Questions about meds...

[GJZH]

Deleted by GJZH

[uvamomb]

I was on Cymbalta and it was the most amazing and helpful drug, unfortunately I had an allergic reaction 6 weeks into it.
I hope your docotr can persuade your insurance company to pay for both the Cymbalta and the other drug. Good luck.
You'll be so pleased with the Cymbalta, though.
Kathy

[suede]

Hi Gloria, I have taken both and am in the process of weaning off the cymbalta, I started the cymbalta mostly for the pain nerve benifit but the depression benifit was a bonus.
i have had very good luck with it, I'm mostly comming off due to being with ins. for a month and also just wanting to try and eliminating some of these meds if I can.
Cymbalta worked realy well for me for both reasons, one big problem is that for it to work really well for me I need more then the recommended doseage and my ins. wouldn't pay for it. It is a rather expensive med. even with my co-pay.
I have been doing a lot of reading though and see that a lot of people have a very hard time with comming off this mes.
Lyrica, worked for my nerve pain but the side effects were just way to much for me and I had to quit, the swelling is what made me stop in the end but I had most of the same side effects as with nuerontin.
I haven't tried topomax but wanted to, as of now though even with out the problem of ins, I just want to try and cut back on so many meds if I can, to many to long with to many side effects.

[exitwound]

Cymbalta and Topamax may not work together.

Lyrica and Cymbalta were both among the drugs I tried (as well as Neurontin, Prednisone, lots of antibitiocs and all kinds of other stuff) and neither did anything but give me weird, scary neurological side effects like twitching and so forth. But then, my pain is inflammatory -- not neuropathic.

[LKAHMS]

I heard about all the wonderful benefits of cymbalta and got an RX for it....it did not help me at all and I had some bad side effects from it that ultimately ended that drug for me.....
But we are all different and if you can afford to pay for it out of pocket you might as well try it. I have read about so many people benefiting from it and I really hope it helps you.

[exitwound]

Lyrica/Neurontin, Topamax, and Cymbalta seem to be the new "cop-out" drugs for many doctors. When they don't want to prescribe narcotics, or enough narcotics to really control a sufferer's pain.....or, they just don't want to prescribe narcotics alone even if that's the correct course of action.....they turn to these four.

Very few people have found significant relief from them. Their only real reason for existing, it seems, in the vast majority of cases is to give the sufferer's doctor an "out" so that they don't seem to be relying primarily or exclusively on narcotics. In short, it's politically motivated BS. You probably aren't missing anything by not taking them.

[Sara1979]

I completely agree "exitwound."

I have taken Cymbalta and it gave me severe, severe mood swings. I did not notice a difference in my pain and gained 10 pounds.

I also took Topamax which made me pretty dingy, made food taste funny, and I lost 20 pounds in 2 months. For the grand finale I got a nice Kidney Stone.

Neither of those meds really helped me. I hope they work for you. I seem to always have pretty bad reactions with side effects. I am pretty med sensitive.

[illusion129]

I do agree with you, exitwound, that doctors use these drugs as a way to escape any suspicion from the DEA due to narcotic prescribing, but I am one of the patients that Cymbalta has helped.

I have not tried Neurontin/Lyrica nor have I tried Topamax b/c my pain is not really the burning neuropathic kind. I usually have the dull, achy pain with cases of sharp, electric-like or tingling pain, and the Cymbalta has seemed to lessen that to a degree. Plus I suffer from pretty severe depression so its anti-depressive effects are WONDERFUL. Believe me, if you're looking for a good anti-depressent, Cymbalta is a great one.

I can say that I have tried Effexor (Cymbalta's "cousin") and it did nothing for my depression. However, for it to be really effective, I have to take higher strengths (120mg/daily). I've heard several people mention that taking two 60mg capsules proved to be more effective with less side effects with the stronger dosage.

I have gained more weight than I would have liked to but I attribute it to also taking Elavil (amitriptyline) for a few months for sleep. I stopped the Elavil because I gained a LOT of weight (almost 40 pounds) while on it.