Posted by bleauberry on October 6, 2011, at 4:57:44
In reply to cymbalta, posted by crazyjoe on October 4, 2011, at 23:21:07
I never took it long enough for any liver risk.
Overall my opinion of cymbalta is low. As with all meds I have seen a few glowing reports of good results with it, but they seem to be much fewer in number than seen with other meds. Whether that is meaningful or not I guess one has to decide for themself.
The one and only benefit I got from it was in my legs. It gradually made my mysterious calf pains go away. Other than that, it made me feel more depressed than I was without it. Damn super scary depressed actually. Digging deep into clinical studies on cymbalta, there were suicides in those trials. Of course no one can directly point a finger at cymbalta....except me....those people would have already committed suicide prior...and if nothing else would be getting a temporary lift in life outlook simply by being in the trial....it was the cymbalta that directly influenced their mood/thinking in a suicidal way. Like I said though, it has worked good for a few others. Of note, I have never seen it work good by itself....ever....the good reports always had companion meds along with it, including wellbutrin or savella and some others I don't recall.
All this is purely opinion and not scientific.
In my opinion, these are better antidepressants:
prozac, mono or with a stimulant or nortriptyline
zoloft, mono or with a stimulant or nortriptyline
savella
parnate
nardilIf I were a doctor knowing what I know now from my own experience and from hanging out at pbabble for over a decade, maybe almost two decades, those would be my first line meds. They would have to be exhausted before even thinking of any of the others.
All the others can pretty much be removed from the market and people would probably do better, in my opinion. You know the old saying, sometimes less is more.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents on cymbalta. Back to the leg thing, SJW and one of the adaptogens (cordycepts) and savella all seemed to benefit my legs as well, but I can't figure out what the common thread is.
poster:bleauberry
thread:998765
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111006/msgs/998895.html