Posted by laurah952 on July 6, 2013, at 9:41:22
In reply to Re: Cymbalta not good enough for depression?, posted by polarbear206 on July 4, 2013, at 12:56:36
> What are your symptoms, pattens like PRIOR to drug therapy and what are they NOW while taking Cymbalta. Drugs trialed and combinations too. Sorry all the questions , but very important to know.
They ARE important; I agree. I will attempt to answer that.
Initially, I sought help for severe panic attacks, and that was my only symptom as far as I knew. (25 yrs ago) I was put on Klonopin along with an antidepressant. I don't remember the order, but have been on Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Buspar, Seroquel, Zoloft and Cymbalta (there may have been more, but I don't recall)
About 4 years ago, I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy and I think some of the meds for that are also used as psych meds. To the above combo, (I believe that at that time, Prozac was being used along with Klonopin 8mg/day) I was given Gabapentin, Nortriptyline, and then Lyrica (it works better for me) I was also given Tegretol to use prn at night for pain.
About 3 years ago, I was diagnosed with bi-polar II, and to the above Klonopin, Prozac, Lyrica, and Tegretol, many mood stabilizers were tried and discontinued either due to side effects or because they didn't work. (I don't think any work to this day, so I've given up for now, and can live with the minor symptoms) For Bi-polar, I've been given (and I don't remember all) Abilify, Topamax, Saphris, Seroquel, Tegretol dosage was upped. I'm also on up to 100mg Trazadone prn for sleep. I try to stay away from weight gainers, any that increase blood sugar, or that aren't recommended for high cholersterol, or blood pressure (family history and I'm a smoker, for now) That's a difficult feat...
I didn't feel much of a depression until the peripheral neuropathy stopped me from doing almost everything. Once on Gabapentin 3000mg/day, I had a "nervous breakdown" from the unbearable pain, my loss of cognitive functioning, severe insomnia and other situational factors. Since then, depression has been a part of my life. I was still on Prozac to no avail. With time, a switch to Lyrica, and Cymbalta, I felt pretty good for over a year.
Lately, I've been feeling anxious, overwhelmed, extremely fatigued on many days, sad, and really unmotivated. I do have great days, but there's always that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can fight and force myself to get in a workout, take a shower, get up and get dressed, and go out - anywhere, and it does help. I need caffeine to get me moving (and I'm cutting down) and that's probably part of my problem. 3-4 cups in the am.. If I don't drink it, I'm on the couch all day.
My current meds:
Klonopin 6mg (down from 8)
Cymbalta 60mg
Lyrica 100mg (lately needing 200 occasionally)
Trazadone 50-100mg prn
Tegretol - supposed to be on 400mg/day split am & pm, but as it makes me tired; I keep to 100 at night if needed for nueropathic painI told my new pdoc that everything is fine, as I don't feel like playing around w/ mood stabilizers anymore, and I don't want Klonopin adjusted in any way (I don't feel fatigued in any way on this anymore, but it does keep the panic attacks at bay)
Phew... think that's it. Sorry for the long post - I hope I was clear enough.
Thanks!
Laura
poster:laurah952
thread:1046425
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130706/msgs/1046605.html