Anyone Taken Cymbalta?? For IC Pain

[coopsmom]

Wondering if anyone has taken Cymbalta for IC pain??? How did you do w/ the drug? Is it worth taking??? I have taken one and been sick at my stomach ever since... Do you think I should take it???

[Briza]

Coopsmom
The thing to remember about this drug is that first and foremost it is an antidepressant. An antidepressant whose marketing campaign for pain relief maybe went a little overboard?

I've seen many posts about it helpng with depression, but very few saying it works well as a pain reliever.

I did try it myself and it knocked me out so bad for two weeks that I had to disontinue it. I've tried other antidepressants that did not have that effect on me.
Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.

[coopsmom]

Thank you so much for your input that is what I was looking for. Hope I have some more input...

[sailawaygrl]

My personal experience

I do take cymbalta and it took me a long time to try it because at the time I was considering it there was a lot of discussion on here that was saying it was horrible and no one should take it. Everyone said it is almost impossible to stop taking (I have had to stop once and had no problem)

I finally was in so much fibro pain that I could not deal with one more day like that. I called my Dr and told him I wanted to try it. It turns out for my fibro, it was the best thing I ever did. I never had any problems with it knocking me out. In fact, I had to stop taking it at night and change to one in the morning and one in the afternoon because it was keeping me awake at night. It has been terrific for fibro and I did get some bladder pain benefit from it as well.

I guess that just goes to show that everyone is different, especially when dealing with antidepressents. They do work with our brain chemicals so someone with a differing "makeup" might experience a different effect. Like sleepiness, while I found the opposite.

It is marketed to help pain but fibro pain mostly. I know their commercial say for depresssion pain but I think that is somewhat misleading. (completely personal opinion) My psychiatrist changed me to effexor (who knows why) and told me it was the exact same. My Dr was not at all happy about that, he explained to me that while they are very similar it is proven that cymbalta is the best one for relieving pain.

If you decide to try it, please let us know how it works for you. I hope you have as much success with it as I have had.

Sandra

[ICNDonna]

Our doctor told us that antidepressants can help with pain because they interfere with the pain receptors in the nerve system.

You'll never know if it helps if you don't give it a try.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[bob04951]

Bob has been on Cymbalta 60 mg for almost 2 years, with no real side effects. It was more for depression and before his IC DX. When he spoke with his NP about discontinuing (he's worried about if we lose our free program), the NP said no in no uncertain terms. He (NP) does feel that it also helps with his pain, and Bob tolerates it well, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Maybe the combo of the Elavil and Cymbalta is too much? Just a thought. Some people can tolerate certain meds, some cannot. Read the info on your meds and see what interactions there may be, and speak with your doc about it after you inform yourself. There are tons of antidepressants out there, and most professionals often try quite a few before findng the right one(s). Playing around with anitdepressants is not something you should do yourself. Jill, wife of Bob

[navemj]

cymbalta

I just started cymbalta and woke up this morning with a headache. Does anyone know if this is a side effect that will go away after taking the drug for a few days?

[MaryJo]

I tried cymbalta a few years ago, I had a headache for over two weeks constantly. then my uro told me cymbalta was a bad one for ic. I did quit it.

MaryJo

[mary124]

I started on Cymbalta about 5 months ago. Have never had a headache; just the much needed weight gain. Hopefully its just a side effect that will go away.

[bladder]

just started Cymbalta, too

I started 2 weeks ago. I have slowly increased to 90mg a day in the morning. I had headaches for the first few days but nausea for over a week. Felt like morning sickness. I took gravol for the nausea. So far I am more awake...wait and see what it does for pain. Crossing my fingers on that one.

Kris

[mary124]

Forgot to mentioned that as for pain-it has really helped me. For the last 20 years I have been in pain on and off, since I started taking cymbalta at 60mg I am beginning to feel great.

[naturegal]

I was on it for 2 years. To start, I opened the capsules and poured out most of the pellets, then recapped it, so that I was taking only a few mg to give my body a chance to get used to it. I felt improvement in my bladder on Day 3 during urination. I slowly went up to 10 mg, then 20, then 30. I only stayed at 30 for a few months and then started pouring out some of the pellets because it made me feel too edgy or something. Then I dropped to 20 mg. It definitely helped my IC pain and vulvodynia and mood! Didn't help much with fibro pain. I was afraid to ever go off of it. But I had to eventually because it started giving me terrible headaches. I tapered slowly but it was still very unpleasant to get off the drug, both because I was still having side effects from it and also withdrawing. I would recommend trying it cautiously; never take a full starting dose of something. I always ask for tablets that can be broken, capsules that can be opened and reclosed, or even liquids to take drops.

[sailawaygrl]

It helped me a lot with my fibro pain, that is why I started taking it. It can cause retention in some people but not all so that might be why a uro would say not to take it. My uro is the one that prescribed it to me. I think I did have a mild headache when I started. I have migraines so that always worries me. I just recently stopped taking it because it was causing me to have a lot of problems with sweating and hot flashes with the least bit of exertion.
I hope it works for you, it did help me a lot with my fibro and my bladder pain.

Sandra

[DaniMSC]

How soon did you know the cymbalta was working for you? I've done 60 mgs the last two days and 30 mgs the week before that. So far all I've noticed is horrid dry mouth and more difficulty starting the flow of urine (retention). No pain relief whatsoever and frequency getting worse (due to retention?). I'm supposed to try it for two weeks...

[jen74]

Danimsc,

I have not personally tried cymbalta, but it does label urine retention as a side effect. It seems if it has not helped you at all, and you are getting retention and feel worse, maybe it is not the drug for you. I hope you can get some relief soon.

Jen