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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by cache-monkey on September 24, 2004, at 14:11:15
Hey folks,
I just started Cymbalta on Tuesday. Mainly for dysthymia and GAD. Funny thing is that both of those had gone mostly subclinical for a little while, with about 2 "bad days" a week. That's largely due to smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day in combination with a low dose BuSpar. The main reason I started Cymbalta was to stop the couple "bad days" and to see if I could get myself off the nicotine without going into a depression.
Tues-Thurs, I did 15 mg around noon. Within an hour I started to get very sweaty and anxious, plus get racing thoughts. This got worse over the afternoon, at which point I took a nap to shut it out. The anxiety lifted a little bit in the late evening. Then I started to feel a little chilly. Couldn't sleep until really late, much later than my normal bedtime, largely due to the persistence of the racing thoughts.
Am trying 30 mg today; still waiting for it to kick in. But would like to know from people with experience with Cymbalta (and maybe SSRIs/Effexor):
Are things like sweating, anxiety and racing thoughts are just start-up side effects? How long do they hang around for?Thing is, I wasn't feeling that bad before and this is definitely getting in the way of my productivity right now. I have a big presentation to my department (I'm a grad student) coming up in a few weeks, and I'm not sure if I need this right now. I'm wondering if maybe simply upping the BuSpar and keeping up the smoking for now might not be a better course.
Any input would be appreciated.
Best,
cache-monkey
Posted by cache-monkey on September 24, 2004, at 14:51:07
In reply to Cymbalta - When will the start-up SEs go away?, posted by cache-monkey on September 24, 2004, at 14:11:15
[I forgot to add that I've also been experiencing crazy neck/back tension that follows the anxiety in its daily cycle...]
Hey folks,
I just started Cymbalta on Tuesday. Mainly for dysthymia and GAD. Funny thing is that both of those had gone mostly subclinical for a little while, with about 2 "bad days" a week. That's largely due to smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day in combination with a low dose BuSpar. The main reason I started Cymbalta was to stop the couple "bad days" and to see if I could get myself off the nicotine without going into a depression.
Tues-Thurs, I did 15 mg around noon. Within an hour I started to get very sweaty and anxious, plus get racing thoughts and very tense neck and back muscles. This got worse over the afternoon, at which point I took a nap to shut it out. The anxiety lifted a little bit in the late evening, and I think the muscle tension got better. But, than I started to feel really cold chilly. Couldn't sleep until really late, much later than my normal bedtime, largely due to the persistence of the racing thoughts.Am trying 30 mg today; still waiting for it to kick in. But would like to know from people with experience with Cymbalta (and maybe SSRIs/Effexor):
Are things like sweating, anxiety and racing thoughts are just start-up side effects? How long do they hang around for?
Thing is, I wasn't feeling that bad before and this is definitely getting in the way of my productivity right now. I have a big presentation to my department (I'm a grad student) coming up in a few weeks, and I'm not sure if I need this right now. I'm wondering if maybe simply upping the BuSpar and keeping up the smoking for now might not be a better course.
Any input would be appreciated.
Best,
cache-monkey
Posted by Racer on September 24, 2004, at 17:32:02
In reply to (Revd) Cymbalta-When will the start-up SEs go away, posted by cache-monkey on September 24, 2004, at 14:51:07
I've been on Cymbalta for about a month now, at 30mg for about a week, then 60mg since then. Here's my experience, in hopes that it helps.
The first day, it slowed me down within a couple of hours, and I had trouble sleeping. After that, though, the sleeping wasn't such a problem. (In fact, I have been falling asleep on the sofa during the "TV viewing time" with my husband most nights.) I haven't experienced increased anxiety, but then again -- I do tend to be anxious, and I started it during a really, really bad time.
I've had some GI upset, mostly about a week or so of diarrhea, which has passed. I'm finding it hard to get started with anything at all -- depression or Cymbalta? Who knows. Probably a little of both. Otherwise, it's pretty much been a smooth ride, after about the third week. On the other hand, it hasn't done anything for my depression yet, but it still might.
As for your situation, as I understand it, it should reach steady state for you within about a week of any dose changes. Since you've only been on it for a few days, give it some time. If you're having trouble sleeping, though, you might want to take it earlier in the day.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
Posted by verne on September 24, 2004, at 18:11:32
In reply to Cymbalta - When will the start-up SEs go away?, posted by cache-monkey on September 24, 2004, at 14:11:15
I've been taking cymbalta for 4 days at 30mgs in the morning. I've been having trouble sleeping and I noticed that "initial" insomnia is listed in the side effects.
Otherwise I haven't noticed much in the way of side effects except for some slight urinary retention. I've also noticed that I no longer have the vivid dreams I was enjoying while just taking inderal.
Verne
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