posted
I just started it for nerve pain and migraines. Am wondering if it helped anyone with pain symptoms and what your experience with it was. Thanks!
Posts: 144 | From Connecticut | Registered: Sep 2006
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seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
Last neuro prscribed it to me for head pressure / neck pain. The recommended dosage was 30 mg at night.
I'm interested in hearing others' experience. I was told it wasn't for depression / anxiety, but neuropatic pain. I was also told it has no addictive qualities whatsoever and can be stopped anytime with zero side effects. Is this true?
I got a 2 month supply and was told to schedule a follow-up appointment in SIX months..huh? Aren't you supposed to be monitored on psych drugs?
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
I was on it for 2 yrs, rx'd for "fibro". 60 mg at night, to help with sleep problems,migraines, depression, brain fog, and pain. It was called the fibro wonder drug.
For me, it did nothing. My Lyme was undx'd for 20 yrs. Maybe for someone with a newer case of Lyme, it may help?
Keep in mind we are all different.You can try it and see how it works for you. You can always go off of it.
-------------------- Take Care, DakotasMom01 Posts: 371 | From NJ | Registered: Dec 2007
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
It helps me immensely. I take 90 mg a day, for about 3 years now.
It cut my pain in half and really knocked down my anxiety and depression.
It is not addictive but you can't stop it abruptly or you will experience symptoms from it leaving your body too quickly.
It has worked better for me than anything else I've tried. I love it!
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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dmc
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5102
posted
couldn't get over the dizziness at the lower dose so didn't stick w/it
Posts: 2675 | From ct, usa | Registered: Jan 2004
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
it made me suicidal and really wierd-scarey
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I tried a bunch (Forced to.) of SSRI's and anti-psychotics.
They made things significantly worse.
Weird spacy feelings that you get stuck w/ for weeks cuz it takes 4 weeks to get ON the stuff ...then 4 weeks to clear it from your system.
I think those drugs are horrible. Clinicians are poking around in the dark when they prescribe that stuff. There are NO standards for what a humans serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine neurotransmitters SHOULD be. SO WHY MODULATE THEIR LEVELS????---cuz they can...and get paid fopr trying.
Some people think they're being helped by them, but clinical trials even show that they aren't that much more effective w/ treating anxiety and depression than placebo. ALL LESS THAN 50%!!!!
Why not try Benzo's in a responsible manner? Their efficacies approach 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posts: 269 | From Valencia, CA | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
Placebo's typically help almost 20% of patients for any problem.
I think LESS than 20% of people that take SSRI's actually stay on them because they help them.
Of coarse it's up to you...but look at the clinical trials etc....decide for yourself with the facts on your side. Don't just trust what your "Doc" says. Get secondary and tertiary opinions whenever possible.
Posts: 269 | From Valencia, CA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
It really bothers me when people post things like that totally bashing antidepressants. There are far more people helped by them than are not.
I know they have saved my life,and I'll bet the same goes for many people on here. I would hate to see someone scared away from them by such doom and gloom posts as the one above.
I can't even begin to count the number of people I know whose quality of life is significantly better thanks to these drugs.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
Also, benzo's are a temporary fix. They put a bandaid on the problem for a few hours and are highly addictive.
Antidepressants level out the chemical imbalance so benzo's aren't needed. I would never take a benzo in place of an antidepressant.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
Read the black box warnings.
Recognize that the Dr. has prescribed this drug to you "off-label," meaning for a use that it has not been approved for.
Note that the pharmaceutical industry spends billions every year to influence the prescribing patterns of doctors through ghost-written articles, keeping research results secret, "massaging" the results so that failures look like success, paying for psychiatrists to be on their speakers' lists, bankrolling conventions, etc., etc.
The term "addiction" in medical-speak means that you CRAVE the drug. You may not CRAVE it, but you'll probably have a hard time getting off it without serious adverse physical reactions. If you get off too fast, you could have serious mental reactions also.
These drugs would be a last resort, not a first one.
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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lymednva
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9098
posted
I had the same problem as mentioned by at least one other on this thread. Cymbalta caused orthostatic hypotension in me, which I am already txing with 3 meds.
It is listed among the possible side effects in the literature. Even when I called that to the attention of my llmd he said it was only when ramping up on it.
For me it was all the time. I spent about a month in bed, so wiped out I couldn't do anything but watch TV and sleep.
I'm now back on Zoloft, which has worked well for me in the past, and is doing a good job again.
-------------------- Lymednva Posts: 2407 | From over the river and through the woods | Registered: Apr 2006
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blaze
Unregistered
posted
Benzos and (some) antidepressants are the greatest - as long as you have a doctor to prescribe them. They turned out to be a nightmare for me.
Not because of any addiction, but because when they stopped working and my doctors couldn't figure out why, they tried to use these drugs to both control and manipulate me into counseling I did not need.
So good luck to those of you who love your benzos and antidepressants. I hope your doctor never bails on you. But I'll never allow a doctor to hold my sanity is his hands ever again.
And keep in mind that every doctor who sees in your records that you are on psychotropics, whether they admit it or not, will view you as weak and/or unstable and will likely treat you as such down the road.
I didn't think it would happen to me, but it did.
If I were forced to recommend a drug though, I'd have to agree with James - benzos work and have been proven to work. All the other drugs are just junk marketing, in my opinion.
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Tracy9
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Member # 7521
posted
It is not being prescribed "off label." Cymbalta is FDA approved for neuropathic pain.
Again, I hope a few fanatical naysayers won't scare people away from what could be a great adjunct to therapy for them.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Thanks guys, my neurologist basically said there was a 50% chance it would help. He said it wasn't his top choice but since I also suffer from some mild anxiety he thought it was worth a try. He said if it doesn't work he will wean me off slowly. It is making me feel very sedated. It doesn't sound very promising from all that I've read, but I've tried just about everything else with no relief. I am just hoping I am one of the lucky ones that it does help.
Posts: 144 | From Connecticut | Registered: Sep 2006
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