Posted by Minnie-Haha on April 29, 2005, at 16:03:08
I haven't given a report in a while, so here goes.
First, I am a 46-year-old perimenopausal woman. I have three benign thyroid nodules, but my TSH is normal. I have chronic neck and upper-back pain from an old injury, which I treat as needed with OTC meds and very infrequently with muscle relaxants. My DXs are mild Bipolar Type II and mild OCD.
December 15, after 15 months of insomnia, anxiety, depression and nausea, I started taking Cymbalta. (I was already taking Trileptal: 150mg am, 300mg pm.) Before I started the Cymbalta my CES-D score was 36. (I LOVE that tool... http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/ometer/ ) Anyway, I started at 30mg and after 1 week, went up to 60mg. I found taking it in the morning made me sleepy during the day, so I started taking it in the late afternoon or evening. Most bothersome side effects were constipation and dry mouth, but nothing unmanageable.
By Jan. 15, my CES-D was down to 25. By Feb. 15, it was down to 10! I was sleeping better than I had in years and my daytime mood was generally euthymic, but I’d gained about four pounds, my blood pressure was up (into the prehypertensive range), and I was experiencing significant amotivation. We dropped the Cymbalta down to 40mg (because of the blood pressure) and added Bupropion 75mg. Tried that for two weeks, but my appetite stayed up and my motivation down.
On March 15, my CES-D was back up to 25. (I really missed those extra 20mg of Cymbalta. Neither my sleep quality or my daytime mood was as good as it had been.) Next, we switched from the generic Bupropion to Wellbutrin XL 150mg for about a month. That improved my mood a little -- my April 18 CES-D was up to 19 -- but messed with my sleep even more. And it didn’t help with the amotivation or appetite. (By this time, I’d gained about 10 pounds on Cymbalta.)
So on April 19, we traded the Wellbutrin XL for Wellbutrin SR 200mg. I have definitely seen a decrease in my appetite (I’ve lost two pounds) and an increase in my activity level. In fact, it might be a little too activating. I’m going to ride it out for 2-3 more weeks if I can, and if that doesn’t even out, I might ask my pdoc to drop it to 150mg.
I hope I can get back on Cymbalta at 60mg someday. We think it’s a possibility, if I can continue to take my weight (and blood pressure) back down. Wish me luck!
poster:Minnie-Haha
thread:491584
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050428/msgs/491584.html