Newby on Cymbalta

Hi All!

New here. Also new to Cymbalta. Started it yesterday morning, 30mg everyday. Going into it i was aware of the million different side effects. One probably should not read things on Google. about as much bad as good.

Started off with a pounding headache last night. Managed to sleep about 6 hours, but felt like i had drank 19 coffees. However woke up feeling very weak at 6 am and had one of the worst panic attacks of my life.
Felt as though my pulse was non-existant..like i had hard time finding a pulse on my jugular. Scared the crap out of me..i felt weak and shaking and took me over 30 mins to calm down. Guess Cymbalta must slow down your heart eh.

Another weird effect is these very uncomfortable hot flashes i get quite fast after eating..almost feels like a blood sugar thing. I know i am not eating quite enough but still i should be ok..eating somewhat still.
Just feel like a become very weak, heart starts pounding after eating. Had been under a lot of stress before i started this. Maybe its just one weird Cymbalta side effect. Also quite scary.
Lucky i have some benzo's so able to take 1 when i cant put up with the weird side effects. Seems to take the edge off. But yeah can be quite scary.

I have had fibro and chronic fatigue for many years. Im Male age 41. The last 4 years i have been in tiptop shape, hitting the gym 3-4 times a week. However due to last few months and a stressful move i hit a bad flare and also wound up with bad depression.

Id like to know does Cymbalta give you crazy good energy for fatigue? Any experiences? I think the fatigue is something i battle with more. Many thanks!

Chris

I was on cymbalta when I first got diagnosed about 7 or 8 years ago. I was very ill and itdidn't seem to help that much. My doctor found a new drug, at that time, called Savella that was the first drug issued strictly for fibromyalgia (& chronic fatigue). It helped from day one. It was slow but steady improvements. Being able to get out of bed or chair and able to go to family functions etc was wonderful. Eventually I was able to do 5ks and actually have a life. Then I screwed up, but it taught me a lot. Never do anything anaerobic for any length of time. I did quite a lot of anaerobic stuff over a week and I relapsed for over 8 months. I couldn't take care of myself or my home properly or exercise. I got a heart rate monitor about 6 weeks ago, and went to stay with my daughter. I did nothing but mini-walks, naps, and plenty of sleep at night and kept my heart rate very low (maffetone method). Some people can only go up to heart rate of 95. I am able to do 107 but try to stay lower. Over the past 6 weeks I've gone from being able to walk 1/4 mile up to 4 miles. I've also increased my speed tremendously while staying at the same heart rate. I am now back home and able to take care of myself. Have to use a riding lawn mower because my heart rate gets too high pushing a mower and it makes me sick again. I have read that people with this condition process oxygen differently and and should stay below the anaerobic threshold. If I am consistent I should be able to run a 5k at or below 107 bpm eventually. I have signed up for a 5k in January and will pace myself according to heart rate. I hope this helps