I actually slept!! We all know how important that is!!

Cymbalta works magic for some, for others - it has the opposite effect - if you're taking it for the first time and "don't seem to be yourself" - remember to consider the Cymbalta as a possible source. Its hard because often we're at wits end to begin with by the time we agree to try the latest pain-relief drug; especially one that just so happens to treat the depression brought on by suffering with chronic pain as well!! So you end up questioning ... "is it me" ???

My response: No, its the Cymbalta! :Red eyes:

As to hair loss - never on Neurontin, almost immediately on Lyrica!! Another of the latest pain relievers. Drs. did not believe me since this had not (yet) been reported as an issue w/Lyrica but aft ruling out other posibilities through subsequent visits to PCP and Dermatologist I cut dose 50% - hair loss dropped accordingly within 48 hrs. Discontinued completely - no more problems. Since then its often reported - at least on "Ask a Patient".

As to feeling "stiff" in the AM, I always describe this as feeling like I've been "hit by a truck" - the size of the truck varies but its sadly always there! This has to do with pressure on the muscles and they're remaining in fixed positions for prolonged periods during sleep - the best thing I've done to help w/this is buy a new matress! We opt'd for one of those tempurpedic-LIKE ones and it has made a significant difference. If a new matress is not feasible then other research indicates that using a memory-foam egg crate matress topper has a positive effect as well. Bottom line is reducing the stress/pressure points experienced during the night.

Lastly, have any of you done any trigger point work at all? I suffer from chronic myofascial pain due to extensive trigger points. This began with numbness & tingling in the left hand back in '03 which progressed into the right side by '05 and finally acute head pain begining in Aug '06. All issues are chronic at this point. I've been diao w/Ulnar Nerve Compression, often possible TOS, evaluated multiple times for CTS, had numerous EMG/NCS, nerve blocks, facet joint injections, etc! Through chance I came across pain referal patterns that resembled mine on the New Earth website and began investigating myofascial pain and its treatment. Since then I've reduced the Ultram 50% (400mg>200mg daily) and its the ONLY thing that keeps me going!! Unfortunately I keep perpetuating the problem through extended work hours & heightened stress levels & now find myself in a battle w/insurance company but ... we just keep going don't we ;)

Hope you all don't mind the lengthy post - its been some time since I've found a board with relevant topics.

:Good-Luck: to All

K

Hi Irishred! Thanks for your input.

My son-in-law asked me just a couple of nights ago...why don't you take one of those meds they advertise for fibro? Well, I then went down through my lists of why-nots. :o Weight gain, hair loss, depression, sleep disturbance, blah blah!

I was on paxil for many many years and going off it was a nightmare. I ended up in the emergency room in a total state of...well I don't know what, I felt I was losing my mind and dying all at the same time and couldn't stop crying. My point with the Paxil is that I gained SO much weight during the years on it. Since going off I've lost 30 lbs.

I told son-in-law I don't even want to take weight gaining meds again. And I certainly don't want my hair to fall out. And I don't want to go through with such constant suicidal thoughts again such as I did on Cymbalta

And yes, well...the pain, stiffness, ache. Being touched hurts. I survive with Trazadone for sleep, some hydrocodone and ibuprofen. But, it seems there isn't 1 waking hour without pain and stiffness.

My massage therapist is certainly amazing and is very knowledgable with fibro, but when you can only afford to go 1x a month, that isn't enough.

And this brutal weather hasn't helped one bit!

I'm so glad you have found some help!

Hi, have been reading here for about 5 years, fm about 30yrs but, just now joined here....not much of a poster. lol

anyway, your cymbalta discussion caught my eye.

i've been taking cymbalta for 3-4 years and it did help save my life.
deeply depressed, my pdoc suggested it....i had tried everything else.
she also added, it could help with fm. she was right, it did.

however, in hindsight, i wish i had ALL the facts prior to taking it. perhaps a brief hospital stay would have been better, whose to know.

this is what i KNOW now.
cymbalta has overwhelming horrific withdraw symptoms!!!!

i've tried several times to stop, did the tapering off method....still couldn't/can't handle the over the top pain increase and brain zaps.

be sure to RESEARCH its withdraw reactions.
google & utube will provide actual people discussing this.

thanks for being here :)

((eclaire)) you are absolutely right and I didn't address that issue with the Cymbalta...I don't think.

It was awful, yes. I had forgotten about those awful zaps, I HATE those! The way my doc helped me taper off was to add Prozac first (and for me in a small amount, he knows me better than to start me off with a typical dose!). I had tried going off without any aid, but when he decided to add that, it really helped.

Paxil was hell to get off, for me. The brain zaps were horrendous. Luckily they have liquid Paxil and that is how I got off that stuff. At the end I went down 1 mg a day per week. 10 mg, 9, 8, and so on. It took a LONG time for me to get off that.

Effexor was hell as well!

I have a very low tolerance for the SR ADs.

But coming off these ADs isn't the same for everyone. I have known people who have gone off the same ADs that I did, and they didn't have any problems.

So what are brain zaps? Thanks for all of your replies. Gentle hugs to all.

Oh My, Ms. Warbel, if you ever have them you'll know them. When you move your head even ever so slowly, it feels as if your brain is slowly sloshing back and forth and you get buzzes - electrical zaps. Dizziness.

From here, pretty good description I think! THEY ARE AWFUL!
http://theblondepharmacist.wordpress...-brain-shocks/

sorry hadnt come back, missed the thread!!

funny, I was at a new neuro apt the other day, great doctor, he took hour just to talk over my symptoms since 1999!! wow then did neuro exam.

When we went over stiffness in morning, he mentioned sometime I could try cymbalta, I forgot about this thread and your talk about it for stiffness till now. lol (memory issues as well)

anyhow he said he wants to do more testing and see about figuring some stuff out before adding a new medicine. So we will see, hugsss and thanks all,sarah

thanks so much for the additional info., doody!!

stopping cymbalta without help scared me....each time i tried it seemed more difficult.
i've thought of admitting myself to a mental ward so they could monitor me....i'm mostly alone and in no way, can i go through that alone.

how long did it take for you before all side effects ended?
are you better without cymbalta?

i don't know if i am....haven't cleared my system since i began it.

i'll speak with my pdoc to see what she thinks.

thanks again, this is a great topic!! good job!!

peace
~eclaire

Hi eclaire. Once I was weaned off the Cymbalta the symptoms cleared up. Taking the Prozac while coming off of it really helped. I think Prozac is often prescribed when trying to come off one of the more difficult ADs, like Paxil or Effexor.

I definitely did notice once getting off the Cymbalta that it had been helping with my fibro. The symptoms came back right away. I had actually forgotten how stiff I could be in the mornings. And that feet thing, hurting feet when you first start walking in the morning. So it really did help me as far as the fibro was concerned.

It didn't help with my depression however and I do believe it contributed to quite a lengthy bout with suicidal ideation. That is primarily what led me to stopping the Cymbalta.

But, that's me! I am one of those that is so highly sensitive to the serotonin reuptake inhibitors, very sensitive to them. I went through serotonin syndrome twice, really bad, and never ever wanna go there again!

Hi all...its been a while. Had some really rought weeks. Just really rough. Thanks for all the info. I was wondering what those things were. The kinda feel like you've been shocked. I always thought it was that I was tired...it only seemed to do that when I felt exhausted. No worries. I have weened myself off of it. Didn't seem like it was helping. Plus with the addition of the neurotin in Nov and was taking far too many pills. Gentle hugs to all.