experiences with duloxetine (Cymbalta) for PN?

This drug was terrible for me and only made me sicker!! I am highly allergic to opiates and most medications. Am working with a great pain doctor now, and he thinks he can help this 80 year old Vietnam Veteran. We are certainly going to give this a try as my auto-immune system is really crazy and not working!!! Will keep everyone interested in any updates. Semper Fi.

I have had them both work well. At the moment I'm taking both together. I didn't know if it was worth the side effects, so I stopped on my own. I don't recommend it! I guess I have to remind myself every so often that it really is necessary for me to have pain relief. I just got an SCS which appears to be helping alot. Still hoping to get off some drugs.

Duloxetine didn't not work for me at all. I am bipolar and am already on medication for that. It didn't work for neuropathy and I had manic depression episodes that made my neuropathy worse.

Cymbalta did not work for me; in fact, it was counter productive. It gave me diarrhea so I stopped after the 4th dose. I've added cymbalta to the list of drugs I can't take.

(I quoted you, but realize you are still taking the med.)As I consider starting Cymbalta, for ……right now my neurologist calls it Vitamin B12 deficiency, but I have intermittent burning at this point. Some tingling and numbness. I understand the implications.

I question why I see so much written about getting off Cymbalta. Is it for short term use? If the reason one takes it is a permanent condition, then what transpires allowing one to halt the medication? I’m curious, as I hesitate to start a daily, addictive med for intermittent burning, that will require substantial effort to wean myself from in a year or two, only to be met with the same intermittent burning that I face now. Any input from your experience would be appreciated.

Hi I am new to the group. I am on Cymbalta and pins and needles in my feet went away but I still have annoying numbness to bottom of my feet. Monica

Good you have had some relief. Do you credit the med with that?
How long have you been on it?

I had no burning and no pins and needles this past weekend! So very relieved about that. Not sure of timing to start this med. i’ve read it takes 6-8 weeks to work.

I have been on Cymbalta for 4 months. PN went away for me within a week. I have very good results from using it. It's the numbness under my toes that make me feel I have fat toes.

Also I do credit Cymbalta getting PN under control.
Monica

It can be taken permanently for a chronic condition, but with these kinds of medications, everyone responds differently, so it’s not unusual for someone to have side effects that cause them to want to discontinue the medication. Or if it’s not as effective as they hoped, they may want to try a different, but similar medication that shouldn’t be taken at the same time. Others may take Cymbalta for depression and when their depression improves, they may want to stop it to see if they can maintain remission without it or need to switch medications.

But the most common thing I hear of is people who don’t tolerate the medication and want to stop it, only to find they can’t stop it immediately or as quickly as they want to, or the act of stopping it causes even worse side effects.

I don’t want to scare anyone off taking it. Everyone is different and also has a different tolerance to risk, but it’s something I’d want someone to tell me while I was considering my options, just like my NP told me, not to scare me, but to make sure I had all the information.

I’d want to know I before I took something if it would be difficult to stop taking immediately if I wanted to. I don’t like having to give up that much control, and I’m not comfortable with that risk because of my underlying condition. And historically, discontinuation syndrome from neuromodulators/antidepressants hasn’t gotten much recognition from doctors in the past; some minimize it or repeat what they’ve been taught, which is that it takes a few weeks to taper (which is true for some, but not everyone), minimize it, or even don’t believe it’s true. I think that’s less common now…at least since that one study came out a few years ago showing how high the rate of discontinuation syndrome is, but even that study was done by a physician if I recall correctly because they had personal experience and wanted to know more.

If you’ve been diagnosed with B12 deficiency, has the neuropathy not improved as your B12 level has gone up?