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← Return to Duloxetene for neuropathy & back pain
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Duloxetene for neuropathy & back pain
Neuropathy | Last Active: Jul 1, 2021 | Replies (18)Comment receiving replies
Good morning @lk61, yes you can discuss medications on Connect. We, as mentors, cannot prescribe or diagnose. What we can do is share our experience with a medication that we currently use or have used in the past. I am interested in your negative response to Duloxetine.
My diagnosis is small fiber neuropathy (SFN). My clinician and I were trying to find a medication that would control my anxiety which seemed to increase as the SFN symptoms progressed. I tapered off a nighttime Nortriptyline and onto a morning Duloxetine 60 mg. Recently I replaced 300 mg of nighttime gabapentin with another 30 mg of morning Duloxetine. We are both pleased with the results.......a decrease in pain and anxiety at the time when I need it.
Some of the positive response is because I can take this medication in the morning. My early side effects were a bit of dizziness. So now I make sure I eat something before doing my stretches and yoga. It is encouraging to know that your symptoms have decreased. What side effects of Duloxetine are you experiencing? When are you taking it? Do you take it with food? Let's see if there is anything you can do to mediate the side effects and maintain the benefits.
May you be content and at ease.
Chris
Replies to "Good morning @lk61, yes you can discuss medications on Connect. We, as mentors, cannot prescribe or..."
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@artscaping thank you for your reply and insights. I am able to take the med in the morning, it actually doesn’t seem to be bothering me GI wise which is funny because a lot of meds do. With the duloxetene, I’ve had excessive yawning and a hyperactive gag reflex, although those 2 effects seem to have gotten better after first couple of days. I still have a lot of profound sleepiness at times and just a foggy feeling, but ironically am not sleeping well at night. Headaches and jaw clenching/teeth grinding, which I suspect is causing muscles in my face to feel weak and twitchy, or possibly the med is causing that directly. I also feel very irritable. As I said, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that the duloxetene had a really quick (1st day) effect on my pain and neuropathy. I wasn’t expecting that, as this class of drugs normally takes a while to have efficacy. So, I really would like to continue it if possible. After 5 days I feel like it’s too early to give up but quality of life at the moment is not improved, even though I have the symptom relief! Thanks again.