Stomach pain after brief time on Cymbalta

[BackRoads]

Tried Cymbalta for 10 days. Couldn't take it any longer because of the daily stomach aches, and couldn't sleep. So it's been a couple of weeks since I stopped it, but I still get mild stomach aches. Is this normal, or should I be worried?

[panic_down_under]

Tried Cymbalta for 10 days. Couldn't take it any longer because of the daily stomach aches, and couldn't sleep. So it's been a couple of weeks since I stopped it, but I still get mild stomach aches. Is this normal, or should I be worried?

Both insomnia and stomach pains are fairly common initial side-effects of serotonergic antidepressants caused by the heightened serotonin activity at the beginning. The most serotonergic organ of the body is the gut which has its own mini brain, the enteric nervous system (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-second-brain/), not the brain between the ears. It may, therefore, be more impacted by SSRIs/SNRIs, however, the body will usually adapt to the extra serotonin by downregulating both serotonin synthesis and expression within a couple of weeks and the side-effects should then diminish. Both side-effects can usually be minimised by the addition of a sedating med such as trazodone, or perhaps a benzodiazepine for insomnia and the usual otc remedies for the stomach.

Duloxetine has a very short half-life so all traces of it will have been eliminated within 4 days. It is unlikely to still be causing the stomach pain, but anxiety may be, however.