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We like them, but what's on those sites is their business, not ours.  |
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Cymbalta Basics
Cymbalta Side Effects
How To Take Cymbalta
How Cymbalta Works & Compares with Other Meds
Where to Buy Cymbalta /
Ratings
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Comments: This is Lilly's new multiple reuptake inhibitor.
I had originally wrote "Some
disturbing news has come out from the most recent trial involving the
suicide of one of the participants. ... Now that there's a big stink
about teenage suicide and antidepressants, Cymbalta (duloxetine
hydrochloride) may not be approved for
some time." Turned out I was wrong about that. Well, half
wrong anyway, as the approval for urinary incontinence didn't happen
yet, but the long-overdue approval for depression did come through, and
the FDA was correct in approving this med. However Cymbalta (duloxetine
hydrochloride) got to be the first modern antidepressant with a suicide
warning in its PI sheet. Despite the fact that all psychiatric and
neurological medications carry such a risk.
Similar warnings will show up in the PI sheets for other meds soon
enough.
As this is a recently approved med, neither Mouse nor I have any personal
experience with it. And since it does serotonin reuptake there's no way
either of us will touch this med with the proverbial ten foot pole. But
that's just us mind you. We don't get along with serotonergic agents.
With a really short half-life and working on two, sometimes three neurotransmitters,
it's not
surprising that Cymbalta has a nasty discontinuation syndrome. Throw in a return of incontinence symptoms regardless
of being previously incontinent and you've got an extra-sucky
discontinuation syndrome if you don't
taper off correctly.
It's a bit early to tell how effective this med is in the real world.
The early reports are that people like it, but some of that could be the
short-lived euphoria that comes from an NRI as much as
the fact that it often works quickly and deals with the symptoms apathy and
lethargy. However, I've been getting a lot of e-mail lately from people
who really like this med, as either an antidepressant, an analgesic for
neuropathic pain, or both! It seems to be tolerated well by the bipolar,
where little or no adjustments to mood stabilizers (either
anticonvulsants or
atypical antipsychotics) required for most people in the bipolar spectrum
who have taken to it. There are exceptions, of course. One of the
best reports I've received comes from Terry in
Alaska who writes:
I have bipolar 1 and diabetes. I've had manic-depression for over 30
years and have run the gamut on the meds. Today, it is well controlled with
seroquel and trazodone. I was diagnosed with diabetes about 10 years ago, and
my endocrinologist believes I may have had it quite a few years prior to
diagnosis. Today, I have terrible neuropathic pain in my feet, ankles and lower
legs. I took narcotics and xanax for quite some time, which definitely helped
but I hated the druggy feelings. I started on Cymbalta two weeks ago, at 30 mg
every morning. I think it might be a miracle drug for me! Seroquel sure was.
I have virtually no pain at all from the neuropathy now. The side effects seem
to mainly be feeling like I need to urinate but am unable to do so. I just
noticed that this last week. Drinking more water has stopped it though.
Having bipolar the way I do ... mostly manic ... my psychiatrist, family and I
have all been watching for signs of hypomania, mania and insomnia. So far, so
good! No real signs of any of that. I go up to 60 mgs tomorrow so we'll see
how that works.
I don't know what the population of bipolar diabetics is, but for all of you
out there, here's someone happy with Cymbalta.
On the other hand, if you haven't gotten along with SSRIs
in the past, you'll want to approach Cymbalta with caution. Often
combining norepinephrine reuptake inhibition with serotonin reuptake inhibition
can make a bad thing a lot worse.
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Great! But to really appreciate the entire site, you need to start here.
Created Monday, November 10, 2003
Last updated
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005 Jerod Poore. All rights
reserved.
Almost all of the material on this site is copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005 Jerod Poore. Except, of
course, the PI sheets, those are the property of the drug companies who developed
the drugs the sheets are about. And any documents that are written by other
people which may be posted to this site will remain the property of the original
authors. You cannot reproduce this page or any other material on this site
outside of the boundaries of fair use copying without the express permission of
the copyright holder. That's usually me, so just ask first. That
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that's OK to just do. Go for it! Please. As long as you
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All rights reserved. No warranty is expressed or implied in this information.
Consult one or more doctors and pharmacists before taking, or changing how you take any
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suddenly have a fool for a doctor. Don't be a
cyberchondriac, thinking you have every
disease you see a website about, or that you'll get every side effect from every
medication. Self-prescribing is just as dangerous. All information on this site has been obtained through personal experience,
the experiences of my friends, the experiences of people reported on online support
groups, and from sources that are referenced throughout the site.
Know your sources! As such the information
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site by the time you read this. Always read the PI sheet that comes with your medications
and never ever throw them away. If you didn't get a PI sheet, demand one.
Loudly.
Crazy Meds is not responsible for the content of sites we provide links to.
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