Cymbalta duloxetine

[ziggymonster]

Anybody have any experience with this drug ? My doc has recommended it, but after reading about all the side effects I'd rather get drunk and stand on the freeway (just kidding).

[curious56]

I'm taking it. Started out with 20 mg per day about a month and a half ago -- now up to 50 mg. SMART doc wanted me to start off slowly just in case I had a reaction. The ONLY side effect I've had is a slight loss of appetite. I take the Cymbalta at night because it does make me a little drowsy. Tried Lyrica, gabapentin, and amitriptyline -- all of these had FAR worse side effects, IMHO.

[Lisa90]

Cymbalta was okay for me, but I stopped it because for some reason it made me gain weight like crazy. Then a worse side effect / withdrawal symptom hit me which is apparently quite common with duloxetine: "brain zaps". You kind of go fuzzy for a second or two; your ears ring, and you kind of think "what just happened?". I'm glad I didn't drive during that time.

There wasn't much in the literature about it when I looked it up at the time, but plenty of forums had hundreds of threads on brain zaps.

Other than that though, the Cymbalta was okay for managing my depression. You just have to reduce the dosage in very, very small increments if you want to stop it and you find yourself with that particular side effect.

[Nik Colon]

I have tried many ssri's but this one has norepinephrine in it, which doesn't agree with me personally (yes, from experience with it)

[curious56]

I take Cymbalta for nerve pain. I cannot attest to how well it works on depression.

[janklo]

I have taken the generic duloxitine for about 2 1/2 years, 30 mg a day, for pain from arthritis. It really helps with that and the side effect is a bit of a dry mouth (for me). Never has made me tired.

[kellywin]

I couldn't handle it, severe headaches. So I'm stuck on Gabapentin, it does work, I was hoping the cymbalta would be better and help with my hotflashes too. I tried Paxil as well, and OMG, that drug was hideous for me. I couldn't get out of bed for a day and a half - it hit me about day 5 or 6, I had to quit taking it.

[Nik Colon]

I couldn't handle it, severe headaches. So I'm stuck on Gabapentin, it does work, I was hoping the cymbalta would be better and help with my hotflashes too. I tried Paxil as well, and OMG, that drug was hideous for me. I couldn't get out of bed for a day and a half - it hit me about day 5 or 6, I had to quit taking it.

Yes, paxil hits the fatigue hard, it does take some time to adjust. When I first started and every increase, I could only stay awake about 4 hrs at a time, until my body adjusted to it. Fyi, for most antidepressants, it takes roughly a month or more before it really starts working. That's for the long term ones. It sux, but you can't really know if it's working unless you give it enough time. To be hon3st, you won't realize it's even working till one day you fo. For me it was months, then one day out of the blue, I was thinking of the past and realized it was, and my mom and others around me noticed the gradual change. But I remember the day I realized it. I was sitting at the counter with my mom and I don't know if we were talking about it or what, but I was like, omg, it does work. It wasn't until I changed that my mom finally knew clinical depression was real, after she seen the change in me. I still remember the painful conversations with her asking/yelling "what's wrong with you" and my reply "that's the problem, I DON'T KNOW". feeling so guilty for being depressed for no reason. THAT is clinical depression. Sorry, just made me think of the past when PAXIL was mentioned

[michele2]

Yes I took Cymbalta along with neurotin. It was horrible. To start out with one of the uses of Cymbalta also is to help with urinary retention so I felt like I had to pee all the time but never could. Kept me up all night. So they adjusted my dose and then like someone else mentioned I had horrible weight gain.

I ended up going off of both of them and am now just taking effexor for the neuropathy.