Cymbalta noob

[hollywoodfreaks]

1 Does the NE component usually kick in very rapidly?

2 Does the serotonin component take as long as most SSRIs to kick in?

3 It seems to be causing insomnia. How long does it usually take for this to go away?

4 I upped the dose of Wellbutrin two weeks ago, and am upping the dose of Cymbalta this week. What kind of effects might I expect with a double hit of norepinephrine reuptake inhibition? I'm guessing serious insomnia and possibly anxiety.

5 What side effects have *you* experienced? In addition to the insomnia, I have dry mouth.

6 For those with anxiety issues--how does it affect your anxiety? Better? Worse?

[Velvet Elvis]

It can kick in faster than pretty much anything out there, but it attacks your brain with a chainsaw. The first few days at 60mgs might not be a whole lot of fun. Yeah, the NA effect supposedly kicks in faster than the 5HT, but don't ask me to quote a source on that right now. Startup side effects passed in a couple weeks for me.

The discontinuation can be as bad as effexor. I'm reminded of this every now and then when I run out of samples and realize I don't have an rx refill left either. There's isn't a whole lot of wiggle room. One missed dose is usually OK but beyond that can get bad. I'm there right now. If the bastard is out of the office again tomorrow I'll be tempted to break a window.

When I take it, no real side effects. Sexual side effects are there but not as bad any any of the SSRIs, but still there. It seems to work for me, more than I can say for a lot of other meds. Anxiety and OCD as well as depression. Sorta.

[Spanophile]

I gained weight on Cymbalta. And the discontiuation sucked like no other. There were days when I had to curl up on the couch with my head buried in the back almost in tears I was so busy and sick of the "brain zaps". I had been on 60 for about 8 months. Like my signature says I think Cymbalta came directly from the depths of hell.

[Sunshine]

Ditto pretty much everything VE said. I think the anxiety side effect from Wellbutrin comes more from the dopamine reuptake inhibition than the NA, so I wouldn't expect an increase in anxiety from an increased dose of Cymbalta. I remember the start-up being a little rough (this was two years ago for me), but that it kicked in within days. I started at 30 mg and was on that for at least two weeks before going to 60 mg.

I don't remember the dosage increase causing any problems, but I do remember feeling GREAT for about a week after I'd been on it a month and then just crashing into the pits of depression for a couple of weeks. It seems like this is a common ocurrence. Never did get back to that really high place, but overall it worked pretty good for me - especially once I added in Wellbutrin.

I didn't have too much trouble going off it. But as VE notes, if you miss more than one dose, you're gonna feel it. By the time I went off it, I had been at 30 mg for a couple of months. I felt funky and had the brain zap thing for a few days... a week tops. That was about a year ago. I didn't really go off it on purpose... just forgot to take my meds several days in a row and when I realized I'd probably been through the worst of it, decided not to go back on them to see how I'd feel. I'm not the poster child for recovery from depression, but I've managed to get by without a traditional AD for the last year.