Cymbalta

[hanabell0421]

Doc has prescribed 30 mg to me for depression and chronic pain. I am wondering those of you out there that have or are taking this drug, did you take it am or pm. DID IT ZONE YOU OUT - TIRED OR LIFT YOU UP AND WIRED? I have a job that is very demanding and I have to be on my toes so to speak. I don't want to be falling asleep at my desk. The Wellbutrin really kind of lifted me up so to speak, just made me have more frequency issues otherwise I would have stayed on it.

Thanks for any help you all can give me. It is grealy appreciated!

[leelee88]

I hope I was able to answer your questions concerning my experience with cymbalta. If you need anything else. Please do not hesitate to ask..

[hanabell0421]

I truly am grateful to you for your help. You just don't know. I am still on the fence as the pharmacist said he has had more people say that the Cymbalta pepped them up so to speak. I don't want to take it at night and then be up. I think maybe tomorrow I will try it and see what happens in the am. The Wellbutrin pepped me up. If It just makes me totally sluggish beyond belief I will take it in the evening the next day! Thanks!

[snowgirl]

just a thought for a thought here I always try new medications when I have the next day off like on a Friday. Once I tried a new depressant and had to call in the next day as I was too groggy. Just a thought. I did not do well with cymbalta it gave me urinary retention. I tried it twice the second time was worse for the retention and little spasms > I am very sensitive to meds you will do fine. I started at 20mg . Vicky

[hanabell0421]

at this point that doesn't sound half bad. Getting up 8 times in the middle of the night and going 12 times from 5:00 - 8:00 this morning...........retention doesn't sound too bad. Is that harmful as well to us with IC. I also so some other threads where some of the women said cymbalta caused their bladders to become inflammed. Have you ever heard of this. Maybe I need to include my uro in the decision to take this and not just my Internal Med doc. Any thoughts?????

[leelee88]

You could get a second opinion.. That never hurts..But please remb we are all differant. So what works for some might work differantly for others.. I know I had to try a few meds to get my right combo.. So it is totally up to you. But if you do try it.. That would be a good idea to take it on a day that you will have the next day off..Please keep me informed...

[justice4j]

That is the classification of Cymbalta, I believe. Vicky, correct me if I'm wrong. I think generally speaking, that people who respond to one SSRI feeling more energetic, will likely have a similar effect with others. Wellbutrin, Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa are all Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, if I remember correctly. Cymbalta may have an additional action on norepinephrine or one of the neuro transmitters.

Vicky, is that info correct? I can't find my med book right now.

[snowgirl]

It is the norepinephrine that makes the bladder have urinary retention and side effects from the cymbalta. My friend is a NP and she told me that. I also saw a paragraph on cymbalta by Dr. Ken Peters on ICA about using cymbalta with ic patients his opinion and side efffects. I have tried it twice and had major urinary retention and spent a weekend in a flare with spasm. After, I just came that weekend across Ken Peters IC specialist at Beoumont world known IC Md . People on the board from MI have him and just love him. I quit the second time after 2 doses and all that pain from the flare etc. I printed off what he said about cymbalta and Ic patients. He said use extreme caution as he has had a dozen pt's go into major urinary retention and it constricts the bladder wall.Let me know if you want to know where to find his reference on this. I am very, very sensitive to meds any kind but especially anti depressants and the SSRI"s can't take a one of them. Too bad as I have had this depression since I had to quit my RN job a year ago. The depression I have had for about 2 years now.

Some people take cymbalta on this board and do fine and love it. I attribute it to my 22 years of IC when we did not know what meds or treatments to use. so my disease was also progressive. My bladder is very little capacity and scarred with fibrosed tissue. So as an Rn you can see why I get the retention with almost allof the anti- depressants. I think my contractility is very little with all that fibrosis Vicky

[lisabar36]

I was going to try Cymbalta, but I went with Paxil CR instead. I take mine in the morning and it does not make me tired at all. I do know when he was telling me about cymbalta he said I would take it in the morning but all doctors are different. I always like to try meds when I am not working incase I get any side effects.

[Claredale]

at this point that doesn't sound half bad. Getting up 8 times in the middle of the night and going 12 times from 5:00 - 8:00 this morning...........retention doesn't sound too bad. Is that harmful as well to us with IC. I also so some other threads where some of the women said cymbalta caused their bladders to become inflammed. Have you ever heard of this. Maybe I need to include my uro in the decision to take this and not just my Internal Med doc. Any thoughts?????


Retention is not fun at all. You still have the urgency, but your bladder won't empty. I haven't tried Cympalta, but I was taking Zoloft a couple years ago which caused retention for me. So I was still getting up throughout the night, which post interstim I was just getting up a couple times finally. My doctor (urogyno) put me on it to see if it would help my pain meds be more effective, but instead, I was back to my pre-interstim days having to either turn on the water faucet hoping that would help me empty, or get into a hot bath.

Everyone reacts differently to meds, so I am always willing to try meds just in case they may work, but it's always over the weekend so I can see how I react to it. The only thing about anti-depressants is that they usually take a while to get into your system to work effectively.

Tracey

[maryla]

Hello,

I have been on cymbalta for about a month now and so far so good. I'm finally getting a little relief after 4 yrs of 24/7 pain. At the same time I started taking a new long acting pain med as well called opana er. And with this combo it's working great :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: I was on prozac before taking the cymbalta and with it I still felt really depressed. I take 60mg per day of cymbalta.

I have always had retention to so I really can't say it has gotten worse.

Good luck in your decision!

[hanabell0421]

I believe my paperwork from the pharmacy called it a SNRI

[hanabell0421]

I am a little scared to even try it now. So, as long as they are in the SSRI catagory they will cause bladder flare is that right?

[leelee88]

I just no my own personal experience.. I never flared from it. It only made my bladder feel better..

[Claredale]

I haven't heard of anyone flaring from it that I know has taken Cymbalta. I just know a ICN member that lives close to me did do well on it after she had been on it awhile, then she had some problems due to it and had a hard time tapering off. I don't know what caused the adverse reaction, but she had a hard time tapering off of it.

Tracey

[leelee88]

Yeah I agree with that Tracey, I had to come off it very very slowly...

[ngazerro]

I was on 60mg of Cymbalta for 6 months. It helped with my Fibro, not with my bladder. I too had retention that made my bladder worse. Getting off it was the worst withdrawls. I was really sick for weeks. Everyone is different though. Can't remember if it made me tired. I took it in morning. I know I did not get hungery on it, but I could not lose any weight.