Does Cymbalta Cause Weight Gain?

[Guest]

I have fibro and have been on Wellbutrin for years to help with pain. It is not working as well as it used to, and I also wonder if it has started contributing to my insomnia. I'm considering asking my doctor to let me try Cymbalta.

For those of you who are on Cymbalta, did you notice any weight gain? I did a search and read the posts on this forum. It seems to give some people blurred vision, but other than that, I haven't seen any bad side effects.

Thanks!

[Guest]

I also wanted to ask if Cymbalta has an effect on the libido.

Thanks

[Guest]

I also have FM and am taking Cymbalta. After seeing many doctors, I went to an internal medicine doctor and was diagnosed with FM. That same day is when I explained how I felt very low and how I could not even see the beauty in a flower anymore. So, he gave me Cymbalta(started at 30mg, then 60mg, then 90mg-it definitely helped with the depression and I did not experience weight gain (but everyone is different). At 90mg I did have the blurred; vision, put up with it for awhile, then dropped back down to 60mg. The blurred vision isn't as bad anymore. You mentioned INSOMNIA, what are you taking for it? Just curious.

[Guest]

Yes, I've had godawful insomnia since November last year. Even after getting my hormones adjusted (I was not absorbing my expensive bioidentical hormones [arghh!]), the problem has persisted.

I had taken Klonopin for years to help with sleep and found out on the insomnia board that BZDs suppress deep-stage sleep. So I weaned off that and started taking herbs, which helped very little.

My insomnia is much better than it was although I have a ways to go. One thing that helps is listening to CD that was developed specifically for helping fibro and chronic fatigue patients sleep.

I also use the GoLite from Apollo. I think it's a great product for circadian disorders, but it's a little tricky. The timing has to be just right, and sometimes the customer service people tell you different times from what the online assessment test does.

I've also started using an Alpha-Stim SCS. I have not yet gotten results, but am hopeful. The SCS is used for anxiety, insomnia, and depression. If you have fibro, it takes a lot longer to see full results, sometimes as much as a month. I've used it about 5 days.

I had taken Lunesta, which helped at first, but now helps almost none. I've found this experience is common from reading the Insomnia forum.

I have Xyrem, which I will take as a last resort. I got it a year ago and only took it once because I felt so godawful the next day with nausea, dizziness, and the general feeling of having been run over by a truck. I know you have to find the right dose and give it some time. It might be that if I had upped the dose, as my doctor suggested, it would have gotten better, but I decided to leave it alone for the moment, which turned into a year.

I hope I can find a non-RX final solution. I sometimes need help with fibro pain and Vicodin and Darvocette make me really nauseated. I can't take anti-inflammatories either.

That was a long-winded answer to a simple question. Thanks for responding about the Cymbalta. I'm willing to try it if it's not a libido dampener.

[Guest]

[Lu]

I haven't gained any weight on Cymbalta after 4 1/2 months. It's much better for sparing libido than the SSRIs. I had good libido on 30 mg, a little loss at 60 mg.

Louise

[Annette]

I have been takeing Cybalt for over a year now and have very little wieght gain. Libo has not even been effected, yet i still am suffering with pain and sleepless nights. Fibromyalgia has effect my sleep and I suffer daily, many times with anxiety. The depression seems to still rule all parts of my daily life. I was woundering if any of you could give the suffer and ideas?

[Guest]

I have been taking Cybalta for a year now. I started out on 30mg, it helped depression and anxiety, but I was still a little cloudy in my thinking. I 'm taking it for depression and anxiety, and had gotten to the point that I couldn't complete a sentence because I couldn't remember any words. Any way, after about 6 months on the 30mg, I was bumped up to 60 mg. I was such an improvement in my life. I am clear headed and alert, and I can even sleep most of the time. However, in the last 3to 4 months, I have gained 20 pounds. It is a carb thing. I noticed after I went to the 60 mg. I remember telling my doctor that I had a sudden intense craving for sweets. This is not good, because I am a personal trainer. So I work out everyday, and I have put on 20 pounds. My doc thinks I should take this for 4 more years, but that is not going to happen. If I don't take a pill, I go through total withdrawl about 12 hours later. I am dizzy, then nausious, then headache. It wont end until about 5 hours after I take the next pill. So I'd say it works, but it has it's price.

[Guest]

I don't have FM but I have been on 60mg of cymbalta for a while and have not experienced any weight gain or blurred vision. It is suppose to be one of the few antidepressants that actually can cause loss of appetite (I haven't experienced that though!) I think it is like anything else with depression, if the medicine isnt working and you are really depressed the more likely you are to eat and gain weight. I DO NOT believe Cymbalta can cause weight gain on it's own.

[Lu]

I did not notice any benefit for fibro with Cymbalta. It seems to work as well as the other SSRIs for depression, without as much of the sexual side effects.

For libido problems, I also take a small (woman-sized) dose of testosterone, as mine measured low. I also take 60 mg of Gingko Biloba to help with slight orgasm difficulty (at 60 mg of Cymbalta, which I did not have a 30 mg).

Hope this helps!
Louise

[kat0852]

I have been on Cymbalta for awhile now about a year. I have gained alot of weight and have had trouble taking it off. I am always hungry- maybe that's the problem ...duh. I don't think it has curbed my appetite. My mother says I should go on Atkins - I just can't eat meat all day. My sister says Jenny Craig. I don't know - every day there is a new diet.
Anyway, when I missed a few days of the Cymbalta - I got terribly dizzy. My head hurt severely and I don't get headaches too often and I will cry uncontrollably. I would like to get off of it because it is very expensive even on insurance. I also get agitated and angry very easily and impatient over little things which I did not do previously. I am on 60mg. and always have been on that dose. The doc says I need to be on it for depression + back pain - it doesn't help with that either. He also says to go on 30mg for about a week to get off of it. I really don't know if I should stay on it or not. I tried Zoloft years ago and that gave me eye twitches and very strange intestinal problems. The minute I went off of that the symptoms went away, but, I did not go off of it gradually and had about a week of pure torture/hell. My brain felt like jello and when I turned my head it felt like it took about 15 seconds for my brain to be going in the same direction. If that makes any sense. Tried Lexapro- no help. Tried Zyban to quit smoking which I guess is Wellbutrin, but, after 3 days I felt like I had drank about 5 pitchers of coffee and it felt like my hair was getting electric shocks. Anyway, I wonder if anyone has any ideas. thanks.

[Greta]

I have been on cymbalta 60mg. for approximately 3 months. Initially, I experienced a loss of appetite, but that only lasted about 2 weeks. Since then, I have put on 6 lbs and I am not happy. Lexapro did the same thing to me. My doctor said it wasn't so much about appetite but changes in metabolism. I also have sexual dysfunction (inability to climax). So, apparently the research doesn't apply to everyone.

[Dani]

It is great to hear other people talking about the same everyday experiences I am having. These problems make you feel very isolated and then some of the doctors talk to you like your a hypochondriac when you go into multiple diagnosis'. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, anxiety/depression after that, back pain and last Fibromyalgia bout 5yrs ago. I can trace all of these to being tense,wound up, restless and what ever else we like to refer to these symptoms as. I have been placed on every rx out here and some work for this, some for that some for a short period and others for longer. I have been on Cymbalta now for about 3months and I noticed it's harder to get all the way now. Between the pain med(oxycodone-which has been the greatest blessing for the pain and discomfort) and the sleep med(trazadone) and the Cymbalta (30mg), I'm screwed. Thank god my husband is the sweetest, most patient guy. Before all of this, my sex drive was through the roof. It's like I am a different person now. The only thing that seems to help is planning ahead. I know it's not the hottest plan but it works for us. I wait until a day off, I take no meds at all that morning and then we try. It has help about 50%. The up side is I feel so shi##y most of the time that I'm just happy to be making it and that is now just bonus points. Oh yea, regarding the weight gain....I can't tell the difference because I always have eaten like a horse. I also have less activity going on because of the pain so I'm sure that's not helping the situation. On the overall scheme of life it could be so much worse. I'm thankful I can walk,talk,see,hear,lift my arms to hug my family,ect. I wish everyone the best. Hang in there and keep supporting eachother.

[guest]

I'm here researching Cymbalta because I've been very depressed for 5 months... I had no idea this medication was used for Fibromyalgia which I suffer from for years now, until I started reading through these posts. My concern with this medication is weight gain, though I see many have had different contrasting experiences. I guess the only way to find out is to talk to my doctor for a prescription and try it. By the way, for Fibromyalgia, I take Tramodol and use Fentanyl patches. For my insomnia I take a mg of Lorazepam and all these work fairly well. I still have my bad days and it takes hours to get going in the morning but I'm functioning at least, unlike being debilitated like I used to be... I also go to physical therapy twice per week. Hope this helps!

[Guest]

I have taken 30mg of Cymbalta for about 5 months now and I love it. I even lost 12lbs so far. When I was depressed I ate, but now I feel so great that I don't have a huge apetite. The first two weeks that I was taking it were a little rough. I would get nauseous but nothing really bad. I also have pretty vivid dreams that last all night. I'm not sure what that's all about.