![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Maxime on February 8, 2008, at 22:08:39
Hi, I started 30 mg of Cymbalta today. How long should I wait to see if I need it increased to 60mg (maybe I won't). I don't want to take a higher dosage than need.
The only side effect I have is an upset stomach. I can deal with that.
Maxime
Posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on February 8, 2008, at 23:40:02
In reply to Cymbalta dosage, posted by Maxime on February 8, 2008, at 22:08:39
Actually..I have the same questions as you do Maxime. But, I wonder about the half-life and how often to take the med? It says, for 30mg take 2x daily, and when take 60 mg, take either two times or once daily. The monograph say's it has a half-life of only 12 hours. So I am gonna stick with 2x daily. Can somebody with some expert knowledge chime in here please??? Thanx...Jay
Posted by Phillipa on February 9, 2008, at 0:21:24
In reply to Cymbalta(dose and HOW often take?Larry H,others?, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on February 8, 2008, at 23:40:02
Jay certainly not expert knowledge just having taken it and what I was told by the pdoc. Took it twice. First time 30mg for a month absolutely no side effects. Then he upped it to 60mg in the am. No side effects to that either. Took for about three months nothing for me. So I dropped to 30mg then to 0 and no withdrawal but I never do. Only thing I noticed was I then had aches and pains so know it works for the pain. Second time I took it was a few years later didn't trust this pdoc 20minutes first visit and said take 30mg one week then 60mg second week, then 90mg third week and then 120mg. I said but the manufacturer says that above 60mg doesn't make a difference. he said well I like the high dose so he scared me I couldn't tolerate 30mg and only stayed on it l0days that time. So I know psychologically there is a tie. Hope you guys do well on it. Love to both of you Phillipa
Posted by Maxime on February 9, 2008, at 6:10:05
In reply to Cymbalta(dose and HOW often take?Larry H,others?, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on February 8, 2008, at 23:40:02
Posted by rskontos on February 9, 2008, at 13:01:52
In reply to Cymbalta dosage, posted by Maxime on February 8, 2008, at 22:08:39
Hey guys, I am no expert but I took cymbalta for a year and I started at 30 which I took at night since it made me so sleepy at first so it made sense to take it when I would be sleeping anyway. I intially took the 30 in the am and then I would sleep all day. So that is why I switch and my doc agreed. I did not take it in two dosages at first becuase my doc only had 30 mg. pills. She did not give me 20 mg. to start. I started with 30 and within I think it was a month I was at 60. She always wanted me at 60 . So it was like 30 for two weeks then 60 and that was that. The upset stomach if I recall last about 2 weeks but I took her advice and took it with food. It helped and worked better if it was protein vs. cereal etc. I felt better I would say in 6 weeks. The sleepiness subsided. When I went up to 60 I took 30mg am and 30 mg. pm. Does this help.
If you are only wanting to take 30 I would give it at least 5-6 weeks to see if it helps. Cymbalta has a short half life. I don't remember the specifics. Do a search and you will find a lot of cymbalta thread. Do it on cymbalta and half life.
rsk
Posted by Racer on February 9, 2008, at 19:21:58
In reply to Cymbalta dosage, posted by Maxime on February 8, 2008, at 22:08:39
I took Cymbalta for about a year and a half, at dosages ranging from 90mg -- for a very brief while -- down to 20mg. In tapering off, I had no trouble whatsoever. (I had a very different experience tapering off Effexor, by the way.)
I found that I had to take it differently than other medications I've taken, because of the GI troubles it gave me. Normally, I sit down at the breakfast table, take my various pills, then eat my breakfast. For Cymbalta, I had to take it after having eaten something -- I would sit down, take my vitamins, eat my poached egg, then take the Cymbalta before finishing my breakfast. With Cymbalta, for me, taking it "with" my meals didn't do the trick -- I actually had to have something solid in my stomach, which was enough to settle the GI problems.
It's been a long time since I started it, but I seem to remember having been on 30mg for four to six weeks before my doctor had me raise the dose to 60mg. It had already started to help by then, but it wasn't doing enough.
Keeping always in mind that I have one set of weird reactions to medications and that those are very different from the set of weird reactions you have to medications, I had a fairly good run on Cymbalta. It wasn't the answer for me, obviously, but it was one of the friendliest medications I've ever been on for depression: virtually no side effects, once I figured out that I needed to have that egg inside me before taking it. At first I lost weight, but that's also when I started treatment with the nutritionist, so the weight gain was more likely the nutritional counseling, rather than the medication.
Based on what I remember, I'd say talk to your doctor about how soon to up the dose, and give it a good try -- if you react anything like the way I did, it may be a very good journey for you, too.
Best luck with it.
Posted by rskontos on February 9, 2008, at 21:13:22
In reply to Re: Cymbalta dosage » Maxime, posted by Racer on February 9, 2008, at 19:21:58
I went off cymbalta due to something I did not mention because it caused me to have side effect that I believe are fairly rare. Cymbalta for me was not a friendly med. But meds do interact differently with different people. While it helped the depression, the deep despair type, it ultimately left me too flat. Too numb and suicidal for the first time in my life. That is still not why I went off of it as I did not mind being flat. It sure beat the deep despair I was in. No my other side effect was the straw that broke the camel's back and that was cymbalta caused a major flare up in my gastric systemic that ultimately led to a diagnosis of collitis, a rare type. I now have it managed but the cymbalta sent me to the ER. So I had to go off of it as it would have just continued to cause it to flare up. But as the type of collitis is rare I don't think it causes this type of reaction that often. More often it causes the reverse effect. rsk
Still all in all, it did get me out of the terrible depression.
Posted by rskontos on February 9, 2008, at 21:13:27
In reply to Re: Cymbalta dosage » Maxime, posted by Racer on February 9, 2008, at 19:21:58
I went off cymbalta due to something I did not mention because it caused me to have side effect that I believe are fairly rare. Cymbalta for me was not a friendly med. But meds do interact differently with different people. While it helped the depression, the deep despair type, it ultimately left me too flat. Too numb and suicidal for the first time in my life. That is still not why I went off of it as I did not mind being flat. It sure beat the deep despair I was in. No my other side effect was the straw that broke the camel's back and that was cymbalta caused a major flare up in my gastric systemic that ultimately led to a diagnosis of collitis, a rare type. I now have it managed but the cymbalta sent me to the ER. So I had to go off of it as it would have just continued to cause it to flare up. But as the type of collitis is rare I don't think it causes this type of reaction that often. More often it causes the reverse effect. rsk
Still all in all, it did get me out of the terrible depression.
Posted by Tony P on February 14, 2008, at 0:50:40
In reply to Re: Cymbalta(dose and HOW often take?Larry H,others? » Jay_Bravest_Face, posted by Phillipa on February 9, 2008, at 0:21:24
> Jay certainly not expert knowledge just having taken it and what I was told by the pdoc. [snip] ... this pdoc 20minutes first visit and said take 30mg one week then 60mg second week, then 90mg third week and then 120mg. I said but the manufacturer says that above 60mg doesn't make a difference. he said well I like the high dose so he scared me I couldn't tolerate 30mg and only stayed on it l0days that time. So I know psychologically there is a tie.
My old pdoc had been around a long time and I was more inclined to believe his experience when he said he had had good results with a few patients on 3x the mfgrs. recommended max dose, than the limited pre-market studies that said "no improvement found above xxxx dose". That being said, while I had no trouble with high doses of Lamictal (4-600 mg/day) I couldn't tolerate even normal doses of Effexor -- or at least I wasn't willing to go through a long adjustment period of crippling anxiety in the hope it would eventually work out.
So I guess I trust my own body first, an experienced pdoc second, and the manufacturer's "max effective dose" the least.
Posted by Phillipa on February 14, 2008, at 22:25:56
In reply to Re: Cymbalta(dose and HOW often take?Larry H,others? » Phillipa, posted by Tony P on February 14, 2008, at 0:50:40
Tony definitely agree with you. Love Phillipa
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.