![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by cache-monkey on October 5, 2004, at 11:36:21
Hey folks,
I just started Cymbalta two weeks ago. At first I felt really wired the whole time. That faded, so I'll chalk that up to an initial adjustment to the med. For the past few days, though, I've been feeling really tired and slow. This might be due to the fact that I didn't sleep very well for a number of nights while I was feeling wired, and so now maybe the lack of sleep is catching up with me.
But the sleepiness seems to come on stronger after each dose of medication. My sense is that this is similar to what a number of people have experienced on SSRIs. So, what I'm wondering is: Is this the somnolence something that's likely to diminish over time? Or are there people who've just been tired all the time even after long-term SSRI use?
Please let me know when you have the chance.
Best,
cache-monkey
Posted by Racer on October 5, 2004, at 13:07:46
In reply to SSRI/Cymbalta sleepiness, posted by cache-monkey on October 5, 2004, at 11:36:21
Your mileage will vary.
For me, I've experienced some ongoing sedation on Cymbalta, but not as bad as the first couple of weeks. Also, with my anxiety under control now, the depression itself is leaving me feeling apathetic, and amotivated, and generally lethargic.
It's gonna be different for everyone, but that initial sedation lasted about four weeks for me. Then it faded.
Also, even the SSRIs are different in that regard: Paxil and Lexapro left me feeling numb and tired all the time, but Prozac made me feel as if I were spinning out of my skin, and Zoloft had me fidgetting all the time -- like akathesia style, drove me nuts. They may target the same sorts of receptors, but they're different drugs, with different ways of working.
Hope that helps.
Posted by vikala on October 5, 2004, at 17:16:08
In reply to Re: SSRI/Cymbalta sleepiness » cache-monkey, posted by Racer on October 5, 2004, at 13:07:46
I started at 30mgs of Cymbalta for 2 weeks. Felt sedated and I slept all day and night. I am now on week 3 of 60mgs, and honestly there has been a slight improvement. No other med made me this sleepy (Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor) I don't think any of them made me feel tired at all. I nap daily and sleep 9-12 hours a night. Even when I sleep 6-7 hours I still feel exhausted. I thought maybe too much rest was the culprit and that wasn't the case. I'm also experiencing sexual side effects even though I was told this drug had the least occurence. Eli Lilly needs to update the side effects and warn people about this sedation quality. It's pretty intense in my opinion.
>
> For me, I've experienced some ongoing sedation on Cymbalta, but not as bad as the first couple of weeks. Also, with my anxiety under control now, the depression itself is leaving me feeling apathetic, and amotivated, and generally lethargic.
>
> It's gonna be different for everyone, but that initial sedation lasted about four weeks for me. Then it faded.
>
>
Posted by boomarang on October 5, 2004, at 17:19:30
In reply to Re: SSRI/Cymbalta sleepiness » cache-monkey, posted by Racer on October 5, 2004, at 13:07:46
i ditto what racer said. I am just now getting less sleepy during the day and I have been on Cymbalta for four weeks.
At least it is getting better.
Posted by divergentreality on October 5, 2004, at 19:50:52
In reply to SSRI/Cymbalta sleepiness, posted by cache-monkey on October 5, 2004, at 11:36:21
> Hey folks,
>
> I just started Cymbalta two weeks ago. At first I felt really wired the whole time. That faded, so I'll chalk that up to an initial adjustment to the med. For the past few days, though, I've been feeling really tired and slow. This might be due to the fact that I didn't sleep very well for a number of nights while I was feeling wired, and so now maybe the lack of sleep is catching up with me.
>
> But the sleepiness seems to come on stronger after each dose of medication. My sense is that this is similar to what a number of people have experienced on SSRIs. So, what I'm wondering is: Is this the somnolence something that's likely to diminish over time? Or are there people who've just been tired all the time even after long-term SSRI use?
>
> Please let me know when you have the chance.
>
> Best,
> cache-monkey
>
I experienced the same thing on Day 20. I started taking my once a day 20 mg. dose that same night@ 8 p.m. That really cut down on the daytime sleepiness. Today is my 27th day @ 20 mg.Deb
Posted by Rayray on October 6, 2004, at 18:34:21
In reply to SSRI/Cymbalta sleepiness, posted by cache-monkey on October 5, 2004, at 11:36:21
I started Cymbalta 30mg on 9/27 and went to 60 a week later. In the first week I noticed some sleepiness, feeling slightly flushed and warm, and some irritability (possibly a "coverage gap" after stopping Zoloft), although there was some increased "perkiness."
This week I've noticed considerable lessening of the negative side effects. It's still too soon to tell, but I may even be getting a little libido back.
I have to admit being lucky in that I tolerate most meds pretty well (so far) and tend not to have a lot of side effects.
Good luck and stick with it,
Ray
Posted by cache-monkey on October 7, 2004, at 20:04:36
In reply to Re: SSRI/Cymbalta sleepiness, posted by Rayray on October 6, 2004, at 18:34:21
So, it looks like the trial of Cymbalta was pretty much a bust for me. From the start I felt sweaty, agitated and restless. Akathisia the term is, I guess. The tiredness thing was just for a day or so and I think from lack of sleep. (Kept waking up every half an hour.) And this was on a max of 30 mg/day.
So I'm tapering down and going off Cymbalta in the next week. Too bad, but based on this and my experiences with Celexa and Lexapro, I think I've learned I think that serotonegerics are not for me. They tend to cause anxiety and/or akathisia, sometimes bordering on hypomania (only after lots of sugar or simple carbs).
Anyway, sounds like most people are having better luck than me. Hope you have continued improvement!
Peace,
cache-monkey> I started Cymbalta 30mg on 9/27 and went to 60 a week later. In the first week I noticed some sleepiness, feeling slightly flushed and warm, and some irritability (possibly a "coverage gap" after stopping Zoloft), although there was some increased "perkiness."
>
> This week I've noticed considerable lessening of the negative side effects. It's still too soon to tell, but I may even be getting a little libido back.
>
> I have to admit being lucky in that I tolerate most meds pretty well (so far) and tend not to have a lot of side effects.
>
> Good luck and stick with it,
>
> Ray
Posted by Rhapsody on October 8, 2004, at 12:50:32
In reply to Cymbalta- Not for me...., posted by cache-monkey on October 7, 2004, at 20:04:36
Cache-monkey,
How long were you on Cymbalta?
>>> So, it looks like the trial of Cymbalta was pretty much a bust for me. From the start I felt sweaty, agitated and restless. Akathisia the term is, I guess. The tiredness thing was just for a day or so and I think from lack of sleep. (Kept waking up every half an hour.) And this was on a max of 30 mg/day.
>
> So I'm tapering down and going off Cymbalta in the next week.
> Peace,
> cache-monkey
Posted by cache-monkey on October 8, 2004, at 16:42:25
In reply to Re: Cymbalta- Not for me.... To Cache-monkey, posted by Rhapsody on October 8, 2004, at 12:50:32
Hey,
I was on it at 15mg for three days. Then 12 days at 30mg, at which point I was so agitated I couldn't take it anymore. I met with my pdoc and he told me to taper. I'm down to ~7.5mg/day now and going off soon.
One thing about dose management: it's definitely possible to divide and subdivide the contents of the Cymbalta gelcaps into smaller doses. This is what I've been doing to taper, just to be super cautious in avoiding any dicontinuation symptoms.
The pellets themselves are enteric coated, and the capsule is just a simple gelcap. As long as the integrity of the eneteric coating is maintained on the pellets, taking a smaller number of them shouldn't affect how/where they're abosorbed in the GI system. But, it's not good to mix them into juice or anything acidy that degrades the enteric coating.
HTH,
cache-monkey> Cache-monkey,
>
> How long were you on Cymbalta?
>
>
> >>> So, it looks like the trial of Cymbalta was pretty much a bust for me. From the start I felt sweaty, agitated and restless. Akathisia the term is, I guess. The tiredness thing was just for a day or so and I think from lack of sleep. (Kept waking up every half an hour.) And this was on a max of 30 mg/day.
> >
> > So I'm tapering down and going off Cymbalta in the next week.
> > Peace,
> > cache-monkey
>
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.