Best antidepressant for pain and depression?

[Kita]

My daughter has IC, PFD, TMJ, VV and is very depressed and she has reason to be. She would like to take an antidepressant that helps with pain and mood. She recently has tried imipramine for the pain but had bad retention. Years ago she took pazil and celexa (not at the same time) and that helped with mood but not so with pain (no retention at that time). Her urologist said because she had retention with imipramine there is no use her trying others for pain because they are all alike. So she does not know where to go for info so was hoping the IC board would have some insight. She is thinking of trying noratripiline (pamelor) but was hoping to take a low dose but I think that would not help her mood. Her urologist is pretty good about giving her prescriptions for what she wants to try so maybe he would be willing to try another antidressant if she came up with something. She is currently taking Elmiron, percocet for flares and flexeril everyday. I think since she has been on flexeril she has been more depressed and it is not helping her PFD any longer.
She could go to her internist but she does not deal with her IC pain.
Any suggestions, help would be appreciated.

[navemj]

I take elavil. It helps with the pain some. I just started it so I am not sure if it helps with the mood. So far I have been so sleepy, but I think that it is supposed to wear off after a week or so. That is the only antidepressant I know of that helps for pain. I hope she finds something that will help very soon.
Maryann

[Julie B]

I would suggest doing a search in the forums and then talking to your doctor.

Over time, people have discussed the various medications and there are some that can make IC worse. (I seem to recall Prozac being one of them.)

Elavil is one of the more popular ones, however, some can't take it due to side effects.

This is just one of those things that needs to be individualized....

Good luck!

[Mrs. Peel]

My psychotherapist suggested Lexapro for depression and my uro added a small amount of Elavil. I run all my meds by my psychiatrist since he is good with drug interactions, and staying sane is still my first priority.

[Goldfinch]

It's hard enough to find the right antidepressant for any given person--one that really helps with mood and that doesn't have side-effects. You might think in terms of two different meds instead of one med that works for both pain and mood.

Although Elavil was originally developed as an antidepressant it is generally not considered very effective for that compared to the many other drugs that are used now. The reason Elavil is so often used for IC is that it has other properties that help our symptoms: it is a sedative, has antihistamine properties and is also an antispasmodic.

[ICNDonna]

My husband takes a small dose of elavil for arthritis pain and it definitely helps. Our doctor explained that the reason it helps is that antidepressants interfere with the pain receptors in the nerve system.

Antidepressants are frequently used in low doses to control pain.

Donna

[DenySue]

My Primary Care doctor has me on Wellbutrin for depression, and my Urologist
gave me Elavil for IC. Both are working very well for me, but we are all so different and what works for me may not be appropriate for someone else. I did check with both doctors to make sure that the two medications were compatable! It really helps to have all of your doctors willing to work together, as some specialists do not like to prescribe meds that are out of their area of expertise.

[Goldfinch]

If you are taking Urelle or one of the pee-blue meds, have your doc make sure that any antidepressent prescribed does not conflict. Some SSRIs such as Prozac has an adverse drug reaction with phenylcalicylate which is one of the ingredients in the UTAs. It's not a problem with pyridium, however. My uro was unaware of this, but my primary knew about it.

[skeetor]

Mrs Peel, you make me laugh, I like your wit. What's up with the cat suit anyway? What movie is that from?

[purpletomorrow]

I take Remeron and it's a godsend for me. Greatly lowers the pain, lets me sleep, lowers my anxiety. Highly recommended.

[snowgirl]

I take Remeron and it's a godsend for me. Greatly lowers the pain, lets me sleep, lowers my anxiety. Highly recommended.

remeron my sleep md just gave me sample of those- 8mg. I took one and I had terrible nausea, dizzy , lightheadness. Now I have full box of free samples that they wont take back. It did not touch my insomnia made me feel just terrible. Back to occassional ambien but not right now.

[Buckwheat]

Does anyone take Cymbalta for IC and if so, what did you think about it? Did it help at all?

[amaranthe]

Does anyone take Cymbalta for IC and if so, what did you think about it? Did it help at all?

I take Cymbalta. My Dr. r/xed it for anxiety, depression and said it also can help with pain, (generally neuropathic type pain.)

To answer your question and the OP's: Yes, it helps ALOT with the depression and anxiety. Yes, it helps somewhat with the pain. (Although for me personally, it is inadequate by itself for pain.) I tried this for a while alone before getting pain meds. Then, I tried pain meds without Cymbalta. For me, my pain is best controlled with Cymbalta AND pain meds.

I dont know how helpful my answer will be. We are just all so different. It is really nearly impossible to know how well something is going to work until you try it. (At least that's my experiance.)

I hope that all of you who are looking for help with the pain and depression find help soon. I know how debilitating both can be.

Hugs,
Amaranthe

[Mrs. Peel]

Skeetor: It's nice to know that I have at least some good results in my quest to cheer those around me. Laughter is the best medicine!

Mrs. Peel is a character from a 60's BBCTV spy show called "The Avengers." She could kick butt, apply a witty quip, and look amazing while doing it.

As far as Elavil goes, it was making me ravenously hungry and I wasn't sleeping well, so I've gone back to trazadone.

[Jerzeygirl]

I also take cymbalta for both anxiety and pain. It seems to work for the most part. However when I am in a flair I am forced to take pain medication. I was on prozac and I think that might have made my ic worse.

[starflight]

All I know is that when I was on Zoloft for my depression, 100MG made the IC I had basically not exist for 3 years. Now that I'm off it I get flares sometimes etc. but really when I say flare I mean Urinary Pain. The most troublesome symptom has been that and recently genital discomfort, however.... because urination causes pain and it is not consistent it's logical to conclude the urine itself has a marker causing the irritation. If the bladder were causing it then I'd expect every urination to have the same pain, therefore another organ must be, most likely my kidneys as I've heard weak kidney chi is the cause of this illness. I'm continuing to investigate, for now my IC is a pain in the ass but I'm living with it :\ My intention is to try finding tonics that sooth the nerves, like herbal remedies etc. But it seems like those commonly used for such things only trigger a flare, therefore more caution is needed/