Posted by Racer on October 25, 2005, at 16:57:51
In reply to Re: Need info on Cymbalta and Trazodone, posted by mike_pittsburgh on October 25, 2005, at 13:41:17
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> i know it's early, but i'm concerned about weight loss & insomnia side effects from cymbalta. these are two side effects that will make my situation alot worse. they also appear to be two of the most common side effects of other users.
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> thanks
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> mike
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>It is early, and I had a lot of the effects that you mention back when I started Cymbalta. I found a few things that helped, so I'll offer 'em up here in hopes they help you, too:
1. Diarrhea -- and I can't believe I'm discussing this publicly ;-) -- goes away after a few weeks, and is much, much less likely if you take the pill right after eating. I was taking it when I took my vitamins -- just swallow 'em down, then pick up my fork for breakfast. Once I switched to taking it after breakfast instead, the diarrhea went away.
2. The insomnia went away for me, although I don't remember how long that took. In fact, providing I do certain things unrelated to drugs -- limit caffeine intake, don't stay up too late, try to have a routine time for getting up in the morning, etc -- I've been sleeping awfully well on it. Better, overall, than for most of my life. (Although I still need a nap most days. Oh, well, if life were perfect, I might not spend so much time here, right? ;-} ) Give this a chance, as I remember, I was starting to sleep better within about a week.
3. Weight loss. That's a problem I can't really answer, because one of my dxs is anorexia, and I've been in treatment for it for most of the time I've been on Cymbalta. I know that there was some initial weight loss, but I think that that went away after a couple of months. I say that because, like most anorexics, I am -- at best -- ambivalent about recovery. I liked being thin, and have slipped back into restricting a number of times. Without losing any weight. While this is horrible for me, it makes me think that the drug is {ahem} 'helping' me keep the weight I've gained. I hate it a lot, and have days where I think I should stop it because it is keeping my weight up. But, my guess is that it's going to turn out to be similar to most of the other anti-depressants: even if you lose some weight at first, it'll bring it back later.
I hope that helps.
poster:Racer
thread:571181
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051024/msgs/571797.html