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Cymbalta vs Lyrica

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Posted 9/28/2013 4:45 AM (GMT 0)
Does anybody know which is best for neuropathy? I also have epilepsy and am currently taking Xanax, 3600 mg of Neurontin and 7.5 mg of Hydro a day. I was taking Cymbalta, but my doctor ran out of samples. I can't afford it anymore, but it only took the edge off. My pain was still there. Does anyone know if Lyrica is better?
Posted 9/28/2013 9:33 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Neuropathy, and welcome to the Chronic Pain forum.

I think you'll find as many different opinions as there are people on this forum :-) I take Cymbalta, but more as an anti-depressant. Personally, I find that it does little or nothing for my pain. Lyrica caused me intolerable side effects - I couldn't continue taking it for long enough to know if it would really help my pain or not.

If Lyrica is more affordable where you are... I know here in Australia it's recently been added to our PBS, which makes it cheaper than many other meds... then I would say to give it a go.


Best of luck
Posted 9/28/2013 10:41 AM (GMT 0)
Hi N, and I'm the polar opposite! The cymbalta caused many unpleasant side effects for me and lyrica works fine.

I hate to see anyone have to do away with a med that they can take without problems due to inability to pay and cost. Have you checked to see if cymbalta has a patient assistance program?

Also if you can get a medication discount card from online, they should be free, or thru your pharmacy, Kmart, Rental stores, even phone companies, many places offer them and some of them save you up to 60-70% of cost. Also Costco, Sam's, those pharmacy's are drastically cheaper and you dont have to be a member to use them.

I've got to add here that on that amount of Neurontin I cant really see either one of them helping much more. Its unusual for a Dr to mix them, I've seen it just rarely. That being said I wouldn't break the bank trying to get something not helping when your already taking the Neurontin and ask your Dr about some of the older meds used.

Welcome and we have lots of other things that many of us do to battle this and everyone will be happy to share what they do. Also you can use the search feature at the top of the page to look up older posts about this subject or the meds.

Good luck and hope you find the right combination for you that works
Posted 9/28/2013 12:59 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Neuropathy,

I can definitely empathize with nerve pain, have that myself. It is mostly controlled with medications, it really helps to keep my spirits up. If I feel the nerve pain too much, to me that means I have done too much and need to rest up and use other modalities to help ease it. For example, rest, heat packs, some even use ice packs (I cannot tolerate the cold). I have even found progressive relaxation to help.

As far as medications, I tried Lyrica before, it did help my pain but I also gained 60 pounds in 2 months. I found that to be intolerable and discontinued the med. I now take both gabapentin and cymbalta. The cymbalta is used as a dual med for both nerve pain and depression for me. The cymbalta drastically reduced the nerve pain I have from a scar that is huge from a surgery. Before cymbalta I had to wear clothing that was at least a size too big and only elastic waists and mostly sweatpants because they rubbed the least on my scar.

After cymbalta, I can now wear jeans daily in the correct sizes! Great for my self-esteem! The gabapentin I take helps the neuropathy I have in my legs and feet. I am maxed out at 1200mg per day due to my impaired kidneys.

You will probably get many different answers to your question. Everyone's body is different and the meds all affect us differently, that is why we all trial them and see what is best for us.

Vickie gave you some great information to pursue about the cost of medications. Hopefully you will be able to find a solution that way!

Good luck and keep us posted!
Trudy
Posted 9/28/2013 3:55 PM (GMT 0)
hi neuropathy and welcome aboard. i also take neurontin (600mgs x2 daily and 900 mgs @bedtime) i need to talk with my doctor and see if he wants to raise the dosage. anyway i was on cymbalta
for nerve pain a couple years ago and really didn't help me so i was switched to lyrica. only to find
out i'm allergic to it. so from there i went to neurontin which helped a little bit..
Posted 9/28/2013 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
neuropathy,

Something to consider as well is Effexor. It is generic and is in a sense the prior generation of SNRIs. It has more side effects than Cymbalta, but it is cheap.

Also, as others have noted, in addition to Lyrica - Pregabalin (brand), there is also another nerve-pain agent, neurontin - Gabapentin (generic).

Which one works best will really depend on the individual. I have tried all the above and their side effects have all been too severe.

I'm a fan of Tramadol, so if you haven't tried it, do discuss it with your PM.
Posted 9/30/2013 9:19 PM (GMT 0)
In the US if you qualify you can get one free month of Cymbalta from the manufactor. I know that does not help long term but could help while you try to get something else on board.
Posted 10/2/2013 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
I've used both Cymbalta and Lyrica. The Lyrica is prescribed for nerve pain and the Cymbalta was for chronic pain/depression. I ended up d/c the Cymbalta and using Effexor but am still on Lyrica. I've had some flare ups recently and my GP increased my Lyrica. I still have nerve pain but I personally have found that Lyrica is the best medication for it.
Posted 10/3/2013 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
It really is different for everyone, with trial and error you'll find what's best for you. I've found that Lyrica was beneficial for nerve pain/CRPS but the side effects were to extreme for me to continue using it. Pregabelin/ Gabapentin is the cousin of Lyrica;it is the generic form of Neurontin and I had less side effects. THOUGH, Neurontin (brand name of gabapentin) has a class action law suit against it in Canada for the side effect of suicide.

I found great relief from Cymbalta but ended up being allergic to it. If you can get a prescription for an Infra-Red Heat Therapy Lamp, that will be your best friend. Hope you can find relief
Posted 10/4/2013 2:48 AM (GMT 0)
Bionica

I'd love to learn more about the Infra-Red Heat Therapy Lamp. I use heat pads for pain and a UV light for shorter days. How does the lamp work? How often do you use it?
Posted 10/4/2013 4:30 AM (GMT 0)
Haven't tried cymbalta...but lyrica works well with my other medication!
Posted 10/7/2013 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi SKYoung,

The Infra-Red Therapy Lamp is so benefial to nerve pain. I'm not sure exactly how it works on a molecular level but it is the same type of heat that is given off from direct sun light. This type of light/ heat source penetrates the tissue/ muscles/ body deeper, giving much more relief than heat pads/ space heaters etc. I have also relied on those types of products, until I discovered the Inra-Red Heat Lamp. I'm not doing it justice on my description but I would suggest just to Google infra red heat to understand more about it.

I'm in Canada and I've been on a long journey on where to actually purchase a lamp, there are very limited pharmacies/ home health stores that carry them and most won't order it. If you are in Canada the easiest way to get one is to order it through your physiotherapist.

I hope I've been of some help to you. Let me know if you need any other information.

p.s. Are in the U.S.A? I know I don't know your diagnosis but if it's nervous system related look into Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers.

Take care,

Bionica
Posted 10/8/2013 3:13 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, my husband was on both Cymbalta and Lyrica - tho not at the same time.

Both help with his pain issues. Cymbalta, though, made him not be able to urinate when his bladder was full. He stood at the toilet for 10+ minutes when he was on 60mg, was over 20 with 120mg. I have not heard of other cases of this issue, although I've not looked very hard about it. My pharmacists and the docs he sees also had not heard of it before.

Lyrica doesn't "FEEL" like it's working for him, but it does a LOT for him. He's has to go off for a day or so twice because of money shortage once and insurance needing a prior authorization another - it was HORRIBLE when it happened. But it doesn't make his thinking fuzzy the way gabapentin did for him, it's much better for him on the Lyrica.

It all depends on the person for how you will react to certain medications (well, MOST medications really). Try both, see what happens. Finances can affect which you use, but both was the same cost with our insurance.
Posted 10/8/2013 5:11 AM (GMT 0)
I suffer chronic nerve pain after almost severing my lower left leg have nerve pain running thru skingrafts get a almost electric shock feeling if my socks rub on the graft the wrong way . I put up with it for yrs till my dr tried a combination of endep and tegretol and its been a godsend I can actually rub my leg now without feeling ive stuck my fingers into a light socket
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