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Posted 10/7/2015 6:49 AM (GMT 0)
Hi guys!
Been on Cymbalta for months now. Feeling so much better depression/anxiety wise.

I was wondering if any of you have this issue…
I am a massage therapist…I believe whole heartedly what massage is, what it can do, and how it should feel.

Before my complete mental breakdown and when everything happened to me a couple years back, massages used to feel SO GOOD. Now? I feel like…nothing…but tightness and discomfort when I get a massage from my colleagues. Ive gone to at least 5 or 6 different people, different pressures, different techniques, everything…it all feels the same…nothing :(
Maybe I can contribute to everything thats happened and my body just isn't used to it?…and just like anything else needs time to adjust and actually enjoy massage again?
Hope you all are well
Posted 10/7/2015 7:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi KB

Great to hear you are feeling much better I hope that continues for you.

With regards to massage I also find them uncomfortable but they do help loosen me up so I tend to get one every couple of months. Anxiety and depression can cause a lot of tightness in your muscles especially in the neck and shoulders.

Have a look into the Bowen Technique which is a very gentle form of massage but it works wonders. It actually feels like they are not doing much but seems to work I can highly recommend it.

Hibee
Posted 10/7/2015 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
KB,

So glad to hear that in general things are better for you with the A/D challenges!  High fives for that good news!

As far as your question goes...


Is is that the massage technique itself is causing you physical discomfort...or more that you do not enjoy the fact that you are being touched at all?

Anxiety can cause us to be hypersensitive to tactile responses, so could that be part of it?

Also, you are on Cymbalta...do you have fibro as well as A/D? (or other muscle/connective tissue/nerve pain issue?)

S.C.

Posted 10/7/2015 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
Last time I was at the doctor she did the examination and we discussed it fully, she doesn't think I have fibro, just really tight muscles due to anxiety and depression. She explained that because I have none of the tender points (which now isn't the case but they still use it sometimes), I don't have sleep problems, I'm not sensitive to heat or cold (beyond normal responses), and I don't have pain all over my body, its just my forearms and shoulders sometimes…which she explained is due to me being a massage therapist lol
So I was relieved when she said she thought I didn't have it.
And its not that I don't like being touched, I enjoy being touched, its just the face that my upper shoulders, and arms are so tight that it feels uncomfortable to massage.
My psychiatrist put me on cymbalta because lexapro wasn't working for me, and my shoulders and neck were killing me all the time because I was having constant panic attacks which was creating havoc on my body. So he said the cymbalta would help with the pain until my anxiety and depression receded a bit…and thats exactly what happened, when my anxiety and depression receded, my pain went away almost completely. And I'm never in pain, its just tightness, tightness I feel everyday :/
Posted 10/7/2015 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
Have you talked with your doc about muscle relaxers?
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