cymbalta - any personal experiences?

brasshopper · Post by **brasshopper** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:08 pm

Cymbalta is an antidepressant that also has pain indications - it was tested against diabetic neuropathy pain and it looks like it helps some people. I was thinking about asking my physician about it. Does anyone have any personal experience with it? I would be happy to read same - either by public or private post and thanks in advance.

Yes, I understand what the dangers of self selected anecdotal reports are - and I am still interested.

Cpap-R · Post by **Cpap-R** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:24 pm

I have had neuropathy 12 years. I started to take cymbalta three months ago. Couldn't get past 30mg. I'm now off of it, and back to prozac.
I didn't like cymbalta. For me weight gain, felt tired all the time, about the pain part no help. I'm not a diabetic, this drug reminded me of neurontin with a mix of antidepression medicine. Some have found it works for them 120mg or more a day. If you're that high on the scale stopping the medicine takes a long time.

BNLfan · Post by **BNLfan** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:47 pm

I also tried Cymbalta, but had to discontinue it due to side effects: insomnia and anxiety.

I've been reading a lot about supplements and am going to try alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-l-carnatine for neuropathy, among other issues that I have which are related to multiple sclerosis. Alpha-lipoic acid, from what I've read, is approved in Germany for polyneuropathies.

I found some helpful information at http://www.pdrhealth.com.

I can't figure out how to insert the url, but here is the address if you're interested:

Alpha-lipoic acid
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdr ... 0159.shtml

Acetyl-l-carnatine:
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdr ... 0013.shtml

I hope that you're able to find some relief!

BNLfan

brasshopper · Post by **brasshopper** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:13 pm

Well, doc put me on 60 mg - I am astounded that I can notice a mood change after only two doses. Could be placebo effect. No change in pain.

I took gabapentin (neurontin) at fairly high doses, like about 3-4 grams a day - it had me scared to drive I was so zoned out - dragging and barely able to keep my eyes open - and no effect on pain at all. Exactly the opposite effect of the cymbalta.

At current course and speed, insomnia is possible. But these medications build and change over time. If I do note any sleep related things I'll mention them here.

BNLfan · Post by **BNLfan** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:06 am

brasshopper,

I'm glad that you were able to get the Cymbalta from your doc. I hope that you notice a favorable change with regard to your pain. I was sorry that I couldn't tolerate it because I've heard that it's quite a good antidepressant without the "foggy" feelings/drowsiness.

For what it's worth, I had a similar experience with neurontin. I tried it mostly for balance problems and was also hoping to get some benefit from neuropathy, but was way too fatigued.

I wish you well.

lvehko · Post by **lvehko** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:49 pm

I have been taking antidepressants since 1991, starting w/ Prozac. For about three years Prozac was great, then I started having problems with fatigue and sleepiness, and started looking for another antidepressant. I switched to Cymbalta last year, and found it somewhat better, but I now realize my sleepiness/lethargy was from the untreated apnea, not from the meds. After I've been cpapping a while, I'm going to revisit the antidepressant question. It will be really interesting to me to see how my depression responds to cpap treatment (i.e., maybe I can reduce or even go off my antidepressant?).

Anyway -- I don't have neuropathy, so I can't speak to that, but for the first couple of weeks on Cymbalta I was REALLY energetic, then it tapered off. It's a fast-acting antidepressant, so it's not unusual to notice effects within the first couple of days. The 'speedy' feeling tapers off after a bit, when the serotonin effect kicks in -- it takes longer for the serotonin to kick in than the norephinephrine, which is why people get speedy on it at first. At least, that is my understanding. My shrink says always give antidepressants six to eight weeks before making a decision about how they're working, I guess that's about how long it takes for all the side effects and personal adjustments to shake out.

I have very few side effects with Cymbalta, which is why I've stuck with it, hope your experience is at least that, if not better.

Minerva

Mask

Additional Comments: Started CPAP June 14, 2006, pressure set at 8.0