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My Dr has prescribed DULOXETINE 20mg for nerve damage has anyone bad reports about these capsules?

Posted , 9 users are following.

florence
florence

These tablets were given to me by my Neurologist, I was on Gabapentin but these tablets made me out of breath. I already have a serious heart condition,I would like to know more about these tablets can anyone help?

0 likes, 16 replies

16 Replies

  • Arran103
    Arran103 florence

    Posted

    Bit late in replying to you Florence but  just took 60mg Duloxetine for pain and had very bad reaction - sickness and diaorrhea for twelve hours solid.   Had to call doc out to give me injection.   Won't be taking them again.
  • Arran103
    Arran103 florence

    Posted

    Sorry Forence.  took 60mg Dulocetine for pain and also ad very bad reaction - sickness and diaorrhea for twelve hours.   Had to get doc out to give injection.   Will not be taking them again,
  • Marie4021
    Marie4021 florence

    Posted

    I have recently come off Duloxetine after taking it or a couple of years. I was given it for nerve pain associated with fibromyalgia. It was quite effective for the nerve pain in my hands, feet and limbs but I found it dulled everything else. Now, after being off the drug for a couple of weeks, I feel more alert although the nerve pains have started to come back. GP's have prescribed various drugs for me over the years including Gabapentin, which I had a very bad reaction to. 

     

    • Arran103
      Arran103 Marie4021

      Posted

      Hi Marie

      Inerested that you took Duloxetine for a few years without side effects .  What strength did ou start off with?  I started at 60mg which I felt was a bit too strong as they do them in 20mg.  Can't take Gapapentin and am on a concoction of drugs including morphine.   My experience with 60mg Duloxetine was horrendous - sickness and diaorhea and had to get doc out to give injection.   If i thought this drug would help my pain I would try again but at a lower strength.   Do you have any views on this?  I have cervical spondylosis which gives me pain 24/7 and have tried every drug available to no avail.  Pain is horrendous and I have little or no life.   I am willing to try anything.   Looking forward to your reply.   By the way my daughter has fybromyalgia and has tried same drugs as me.   She is going in for spinal nerve implant.   If this works for her I will consider asking if they can do ame for me for my neck. 

      Regards

      Arran103

    • meggies
      meggies Arran103

      Posted

      Hi Arran,

      I have taken 120mg daily of duloxetine without any side effects at all. Since starting pregabilin, I have dropped to 60mg.  I also take pramipexole and I can't say I've had side effects from any of these drugs.  I can't say my pain is managed well though!

      Meggies

    • Arran103
      Arran103 meggies

      Posted

      Hi Meggies

      Looks like I am just unfortunate and duloxetine does not agree with me.  I am like that with a lot of meds.   Cannot take gabaentin, pregabilin, penicilin or any other antibiotic except two.  They took me into hospital for a week and tried every drug they could think of and morphine appears to be the only one my body can tolerate without too many side effects so I am sticking with it for the time being.   I have just been trying Bowens treatment which is a bt like acapuncture but without needles and it is very gentle.   First session left me feeling really bad and very sore but a few days later I had a few days where I was able to do without my oramorph at all.   Just had second session.   Not so sore this time but feel really spaced out and very tired.   It is supposed to relax your body and help the pain.   Will have one more session next week and then give it  rest for a few weeks..   Hoping it will at least give me a few days pain relief a week.   It gets very good reports even from NHS..   Never heard of pramipexole.   Is it for nerve pain or anti-depressant or something else.   Maybe you could let me know.   My doctor is very good at letting me try new medications although it seems I usually have a bad reaction to them.   Anyway I will try anything if I think it will help my pain and quality of life. by the way Meggies what is your condition if you don't mind me asking.   Always good to know if anyone has same as me - spondylosis and degenerate disc disease - both inoperable and will get worse as time goes by.   Gives me horredous nerve pain which makes me vomit and I often have to either go into hospital to have my meds intraveneously or call in a doc to give me injections.   I am coping better now after 18 months as I am developing my own way of coping with the pain and doc now gives me morphine suppositories which I can use when I am vomitting and pills to put under my gum to stop vomitting so I don't always have to call doc out now.  I know if I can cope for five days or so the pain will subside a good bit but it is hard to get through these five days when I am literally screaming in pain.   Moan over!!!!  today is not too bad a day.   Pottered bout doing little bits and pieces of housework.   Still in dress-gown but will get shower when partner comes in from playing golf.   Always feel better when someone is here when I shower or bath.   Sounds as though your pain is not managed either.   Its very hard at times but at least on here we can have a bit of a moan and share new meds and what helps us to cope.  Take care and reply if you can.

      Arran

      xx

    • meggies
      meggies Arran103

      Posted

      Hi Arran,

      I have an auto-immune disease, polymyalgia rheumatica for which I have to take a shed load of drugs to keep me mobile & to protect my eye sight -  steroids for 3 years, Methotrexate, PPI's and osteoporosis drugs as steroids have caused osteoporosis.

      I've had tingly feet for years, a nuisance that's all. Since I started Methotrexate, I  started twitches, jerks everywhere & searing spasm/pains in my legs.  I am reducing the Methotrexate just in case it's that, but very unlikely. My nerve conduction, EMG, MRI are all normal.  I take duloxetine 60mg, pregabilin 200mg and 4 pramipexole tablets in the evening. My 'jerks' are pretty much managed, but the nerve pains aren't. sad

      Meggies

    • Arran103
      Arran103 meggies

      Posted

      Hi Meggies

      Thanks for replying.  Looks like our condition are totally different alhough we both take loads of meds which in effect do not work.  For me it's the nerve pain.   Just had a really bad one and still recovering..   I feel for you but most of the meds you have taken I have alreay tried and they don;t work.   Keep posting on here.It's good to get it out to people who undertand your pain.   I can;t offer you any suggestions but I do identify with you.   It's a horrendous way to live but we have no option and have to do the best we can.   Take care and keep in touch.

      Arran

      xx

    • meggies
      meggies Arran103

      Posted

      Hi Arran,

      I've just had my pregabilin increased from 200mg to 300mg & had the best night's sleep I've had for years!! I was afraid to take the 150mg & stuck with the 100mg this morning as I had an appointment for 12 & had to drive there.  To date, my GP has been 'managing' the neuropathic problems but I've just been referred to a neurologist, so fingers crossed he/she might come up with something. Neuroapthic pain is often idiopathi/cause unkown & difficult to treat, so I'm not holding my breath for a magic solution.

      I have a lot of pain anyway from the polymyalgia & bursitis, plus I have osteoathritis & the osteoporosis pain, but the shooting  pains in my legs beats the lot. Childbirth & pleurisy a doddle in comparison!!   sad

      I do get a bit brassed off with the whole package. PMR, the autoimmune disease I have, normally affects much older people than me. The average age for diagnois is 74 & I was finally diagnosed at 58. I don't mean to be disrepectful to older people, but I had different expectations of what I should be able to do in my 50's than what most 70 & 80 year olds are able to do. 3 years later & I'm still on steroids & don't even go there about their side effects!!!mad

      Life goes on in some shape or form.

      meggies x

  • brenda59210
    brenda59210 florence

    Posted

    Hello florence,

    I was just looking back through old messages to see what was said  about Duloxetine which I have now stopped taking. It seemed to be helping to some extent but was making me sick and I had to stop it.

    While I was taking it I had to call the out of hours helpline more than once due to effects on the heart rhythm which has not happened since I stopped it. Some people seem to be able to take a certain medicine and others cannot. I also had the breathlessness but it seems to have gone now. I think you need to keep your doctor well informed if you decide to go on with it.Obviously I can't know for certain that it was the duloxetine but I certainly had some new problems about the time I was taking it.

  • meggies
    meggies florence

    Posted

    Hello Brenda,

    I have taken both 60mg & 120mg Duloxetine without any apparent side effects. It did not help at all with my peripheral neuropathy though. The dose is normally 30 - 60mg daily for nerve pain problems & there's no evidence that over 60 mg helps, but in desparation we tried anyway.

    There was an article in the British Medical Journal a few months ago comparing the diffferent drugs prescribed for diabetic neuropathy & duloxetine was shown to be most effective & had less side effects than other drugs used. Still doesn't mean everyone can take it though. With this type of drug, like most anti-depressants. the side effects are worse in the first month or two and they often 'wear off'. If side effects are not too bad it can be worth sticking with it for a while But of course, not if you have an experience like yours.  I've recently had an awful response to an osteoporosis drug & I won't be taking that again.

    I now take 60mg duloxetine, 600mg pregabilin & 4 pramipexole & that combination helps.

    Meggies

     

  • John_Five_Eagle
    John_Five_Eagle florence

    Posted

    Hi Florence. I am a left bgelow knee amputee who unfortunately develop[ed severe chronic pain of many types: nociceptive, neuropathic and phantom limb. The onl;y drugs that seemed to dampen it was narcotics and medical marijuana. I returned to university last year to complete my thesis and found that the medications were slowing me down and making it hard to get motivated to a mjoderate degree. The bal;ance paid off in terms of pain management: when I am pain- free I do more whether I feel a sedation from the drugs or not; if not you don't ever get anything done. I finally saw a specialist who recommended duloxetine at 60mg. I find this dose makes me deprssed, anxious and de-motivated. It really helps with the neuropathic and the phantom limb pain but I have more side effects with this stuff than I care to have. Did you or anyone out there find this too and what were your solutions to deal with it?- J.

  • jennie72593
    jennie72593 florence

    Posted

    Good Morning Flo, not sure what you may b focusing on with this product. I have several health issue. I started with this product non release for all my naro pain and Osteoarthritis. That as effect more and more joints in the pass Year. The downside to this med is Weight gain, stomach cramps, And taking it at night it keeps me. During the day I can't keep my eye open. I hope this helps . If any other questions. I have great knowledge because of dealing with issues for 20 years.

  • KGN
    KGN florence

    Posted

    I too have neuropathy and not associated with diabetes but with a back surgery I had 4 years ago. Believe it or not Duloxetine actually works better than Gabapentin and other Mon convulsive meds.
    • Shelly123456789
      Shelly123456789 KGN

      Posted

      Hi KGN, I was wondering at what point will the medicine start taking the pain away. I am on day 2 using a low dose of 20 mg. This is due to the fact that I am uber sensitive to most drugs and usually experience harsh side effects. So the doc wanted to start me on a low dose. Night one I had nausea all night, did not sleep, was dizzy and had mild vertigo in the morning along with Diarrhea. I am on night 2 now and took my pill 4 hours ago. So far the pain is the same as before, harsh....however I DID NOtice something interesting, I ended up with extreem energy today. I have been super lathargic for the last 5 years. Did the pill give YOU Engergy too, or anybody else get energy? This ofcourse COULD Be a fluke, a one time thing...lol...but I HOPE It is not....I get out of breath usually walking my mandatory 150 steps a day. But today was different. I still had the pain, but I had MORE Energy than I have had in years. Anyway, my MAIN Question is I am wondering at what point willl the pain start to go away. Does this drug need to get into the system to work? how long will that take? Thanks so much. My issue physically is that in 2012, 5 1/2 years ago I was in an accident that left me paralyzed in my left leg. The mayo clinic in MN Said that my nerves are literally shredded. My state, of ND, took most of its clients off of narcotics due to ppl dying. So They took me off 3 months ago. Its been a pain nightmare for me. So far no pills other than narcotics have helped. So I am trying this pill our, the Duloxetine and I hope it helps!! I have tried so many of the other ones to NO Avail due to I can not tolerate the side effects. I HOPE The nausea and diarrhea will get better with this too!!
    • meggies
      meggies Shelly123456789

      Posted

      Hi Shelley,

      ?I'm afraid my answer is going to be of little help to you. I take 120mg of duloxetine for small fibre neuropathy and other neuropathic problems, plus for anxiety. The usual dose for neuropathic issues is 60mg daily and there is little evidence that it is beneficial in higher doses. I also take pregabilin and pramipexole. Other than weight gain which is probably due to a combination of steroids and pregabilin, I have no side effects from the 3 drugs above. A lie, pramipexlole causes vivid dreams and compulsive behaviour which you need to keep in check. Duloxetine is more likely to cause weight loss than gain and only recently having had the dose increased, I live in hope..

      ?How long does duloxetine take to 'kick in'? I was told it would be several weeks rather than days. It is not a pain killer in the conventional sense. I have heard of people being nauseous with duloxetine, but it does seem pretty unlikely on such a miniscule dose. Could it be something else that has upset your tummy? 

      ?So not a very helpful answer!

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