Duloxetine / Cymbalta Diary 2013

[Mark13]

I started on Duloxetine last September after being on Paroxetine for 15 years. I felt I needed a change. I have been taking 40mg twice a day, but felt no different to being on Paroxetine. However, I also suffer from acid reflux and my GP suspects that it may be making it worse, so I have withdrawn from it and started Sertraline.

Good luck with the sertraline, ducky, I hope it suits you better.

[hanshan]

Hello Mark,

I hope the duloxetine is starting to have a positive effect.

It`s all quiet on the pregabalin front - a week since the last post to NMP. I haven`t been a thread starter up to now, but this may stir me into action.

Take care,

Hanshan

[Mark13]

I think I'll have to post something there

Day 30

Still feeling OK. Not calm all the time, there's still plenty of anxiety, but the obsessive rumination on past (sometimes minor) events seems much more under control, and for me, that's the main thing that was triggering the constant anxiety.

I still get offended easily (even if it's an imagined slight) but get over it quicker.

The change brought about by duloxetine is not a huge contrast, it's more subtle, but very welcome just the same.

[Mark13]

Day 31 (17th day on 60mg)

I think I must have jinxed myself yesterday. I've felt awful since posting.

I've had depersonalisation on and off, which is the symptom I find most disconcerting, and my physical anxiety is high (jaw clenching, churning stomach, heart pounding etc).

I'm getting a bit frustrated. Maybe I'm just expecting too much too soon, but after a few good days I thought I was on the up, only to come crashing down again.

I'll certainly give this another few weeks unless it becomes unbearable.

I'm seeing the Doc on Monday so I'll discuss future options just in case, but I really just want this drug to work.

[hanshan]

Hi Mark.

Hope something good comes from the Monday appointment.

[Mark13]

Hi Mark.

Hope something good comes from the Monday appointment.

Thanks hanshan

I've been feeling pretty good today, better than I have in years - then I remembered I'd not taken my tablet today

However all that duloxetine in my system must be doing something.

I saw the Doc today due to sexual / urinary SEs caused by the duloxetine. Basically this drug is also for urinary incontinance so it slows down your "output" which is a bit unpleasant.

Also ejaculation is painful - this is an SE I've never encountered before (I'm not embarassed to post this - I'm fairly anonymous here).

After reading info on the web I asked him for tamsulosin, a medication for enlarged prostate - it's supposed to solve these SEs.

Not surprisingly he was unwilling to prescribe a drug specifically to overcome an SE from another drug, but I persuaded him to let me give it a try, but he was really reluctant and told me he would not issue another prescription for it unless it was working perfectly, as it was an "off-label" use.

My argument was that the sexual and urinary problems could be a "deal-breaker" for me on this medication and that relieving these symptoms would ensure I'd give duloxetine a fair go. Which is true.

My sex life is important to me. No point in having less anxiety if I'm just miserable.

To finish on a positive note, as I said above, best day for years anxiety wise. Long may it continue, but I'll be taking it one day at a time.

[hanshan]

Hi Mark,

Don't be afraid to ask GPs for medications in situations where they have not prescribed them before. In my experience, their prescribing is often years behind the most recent indications, at least for anxiety-related illnesses.

Hopefully the new medication will stop the side-effects of the duloxetine. Please keep us posted.

[hanshan]

Hello Mark,

Can you find a nice owl picture? The new one's really scary!

[Mark13]

Yeah it is a bit creepy, but I like it

Obviously the last pic was of the Sheffield Wednesday mascot, so I thought I'd create my own unique picture.

I bought one of those plastic glow lights (I think they're for kids bedrooms) that change colour.

Then I took a few pics of it last night in the dark, and cropped it to fit.

At least I picked it when it was on blue, the red-lit version looked Satanic

[hanshan]

No worries.

Congratulations on making your own picture. Beyond me, I think.