I'm hoping you might share your experience with Cymbalta, if you have taken it.
I have been taking it for about a week and I am impressed and frustrated.
I am impressed that my body's pain and the pain in my hands and fingers has almost entirely gone away.
I am frustrated that my vision is so blurry I can hardly see to type.
Also that the PA that prescribed it overlooked the fact that I was taking Sam-e and Trazadone (clearly labeled on my in-paperwork and both also SSRI). So I had a few days of being pretty sick, but I am a researcher and figured it out pretty quickly -- not sick enough for hospital.
And frustrated that I have had to stop taking Trazadone to sleep and am so exhausted now. I was sleeping through the night every night and now I wake over and over and over.
So I have had a trade-off between energy and pain.
My main pain, however, remains. That's a pain from what seems to be a cervical misalignment which causes a nerve-type level-10 headache! And my pain meds are also making me sleepy where they used to give me energy!
Hello Trying To Thrive, I've been on Cymbalta for several years now. You seem to be experiencing some of the side effects I had. Try to put up with them if at all possible and you should notice them lessening in a couple weeks. The other thing is I've also been taking Trazadone for even longer than the Cymbalta without a problem but everyone reacts differently. I do have problems with blurry vision sometimes which seems to be part of the Fibro. One of the first things my rheumy told me was that Fibro can effect all of your senses.
Good luck with the Cymbalta. I couldn't make it without it.
Cymbalta was the 2nd drug I tried. Froze up muscles I never knew I had! Same thing happened with savella, gabapentin and the dreaded lyrica. We all react differently to drugs - it’s just how our bodies react to them. My advice would be to contact your doctor and make him/her aware of your reaction to it and now your lack of sleep after stopping another drug. I wish you the best ~ hugs ~ Sandi:)
I was interested in your response for several reasons. I was diagnosed in 1987 by my regular family doctor as having fibromyalgia. I never considered going to a rheumatologist. However, on this community so many members talk about the importance of being diagnosed by a rheumy so I don't know if I should ask my doctor for a referral. I now have osteoarthritis so I am still pondering about seeing a rheumy.
I am on Cymbalta for probably 4 or 5 years now and it does help with the pain so I will continue even though I have to pay for it as my insurance doesn't cover it.
I too have vision problems, but I didn't connect it to fibro.
I was very interested to read your rheumy's comment that fibro can affect all of your senses.
Thank you for this information. It should be of interest to all members to read.
If you have only been taking Cymbalta for one week it is just starting to get distributed throughout your system. Usually it takes six weeks to work in your system before it levels out and it is in this six weeks that you have to tough it out through the side affects. Yes, it often is a trade-off with our meds. Have you researched Cymbalta? It's good to read about its side effects and to inform yourself about the nature of this med.
I take Cymbalta 60 mg once a day. I started with 30mg a day on a Tuesday and by that Friday I could tell my pain was decreased. I didn’t have any side effects from it. I do sweat alot but I did that way before I started taking the Cymbalta. I had to stop taking it for a few months due to cost but started back last month and again the Cymbalta worked very quickly for me.
I do have vision problems with blurry vision, dry eyes and trouble reading small print. I already wear bifocals and have been for about 3 years. I started wearing glasses in 10th grade because I had astigmatism. My eyeglass prescription barely changed according to eyedoctor until a few years ago. I used to only get new glasses because the styles changed and I had to keep up with the fashions. LOL ! I don’t care anymore though about fashion I just wish I could see like I did 20 years ago even 5 years ago would be great.
I also take Zoloft for depression and have not had any problems taking 2 antidepressants at the same time. I have been taking Zoloft for about 18 years except when pregnant with my youngest son. I started taking it after severe post partum depression after I had my son who will be 19 this month.
I hope you can continue taking the Cymbalta since it is helping with pain. I know it is hard for some people to find meds that work for them with no side effects. I have not had this problem and I thank God because I have allergies and sensitivities to alot of things like odors, toothpastes, lotion and a lot of foods.
I was very sick with Cymbalta, and it never had any benefits whatsoever. Then I tried Savella, which was even worse-I thought I was dying for 6 months. Finally quit that one too, and realized all along it was Serotonin Syndrome!
*I have taken 2-3 different antidepressants at the same time off and on for years without any problem, but each of these added to just my current 1 really knocked me for a loop!
Cymbalta is supposed to work on nerve pain only, so I wonder if there is something else going on with your neck. Plus I'm sure the lack of good sleep isn't helping your pain levels.
I'm sorry you've had to make these trade-offs, hopefully soon we'll have a miracle pill to cover it all !
I tried to take Cymbalta and Lyica but I couldn't take them . I was very agitated all the time an I gained a lot of weight very fast. My eyes are blurry all the time. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of meds I am on. So now I am taking venlafaxine and nortriptyline for pain . I just recently went up on milligrams on my nortriptyline so I hope it will help some after a months time.
This is so good to know, kholmes! Thank you for sharing. I, too, am having trouble with sleep. I'm trying to take it at different times (Cymbalta). If I take it right after I wake up, within 2-3 hours I am so sleepy I can't function. Then I wake up and have very good energy for the rest of the day. And a lot of my pain went away. I feel for you kh, when pain is so distracting, how do you live, how do you interact with others, or plan things. or work. I am so happy you found this Neurotin! Maybe your story will benefit others. Ad for me, I tried Cymbalta before bed last night and fell fast asleep, then was wide awake (and burning hot) and then tossed and turned all night long. I woke feeling more exhausted than ever. So, now I'm going to set my alarm to take it BEFORE I get up -- like 3 hours before I wake up. With the pattern I've experienced, it should help me sleep for the next 3 hours and then wake me up superbly. HOPING!! :)
Yes, the side effects are lessening. The blurry vision has gone away. YAY! If you look at the reply to kholmes above, you'll see I'm still trying. I can tell it's working. I can tell the serotonin is being absorbed right away, and then the norepinephrin gives me some awesome energy, and a great deal of my pain is gone.
Since I'm still taking just 60mg a day, I decided to go ahead and continue taking the Trazadone, and it seems to be okay.
Thank you so much for sharing, Dottie! Your story helps me and others.
Thank you Rachel. Yes, I'm continuing and am trying to figure out how to take it best for my body. See the replies above. Yes, I've researched it. That is such good advice!! It's definitely a strong medicine. And I feel fortunate to seem to be able to take it. I'm hoping that my new plan to take it 3 hours before I normally wake will work (for now anyway).
Renie, I am so sorry to hear that you have had such trouble with meds. It can be so frustrating, I know. Did you find something that does work for your pain? That serotonin syndrome is so dangerous. I'm so glad you figured it out and got off of those meds.
oh, no! Weight gain is not fun at all, is it? Neither is being agitated. And it really helps to be able to see, doesn't it? Are the other meds helping for pain?
I’m still searching! With all that’s been going on in my life lately, I begged my PCP on Wednesdsy for something for pain and gave me Norco 5/325. Just takes the edge off, but at this point I appreciate anything. She advised me to contact a big hospital in Milwaukee and see a good pain specialist. I’m hoping for the day they come out with a drug specifically for fibro with little or no side affects!
Yes Sandy, that would be a wonderful day indeed! It just doesn't make sense to me that with fibromyalgia it is so difficult for you to get proper pain meds for it. Most of the time my pain meds do take care of my pain......usually. Of course there are those pain flare times when you just have to endure and ride out the pain, pray for sleep as that seems to be the best antidote for pain.
When I have researched the various meds I am on the side effects are generally the same and unfortunately weight gain is a side effect of several of them. It seems that the more effective the med is for pain the more is there the risk of gaining weight. Though I am not happy at all about the weight gain I am relieved in the pain department. It becomes a trade-off.
Hi, Cymbalta has helped me a lot. It manages about 70% of my pain until I get a flare up and then its all over. I was really sick for about 2 weeks until it started to kick in and then it was really good. I do have some mild vision issues and sexual side effects (I'm married - just putting it out there). But, other than that its ok. Seems to be better with time. I've been on it for 6 months. Oh, it does cause sleep disturbances. I could not sleep more than a few hours when first taking it. Now, it is every so often that I truly cannot sleep at all. This was more pronounced than the usual sleep trouble that fibro causes.