Cymbalta Shows Long-Term Safety & Effectiveness for Fibromyalgia
Thursday February 5, 2009
NEWSBRIEF: Data presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine 25th Annual Meeting show that Cymbalta (duloxetine) maintains safety and effectiveness as a fibromyalgia treatment for at least 1 year. That was according to 2 double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.
Patients in both studies reported significant improvement in multiple fibromyalgia symptoms. The most common side effects were nausea, dry mouth, and increased heart rate.
Another study presented at the meeting showed that Cymbalta worked equally well against fibromyalgia pain in patients both with and without depression. This study was paid for by the drug manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Company.
Related Content: Drugs for Fibromyalgia
Comments
I have been taking Cymbalta for 4.5 years with good results. Cymbalta can cause liver damage and some people have died. Because of this, I want to go off it and try something else. Don’t believe studies by drug companies on their own drugs. They have a huge investment in the outcome!
Am reading a book right now about how drug companies manipulate study results.
We need independent sources to conduct these studies.
Toyed with doing hypnosis, because of the cost, but bit the bullet and had my first session 4 days ago. I cannot be more excited about the results! The pain is 9/10 gone, as well as the fatigue. The depression that was once part of me is also gone. I’ll be able to go off Cymbalta–gradually. My concern is pacing myself because I feel so good. I just don’t want to crash. With Cymbalta being $150 a month, my hypnosis will pay for itself in less than 2 months. I found my practitioner by referral, and talked to her for 30 minutes before I made my first appointment. God bless!
Cymbalta is not my miracle: I never had reactions to an antidepressant like cymbalta. I started out takig 30 mg to help with FM/CFS symptoms and depression. I felt better (no pain and improved depression) within a few days. Two weeks later I went up to 60 mg. I then noticed I was starting to sweat profusely all the time. One week after starting the 60 mg I thought I got the stomach flu. I was throwing up, had the chills, but strangely no high fever. Well, it is 10 days later and I still have this “flu”. I have whole-body tremors (even my head shakes). I am dripping with sweat all the time (worse than any kind of postpardum sweating). All the pain is back and even more!! I feel awful!! Oh,I probably have dry mouth, but who really cares about that minor reaction compared to the disabling rxns I am having!! This drug seemed great at first, but then turned completely awful!
Cymbalta is not my miracle: I never had reactions to an antidepressant like cymbalta. I started out takig 30 mg to help with FM/CFS symptoms and depression. I felt better (no pain and improved depression) within a few days. Two weeks later I went up to 60 mg. I then noticed I was starting to sweat profusely all the time. One week after starting the 60 mg I thought I got the stomach flu. I was throwing up, had the chills, but strangely no high fever. Well, it is 10 days later and I still have this “flu”. I have whole-body tremors (even my head shakes) and lots of muscle twitches (mainly in my arms). I am dripping with sweat all the time (worse than any kind of postpardum sweating). All the pain is back and even more!! I feel awful!! Oh,I probably have dry mouth, but who really cares about that minor reaction compared to the disabling rxns I am having!! This drug seemed great at first, but then turned completely awful!
I’m sorry to hear about your experience with Cymbalta! Have you talked to your doctor about cutting back, or weaning off of it? You need to taper off slowly or you can have even worse problems.
I hope you’re feeling better soon!
Adrienne, thank you for your good thoughts and advice! I will see my Dr. in a day and am starting to wean the cymbalta. Thank you for letting me know that you need to taper off this medication, I know that is important. In a way, I am glad to know it is the drug and NOT the CFS worsening.
Aside from how I am feeling physically, I am very disappointed that it did not work for me.
Thank you for your newsletters and all of the information you provide!!
I’ll keep this updated.
I just wanted to say that I was put on Cymbalta for my nerve pain with Fibromyalgia, as well as from my 3 neck fusion surgeries…However, after the first year, it started to actually make me feel depressed and “in a fog” constantly…
I finally begged my new Dr. to help me come off this medicine, to see if it was better off then on…
It was a horrific 3 months!!! The “electrical zaps”..don’t know how else to describe it..not painful but extremely uncomfortable…terrible nausea, headaches, dizziness…I was a wreck for 3 months…
I now feel better then I have in years…even though I am still being treated for pain management because of my surgeries..and take other medicine…I feel like my old self again emotionally…
I had no clue how flatlined I was until I was off the medicine..
I know it can be a wonderful medicine for lots of people…but truly don’t think the Dr.s tell you enough about what it can be like when you come off it…
Blessings,
Ingrid
So far I’ve been very happy with Cymbalta. It has helped my depression, reduced my use of pain meds way down (0 to 2 a day) and has helped a little in the the fatigue department. Yes, I do suffer from the sweating and some nausea but the nausea is part of of my migraine symptoms. I’d tried Lyrica but had side effects that I couldn’t live with. All in all Cymbalta gave me a large part of my life back for which I am very grateful. LuAnn
I have been on Cymbalta for close to a month and i have had great results.It has reduced my fibro pain greatly. Its amazing to me to wake up in the morning and be able to get out of bed almost pain free. I had about a week of side effects at first but they past. My only concern is long term use. Would love to hear more from long time users.
Well I Love it it help me loose weight lost 16 pounds in 2 months. My knee pain is so much better. It has also helped with depression I din’t go in for depression but, I found out that it has helped me cope with my kids and husband I would not get off of it for nothing.I do sweat only my legs for some reason other than that I love it.
I ahve been on Cymbalta for over 3 years with amazinbg benefits: less anxiety and phobia and I sleep very well for the first time in my life. However my short term memory is almost non-existant and I constantly feel “fuzzy” and unable to concentrate. Could this be caused by the meds? And is there any validity to the theiry that taking these kinds of medications can cause early onset dememtia? I am 43 and too young for this type of mental impairment. Any comments?
Nelia,
It’s hard to say whether your poor memory and fuzzy brain are due to the Cymbalta are to your condition. The only way to check would be to wean off of the drug and see whether the problems stayed the same, but that could be a very unpleasant process. (Always talk to your doctor about the best way to go off of this drug if you choose to do so!)
I haven’t seen any research suggesting antidepressants cause early-onset dementia. However, many of us with fibromyalgia have serious cognitive dysfunction similar to what you describe.