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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by mike_pittsburgh on October 23, 2005, at 21:46:34
Hi,
in a nut shell i'm a long term user of klonopin. last year i went c/t on the k for 6 days before reinstating due to severe w/d. ended up a real benzo mess. biggest problems are severe tinnitus & hyperacusis.
after c/t, i am now sensitive to most meds, even the k. i've tried most of the ads over the past year & can't tolerate any of them. after c/t i'm now sensitive/intolerant of most meds & foods.
two of the ads that i've tried include remeron & trazodone. experienced bad side effects with both. especially trazodone which really made the t & h alot worse. after about 2 1/2 weeks after stopping the trazadone the t & h settled back to the levels prior to taking it. i was real lucky.
i have a new doc & he wants me to try cymbalta. as far as i can tell cymbalta, trazodone & remeron fall into the 'other' categaory of ad types.
is trazodone related to cymbalta? any info would be appreciated. i really don't want to risk/repeat taking anything that will drastically worsen the t & h.
thanks
mike
Posted by rjlockhart98 on October 23, 2005, at 22:10:45
In reply to Need info on Cymbalta and Trazodone, posted by mike_pittsburgh on October 23, 2005, at 21:46:34
No, but they do both effect serotonin.
Cymbalta i was on for a trial, it's an effective antideperessant. Trazodone im sorry, i HATE! it makes me feel ugh YUCK! But other people respond diffrently. Its mainly used as a sleep pill, but effects serotonin. I dont think you want to combined them. Serotonin Syndrome is risk.
Cymbalta, is alot more effective in antidepressant effects than Trazadone. It can be felt in almost a week.
Best luck to you. Mike
Matt
Posted by Racer on October 24, 2005, at 14:26:10
In reply to Re: Need info on Cymbalta and Trazodone, posted by rjlockhart98 on October 23, 2005, at 22:10:45
Trazodone is an older antidepressant, often used for sleep. My own experience of it is very, very limited -- I took it one night, couldn't sleep, but felt as though I couldn't move, had trouble breathing, etc. That's me, though, and a lot of people find it very helpful. I've never known anyone, though, who took it for depression as monotherapy, so can't say anything about its use there.
I've been taking Cymbalta for over a year now, and it's been pretty helpful for me. It hasn't worked as monotherapy for me, but with Wellbutrin and Provigil, it's helping my depression.
Cymbalta is a new, novel antidepressant, a Selective Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor. Unlike Effexor, which is also a SSNRI, Cymbalta's action is balanced between serotonin and norepinephrine at all doses. For me, it's been pretty derned friendly -- no major side effects, no nasty surprises, very short adjustment phase, etc.
I hope that helps some.
Posted by mike_pittsburgh on October 25, 2005, at 13:41:17
In reply to Re: Need info on Cymbalta and Trazodone, posted by Racer on October 24, 2005, at 14:26:10
Hi,
thanks for the info & support.
due to sensitivity to meds, my doc initially has me taking cymbalta (30mg) every other day.
yesterday i took my first dose in the morning. 4 or 5 hours later i had very bad diarrhea. stomach not feeling to good. loss of appetite. tired most of the time, but not sleeping well.
after the benzo mess last year i have moderate to severe insomnia & lost a substantial amount of weight. (i'm about 25lbs under my normal weight. not a good thing. the weight loss is not due to not eating. i eat about 2-3 times more food than i did before the benzo mess. the extra calories is the only thing that keeps me going during the day. the severe stress, due to the the severe intrusive t, seems to burn the calories up.)
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.
thanks
mike
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
>
> 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.
>
> thanks
>
> mike
>
>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.
Posted by mama141 on October 30, 2005, at 13:25:00
In reply to Re: Need info on Cymbalta and Trazodone » mike_pittsburgh, posted by Racer on October 25, 2005, at 16:57:51
Trazadone (Desryl) was was one of the first antidepressants I was ever on nearly twenty years ago. When I took it I could only take at bedtime because within about 30 minutes I was out! I had to be in bed because about half the time I would literally collapse. (Orthostatic hypotension). Then some genius of a doc bothered to look at my chart and saw that I normally ran a BP of about 100/60 -- duhhh "get her off this stuff"!! Yeah, I should also mention that I didnt feel depressed, I just didnt feel ANYTHING!! I was your basic zombie...never again for me! I would like to hear more about Cymbalta as most AD's cause me to gain weight and I would love to find one that does not...MAMA
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