Another pill!!!!!

Hi, ddavis,
I tried cymbalta briefly and I loved it for the neuropathic symptoms in my feet, although it didn't help until I got to the 60mg. My problem was it created problems with another medical condition so I had to stop. But it is worth a good try, I think. I know there have been threads in the past on it, and a lot of people reporting good and bad. Like with any med,, everyone is different. But I do think it's worth a try.

PaLady

DDavis hello: I was on Cymbalta ( spelling ? ) started off just like You on a low dose and made my way up to the max. dosage. This drug did nothing for me and I felt better once i stopped taking it. This is my experience only, others may have had success ? I join You in the passion of hating to take any pills at all. Take care and the best of luck to You. tom

 

   I have been on cymbalta for about 7 months 60 mg i also take Norco 10/325 Methadone 10mg and OXY IR 5mg and sometimes me cotin.  I feel that i am condemed by my family i am so sad.

ddavis - I am sorry to hear you are having pain, but welcome to the forum. Unfortunately, Cymbalta did not work for me. Chutz may be along soon, but she has posted in some other threads recently with a link to a pain diary that you could keep that may help you decide whether or not the medications your doctors are trying are really helping you or not. I know what you mean about being sick of pills. I would love to get back to a life not ruled by the medicine cabinet, but I am slowly coming to terms with the reality that taking these medications is the only way I am able to participate in even a small part of my life.

Frances - welcome to you as well. What was your surgery for? Was it successful? as with the others, I am sad to hear you are in pain, but glad to have you join us in the forum.

pillman - welcome to you also. I am sorry to see that you are so sad right now. I looked to see if you were in the chat room, but I must have missed you. You might want to start a new thread to introduce yourself and maybe tell us what brings you to the forum. I'm sure the others here would like to meet you and have a chance to encourage you and talk to you a bit. Many of us have had struggles with friends and family who do not understand what we are going through, so we can relate to your situation. Start a thread and tell us more - people will be here for you. You've come to the right place. I've found so much encouragement and friendship here and I'm sure you will too.

Ry

ryand said...
ddavis -
Frances - welcome to you as well. What was your surgery for? Was it successful? as with the others, I am sad to hear you are in pain, but glad to have you join us in the forum.

Ry

Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted because of complications from decompression surgery (crainiotomy & C1 laminectomy) for Chiari. The neurosurgeon only ordered an MRI of my brain & didn't realize that C7 was deteriorated, so after he removed C1, the spinal column in my neck became unstable (C2-C6 were basically floating in my neck) and the pain became intolerable. On top of that, scar tissue grew around my occipital nerve -- not so much fun. ;)
I'm much happier now. I've always hated taking meds. I never took anything except antibiotics as a child so I have a really low tolerance for just about everything. I was up to 15 different meds at one time -- side effects from medications used to treat side effects, I'm sure you all can relate. I'm down to just one medicine now & am hoping to get down on that so that I don't have to take it every day. To be clear, I definitely consider the surgery to have been a success.
I also got into an auto accident (please no comments on that -- I don't want to talk about it) and between that & the battery pack for the SCS, I now am having trouble dealing with lower back pain (DDD). The company rep for the SCS told me that if I can stick it out for a couple more years they can swap out my battery pack for a higher tech one that will be able to host a second cord running to my lower spine. I'm hoping I can stick it out, but if not at least I'm lucky because I found a neurosurgeon who is willing to do a disc replacement without sedation. I'm super afraid of sedation & anesthesia so except for my crainiotomy, I've done all the surgeries & procedures with just a little local. If it comes down having to schedule a new procedure, I'll have to ask you all what you know about it. As for now, there's nothing on the calendar yet.
My current PM has back problems himself, so he works really hard to provide as many options for his patients as possible. I know I'm really lucky to have a doc who understands. My last PM was this creepy guy who just wanted his patients in a drug-induced haze for even simple procedures plus he would only write for the 2-3 medications he was familiar with. Worst of all, he occasionally introduced placebo treatments to see if I could tell. Go figure -- I knew it every time. Eventually I realized I needed someone who would take a much more aggressive approach to pain management. I found a doc who has agreed to a treatment plan that focuses more on letting me live my life, and less on how these drugs/treatments may shorten my life 25 years from now. I was grateful for the meds while I needed them, but am even more grateful that through the SCS, RF & a lot of alternative medicine -- craineo-sacral therapy, myofascial release, napropathy, acupuncture, aquatherapy, PT, diet, etc. -- I can now cut back on the meds.
Hoping you all can find whatever makes you happier. :)

Im about at my caiving point as well! Lyrica was the best thing for i LOVED it but i gained to much weight on it so they took me off it!   Thanks for your reply it means a lot to me.

Frances_2008 said...
I tried it. It didn't help the pain much at all & the side effects were intolerable. Honestly, as far as anti-depressant type meds, I've had better luck with older ones, like nortriptylene (sp?) & amitriptylene (sp?), but even those only helped so much & made me pretty sleepy. I'm off almost all my meds now (I finally caved and had surgery), but I've tried a lot of different ones in the past the one that bothered me the least & helped the most was Lyrica. It's kinda expensive if your insurance doesn't cover it, but I think I heard it's now on-label for fibromyalgia, so maybe it would be covered for you. Best wishes. Hope you find something that works for you!

Donna-
I used to get the same way. I didn't notice how angry I would get as much as those around me did.
My gyn noticed that my hormone levels got really messed up whenever I was taking anti-depressants and/or anti-anxiety pills (not just feelings, but temperature, appetite, etc. -- everything was cycling with the meds -- it was messed up! ;) She was able to help get me somewhat stablized though bc pills. Of course, things were still pretty rough 25% of the time, but at least the rest of the month was more bearable, both for me & those around me.
I imagine you're aware of the potential side effects from bc, but maybe they could help.
Hope things work out & you find some relief.