Seeking Advice on Duloxetine for Pain and Depression

It did wonders for my anxiety and overall pain level. Look up reviews and make form your own opinion 🙂

I tried it and maxed out on it with no help for pain, but it did help the depression a little.

I personally have experienced massive benefits while on duloxetine for my fibro pain. I’d say it’s like a 90%-95% improvement to the point that I don’t really think about pain much any more. I mainly experience pain if I push myself too hard and experience post-extertional malaise or forget a dose. I love it, and I’m sure how much people benefit or don’t varies between individuals but I personally would give it a chance. The first 2 weeks of side effects were pretty rough, but those subsided and I have very few side effects now. It took 3-4 weeks for me to start noticing the benefits and about 8 weeks for full benefits (which matched my doctor’s estimated timeline). I’ve never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but I am known to be a “worrier” and an anxious person overall, and the medication has also helped me deal a lot with that in ways I didn’t expect. I still can tell the anxiety is there, but it’s like it’s being smothered with a blanket, so it’s much quiet and easier to push past. I find myself able to stand up for myself easier and able to more confidently put myself in positions that are more in the forefront rather than staying safe and comfy in the background. Only negatives are that for some reason I find it more difficult to get out of bed in the morning, I require more hydration, and I can overheat easily if I’m not carful, but none of those have affected my quality of life. For me duloxetine has been great. It’s works wonders for some people, and does little for others. I’d say give it a chance for at least a month (unless you can’t handle the initial side effects of your body adapting to the pill), but ideally give it 8 weeks if you can to see if it seems to have any positive effects for you or not and to decide whether the pros or cons you experience outweigh the other.

I'll be honest, the biggest con I know is probably just the long term effects and the symptoms of when/if you decide to get off it. Both me and my mom were on it and it was very helpful, but we had to stop for different reasons and the withdrawal can get really bad. You can have weird intense dreams/nightmares up to a year after stopping. But if it's your best option now, it could be worth a shot. Just possibly see what your doctor says if you bring up the concerns

I was on it for a couple of months. They had to take me off my normal anti depressants as they'd clash in some way. It was brutal for me. I ended up really poorly, throwing up and stomach pain. Had to go onto lanzoprazole to combat the stomach issues. Mentally I was massively suicidal and unable to control my emotions. I've heard plenty of people have had amazing experiences so I'm not entirely sure why it was so awful for me. But as I always say anything is worth a try! Hope it helps you!

Im on 60mg of it rn and its helped a lot with energy

Duloxetine/Cymbalta was a nightmare for me. I hated it. The intention was to wean me off of lyrica and move me on to Cymbalta/duloxetine for pain and depression, however, I reacted horribly to it. When I wasn’t in class, I was in bed. It was terrible. I got no relief for depression or pain.

It has helped me so much with anxiety and chronic pain, and I only need to take paracetamol alongside it.

Genuinely a lifesaver for me. It helps so so so much with my chronic pain, anxiety, OCD, and tics.

I've been on it for two years, currently weening off it. It was alright, but my biggest take away was that it is AWFUL to go off of

It helped me with my pain and a little with mood, but I found I needed to up the dose after a bit as it wasn't doing enough. I've now ended up on something else but it did help for a while.

This med was a nightmare for me. I couldn’t get out of bed.

thank you so much for that information. That's so helpful. Amitryptaline to be honest has helped my sleep wonders but not even touched the pain. For pain, the best thing I've found, which I've found a lot of people saying, is weed. I got prescribed it through sapphire clinic who is completely remote and it's really easy for an assessment. That makes the pain very bearable. As far as amitryptaline, it really knocks me out at night which is amazing for my insomnia and it makes the sleep feel more restful than without.

i’ve been on it for a year and 4 months now and have a lot of thoughts! not sure if they’re that helpful cos everyone reacts differently. i’m currently tapering off, partly to do an in lab sleep study (it interferes w the stuff they’re testing) and partly because it hasn’t been helping with pain and i want to switch to a different antidepressant that has less severe withdrawal effects (i’m now on bupropion xr). my maintenance dose was 80mg, i bumped up from 60mg to see if it helped (it did) then i tried up to 100mg which didn’t help any more than 80. PROS - it helped a lot with my mental health, both depression and anxiety. once i was on a full dose the day to day side effects weren’t too bad. it’s one of the main meds recommended for fibro so i think doctors were more willing to help me try other meds for pain because i had already tried duloxetine. CONS - it didn’t do anything for my pain (or at least not enough to be very noticeable). i lost weight at first due to suppressed appetite then gained it back and then some. going up a dose and occasionally while at my full dose, i would get the brain/body ‘zaps’ lots of people talk abt having in withdrawal. i also felt pretty shaky when i was first going on. i think it made me more heat intolerant and sweat very easily. even missing one day’s dose would cause withdrawal symptoms for me, at first just brain zaps, then if i was off for longer (one time i had trouble filling my prescription and was off for 4 days, cold turkey) i would have bad orthostatic intolerance, dizziness, nausea, low appetite, stomach pain, and diarrhea. now that i’m doing a managed withdrawal (since november) i’ve had much fewer symptoms, but the brain zaps still come back when i step down a dose. i’m going completely off this week, which i’ve heard can be the hardest transition, so i’m anticipating worse withdrawal effects.

I started it about a week and a half ago. The first two days were rough. It made me feel nervous and shaky, but that part is way better now. As far as mental health, I don’t feel I struggle with depression, and anxiety is quite rare for me, so I don’t see a change there. I think it’s starting to help with my pain though. I also take Gabapentin, which my doctor is hoping to lower if the Cymbalta really works. On the 1st, I’m due to go from 30mg to 60mg. Hoping I don’t get nervous and shaky again.

My doc recommended it too.. I haven't tried it. Everyone is different though! If you and your doc feel comfortable that it will help, I think it's worth a shot 🌸

I have been in it for yrs. So far it has worked the best for my mental health. Just recently I had to add on another med, but it definitely has helped me. I tried so many different happy pills before this one that either didn't work or the side effects weren't worth it

it helped me a little bit with my pain, but not mentally. its absolutely worth a shot though, medicine is different for everyone and there’s definitely something for you out there!! medicine is trail and error. 💕

I'm on it rn and it's been really helpful. Im still in pain but it's much better. I go swimming and take frequent baths to help with the rest of the pain. The only downside to this medication is if you miss a dose you can go into withdrawal and it sent me into the hospital, so be aware of that.

I like it. I can definitely tell if I miss a dose as far as pain levels go. For mental health it doesnt do enough for me so I'm on additional meds. Would def say it's worth a shot in my personal opinion. Honestly losing weight helps my fibromyalgia the most so that's my goal