![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Mandy on April 14, 2006, at 13:33:01
I know I have asked a type of this question before, but now I am really not sure if I should stay on this med or not. Went from Lexapro and and am on 60mg cymbalta. I am tired all the time althought at first I thought it kept me awake. Would like to have opinions--take at night or during day?? Does it work? I have been on for 3 weeks. How much time should I give to know if it is working? I am not sure if I am depressed again or just plain fatigued. MY p doc is out of town for 3 weeks and I just don't know how to get motivated. I relly need input from others. PLEASE
Posted by Rocket Jackson on April 14, 2006, at 15:58:41
In reply to Cymbalta-does it work???? HELP!!!!, posted by Mandy on April 14, 2006, at 13:33:01
Hi Mandy,
I tried Cymbalta last summer for anxiety (an interesting med choice on the part of my pdoc for this condition) and found it for the most part to increase my anxiety without any beneficial effects. I took it in the morning and experienced the same fatigue later in the day, only to then experience insomnia at night (requiring Ambien). I gave it about a 6 week trial before calling it quits.
In my opinion you should give it at least 6-8 weeks for potential benefit before moving on to another treatment. This should be around the time your pdoc returns. Anecdotally it doesn't seem to be a terribly effective med for depression (and definitely not for anxiety in my experience), but that's just based mostly on feedback from forums such as these. I know it's frustrating, but I'd definitely give it a little more time to see if it really might work for you.
If you try an evening dose, definitely watch for insomnia if you don't already get it. It seems to be quite activating.
Best of luck. I'm sorry it isn't working out as you had hoped so far, but keep your fingers crossed for some positive effect either from Cymbalta or another med in the future. If the SSRIs and SNRIs don't end up helping, you may want to eventually suggest a trial of an MAOI (Nardil or Parnate... or even the new EMSAM) to your pdoc. They seem to work pretty well for many.
Good luck, and keep us posted!
RJ
Posted by Phillipa on April 14, 2006, at 18:07:45
In reply to Re: Cymbalta-does it work???? HELP!!!! » Mandy, posted by Rocket Jackson on April 14, 2006, at 15:58:41
I took it on two occasions first teme no side effects or any thing else .Went off after 3 months. tried it again this year. This time is was to activatimg for me muscles twitching that woke me up even after 15mg of valium so i stopped after two weeks. no fatigue though just that when I stopped I found body aches and pains had been gone while on it. Good lucky we're all different. Love Phillipa
Posted by SLS on April 14, 2006, at 18:20:58
In reply to Cymbalta-does it work???? HELP!!!!, posted by Mandy on April 14, 2006, at 13:33:01
I wish I had a good experience to offer you. Although I did respond to Cymbalta briefly, the side effect of tiredness and fatigue remained the entire time I was on it. It did lessen with time, though. Nevertheless, three weeks is about the minimum time when subtle signs of improvement show up. If it does work for you, the magnitude of the improvement might outweigh the fatigue you experience. When I did respond to it, I really don't remember noticing the fatigue. Perhaps you should stick with it for a few weeks longer.
- Scott
> I know I have asked a type of this question before, but now I am really not sure if I should stay on this med or not. Went from Lexapro and and am on 60mg cymbalta. I am tired all the time althought at first I thought it kept me awake. Would like to have opinions--take at night or during day?? Does it work? I have been on for 3 weeks. How much time should I give to know if it is working? I am not sure if I am depressed again or just plain fatigued. MY p doc is out of town for 3 weeks and I just don't know how to get motivated. I relly need input from others. PLEASE
Posted by yxibow on April 16, 2006, at 4:23:54
In reply to Cymbalta-does it work???? HELP!!!!, posted by Mandy on April 14, 2006, at 13:33:01
> I know I have asked a type of this question before, but now I am really not sure if I should stay on this med or not. Went from Lexapro and and am on 60mg cymbalta. I am tired all the time althought at first I thought it kept me awake. Would like to have opinions--take at night or during day?? Does it work? I have been on for 3 weeks. How much time should I give to know if it is working? I am not sure if I am depressed again or just plain fatigued. MY p doc is out of town for 3 weeks and I just don't know how to get motivated. I relly need input from others. PLEASE
I understand your concerns with your p-doc being out of town -- I don't look forward to an absence of mine for various meetings. Motivation though comes from from within -- its a hard thing.I have a complex disorder and have hit near anhedonia (total lack of motivation) at times and it doesn't help that Seroquel is very sedating.
When one defines whether a drug works -- one has to have realistic expectations. I would say a drug "works" if it more often than less often provides a degree of relief. For me, Cymbalta has worked well for secondary depression at 90mg, but not terribly well as a combination replacement for garbage OCD thoughts and the depression.
Depression by itself is a fatiguing disorder, so its hard to tease out which is causing what.
I would give it more than 3 weeks, and generally take it earlier than later in the day, unless you really feel that it is actually sedating. I, like a number of people don't notice its existance all that much unlike Effexor. However, some are intolerant to even 20mg of Cymbalta. Everyone is different.
I think it is one of those medications that takes quite a while to hit the right transmitters -- a definite wait time that isn't really calculable. Some may need even more than 60mg though Lilly doesn't advise this particularly -- people have taken up to 120mg.
I would stick it out a while longer.
Back to motivation -- I don't know your age or whether you're working or retired -- it doesn't really matter particularly, but there are tricks to play on the mind to just go and do anything. Walk down the block or just go outside -- it says a sense of accomplishment for the day. Build upon it from there. Its a hard thing to do when you feel that your particular disorder is becoming difficult to fight (I am at that point) but there is the simple statement that life is for living. Since there really is no explanation for all of this, look at it as an adventure to venture. Perhaps I'm being simplistic but as the saying goes, when you see a fork, take it.
To good health-- Jay
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.