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From the Old Boards: Cymbalta
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Posted 25 May 2005 - 03:18 PM
These are a handful posts from our old board on some of the most frequently asked questions.
De-gnosis: ADD, recurrent depression (or maybe bpII in the guise of such), Asperger's, OCD, social anxiety
Today's Pill Menu: Dexedrine, Wellbutrin (Budeprion), Topamax, Risperdal, clonazepam
Like other moderators and staff of crazyboards.org, I am not a health care professional. You have no way of knowing that I am not talking out my ass. Please do your own homework before making any health related decisions.
Buy me Stuff: Amazon Wishlist
#2
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Posted 26 May 2005 - 02:50 PM
Testimonial
I posted about Cymbalta a few weeks ago and I wanted to give you all an update on how things are going for me. The Cymbalta is working better than ANY drug has ever worked for me. It has helped me with my bingeing and purging, my anxiety, my concentration, my depression, and so many other things. Things aren't wonderful in my life yet, but I can certainly see a light at the end of the tunnel, which I have almost never been able to see in the past few years. My psychiatrist took me off of my Strattera, because it was giving me mood swings up the wazoo, and making me incredibly irritable so I am still in search of another ADD med. I would suggest this med to ANYONE.
--RJG
Initial Stimulant Effect
Testimonial
Cymbalta worked really well for me for a period of a few weeks. Probably feeling that norepinephrine joy... and then I went back into depress-o land. Hardcore. I just started taking Wellbutrin as an add-on, and... so-far, so good, I guess. Part of my problem is that I'm very emotionally reactive (ie- if something good happens, i have a very, VERY noticeable mood lift for a while, and when bad things happen= laying on the floor of my apartment listening to the smiths and playing with knives) that it's hard for me to figure out, sometimes, if an anti-depressant is working or if my life is just sucking less.
Cymbalta, in general, has proven to be VERY effective, motivationally, for me. Even though I've still been having days where I felt like I was stuck in the bowels of hell... I'm stuck in the bowels of hell with clean dishes and plenty of groceries.
--Becca
Some Facts:
Actually Cymbalta was developed for neuropathic pain. Lily also anticipated that it would actually increase anxiety, or at the very least have no effect. The whole decreasing anxiety thing was totally unexpected.
What Cymbalta is really good for is the somatic symtoms that accompany depression.
It works so fast probably because of the neuropinephrine and serontonin combination. Strattera which is just an SNRI get's results in a few days to several weeks. Cymbalta averages two weeks to a month.
--Lore
Testimonial:
I went to thhe doc. today and he told me that my cymbalta was working despite the anxiety that suddenly appeared. He said it continues improvements for 8-9 weeks or something like that. And I will not feel perfect all the time. I will still have ups and downs. But I was having both chronic and acute back and neck pain and have had a 80% improvement in my pain level and freqency. I am on xanax for my anxiety and panic attacks- works pretty good. He gave me a big and long lasting pres. for it. Yay me. I makes me feel calm. I don't know how people get addicted- it does not give you any kind of a buzz!
--mel1
Startup Side Effects
Whether you stick with the Cymbalta or decide on an SSRI, the nausea usually goes away within a week. Take with meals.
The sleeplessness can take a little longer to resolve, but generally within a month, that, too, goes away. In the mean time, if you're not sleeping better in about a week, tell your doc you need your sleep and want some kind of sleep med until the antidepressant effect kicks in and lets you sleep.
The shakiness may be here for quite some time. I have tremor anyway, and the ADs aggravate it. If you are a coffee drinker, try mixing half caff and half decaf. It helped me a lot. Still got the coffee, with a bit less buzz and shake.
The headaches generally go away, too, in about a week (for me anyway). Take what you would normally take. If it doesn't diminish over a week or ten days, tell your doc.
Drink LOTS of water.
For some cruel and twisted reason, with ADs, you get the side effects first and then the antidepressant effect starting around week 3. Bites.
--Greenyflower
Cymbalta is one of the fastist acting AD's out there.
The downside of this is that it can hit you like a ton of bricks the first few weeks you're on it. If I remember right, Cymbalta is more active on norepinphre at lower doses with the effect on Seritonin not really kicking in until you get up to the full dose. This is the oppisite of Effexor, IIRC. The net result is that you're not going to get the full anti-anxiety effect until you've been at 60 mgs for a few weeks. That's a few weeks that could really suck but things should start getting drasticly better after that. My first week on 60mgs of Cymbalta was pretty rough and I almost never have problems with side effects from AD's. Now that I've been on it for several months, I really like it.
--Velvet Elvis
Testimonial: Agitation
I was recently diagnosed with GAD, panic disorder, and depression after suffering my second nervous breakdown (first one around '97). My previous psychiatrist is no longer in the biz so I had to go to the first person that would take me. This quack... er... doctor put me on Cymbalta and Xanax. I explained my sorted history with SSRI's (only Paxil worked for me - long story) and yet he still put me on Cymbalta. Probably because it was just release like a week earlier. After four days at the half dosage I became so agitated that I literally wanted to bash my head into a wall to make it stop. If I had had any alcohol I would have drank it all. I was desperate for something to bring me down. I was cycling faster than Lance Armstrong on the last mile of the Tour de France. My skin was also crawling, which is really a gross feeling. After four hours of phone calls, the on-call doctor got around to calling me back (not that I'm bitter - oh noooooo - not at all) and then freaked out because I was having such a severe reaction. So I ended up in the hospital because this doctor wouldn't prescribe Ativan over the phone. Which is exactly what they gave me at the hospital. Actually, the ER doctor was so mad about them not prescribing the Ativan that he gave me 20 pills. I have no idea what to do with them all but they are there if I ever have a mother of all panic attacks again.
I am glad that the Cymbalta is working so well for most people. I would only say that if it's possible that you may be bipolar to avoid this drug. My personal opinion.
--Trillium
Testimonial
I ramped up to 60 mg over 5 days, felt great for 5-6 weeks... then got pms that didn't go away. A couple of weeks later, I ramped up to 90 mg over five days. I'm not sure how long I did that... couple of weeks, maybe. My other option was to add Wellbutrin to 60 mg of Cymbalta, which I've been doing for about a week now. My mood is almost perfect... even though I'm only sleeping about 2 hours a night and also called my ex-bf of over a year because of the increased libido side-effect. Ooops.
--Sunshine
Discontinuation
After being on it for a few months I let my rx run out while my pdoc was out of town. The first couple of days were ok, but the third day was bad. I was having odd tactile halucinations. It felt like my face was melting off. I was dizzy, having brain shocks galore, and my perhiphial vision was distorted. After that I pretty much decided that I'm just going to stay on it for the rest of my life. You're going to want to do a long, slow taper with this one.
--Velvet Elvis
I have been officially trying to get off Cymbalta now for about a month, maybe a little more. This withdrawl is terrible. I was taking 90mg/qd, and then dropped to 60mg/qd, then to 30mg/qd, then to 30mg every 3 days. After that I was supposed to stop it, but I haven't been able to without getting so sick that I can't function. I have officially not taken it in 4 days, and I vomited up a storm this morning. I went to my psychiatrist today and my blood pressure was 121/98 and my heartbeat (sitting down) was 101 bpm. She doesn't know exactly how to get me off of it yet since I am her first patient going off of it. She gave me 20mg tablets and told me to take 1 every 4 days, until she can contact another doctor that she works with and see the best route to getting off of Cymbalta. She said that I should be able to stop cold turkey by now, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I am hearing noises in my head, that sound like wind when I stand up, and I also get dizzy when I stand up. If I am sitting down for too long I start to get really angry, and she said that is probably a side effect of the heart rate, and blood pressure. I have never heard that before, but I guess it makes sense. I am taking Adderall, but this has been happening for about 3 weeks, every time I go more then 2 or 3 days without Cymbalta. She suggested that I not take the Adderall until this is all over, because it might just make it worse.
--RJG
Side Effects:
Side effects: It made me very nausous the first 4-5 days (I almost stopped taking it), but it went away and hasn't been a problem since. It also seems to be affecting my appetite. I take Adderall XR, so that's a usual problem, but it seems to be worse since I added the Cymbalta. I haven't seen much on the site about this (I'm sure for most people this is a desireable side effect, but it's a problem for me!)... if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. No sweating, but I seem to be clenching my jaw a lot (I think I saw this listed as a weird side effect somewhere). Oh... and it's killed my sex drive, but at the moment, that's not an issue.
--Sunshine
Side Effect: Daytime Sleepiness
An hour or two after I take my Cymbalta I too have an overwhelming urge to take a nap. I've gotten around this problem by setting my alarm for the crack of dawn. I get up, take my Cymbalta, and then go back to bed. When I get up between 9 and 10, I'm past that stage and feel well rested and energized.
--Velvet Elvis
I posted about Cymbalta a few weeks ago and I wanted to give you all an update on how things are going for me. The Cymbalta is working better than ANY drug has ever worked for me. It has helped me with my bingeing and purging, my anxiety, my concentration, my depression, and so many other things. Things aren't wonderful in my life yet, but I can certainly see a light at the end of the tunnel, which I have almost never been able to see in the past few years. My psychiatrist took me off of my Strattera, because it was giving me mood swings up the wazoo, and making me incredibly irritable so I am still in search of another ADD med. I would suggest this med to ANYONE.
--RJG
Initial Stimulant Effect
Quote
on Nov 21st, 2004, 12:30am, RJG wrote:
That is a common reaction to meds that do norepinephrine reuptake inhibition. Cymbalta, Strattera, reboxetine, the TCAs, hitting the 175-250mg dosage of Effexor. It will pass in anywhere from a week to three months.
Crazy Meds owes its genesis to that effect from Strattera.
See http://www.crazymeds.us/cymbalta.html and
http://www.crazymeds.us/snri.html for more details.
--Jerod
Quote
I'm not sure if its the cymbalta or what, but I feel better then I have in YEARS. As for anxiety.... I couldn't possibly care less about anything at this moment.
That is a common reaction to meds that do norepinephrine reuptake inhibition. Cymbalta, Strattera, reboxetine, the TCAs, hitting the 175-250mg dosage of Effexor. It will pass in anywhere from a week to three months.
Crazy Meds owes its genesis to that effect from Strattera.
See http://www.crazymeds.us/cymbalta.html and
http://www.crazymeds.us/snri.html for more details.
--Jerod
Testimonial
Cymbalta worked really well for me for a period of a few weeks. Probably feeling that norepinephrine joy... and then I went back into depress-o land. Hardcore. I just started taking Wellbutrin as an add-on, and... so-far, so good, I guess. Part of my problem is that I'm very emotionally reactive (ie- if something good happens, i have a very, VERY noticeable mood lift for a while, and when bad things happen= laying on the floor of my apartment listening to the smiths and playing with knives) that it's hard for me to figure out, sometimes, if an anti-depressant is working or if my life is just sucking less.
Cymbalta, in general, has proven to be VERY effective, motivationally, for me. Even though I've still been having days where I felt like I was stuck in the bowels of hell... I'm stuck in the bowels of hell with clean dishes and plenty of groceries.
--Becca
Some Facts:
Actually Cymbalta was developed for neuropathic pain. Lily also anticipated that it would actually increase anxiety, or at the very least have no effect. The whole decreasing anxiety thing was totally unexpected.
What Cymbalta is really good for is the somatic symtoms that accompany depression.
It works so fast probably because of the neuropinephrine and serontonin combination. Strattera which is just an SNRI get's results in a few days to several weeks. Cymbalta averages two weeks to a month.
--Lore
Testimonial:
I went to thhe doc. today and he told me that my cymbalta was working despite the anxiety that suddenly appeared. He said it continues improvements for 8-9 weeks or something like that. And I will not feel perfect all the time. I will still have ups and downs. But I was having both chronic and acute back and neck pain and have had a 80% improvement in my pain level and freqency. I am on xanax for my anxiety and panic attacks- works pretty good. He gave me a big and long lasting pres. for it. Yay me. I makes me feel calm. I don't know how people get addicted- it does not give you any kind of a buzz!
--mel1
Startup Side Effects
Whether you stick with the Cymbalta or decide on an SSRI, the nausea usually goes away within a week. Take with meals.
The sleeplessness can take a little longer to resolve, but generally within a month, that, too, goes away. In the mean time, if you're not sleeping better in about a week, tell your doc you need your sleep and want some kind of sleep med until the antidepressant effect kicks in and lets you sleep.
The shakiness may be here for quite some time. I have tremor anyway, and the ADs aggravate it. If you are a coffee drinker, try mixing half caff and half decaf. It helped me a lot. Still got the coffee, with a bit less buzz and shake.
The headaches generally go away, too, in about a week (for me anyway). Take what you would normally take. If it doesn't diminish over a week or ten days, tell your doc.
Drink LOTS of water.
For some cruel and twisted reason, with ADs, you get the side effects first and then the antidepressant effect starting around week 3. Bites.
--Greenyflower
Cymbalta is one of the fastist acting AD's out there.
The downside of this is that it can hit you like a ton of bricks the first few weeks you're on it. If I remember right, Cymbalta is more active on norepinphre at lower doses with the effect on Seritonin not really kicking in until you get up to the full dose. This is the oppisite of Effexor, IIRC. The net result is that you're not going to get the full anti-anxiety effect until you've been at 60 mgs for a few weeks. That's a few weeks that could really suck but things should start getting drasticly better after that. My first week on 60mgs of Cymbalta was pretty rough and I almost never have problems with side effects from AD's. Now that I've been on it for several months, I really like it.
--Velvet Elvis
Testimonial: Agitation
I was recently diagnosed with GAD, panic disorder, and depression after suffering my second nervous breakdown (first one around '97). My previous psychiatrist is no longer in the biz so I had to go to the first person that would take me. This quack... er... doctor put me on Cymbalta and Xanax. I explained my sorted history with SSRI's (only Paxil worked for me - long story) and yet he still put me on Cymbalta. Probably because it was just release like a week earlier. After four days at the half dosage I became so agitated that I literally wanted to bash my head into a wall to make it stop. If I had had any alcohol I would have drank it all. I was desperate for something to bring me down. I was cycling faster than Lance Armstrong on the last mile of the Tour de France. My skin was also crawling, which is really a gross feeling. After four hours of phone calls, the on-call doctor got around to calling me back (not that I'm bitter - oh noooooo - not at all) and then freaked out because I was having such a severe reaction. So I ended up in the hospital because this doctor wouldn't prescribe Ativan over the phone. Which is exactly what they gave me at the hospital. Actually, the ER doctor was so mad about them not prescribing the Ativan that he gave me 20 pills. I have no idea what to do with them all but they are there if I ever have a mother of all panic attacks again.
I am glad that the Cymbalta is working so well for most people. I would only say that if it's possible that you may be bipolar to avoid this drug. My personal opinion.
--Trillium
Testimonial
I ramped up to 60 mg over 5 days, felt great for 5-6 weeks... then got pms that didn't go away. A couple of weeks later, I ramped up to 90 mg over five days. I'm not sure how long I did that... couple of weeks, maybe. My other option was to add Wellbutrin to 60 mg of Cymbalta, which I've been doing for about a week now. My mood is almost perfect... even though I'm only sleeping about 2 hours a night and also called my ex-bf of over a year because of the increased libido side-effect. Ooops.
--Sunshine
Discontinuation
After being on it for a few months I let my rx run out while my pdoc was out of town. The first couple of days were ok, but the third day was bad. I was having odd tactile halucinations. It felt like my face was melting off. I was dizzy, having brain shocks galore, and my perhiphial vision was distorted. After that I pretty much decided that I'm just going to stay on it for the rest of my life. You're going to want to do a long, slow taper with this one.
--Velvet Elvis
I have been officially trying to get off Cymbalta now for about a month, maybe a little more. This withdrawl is terrible. I was taking 90mg/qd, and then dropped to 60mg/qd, then to 30mg/qd, then to 30mg every 3 days. After that I was supposed to stop it, but I haven't been able to without getting so sick that I can't function. I have officially not taken it in 4 days, and I vomited up a storm this morning. I went to my psychiatrist today and my blood pressure was 121/98 and my heartbeat (sitting down) was 101 bpm. She doesn't know exactly how to get me off of it yet since I am her first patient going off of it. She gave me 20mg tablets and told me to take 1 every 4 days, until she can contact another doctor that she works with and see the best route to getting off of Cymbalta. She said that I should be able to stop cold turkey by now, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I am hearing noises in my head, that sound like wind when I stand up, and I also get dizzy when I stand up. If I am sitting down for too long I start to get really angry, and she said that is probably a side effect of the heart rate, and blood pressure. I have never heard that before, but I guess it makes sense. I am taking Adderall, but this has been happening for about 3 weeks, every time I go more then 2 or 3 days without Cymbalta. She suggested that I not take the Adderall until this is all over, because it might just make it worse.
--RJG
Side Effects:
Side effects: It made me very nausous the first 4-5 days (I almost stopped taking it), but it went away and hasn't been a problem since. It also seems to be affecting my appetite. I take Adderall XR, so that's a usual problem, but it seems to be worse since I added the Cymbalta. I haven't seen much on the site about this (I'm sure for most people this is a desireable side effect, but it's a problem for me!)... if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. No sweating, but I seem to be clenching my jaw a lot (I think I saw this listed as a weird side effect somewhere). Oh... and it's killed my sex drive, but at the moment, that's not an issue.
--Sunshine
Side Effect: Daytime Sleepiness
An hour or two after I take my Cymbalta I too have an overwhelming urge to take a nap. I've gotten around this problem by setting my alarm for the crack of dawn. I get up, take my Cymbalta, and then go back to bed. When I get up between 9 and 10, I'm past that stage and feel well rested and energized.
--Velvet Elvis
This post has been edited by Velvet Elvis: 28 May 2005 - 10:27 PM
De-gnosis: ADD, recurrent depression (or maybe bpII in the guise of such), Asperger's, OCD, social anxiety
Today's Pill Menu: Dexedrine, Wellbutrin (Budeprion), Topamax, Risperdal, clonazepam
Like other moderators and staff of crazyboards.org, I am not a health care professional. You have no way of knowing that I am not talking out my ass. Please do your own homework before making any health related decisions.
Buy me Stuff: Amazon Wishlist
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