Cymbalta
By ugachaka
@ugachaka (297)
United States
January 17, 2007 11:41am CST
My girlfriend was given Cymbalta by her primary care physician to help her with depression. He gave her a whole list of medications he could give her to help, each with its own pros and cons. She chose Cymbalta because it sounded the most like one that would still allow her to function normally. Her doctor's only warning was that it might cause nauseau. When we looked it up online, the side effect list was a whole lot longer than just nauseau...
One of those side effects was insomnia, which she's already experiencing. She only got a couple of hours of sleep the day before starting on the pills and she didn't get any sleep last night.
She was only given a 2 week supply and if all goes well she'll get a permanent prescription for it. Before that happens, I'd like to what others' experiences have been with Cymbalta. Any feedback is welcome.
2 people like this
8 responses
@aquariancore (608)
• United States
18 Jan 07
I teach depression awareness. First of all there is a big problem with primary care physicians prescribing antidepressants. Did your girlfriend have a full physical and bloodwork up? Did see consult a professional therapist for screening? Your local clinic may do that for free. She can get prescreening online at mentalhealthscreening.org. There may be a chance you girlfriend does not need a permanent prescription. I am only going by the brief information you supplied you give here.
Read Depression Awareness the myths at HealthMad.com
@ugachaka (297)
• United States
18 Jan 07
She had a bad experience with a therapist in the past. I don't know all of the details there, but with the details that she gave him, he felt comfortable giving her a 2 week trial. He's been her doctor all her life, so hopefully he has all of her bloodwork and whatnot on file.
@therealskeptic (37)
• United States
2 Mar 07
All antidepressant work differently. i currently take Cynbalta and it has been doing great in fact it tends to make me drowsy. Maybe she should talk to the docotr about times to take it if it is keeping her up and she is taking it night maybe she needs to take it in the morning. and vice a versa. For me Cymbalta has done wel, the oter one that worked well for me was the effexor xr. Give it a chance they do take 2-4 weeks to get into and starrt wrking so maybe the insomia was still ging onbecause she had it before. Anti depresants take a while to get into you system. Don't give up and best of luck.
@CatEyes (2448)
• United States
18 Jan 07
She may want to ask for klonipin so that while her body is getting used to it, she won't feel the "shock" to her system. Thats what I did when I too lexapro and it helped a lot.
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
18 Jan 07
You have to remember is that depression often causes insomnia. If she didn't get any sleep before she went to get the meds..then taking them one day is not as likley to cause insomnia right away. Secondly, all anti depressants and what not..take awhile to get used to. Sometimes it can take weeks or even months before your body gets used to the medication and you begin to act normally again. These pills often take 4 weeks before any huge improvement is seen. Make sure she doesn't stop taking them..sometimes you have to make a sacrifice before you can actually come out on top. Things will start to improve, I promise.
@lecanis (16647)
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
18 Jan 07
My husband was on Cymbalta for a bit, and it didn't work out too well for him. He found that as soon as the dose wore off (before he was supposed to take another one) he would become extremely depressed, more so than he'd ever been before he was medicated.
Granted, medicines don't always work the same for everyone. If your girlfriend was already having insomnia before she was taking the medicine, then obviously it's not the only cause of the insomnia. Unless she starts having other new symptoms, taking it for two weeks to see probably wouldn't hurt.
@jessmtiu (251)
• Philippines
18 Jan 07
My mom is using cymbalta right now, but for a different reason. It is used for her peripheral neuropathy, which is like an electricity-sensation in her extremities from the chemotherapy she received from her colon cancer. Yes, it does have an extensive side-effect profile and should be taken preferably at bedtime and at the right dose so it does not interfere much with activites of daily living. Try to convince your friend to seek out a physician's advice on whether or not to continue with the medication given that she is experiencing untoward side effects. Hope this helps.
@ldynimaway (704)
• United States
17 Jan 07
I am very glad you posted this as I was preparing to ask my doctor about this medication as I suffer from depression (bi-polar but more down then ups) and axiety as long as horrible insomnia. Most anti-depressants I have taken did help me sleep for awhile in the begining almost too much. They all have varying side effects and usually it just takes time to find what is right for each individual person as we all have our own unique chemistry to a degree. I hope to hear this works for her. It is nice to see a supportive significant other.
@Gworld (29)
• United States
17 Jan 07
cymbalta is not dangerous. dont mix it with any other serotonin pills like most diet pills, because too much serotnin will make you pass out and you'll freak out. The pills take two to four weeks to set in, but I didn't even feel the onset. I took it for a year and it didn't help but the factor in my life feeding my depression never changed so I cant blame the pills. They are not powerful so the insomnia probably wont worsen and dont worry about all the othe side effects either. They will probably curb her anxiety and make her feel more relaxed. Livin with depression is hard, she needs to practice a healthy lifestyle, if she feels well physically that will do magic for her state of mind.
