Cymbalta - Feeling more energetic and motivated

[wonderoushope]

Hi all,

I was just having such a hard time being motivated for a long while and had ADD type symptoms, where I was jumping from one thing to another and not concentrating (I always have this tendency even before I was sick), but got worse over the years since sick.

Overall I have been on the improvement this last year (going into a more remission state), but I sort of lacked any motivation, and concentration and would get bouts of fatigued/punched in the face feeling. Probably because I can't sleep. I just thought maybe it could be also undiagnosed with chronic fatigue/fibro symptoms going into a more low-grade type, so I went to the psychiatrist and was put on Dex (it was hard to know if it was CFS coursing it or past ADD issues) which was horrible for me, terrible anxiety and then I would crash after a few days on it and give me migraines. I thought it was worth a shot though, because me being unmotivated doesn't help much, so at that point I was like desperate to give things a try and I when I was younger I had thought I had ADD and I ticked a lot of the question boxes (again could be CFS or depression acting lsymptoms symtoms).

Anyway, I after that experience I wondered if maybe I was a little depressed or anxiety was making me lack motivation and concentration, so I was put on Cymbalta. I read it can help with fibro/CFS symptoms too. Anyway, I have to say I have been on about two weeks 30mg and I think I have noticed an improvement. I noticed I have more energy and being able to spend the whole day organising a house without getting too tired and subsequent days I don't crash. Usually, when I do some housework I need to sit after 10-15 min and rest but this hasn't been the case.

I am not really sure what I have. I know I have had more chronic fatigue/fibro issues in the past. Pain in fibro points, sleep issues, food intolerances (which is improving too), fatigue, heightened anxiety, aches and pains, concentration, PEM etc but I wonder if now what was left over from the aftermath it all was low-grade depression.

I also now work 2 days a week (last 4 months) and it's a pretty busy/stressful job and needs lots of concentration and I don't do too badly energy wise. I was a bit scared to take it on, wondering if I would crash, but it's been four months now and doing okay. Retaining information is still hard and I do get a big brain foggy by the end of the day, but I also have terrible anxiety which makes it hard to concentrate. But yeah overall getting better and noticed Cymbalta just seems to help give me back a bit more motivation and energy. I noticed I went one day off it, and I got lots of aches and pains in my body. Wish I could get my sleep under control, Cymbalta does nothing for that.

Have any of you tried Cymbalta and found it effective? I know it's not for everybody, but I just thought it was worth a try for me, as I could function better than most but the lack of motivation was just making my life pretty pointless. Because I have more energy at the moment compared to most people with CFS symptoms, my lack of motivation in some ways made it just as hard because with a little bit more energy than most, I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting motivated and you look normal to others, so others can't understand the problem either.

 

[Gondwanaland]

Have you read about the dietary approch to FMS? Files enclosed and discussion about it here.

 

[wonderoushope]

Have you read about the dietary approch to FMS? Files enclosed and discussion about it here.

Thanks! I had a quick look. It’s seems not too dissimilar to what I eat now.

I did a strict elimination diet (RPHA) with a trained dietician specializing in chronic fatigue. I react to a lot of FODMAPs, histamines, natural glutamates, additives.

I definitely think diet has helped immensely with my pain, health and getting gut back into a better place. But didn’t seem to help my mood, motivation or sleep. In fact the strict diet seemed to trigger my insomnia.

Anyway, I will look into the diet. Thanks!

 

[StarChild56]

I was put on Cymbalta before I had CFS by a pain clinic doctor for FM, since I'd had an allergic reaction to Gabapentin and therefore the first line med, Lyrica was not appropriate. It did not help me in any way that I noticed and I developed a side effect where it made it difficult to urinate after a while. I am glad it is helping you. The pain doctor explained that he was prescribing it not to help with serotonin, but to calm my brain that was interpreting things as pain that should not be pain.

I wanted to mention that I was not warned by the pain doctor that I should never stop this med abruptly. I ended up having a snafoo with my insurance and not being able to get a refill. I was without the med for about 3 or 4 days and I had horrific withdrawal side effects - I basically could not stop crying, non stop, all day for those days. I did not and do not have depression, anxiety or any mental health issues. But it was horrific. When I did stop the medication for good much later, I tapered off slowly. So just a heads up if you ever consider discontinuing this medication it can affect some people in a significant way.

Much later my Primary Care doc put me on Lyrica (no rash with Gabapentin so the risks vs benefits were okay) to help with my increased numbness and tingling from radiculopathy and it actually did help some, for a while. I later went off of it when it didn't seem to be doing much and was costing me $120 a month in copays.

Best wishes

 

[hmnr asg]

right now im considering either taking Cymbalta or Luvox. I have trigeminal neuralgia (nerve pain in the face, fun!) and OCD and my doctor thinks cymbalta would address both. And "some" people say it might help a bit with CFS.
On the other hand Luvox seems more efficacious for OCD and has a much more favorable side effect profile and lacks cymbalta's horrifying discontinuation problems.
So i need to decide now and your story nudges me 0.00001% towards cymbalta but i guess at the end of the day its an individual response thing.
H

 

[StarChild56]

but i guess at the end of the day its an individual response thing.

Isn't that the truth?

 

[hmnr asg]

Isn't that the truth?

i mean in a "Bayesian" sense the priors do matter.
There are way more horror stories online about cymbalta than on more classic SSRIs like zoloft or luvox.
So while it's true that one might get on cymbalta and have a great response (or have a bad response to zoloft), it's more likely on "average" to get a better response on an SSRI (if you believe online forums etc., are unbiased samples).

 

[wonderoushope]

Just an update: still doing good. I have been nearly 7.5 months in my job and my energy and health issues have decreased immensely. I can eat a lot of foods now without issue. I realise I could crash again though.

I also wonder perhaps if I had situational depression on top of it. I am a bit unsure if Cymbalta is the main help, because at around the same time my close friend moved in, and I suspect that has helped immensely as I have had company, help around the house and we can chat about things that help reduce stress anxiety. It also could be a combination of Cymbalta and having a housemate.

Pain and aches have reduced significantly, fatigue has very much reduced, food intolerances are so, so much better, I recover more quickly from a food issue, the stool is better, concentration is better and I can manage stress and anxiety a lot better. I just can't seem to get sleep under control though.

 

[StarChild56]

Glad to hear that so much has improved and best wishes for continued improvements.

 

[wonderoushope]

Sigh, I crashed again....but I am seeing a pattern and I kind of asked for it. I wasn't really surprised.

I took Seroquel because GP said it might (or might not help) with insomnia. It didn't help, just made things much worse. I crashed only after a small dose. I also noticed after that, then my back started to play up and be sore and other parts of my body. I now correlate the aching pain with being overly tired and exhausted. On days that my energy is back up the pain goes away. I noticed for example very low energy in the morning = sore back and other aches and pains in fingers and calves, but by the afternoon when energy increases pain goes away. Would that to do with sleep and inflammation dying down when I have more energy.

I also see the correlation with diet. I've been a bit more lax and adding more preservatives and gluten and noticed increased lethargy. So I have been going back to eating more low - gi lentils and vegetables during the day, and a few days later and my energy is much better again.

Obviously, medications such as antipsychotic just are too much stress on the body for someone like me.

Even though I roughly do know what works for me to help get my energy back up running, it kind of hits me that always have a false sense that I am completely cured. Then when I realise this is not reality and I am just sort of keeping my body on track with strict regimes I kind of get a bit disheartened. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand I have a lot better than most, but it's hard to know I am really not that in control of my body. My body seems to control me and I just propping it up with all these findings that work for me. But it's not a complete answer, which is kind of disheartening. Also knowing over time as I age more, health will probably decline more. I find my health depressing enough as it is, only to know it's only going to get worse as I age.

 

[StarChild56]

My body seems to control me and I just propping it up with all these findings that work for me. But it's not a complete answer, which is kind of disheartening.

I really, really, really understand this feeling. I am so sorry. It just really sucks. Gentle hugs/positive vibes/wishes for strength/better health.