Cymbalta

[ThunderbirdMike]

I felt like adding a bit of good news. Just 2 weeks ago I was suicidal-level depressed and very anxious. I was sleeping 12-14 hrs a night, not eating, and self medicating with alcohol and cigarettes.

All this while I was ALREADY taking an anti depressant. I went to the doctor and he switched me to Cymbalta and within a week I felt things lifting and my mental clarity was returning. A few days later and I can honestly say that I feel 100 per cent of my former self!

If what you're taking isn't working, please value yourself enough to try another medication....I'm living proof that they work.

God bless Cymbalta, I truly have my life back!

Mike

[Tyler Durden]

I've been on Cymbalta now for a few years. There was a brief time that I got off of it, in hopes that my brain chemistry had reset itself, and I got really depressed again and had to go back on. I don't notice many side-effects, except when I miss a day or two and I get kind of light headed and dizzy. Before Cymbalta, I was on Paxil, which totally killed my sex drive, but also really helped with the depression. After I started feeling better, I stopped taking the Paxil cold-turkey - very bad idea. I could barely function for about 2 weeks, very dizzy, very anxious - with no motivation. It was weird. After that I got on Cymbalta. The Cymbalta helps to function somewhat normally. I'm not seriously considering suicide, though I still wish I was never born and/or dead.

[Bill W(not wilson)]

I'm writing this after listening to the Ali Handel episode and hearing of her experiences with Cymbalta. I was able to manage the side effects related to sleepiness and other energy loss by taking 1/2 my dose in the morning and 1/2 at lunch. My experience is that Cymbalta itself doesn't make you tired, but works as a stimulant. Without the stimulant, you crash. I've been on cymbalta for about 8 years and used the above dosing for the last 5. I have a hard time feeling alert enough to do anything before the first dose and I feel myself nodding off if I don't take the lunch dose by 2.

Before understanding Cymbalta was a stimulant, I took one 60 mg pill in the morning and one at night. with this schedule I was incapable of staying awake past 6 pm and routinely falling asleep at my desk around 4. I would regularly have coffee to stay awake in the late afternoon or early evening. The coffee and nightly stimulant took a horrible toll on my sleep patterns, thereby exacerbating my depression to the point my shrink sent me to a sleep doctor. The sleep doctor, a neurologist, told me about the stimulant-crash issue and that I obviously shouldn't be taking stimulants at bed time. Apparently Lilly (the manufacturer) did not do a good job spreading the word about the stimulant qualities to most doctors and pharmacists.Per my shrink, Cymbalta was (and is still advertised as) a pain management tool used primarily prescribed by neurologists. Accordingly,also per my shrink, the neurologists in general have a better understanding of it.

I'm still depressed and still have crappy sleep patterns, but the bad sleep is no longer directly caused by the cymbalta and too much caffeine too close to bed. For a variety of reasons and other medications I take (lamictal, and straterra) my doctor wants me to stay with the cymbalta instead of switching. I think the lilly rep just gives the best blow jobs, but I can be cynical.

Of course, to borrow and expand upon Paul's disclaimer, I'm not a doctor, just a lawyer who never had the cajones to step up to a mic and follow his dream of telling dick jokes.

[ThJulie]

I have been on Cymbalta for years. In the beginning I felt dizzy and had hot flashes for a month then POOF gone! I felt incredible. It completely helped with my anxiety, body dysmorphia, paranoia, and depression. I do have to get my liver checked yearly and my blood is thinner because of it. I am sensitive to the sun and heat, but these are all remedied with lifestyle changes. Cymbalta helped my mind clear and me really be ME! It assisted me in recovering, but did not MAKE me recovery.

Everyone responds to meds differently, but for me, Cymbalta is magic magic magic.

[Jeannie]

I'm currently on 60mg of Cymbalta, 300 mg of Bupropion (generic of Wellbutrin), and recently added 2 mg of Abilify.

I have been on this latest combination for the past two weeks. So far it has been all right. I have been looking up the side effects of Cymbalta and Abilify. Cymbalta is said to cause drowsiness and Abilify can cause insomnia. Unfortunately, I have been dealing with both over the past several weeks.

The other major side effect I have experienced is a decrease in sex drive. As I have been on a variety of anti-depressants over the past 10 years, this isn't a new side effect. But I think it has gotten worse since I switched to this combination of meds.

That being said, since I have been on this combination, I no longer have suicidal thoughts. And I feel like my mood is better in general.

I am fortunate in that I have a good job and decent insurance that allows me to have access to the medications I am on. I have weaned myself off of medications in the past (with and without the aid of a doctor) and both cases were hellish experiences. I have come to accept the fact that I will likely be on some form of medication for the rest of my life. I agree with the other posts as to the importance of nutrition - eating healthy foods and cutting out the junk food that is all around us.

[inmymind]

HI,

I experienced this before, but now I know it was a side affect from not taking my 30mg one pill per day for a day or two. I ran out of medications, and my new prescription hadn't arrived. I am pretty sure I only missed one dose, which is weird because I don't think I have ever experienced this much before from missing one dose, so I am wondering if it was a combination of some alcohol or something I ate?

I woke up feeling drowsy, and I had these mind sensations in my brain. Every so often, maybe once every couple minutes I would feel a sensation pulse in my head. I didn't see a flash of light. It was more like a very small electrical pulse. It's not painful, but I didn't like them either. I felt kind of lethargic and a bit sleepy. I later read that these are side effects of withdrawal from Cymbalta. I thought that odd, because I only missed one dose and I've missed a dose before and never remember feeling like this, although I do think I have felt this before. I was glad when my new script arrived. I have an appointment tomorrow with my psychiatrists, so I will review my medication strategy. I have been still feeling depressed. I wonder if its time to change medications?

Other side affects I get with Cymbalta are dry mouth (I wonder if it can dehydrate you?) and reduced sex drive (I had/have a high libido, maybe too high, so this may not be a bad thing). I also think it makes me loose my balance sometimes.

[Herself]

Lots of meds give you dry mouth. There's a mouth spray called Biotene that I used when on my meds and it helps a lot.

[Cinnamon]

inmymind, I had similar experience just this week. I am on 30 mg of Cymbalta and needed a refill - wound up skipping a day and I found myself laughing and couldn't stop and then crying later - though just weepy. and my mind felt like little electrical impulses. and I was surprised and a bit scared....because at some point I assume I am going off this and it won't be fun. and it was just one day. Cymbalta does have a shorter "half-life" though, I looked into it, than most other anti-depressants.

As for dry mouth, yes it does cause dry mouth after taking - my psychiatrist was really good at going over symptoms and he told me that would happen, that more people get drowsy but some get agitated as well but both subside over the first few weeks (true for me) and he told me it doesn't impact your sex drive so much as ability to climax. In fact, because you are feeling better, your seratonin is more regulated and in depression, your sex drive is down,some people's sex drive rises but then they can't get "normal results" so he said some people would rather lack the drive at all.
Still, for me right now, its been a life save. I would not have made it through the last 7 months without it.

[inmymind]

Update:

My Psychaitrist has increased my dosage from 30 to 60 MG per day. I had thought he said he was going to leave it at 30, even though I had seemed to have lingering depression, lack of focus, and easy irritability. But, today I mailed off the perscription and noticed it specified 60mg. I looked at my 30mg supply and noticed I should have enough to take two a day until my perscription arrived. My visit was about a month ago. Dang. I could have been enjoying some relief already. Im hopeful it will help. The 30mgs sure took the edge off when I first started taking them, but seem to diminish in effectiveness after 6 months or so the second time I was on them.

I work out and try to eat good so I'm doing all I can to counter the depression. I know 30mgs is a very small dosage.

In sending in the script I noticed that a generic for Cymbalta is due out in less than six months. Always good news to see more affordable treatment.

[inmymind]

My 60MG per day dose (up from 30) is helping a lot.