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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by daisym on December 1, 2005, at 11:36:22
I had a pdoc appointment yesterday. I've been on Cymbalta for 5 weeks now, in combination with a low does of Wellbutrin. (150xl). I had a horrible time adjusting to the Cymbalta but it definately took away the anxiety and suicidal feelings. I haven't experienced a dampening of my emotions, if anything, I'm more weepy.
But I mentioned that I'd had a couple of nose bleeds and some break through bleeding between periods. And a bruise or two that I didn't know how I got. I'm clumsy, so no big deal I thought. Well...he got this look and sighed and said that maybe SSRIs weren't going to be possible for me. There is some anecdotal stuff about platelet changes and he said he has seen it in his practice enough to be cautious about it. I'm going to cut out aspirin and we are going to watch things for another month. He didn't look hopeful and the only reason he agreed to another month was because I was so resistant to switching.
I'm so disappointed because it took me so long to get use to this medication. Anyone else run into this?
Posted by jonquiljo on December 1, 2005, at 13:48:25
In reply to Cymbalta surprise, posted by daisym on December 1, 2005, at 11:36:22
Blood thinners like aspirin and fish oil. Do you take supplements, etc., ,that might have been causing this?
Just curious, how long did it take the Cymbalta to work on you as I'm interested in taking it?
Posted by daisym on December 1, 2005, at 23:57:39
In reply to Re: Cymbalta surprise, posted by jonquiljo on December 1, 2005, at 13:48:25
It took about three weeks to notice a reduction in the anxiety and probably just now is the depression much better. But I also got "unstuck" in therapy a few weeks ago -- was that because the anxiety went down? There are just so many variables, aren't there?
Posted by med_empowered on December 2, 2005, at 0:53:06
In reply to Re: Cymbalta surprise » jonquiljo, posted by daisym on December 1, 2005, at 23:57:39
wow. thats unfortunate...sorry :-(
But..maybe you could keep the Wellbutrin (maybe up it a bit) and then add something specifically for anxiety, like BuSpar? BuSpar certainly isn't *great*, but it does help some people and it can also help with depression with or without an antidepressant. Best of all...it doesn't have a noticeable withdrawal syndrome, so you can stop treatment very quickly without fear of any sort of problems.
If that doesn't interest you, and you need something for anxiety, you could probably try a benzo, short-term at least, until you find something more satisfactory for the long-term. If therapy is helping you a lot, you might be able to just take a benzo PRN on *rare* occasions when your new coping mechanisms fail you.
Good luck!
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