Cymbalta

Tomorrow will be day 7 of my Cymbalta trial, and so far, I don’t have many complaints.  I spent a week tapering down my Effexor dosage to try to avoid any discontinuation syndrome before I started Cymbalta, but I’ve still been dealing with some mild nausea and an unpleasant headache for the past few days.  Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell if those things are caused by stopping Effexor, by starting Cymbalta, or even by the weather (it’s been unusually humid and overcast with a lot of low pressure).  I find a sinus pill and a couple of Advil keep the headache under control, so it might just be a combination of many things causing the symptoms.  I also haven’t been sleeping well, which is a normal problem not necessarily Cymbalta-related, but it could be headache-related. 

One symptom I’m quite sure i can attribute to Cymbalta is hunger.  I’ve been ravenously hungry this past week, and I need to watch what I eat so I don’t contribute to any unnecessary weight gain.  I hope this might ease up over the coming weeks.  I also noticed that for the first few days I felt a little “weepy”, but that could definitely be a post-Effexor problem as I’ve had it in the past. It seems to have gotten better—I don’t know how to describe it except to say it’s the sensation behind your eyes and in your head of being about to cry, but over nothing in particular.

I’m only taking a 20mg dose of Cymbalta daily, and I’ll definitely stick to that for a while before I try to increase it to the 40mg the doctor prescribed.  As for whether I’ll stay on it long-term, I can’t say, but so far I feel my body is tolerating it better than it’s tolerated many other drugs.

Posted by on 07/25 at 08:38 PM

  1. Hi there! Wandered over from Blogpound, when you mentioned this blog. It’s good to know I’m not the only “whiny” blog out there. smile

    Seriously though, I’m glad you have drugs that are helping. I have my own struggle to go through- I have multiple chemical sensitivities. Being bothered by things as simple as soap in non-trivial ways is a PITA. So I shake my pom-poms at thee. You go girl!

    Posted by Georg  on  07/26  at  01:57 AM

  2. Hi Georg!  As my first commenter you’ll receive a commemorative tote bag wink

    I often want to write about FMS stuff yet hate to burden my “Blogpound” blog with it, so I thought I’d give it its own space.  I figure that while almost everyone loves a kitten, most people aren’t going to be interested in whether or not Prozac makes me feel jumpy.

    I nearly went to a doctor here who had good word-of-mouth amongst FMS patients, and she also specialized in people with multiple chemical sensitivities.  The paperwork from her office was very specific in saying “no deodorant, no scented shampoo, no perfumes, no scented lotion”, etc., so I guess she must have a number of clients who are dealing with that issue.  I didn’t end up seeing her because of the expense, but it’s good to know she’s around.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  07/26  at  11:59 AM

  3. Wish I had someone like that around here- I’ve rarely had a doctor who didn’t tell me it was all in my head. And as soon as I find a doc that doesn’t, they move out of the area/retire/etc.

    I did go into a full blown reaction to someone’s perfume in front of my doctor once. I accused her of bringing perfume into the room- apparently it followed her in from the hall because someone had just walked by. She watched me go from coherent and “normal” to crying incoherency. She offered me drugs- I simply ran outside and stayed there until I recovered. Naturally, that doc left the practice two months later. But at least I got it documented! My current doc is fresh out of medical school, but at least she doesn’t think I’m nuts.

    Antihistamines increase strength of reaction and how quickly I react. Steroids cause hallucinations. I really liked trying to drive through the carny tunnel. Not. My best treatment is avoid, avoid, avoid.

    Some of my reactions do involve bone pains. So you may want to consider looking at perfumes and other chemical causes, in case you may have related issues.

    Posted by Georg  on  07/26  at  01:35 PM

  4. Oh my - what dosage of Effexor where you on, if that isn’t too nosey to ask? That seems a very brief period to go off what is known to be the worst, bar none, the very WORST antidepressant to get off.

    I tried going from Effexor to Cymbalta last year. I had a doctor about like yours, who took me from a high dose of Effexor to nothing over two weeks (doing that properly should have taken many months). She put me on Cymbalta, but was afraid to go past the medium dosage, and it didn’t do anything for my pain or depression. I ended up with terrible withdrawal and uncontrolled pain and depression.

    Fortunately, I was able to see other doctors a few months later, including a real pain specialist. The pain management specialists here will only see you if you’re referred by some other doctor who is seeing you for fibromyalgia who has already determined that non-narcotic drugs just won’t control your pain. That can take a year or two to prove before you get the referral.

    When I got the referral, though, I was given extended-release morphine right away. It has taken a long time, but now I finally have medication for breakthrough pain, as well.

    Good luck to you!

    Posted by Cynthia Armistead  on  07/27  at  06:10 AM

  5. Cynthia, I was only at 75mg of Effexor, and I just tapered down to 37.5 for a week and then made the switch.  I’ve been off and on Effexor since 1999, but most recently I’d only taken it for a couple of months (before I ran out), so I wasn’t too worried about discontinuing it.  When I’ve been on it for months/years, I always taper slowly and it’s been fine (I open the Effexor capsules and make my own “tapering capsules” by filling empty gel caps).  I sure wish they still made “non-XR” Effexor, because it was a lot easier to taper when I could just break a pill into pieces!

    I’ve read that Cymbalta’s discontinuation syndrome is worse than Effexor’s, so I’ll be prepared for that and just take it slowly.  Right now I’d have to say that Cymbalta is “on the right track”, if only because my agitation level is under control (and it’s my level of “fly off the handle” which tells me if an anti-depressant is working or not).

    Can I ask which extended-relief pill you’re on?  I’ve tried Oxycontin and Kadian, but didn’t find the Kadian worked very well for me.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  07/27  at  01:35 PM

  6. Georg, there’s a great thread on one of the FMS message boards where people discuss the most stupid things which have ever been said to them by a doctor.  By and large, the most common thing people are told is that their symptoms are “all in (their) head”—the condescending attitude of some physicians just stuns me.  It’s sad that finding a doctor is so hit and miss, and that some people aren’t in communities where they have choices.  I’ve been to a couple of bad ones, a few average ones, and a couple of good ones, and wow, the good ones offer hope *and* effective treatments, all in one package.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  07/27  at  01:38 PM

  7. I’m not certain of the brand name, as I get the generic, and it just says “morphine sulfate ER” on the bottle. The breakthrough med says “morphine sulfate” too. I apologize for being unhelpful :-( I’ll try to remember to write down the brand names from the original prescriptions when I go back in a week or two.

    The non-XR Effexor is still available in the generic form as “venlafaxine,” I believe.

    I had a rough transition off the Cymbalta too, as I recall. Here’s hoping you don’t have to experience that!

    Posted by Cynthia Armistead  on  07/27  at  01:50 PM
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