Has anyone ever been on Duloxetine (Cymbalta) for nerve pain?

I was on Cymbalta years ago high dose it help with my pain quite a bit for neuropathy. Then I needed to go in for back surgery and daring anesthesia there was fentanyl in the mixture Cymbalta and Fentanyl together causes can cause serotonin syndrome which it did in me it gave a spike to my heart shut my heart down altogether it took the doctor three rounds of CPR to get my heart going again. I would never take Cymbalta again as coming off the drug is one of the worst thing one can expect, my doctors were not sure the right way to bring you off from a high dose of Cymbalta so I had to do it on my own along with the fogginess brains apps unsteadiness Etc .I would never ever recommend this drug for anybody even though it helped with my peripheral neuropathy pain some people may take it and it might not affect them at all if I would not have had my back surgery I probably would not be writing this and would most likely would still be on the drug. Always check for drug interaction that's the most important thing that one can do before taking any new drugs.

I have taken it for years also without problems. It helps my musculoskeletal pain. (Have had back and neck fusion surgeries and other similar issues.)

I have been on Duloxetine for fibromyalgia, lupus and arthritis pain for 10 years. Without it I’m in so much pain I can’t function. I put up with the side effects (dizziness, dry mouth). Everybody is different.

What dosages have you been taking please? My primary care provider started me on 20 mg and within a week, my pain was gone. After two weeks it came back so she prescribed 30 mg. Not much difference and I recently had a bad flare up due to weather. But better again and I can sleep.

I hesitate to take a higher dosage…afraid of more side affects. So far only dry mouth.

I take one 60mg capsule every morning. Several years ago I tapered off in an effort to reduce the number of meds I’m taking. The body pain came roaring back. I’m staying on it for now.

I know this conversation is a bit old now but if you are still reading it, I am curious to know if your doctor prescribed or brought up other things as well for your nerve pain? There are so many other medications for nerve pain out there such as Gabapentin. (Even that has its own things to be cautious about. I think that is the case for every medication. But some are worse than others.) If it is the first medication, he/she brought up to help your nerve pain I am beyond perturbed about it.
I was put on Cymbalta or duloxetine a long time ago because I have Fibromyalgia. In 2004 that is what they automatically did when you were diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I never could tell if it helped at all but since I needed an anti-depressant anyway because of depression and anxiety I decided to stay on it at 60mg a day. Here we are now after many years of taking it and I am still in so much pain I can barely function. Not just Fibromyalgia pain but nerve pain from having uncontrolled Diabetes for many years, and pain in my back from Degenerative Disk Disease and several protruding disks to name just a few of my chronic pain conditions. I can't imagine a doctor bringing up Cymbalta at first or at all really in any of these cases. I am actually amazed to read the reviews here on how much it helped other people. But it doesn't matter because an anti-depressant shouldn't be your first line of defense against chronic pain no matter what even though at the time I was put on it they thought that. I was hoping that by now all doctors not just some new that prescribing Cymbalta immediately for chronic pain was stupid.
I have been on anti-depressants nearly my whole life. If I can go back and somehow change that I would. They are not good. I am still on them because I can't get off without getting so sick that I choose just to stay on them. Like I said because I have depression too. And I have tried so many times in the past with many different ones to try and either decrease it or just get off it. They all talk about how dangerous opiates are, and they are, or at least can be, but what about the other medications they give such as anti-depressants that also have side effects and are addictive if they admit it or not. I know so many people that have had negative side effects from taking them as well as horrible side effects trying to get off them. And these people were not on them for very long. I have heard terrible stories within my own family. Not to mention what it does to unborn fetuses. They told me Zoloft was safe when I was pregnant with my youngest son but wanted me off other medications. So, I did as they said. He was born with his tricuspid valve being too narrow to efficiently pump blood through his heart, so they had to do surgery on his little newborn heart. I found out later all the different health problems and developmental issues in newborns whose mothers were taken SSRI's and other anti-depressant types when pregnant. These babies were being affected in many ways including heart valve issues. Needing the same heart valve surgery as my son did from the exact same anti-depressant. This even went to court with Scientists and Mothers proving the dangers of it. However, because I live in California it was dismissed due to the courts not allowing the evidence to come forward. But other states succeeded to my knowledge. So yeah, I wouldn't go there unless you have to.

Thank you for your quick response! I am torn as to whether or not I should have my doses increased. My pain is manageable with 2 Tylenol 8 hr arthritis capsules and one Aleve per day during flare ups. Do you still experience flare ups, assuming your pain is from arthritis. And did you gradually increase your dosage up to 60 mg? Sorry if I am asking too many questions!🥰

How are your side effects with 60 mg? I can tolerate the dry mouth from 30 mg.

If you can manage the pain with Tylenol and Aleve, I say stick with those. It's very difficult to get off Duloxetine. I do still have arthritis flare ups, despite also taking Tylenol (8 hr arthritis) and Celebrex (another prescription) but it's hard to tell what is flaring: arthritis? fibromyalgia? lupus? I deal with a lot of pain 24/7/365. The dizziness is the worst side effect for me but my other meds could be contributing. The dry mouth is annoying as hell. I drink lots of water.

My Rheumie started me at 60 mg Duloxetine and hasn't changed my dose. A year ago, I attended a month-long program on dealing with chronic pain. They taught me breathing and exercises which have really helped. Other than that, I do things that keep my mind off the pain! Sending you a big hug.

I think depression is a constant companion to those of us who suffer from pain. It's hard to be upbeat when you can't think of anything but how awful you feel. I suffer from severe depression and Duloxetine and Trazadone do nothing for that. I refuse to take any other meds because I know the side effects can be worse. I'm dealing with it by seeing a therapist who is helping me change my mind set about living with pain. I found a good therapist in the BetterHelp app and I meet with her every few weeks. I've been depressed my whole life (my mother also suffered from this) and I don't want to change who I am but rather how I can live in the world and be reasonably content.
Sorry for going on and on.

You’re so kind…hugs are welcome! I do appreciate your advice. I have read about the bad symptoms of getting off duloxitine. I feel fortunate to have my problems compared to others. This is kind of my last resort as I have tried other pain meds. Tramadol doesn’t really help that much. Hated Gabapentin. Anyway, thank you so much. Hugs to you as well.