Posted by barbaracat on March 25, 2005, at 1:39:21
In reply to Re: Cymbalta - teensy weensy dose still working great!, posted by Sarah T. on March 24, 2005, at 21:09:54
I've been talking with Ritch about this. He tried Cymbalta and 1mg was too much for him. He even worked out the dosage of each pellet but it's not certain that each pellet is that exact and they're different sizes (all miniscule). But I count the number anyway and it seems to work out. I'm working on a bottle of 30mg right now and don't know how other dose capsules translate. I'll probably call Lilly and will let you know.
My method is I open the capsule and empty the pellets into a small shallow container, lick my fingertip and press it onto some pellets. They're tiny and it takes a little practice to adjust the amount. Aim for less. I then just pop my finger in my mouth and swallow with water, food, saliva, whatever. I do this usually with breakfast. The pellets are enteric coated and can stand getting a little wet if you pick up too many and have to return them to the others. I work through the entire capsule which takes a long time. Definitely not cost effective for Lilly.
I had a wild ride on 30mg - hallucinations, migraine, nausea, mania. Don't know why I decided to even try except I sensed there was something worthwhile there. I went off it for 5 days just to see and by the 4th day was back in a bad state. The positive response on resuming was almost immediate.
Are you bipolar? There are some on this board who are taking 60mg and doing OK. I can't imagine. My therapist said she doesn't know a single person who has done well on Cymbalta except for me. There's another woman on this board who is having luck with it at very low doses too. If you do decide to try, I'd suggest 3 pellets to start and go up by one every few days if needed. I hope your difficult situation eases. My situation is difficult and unstable as well but I can cope so much better since my mood has lifted.
> Hi Barbaracat. This is wonderful news! A few months ago, I tried the 20 mg capsules of Cymbalta. At present, that is the lowest dose available. I was completely dysfunctional (horrific headache that made it impossible to lift my head from the pillow, totally "spaced out" so I couldn't drive) for a couple of days, and once again, I became enraged at these pharmaceutical companies that make it so difficult for those of us who just can't tolerate their so-called "therapeutic" doses. I've had several conversations here with Ritch, who takes a miniscule dose of liquid Celexa and that's what works for him. I think he said he takes 1/2 milligram every other day. Prior to that, he was on a tiny dose of Prozac for several years. Of course, he had to go through lots of adjustments downward from what the manufacturer recommended. As another poster (was it Phillippa?) has said, "One size does NOT fit all!" Now, I'm interested in the method you use to measure the grains or pellets of Cymbalta. Is each grain the same as the next in chemical composition? If they weren't, would they be of different colors? This is giving me hope. I'm in a difficult situation right now, so I may not be able to try Cymbalta again for about a month and a half. Present life events make it difficult to introduce new variables, but I do hope to give your method a try as soon as possible. Please keep us informed.
poster:barbaracat
thread:475145
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050322/msgs/475274.html