Posted by barbaracat on March 18, 2005, at 0:02:54
In reply to Re: Bill--How's the Cymbalta working for you?, posted by Bill LL on March 15, 2005, at 9:42:36
I posted a few weeks ago on my strange experience with Cymbalta, which caused very pronounced psychedelic phenomena at 30mg and catapulted me into a flaming mania. I titrated waaay back to 3 pellets and achieved a good antidepressant response with no side effects other than some mild activation.
I'm now up to 10 pellets and still doing well. Went off for a week to see if I was imagining things and my depression returned. Going back on it, the response was immediate, a very strong NE kick. I'm quite happy with it, the only AD this high-strung bipolar has been able to tolerate.
I realize that the standard 30-60mg dose may be warranted for unipolar depression but that dose may still be too high to begin with, according to my prescribing doc. Those with a touch of bipolar disorder might benefit from AD dosages that are far less than the standard in general, and definitely for Cymbalta, if my experience continues to hold true. So far it is, and I'm still amazed. At this rate a 60mg capsule will last months. - BarbaraCat
> I'm very happy with it so far. My tiredness (60 mg Cymbalta) is definitely not as bad as it was with 60 mg Lexapro.
>
> It also helps more than Lexparo with my ADD symptoms, and therefore I was able to stop the Strattera.
>
> Cymbalta makes me more calm than Lexapro, but it seems to raise by pulse rate and blood pressure just like Strattera did. Doesn't this seem ironic that a drug would both make me more calm, and also raise my pulse and pressure? (I think that Ritalin can also do that).
>
> Also, when I switched to Cymbalta, the sexual side effects got better (less). But then I added a calcium channel blocker for hypertension and the sexual side effects got worse again.
>
> But I have been on various blood pressure meds for a long time.
>
> Cymbalta is currently the only psychogenic drug I am taking and is really working pretty good.
>
> > Bill:
> >
> > Sorry to go off on a side tangent here, but my pdoc just gave me some samples of Cymbalta to try after I decided to stop taking Lexapro. I'm just wondering how your faring with the Cymbalta. What side effects are you experiencing? What do you think are the pros and cons of the med, etc.? I querried others a couple of weeks ago on this question and got mixed feedback--some seemed pleased with Cymbalta, others not.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Chris
>
>
poster:barbaracat
thread:470552
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050317/msgs/472333.html