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A question for Thoreau

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/29/2013 3:04 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Thoreau. I don't think these forums have PMs so I had to start this thread.

I was hoping to understand your experience with IBS and antidepressants.

During 2013, I tried various treatments to solve my IBS. I remembered you wrote that Cymbalta greatly improved your IBS by slowing your gut transit time down. Unfortunately, you also experienced sexual side effects which is why you ceased the medication.

I tried one tablet in mid-2013 and for that whole day I had violent diarrhea. I am pretty sure it was the Cymbalta because my BMs changed so drastically even though my diet remained fairly constant.

I still have the unused Cymbalta in my drawer and since I am vacation at the moment, I would like to give the Cymbalta another go. Did you experience any side effects (like the diarrhea) initially, that went away after a few weeks? Do you have any other antidepressants that you would recommend for IBS?

Hope you are enjoying that new elliptical machine.

Regards,

Max
Posted 12/30/2013 2:33 AM (GMT 0)
Bumping this
Posted 12/30/2013 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
I've heard cymbalta works well for chronic conditions, so thought about switching from fluoxetine (prozac) to cymbalta.

Has anyone used it?
Posted 12/30/2013 3:53 AM (GMT 0)
I will likely be put on a Cymbalta regimen in the near future to treat major depressive disorder and fibromyalgia. If it helps with my UC... I will be a happy camper.
Posted 12/30/2013 9:01 AM (GMT 0)
Max: I took Cymbalta in November of 2012. I took it to try to relieve pains I was having all throughout my body. It did not work for this, but yes... it did work VERY well for my IBS issues.

What I began to notice is that I tolerated foods better... like salads and milk products. I also began to have bm's that were exceptionally long and formed. I remember having stools that were 18" long (it looked like, no I didn't measure!).

I do not recall any diarrhea type side effects at all for myself. As you've stated, I had sexual impotency from it. I wasn't even interested in sex. I could not be turned on no matter what my girlfriend did.

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you regarding the changed bm's you had. Check out the side-effect profile and see if it is listed there maybe?

**I'm in a ton of pain right now, so if any of this is short please forgive me.***
Posted 12/30/2013 9:02 AM (GMT 0)
The worst that could happen is you try it for a few days and it does cause the D again... and you write it off as an option for you.
Posted 12/30/2013 11:01 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Thoreau. Your answer quite sufficient. I suspected you werent feeling very well given your other post. Sorry about your pain. I've been following your post on chronic fatigue. Hope you find relief soon.
Posted 12/30/2013 11:25 AM (GMT 0)
Max, I'm feeling better right now with the aid of pain relievers. I went without them yesterday afternoon to get a sense of how I was feeling... and the answer was not well, lol.

I wish I had more insight to give you regarding cymbalta...

What I remember:
-I had A LOT of sweating from my armpits while on the drug.
-I had a very dry mouth too, if I remember right.
-I can't recall much in the way of mood changes.

There was, to my knowledge, a very small study that I found out about by googling cymbalta and IBS, that found it to be very effective for IBS treatment. However, much of the group stopped the drug due to adverse side effects.

At the same time as I was on Cymbalta I was enduring what seems to have been a bout of mono. I don't know how that played into things.
Posted 12/30/2013 12:23 PM (GMT 0)
That's good you are feeling better. Do you think your problems all stem from Remicade? I remember you had your tonsils out but that doesn't appear to have helped?

Those side effects you mention regarding Cymbalta, did they eventually go away?

To be honest, I wouldn't mind being sexually impotent at the moment since I have no partner haha. I read some where that a side effect of SNRIs or SSRIs is bloody or tarry stools... this has me concerned, especially in relation to my IBD.
Posted 12/30/2013 12:45 PM (GMT 0)
Well ya, if I didn't have a partner it would have been different with the side effects! But I did... and she's beautiful and I was and still am in love... so... you know how it goes... haha.

I cannot be certain about the pain and its correlation to Remicade. The pains have waxed and waned, and have actually gotten better after one remicade infusion (A month before the infusion I was feeling better, then had the infusion, then felt even better... then bam got feeling terrible again!).

Well, let me just say my GI doctor actually put me on another antidepressant to try to help my IBS issues, so it didn't seem he was thinking it would be bad for my gut. My GI put me on the cymbalta for pain, but non, I didn't notice any bloody or D related symptoms.

Honestly I say just try it out for a good month. If you get bad symptoms like you fear before that month then just stop and see if they go away within a few weeks. Whatever harm it causes will go away when you stop very likely.
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