Hi DollyBaby! Things are going much better now. The blurry eyes have gotten better and the dry mouth has eased. I found that chewing gum really does help! Plus I just went for it and took my standard sleep meds last night and slept blissfully through the night, and woke feeling good. Yay!
Yes definitely!! I would rather have a pain free body than 15% body fat! :)
Yes, Hopeful, I have had sleep disturbances as well. I have changed the dosing time over and over to try and work 'with' the cycle. For me, I get increasingly sleepy for 4 hours and then I get energy. Maybe that's where it switches from serotonin uptake to norepinephrine uptake? Anyway, now I have an alarm for 4am. After 2 days of this, I am feeling much better. It helps me sleep until 8am and then I wake up between 8:30 and 9am feeling better than when I was trying to take it during the day or before bed.
And I was brave and took my usual sleep meds last night (1600mg Gabapentin, 2mg Lorazepam, 100mg Trazadone) and slept blissfully until the alarm went off. Slept blissfully for the first time since starting it and I am just at 30mg!
Question: does anyone take narcotics for pain relief? Why is it so hard to get a Rx? I haven't heard of may of these pain meds like Norco 5/325 and the others.
I am ansaid intolerant, already take steriods (low dose) for my Addison's, and find that I am having to take more Tylenol than is safe for my liver. I have tried Ultram, but it didn't work. I curled up in the fetal position and cried for 24 hours. In addition to the fibro (or maybe this is a problem for all of you, too?), I have cervical spinal alignment issues. I don't know exactly what, but when my heads leans forward I get a sharp pain across my head. This IS aggravated by the swollen trigger points. The more I swell, the greater the pain which often lasts for 48 hours +.
The Pain Specialist I went to (1st visit) discounted nearly everything I told her. She acted like I was there just looking for narcotics. I told her I didn't care 'what' I got as long as it knocked out my pain without an allergic reaction and fewer side effects for my liver. Most of her recommendations were VERY expensive -- a TENS unit, an MRI, trigger point therapy = $2100. A hydrocodone Rx is just $10, but has acetominophen in it.
I took Cymbalta right after being diagnosed. I was not happy with it at all. I was moody, a lot of the time I was angry-and with nothing to be angry about. I snapped at my children and my husband. It was horrible. And I don't remember it ever actually improving my symptoms. Now, I don't take anything specifically for fibro except B2. If I take that, I have to admit that I feel pretty good-but I have to admit that I am not very good at taking medications. I sometimes forget and by the time I remember it is lunch time.
Luckily, my doctor didn't feel like turning me into a guinea pig and try a bunch of different medications. She wanted to wait and see how things went without the medication first. I struggle through a lot of flares, but I would rather do that then act the way I did when I was taking Cymbalta. I know it is different for everyone, and it does take some time finding the right combination of things that help. I wanted to add too that on nights when I cannot fall asleep, I have been taking melatonin and it works fairly well. The one side effect I have noticed is that I have really vivid dreams. I am also under 40, so I can't take it every night. Plus I don't want to rely on it in order to fall asleep. Good luck to you!
Hi everyone!
I went back to the pain clinic today for visit #2, this time for trigger point injections. But I had some questions as well.
I asked the Dr if there is something they prescribe with Cymbalta to help with increased sleepiness and brain fog. She acted like it was an unusual request and apparently wasn't familiar with this side-effect. When I pointed out that the Cymbalta insert clearly lists this as the most common side-effect I was told that if I thought I really needed help with that, I should see a Neurologist or a PSYCHIATRIST. Really.
On another note, since I was (otherwise) tolerating it so well, she increased my dose. Do you have a story about what you experienced with an increase in dose? In my case I'm going from 30mg to 60mg.
I hope you are doing well!
Hi Raddled,
Goodness I wish things were going better for you.
I have actually noticed an increased sex drive since beginning it! I wonder how the serotonin and norepinephrine work with that.
Additionally, after going off of birth control, having 0 hormones for over a year, and not having a period for 6 months (even ON the BP), I had a period 3 days into it! WHAT?! It's a likely coincidence says the Dr.
I, too, have had increased sleepiness with it and even asked the Dr for help with that. I guess she thinks I'm a hypochondriac because she recommended I see a psychiatrist. I think we all have that side effect with it. I have helped myself by doing 2 things:
(1) (not that this applies to you, but) I take it at 4am. Yep. I noticed that I have a pattern of 3-4 hours of sleepiness (the serotonin uptake) followed by waking up (the norepinephrine uptake). I tried taking it first thing in the a.m., at 3pm, at 6pm and at 9pm. Taking it just before bed was the worst because, yes, after 3 or 4 hours I woke up and then tossed and turned all night. Even the Dr tried to insist that I needed to take it before bed, when I resisted and explained this to her, she got frustrated with me. WHY DON'T THEY LISTEN? She asked, 'what in the world are you doing up at 4am?' and I said, 'I set an alarm where I quickly take the medicine and then fall back to sleep.' I sleep very well until 8am where I begin to wake up and then get up feeling more refreshed than with any other dosing schedule.
(2) I take my long-time sleep meds with it. I take 2400mg of Gabapentin, 100mg of Trazadone and 2mg of Lorazepam, and I sleep like a baby until the 4am alarm, then fall back asleep for 4 more hours. I was afraid to take my sleep meds with Cymbalta, but after reading so many stories where people were taking Trazadone, etc, before bed, and after 2 nights of no sleep with trying to take it before bed, I switched to 4am dosing and went back to my long-time meds. I have had much less daytime drowsiness and fogginess since.
I hope you find what works for you. There is no life when you can't keep your head up off the table. Daytime sleepiness with fogginess keeps us in a prison I think.
Hi Hopefulfhol,
I wonder, will you define your experience of a 'flare up'?
This is great info, jmhaag, thank you so much for sharing, especially about the melatonin.
Hi everyone!
I wanted to share something for 'dry mouth.'
Cymbalta gives me such a dry mouth! I have been drinking so much fluid that I can't stay out of the bathroom, so I went to my herb books and found a category of herb called Sialagogues: herbs that stimulate the flow of saliva.
Included are:
* echinacea (be careful that you don't overstimulate your immune system with this)
* black pepper
* cayenne
* ginger
* licorice
You'll want to talk with your Dr about counterindications, but I've been putting some ground cayenne in my iced tea each day, and have noticed that my mouth is actually wet! Plus I haven't drank soft drinks in years, but the burn at the back of my throat, which isn't bad, is like drinking a coca cola. It's all good!