i was given a Rx for cymbalta and im scared to take it. I use to take Celexa and Paxil CR and it made me feel aweful coming off of that stuff, plus i gained weight.
I have had a great experience with Cymbalta....see MY CYMBALTA EXPERIENCE post.
I would suggest sticking with a super low dose. 30 mg and see if that helps you at all. Don't let them double and triple up your dosage.
Day 1 was horrible for me. Within 2 hours I was feeling the need to vomit without notice and diarreaha and sleeplessness. Day 2 was better except still couldn't sleep too well. But after day 3 all was well.
My doctor prescribed me 30mg for 7 days, then wanted to bump me to 60....but I only took half of my 60mg pills because 30 seemed to work for me and I didn't want to get hooked or end up as a horror story.
Who knows..it could help?? something I didn't mention, that I had forgot about was that for the last year I never had a solid stool....and usually had to rush to the bathroom after eating.
Cymbalta totally fixed that for me. Now that I have been off of it for 3+weeks...it's starting to change back a little.
But who knows? It may hurt your stomach...it may help??
see the problem that i have about this medication is, they use it to treat people who have fibromyalgia, I do have fibro, but i also suffer with anxiety disorder w/ heart palpitations, depression and insomnia w/ day time sleepiness. I don't want to take something that is going to make me more excited than I already am.
hello twinklez, so far so good for me on cymbalta. i was taking 300mg of effexor and 20mg of lexapro. i was scared to wean off of those but i did it and i am now on 60mgs of cymbalta. it is good for depression as well and so far i feel okay. i have had a couple instances of bad moments but i havn't had any in the past couple of days. good luck and i hope it works out for you.
robin (girl75)
I suffer from fibro symptoms (yet to rcv a dx for anything), sleep issues - use CPAP and narcolepsy meds, anxiety, depression and other stuff. I've been taking Cymbalta for just over a month now. It definitely helps my mood and the pain. For my pain it's like wearing ear plugs - you still hear stuff (feel pain) but it's not as loud (intense) BUT really loud noises (flares) still get to you.
I started out on 20 mg/day for a week, moved up to 30 mg/day for a week, then up to 60 mg/day and back down to 30 mg/day. At 30 mg I occassionally experience nausea and feeling hot and/or sweating. It also can make falling asleep difficult. At 60 mg, I was miserable - alway burning up, sweating constantly, and unable to sleep. Getting less than 1-1/2 hours of sleep in a night wasn't uncommon.
I do much better at 30 mg. Sleeplessness is still an issue but it's a more tolerable level. At this point, I find the benefits are worth tolerating the side effects. In spite of the sleep trouble I'm much calmer and patient. I'd hate to go back to being so irritable and snappy with my family. That was awful.
Anyway, I guess my message for you and others considering cymbalta is there's no harm in giving it a try.
Did you give Cymbalta a try? It has been the right one for me, I have been on it since 09/04. For me it has been a godsend, I haven't noticed any side effects, it has been the right mix for my chemistry and regime of treatment for FMS & CFS.
I was given other types of antidepressants before that didn't work at all. My doctor tried Effexor time release, it worked for a while but when it started requiring a higher dose to work I was switched to Cymbalta (I was slowly weaned off the other.)
Cymbalta has been tested on FMS patients with good results, I am taking the recommended dose of 60mgs twice a day. I don't think that I would be able to function brain cognitively without it.
Wish you good luck, uvm
Hi there. I have FMS and have had depression and anxiety symptoms for years. If you want more information on Cymbalta, I would suggest contacting Dr. Lawrence Bradley at UAB. You can get his email through the UAB website. He is currently doing research regarding Cymbalta being prescribed directly for FMS as a pain reducer rather than prescribing for depression or anxiety. I've talked with him myself, and he's a really nice guy. I'm sure he'd be happy to answer your questions or have his staff help you out. I was suprised at his reaction to my first contact. Good luck!
I am sorry that you are feeling so frightened on top of feeling so badly but I wanted you to know that I have been dx'd with many things including Fibro. I had done some research on Cymbalta and discussed using it with my GP and he said he had read up on it as well and "Why not! If it may give you some relief, Let's try it!" So he eased me onto it gradually, I am up to 60 mg. Initially I felt ALMOST immediate relief. There was almost the old me again! I was moving better and even co-workers told me so and that they could not see the pain on my face like they use to. I did not have ANY side effects, but I am not a medication sensitive person. I had a terrible flare in July and nothing really helped. My husband and I are selling our home and before we went away last Sunday not only was I getting ready for our trip, I was also getting ready for the Open House the following day. I suffered during our four day vacation. I did have a VERY good day yesterday though. Why don't you go on the internet and research it, read articles about it and look on Fibro. forums and see what others are saying? Good luck sweetie! Big and gentle hugs coming your way!
HI, I am a 44 yr old female, new to the boards. I was diagnosised about 2 yrs ago with Fibro. I was placed on Cymbalta 3 weeks ago (low dose to start 30mg) ... I went in for follow up and found out I now have a case of the shingles (probably do to some major stress I have going). Needless to say, we all know what stress does to fibro's also. I have found that switching from Wellbutrin XL to Cymbalta my pain has lessened. I was wondering if anyone had heard of the "Bowen treatment" ? It is supposed to also help with Fibro. Just thought I would share a little of where I am at. Just trying to find ways to lessen the pain and move forwards.
Re: Cymbalta - scared 
