Cymbalta energy

I was on cymbalta 2 years ago, and started taking it again about a month ago. It makes me feel great, my social anxiety is completely gone, and I feel happier overall. It also lessens the amount of migraines I get which is huge for me. However, I’m feeling how I remember feeling 2 years ago and this is the reason I stopped taking it; fatigue. I’m exhausted all the time, sleeping way too much. I’ve been working out the last few months and since starting cymbalta I have no energy or motivation to. I’ve tried taking it in the morning, and I’ve tried taking it at night. When I take it in the morning, I’m tired during the day. When I take it at night, I can’t sleep. Might try taking it at a weird time like 5am and see what happens. Ugh

I’m on 40mg of cymbalta and most days feel sapped of energy. Even with 8 hours sleep. Is this all SSRIs/SNRIs? Or is it just down to individuals like most side effects? Thanks

Disclaimer: Not looking for specific medication names! Just experiences to guide discussion with our medication manager.
CW: First paragraph description of corrupted thoughts and self-harm
My spouse suffers from psychotic depression, which is major depression that occurs with hallucinations (hearing negative voices, seeing flashes of things that aren’t there) and delusions (belief that they’re a failure at everything, that no one actually likes them and the wouldn’t be missed if they disappeared from this world despite friends saying the exact opposite to them). These visions and thoughts only occur leading up to and during depressive episodes, and they easily lead to self harm and suicidal ideation.
Two such episodes happened in the past 7 months. Once was at the end of last September, and they were able to get out of it when an urgent care psychiatrist prescribed them Rexulti, a relatively new antipsychotic medication, and diagnosed them with bipolar type 2/schizoaffective disorder. The second episode happened in mid-April when they were off the Rexulti for a month and a half to see if their sleep improved and mood got less dulled, and the episode ended when they went back on it (and had a virtual birthday celebration with lots of support and friends).
Currently, my spouse is still on the Rexulti, as well as two antidepressants- bupropion XL (Wellbutrin) and duloxetine (Cymbalta). The dulox replaced escitalopram (Lexapro) before the mid-April episode, at the same time the Rexulti was stopped. We don’t think it’s making much of a difference, but hard to say.
Given the past success with the Rex and non-success with changing antidepressants (they gained tolerance to sertraline in the past), I’ve been wondering if when it comes to psychotic depression, treating the psychosis treats the depression at the same time. They seem to go hand in hand. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be many articles or research about this online from what I read. If that’s true, I wonder if my spouse could taper off their antidepressants without any changes to their mood, which could possibly improve their energy levels.
If anyone has experience with psychotic depression and has found some success with managing it, I’d love to hear what medication strategy has worked for you!

Hey, I’m just here learning over the last week or 2. I’ve been referred to a psychiatrist by my GP so just waiting for that and trying to figure this all out 🤷‍♀️
I’m a 45 year old female (I know, it’s late!!) I’ve had depressive episodes throughout my life, along with substance abuse and eating disorders in my younger years. I also have an autism/adhd diagnosis that I went to a private psychologist for (I believe I have adhd but not sure about the autism dx now). I stopped drinking last July after a spell of wine in the evenings and expected to feel amazing with this new sobriety…anyway, a bad depressive episode hit me shortly after, and my doctor prescribed duloxetine (cymbalta). Within a few days I felt AMAZING, it was quite the surprise after wanting to die days earlier. Anyway, didn’t think much of it..I also started taking kratom every day shortly after, and this continued for a few months. It’s not legal where I live so I had to order it from Europe, and whenever I travelled (twice I think) I went without it ok. Until April. I went to visit my family and had what I think was a hypo, I was hectic, wired, not sleeping much,impulsive , blurting stuff out, constantly shopping and had family ask me if my adhd meds weren’t working anymore🥺 I put this down to mild kratom withdrawal at the time, came home, finished what I had left and never touched it again. Shortly after, I had another week where i suddenly felt brilliant, high sex drive (to the point where my husband couldn’t keep up and I had to self-relieve several times a day-sorry tmi), was really organised, focused, social (which is very out of character), then obviously I crashed, but it wasn’t like a depression if ever experienced before..I had panic attacks for the first time, physical anxiety where I felt rushes of adrenaline course through my body with waves of dread…honestly it was unbearable! And then I went high again. For about 5 days. I had my entire future planned out! Made loads of plans, called lots of people, had loads of energy and couldn’t sleep much but woke up feeling happy?? Like the serotonin was literally coursing round my body in a way I could feel..at this point I was thinking my depression has gone, this is great. Crashed pretty hard that weekend and honestly I’m just sort of low and irritable since but not in any particular state. I made some bad and impulsive choices during these spells that has left me with alot of shame. I’m also wondering if I’m borderline since I’ve always had “emotional problems” and that just leaves me terrified that there’s no real cure… My grandfather was bipolar and my sister had a long spell in a psych ward a few years ago so it’s kinda in the family, but still…I think whatever it is is all my fault.
Thankyou for reading! Appreciate any insights or experience or if anyone relates to this please comment, I’d be grateful 😊

CW: First paragraph description of a feelings and harm that may be disturbing
My spouse suffers from psychotic depression, which is major depression that occurs with hallucinations (hearing negative voices, seeing flashes of things that aren’t there) and delusions (belief that they’re a failure at everything, that no one actually likes them and the wouldn’t be missed if they disappeared from this world despite friends saying the exact opposite to them). These visions and thoughts only occur leading up to and during depressive episodes, and they easily lead to self harm and suicidal ideation.
Two such episodes happened in the past 7 months. Once was at the end of last September, and they were able to get out of it when an urgent care psychiatrist prescribed them Rexulti, a relatively new antipsychotic medication, and diagnosed them with bipolar type 2/schizoaffective disorder. The second episode happened in mid-April when they were off the Rexulti for a month and a half to see if their sleep improved and mood got less dulled, and the episode ended when they went back on it (and had a virtual birthday celebration with lots of support and friends).
Currently, my spouse is still on the Rexulti, as well as two antidepressants- bupropion XL (Wellbutrin) and duloxetine (Cymbalta). The dulox replaced escitalopram (Lexapro) before the mid-April episode, at the same time the Rexulti was stopped. We don’t think it’s making much of a difference, but hard to say.
Given the past success with the Rex and non-success with changing antidepressants (they gained tolerance to sertraline in the past), I’ve been wondering if when it comes to psychotic depression, treating the psychosis treats the depression at the same time. They seem to go hand in hand. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be many articles or research about this online from what I read. If that’s true, I wonder if my spouse could taper off their antidepressants without any changes to their mood, which could possibly improve their energy levels.
If anyone has experience with psychotic depression and has found some success with managing it, I’d love to hear what medication strategy has worked for you!

I have adhd and migraine. It’s obviously super fun, but I truly feel like after every migraine I’m not recovering. The postdrome brain fog just hangs around & low energy. I just feel like my brain is just mush all the time.
Now I’ve been stuck in a cycle of migraines and have finally had a few good days.
I take Aimovig injection monthly preventative Cymbalta & Zonegran as daily preventative Adderall for adhd (instant release) daily (well through the week).
Ubrelvy as an abortive.
I’ve added CoQ10, B12(Riboflavin), & Magnesium Glycinate and I think they’ve helped some with the day to day?
The adderall doesn’t seem as effective for my adhd especially when I get stuck in a cycle of migraines, but it does help get the wheels turning and help immensely with the executive function and the like.
Does anyone supplement with anything else to help that feeling? Either daily or as part of a recovery? I’ve been reading a lot about omega 3, vitamin D3, and L-theanine.
I just miss feeling sharp. It feels like those moments are farther between.

I just kind of want to share my experience with antidepressants, I’ve recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and just went on a new antidepressant for it. I also just redownloaded this app and find it nice to just write down everything on my mind and read what others are saying about the same things. So I’ve struggled with depression since I was maybe 14 or 15, but didn’t go onto antidepressants until I was 17. In the same appointment that I got my first prescription for Prozac I was also diagnosed with PCOS. I kind of understood that with a hormonal disorder I was obviously going to go through mood swings and the such, but I also felt that my symptoms were more than just the PCOS. Over the next couple of years I began to go up on the Prozac, I went from 20 mg to 40 mg within about two years, then as Covid began and my college schooling went online my mental health tanked and I went up to 60 mg. I don’t remember exactly when I went up again but for a long time I was at 80 mg, and for that long time I felt like I was finally experiencing remission. By January of 2023 my depression had started to come back and I went to my Dr for some help. She kept me on the 80 mg of Prozac but added 150 mg of Wellbutrin XL to my mix. This is when I started to feel my fibromyalgia symptoms appear, so she prescribed me the Wellbutrin to help with my worsening depression and the debilitating fatigue I was dealing with. After a few months of being on the Wellbutrin/Prozac mix I started to feel a bit better, but by the fall I felt like my depression was still lingering, even after going to therapy for the entirety of the summer. She then had me go up to 300 mg of Wellbutrin. I was a little hesitant at first because I’ve read that Prozac and Wellbutrin (the standard version not the extended release that I’m on) do not mix well, but I was finally feeling better and was just dealing with other health issues that weren’t related to my mental health. Such said issues include fibromyalgia, as to which I was diagnosed early March of this year. We had a pretty long discussion about ways that I could manage my fibro and we agreed to try Effexor, something that is a lot like Cymbalta but my Dr was more concerned on the side effects of it, mostly diarrhea since I had been experiencing it nonstop and had lost a lot of weight because of it. As of today I’ve been on it for about a month, weening off my Prozac and onto the Effexor as the weeks went by. So far I’m actually feeling pretty good, I still suffer from the chronic pain, fatigue and occasional depressive episodes, but I haven’t had any extreme side effects and work feels a lot more manageable. I’m so used to medication side effects that it doesn’t bother me much anymore, but one thing that does bother me is how my brain reacts when I miss one dose of the Wellbutrin. I take it in the morning to reduce the high energy at night but sometimes my brain feels as if it’s tired and wired. On bad days I wish I didn’t have to rely on medication to live normally, but I know that if I weren’t on meds then I’d be telling a very different story.

I've tested low for B-12 (269pg/mL) and Iron (97ug/dL), but my Hg & Hematocrit are high and borderline high. I asked to be tested for Pernicious Anemia, as I'm Irish and I've heard my mom talk about my great aunt having it and how long it took for them to diagnose it back in the day.
I was started on B-12 supplements 2000mcg (I opted for sublingual since I read there's better absorption) and ferrous gluconate supplements 324mg every other day. I'm also taking 500mg vitamin C for the Iron absorption and vitamin D3 5000mcg as I'm low in this too.
I just got results for PA: negative for Intrinsic Factor Blocking Ab and Anti-Parietal Cell Ab = 16.5U (lab said <=20 was negative). However, I have tested positive for ANA IFA 1:320 titer (but negative @ 1:80) and also have a past positive ANA IFA(1:40 titer) test from a decade ago (I was not previously aware of this one until recently going through old med records).
After going through my old med records, I'm also realizing I've been deficient in vitamins D, B-12 and iron for a very long time- at least 10 years- but my prior docs only ever addressed the vitamin D deficiency by prescribing OTC supplements. Tbh I've taken those supplements on/off again and never looked too much into them as the doc didn't seem too concerned. But my symptoms have been forever: very low energy, memory issues (working and long-term), GI issues my whole life with extreme bloating and lots of chronic pain issues that have gotten so much worse the last 5 years with lots of muscle fatigue/weakness (hurts to even lift my coffee mug sometimes), edema in my extremities, burning in my skin especially on my uppelower arms, costochondritis and nerve pain/twitching stuff. This has been such an obstacle in doing any kind of regular exercise and in the last 4-5 months I've gained about 20 lbs very rapidly but haven't been eating any differently. I also have arthritis in my cervical spine, but I have 3 herniated discs, so to be expected I guess... but I don't ever test positive for inflammation/rheumatoid markers. I had mild whiplash at the age of 24 and my neck has been trash ever since so at the age of 44 they're suggesting surgery.
Sorry for the info dump but I've hit a wall on what I can do about my constant overall fatigue and muscles fatigue/weakness. It's really starting to affect so much and after considering trying for another baby (my partner, not me) makes me very worried about my ability to be healthy enough to be thinking about another kid at this point. I'm taking Adderall almost daily just to be able have motivation enough to do daily things like take my kid to school, pick up the house, errands, etc. I just don't think this level of fatigue and pain/discomfort at 44 is normal and compared to most of my peers they don't seem to be experiencing the same rate of fatigue on the daily. I've also broached the subject of Fibromyalgia with my doc and he basically gave me some SSNRIs to see if it helped (Cymbalta) but I don't want to start anti-depressants unless it's a last resort as I've had not great experiences with Paxil awhile back...
Any ideas as to which route I should pursue next or any experiences with similar test results/symptoms? Thanks everyone!

I, (25f) am 5’2, 125 lbs. first post so apologize if not doing correctly.
not relevant dx’s: ADD, 3 chronic compression fractures in t spine, and ppd after my last child was born.
Medication: lyrica, tizandine, and occasional Tylenol 3 for back, cymbalta dr.
Don’t drink or do drugs.
I apologize for how long this will be, and please let me know if any more info is needed. I do have an appointment with my cardiologist to go over results but it’s not for another week. Will link those results.
Dx’d in 2019 with palpitations, tachycardia, and leaky mitral valve. Never followed up, or got any type of monitoring because i felt “fine”. (Very dumb of me, won’t ever happen again) But over the last year or so I’ve often found my self having no energy, shortness of breath, and chest tightness, and a significant rise in high hr during inactivity notifications from my watch (at least 10-15+ daily). Which is accurate. I finally faced what i didn’t want to accept and made an appointment with my cardiologist. Echo results here
Can anyone please tell me what these results mean? Is my previous diagnosis of leaky mitral valve likely to turn into something more significant?
Thank you!

I (f40) have been on the journey of trying to find the right medication for roughly forever years. Sorry if my details are long winded.
Diagnosed severe depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, BPD but then undiagnosed but then rediagnosed but then undiagnosed with tendencies. (JFC what a mind trip that's been) and ADHD.
Started taking SSRI's at 16. Tried a few before Zoloft seemed to kinda help at 18. Quit all together during my wildin' years and was put back on Zoloft at 21 while I was pregnant with my first child.
I stayed on Zoloft for over 10 years. It didn't help my depression almost at all, but it did help level out my moods. I wasn't nearly as reactive or bitchy, and the monkey on my back seemed less aggressive and heavy. By the time I was pregnant with my 3rd child 8 years later, the Zoloft quit working all together.
They started me on Wellbutrin after my 3rd was born and holy ever living God, what a nightmare that was. It was the worst. Swiftly stopped that under advisement of psych. It was Efexor (so?) after that. My situation wasn't great outside my mental illnesses at this time, but honestly, could have been so much worse. I was in a deeeeep depression, but so numb I didn't even realize it. I was sleeping a LOT, getting thru the days like a robot, no ambition, motivation. Isolated on purpose, and all around was barely functioning. Was in therapy and seeing a psych. Did a year of group DBT. Learned a lot, and started to claw my way out of the fog on my own. But still so fucking depressed. They tried mood stabilizers on top of the SNRI at the time (I've tried like 4 different SNRIs) and it did literally nothing.
Next.... Cymbalta. What a beautiful disaster that was. Immediately, I felt better. TOO much better. I became manic. Couldn't sit down, couldn't stfu, grandiose ideas, flowing creativity, energy like id never had, extremely compulsive, hypersexual, and memory loss. I hadn't been diagnosed ADHD yet, although my whole life I thought I had it, and at this point, I definitely had it. I was/am on Medicaid, so my half wit psych and therapist I'd had for 5 years at this point ignored the warning signs of this being BAD. Every time I'd talk to my psych I'd explain this mania, but every time he'd ask if I wanted to switch to something else, I was hesitant because I'd never in my life felt this level of happiness. So they kept me strung out on it for 3 years until I finally went into complete burn out in the beginning of 2022. I finally got the gene site test, and they put me on Fetzima.
I had my 4th baby in the end of 2022 and developed severe postpartum depression and anxiety I'm still in full burnout. I'm basically agoraphobic, my memory is absolute shit. In constant survival mode. Drowning in everyday life, and zero emotional regulation. Fetzima never helped the depression at all, but that monkey stayed at bay for a minute. Until it didn't. I was put on non stimulants for ADHD. It did nothing. I tried one of my kids ritlin once before I got pregnant, and while still on Cymbalta and finally my brain quieted down, but couldn't take it during pregnancy. After I had my baby, I finally got a ritlin prescription. It did.... Nothing. I switched from stimulants to benzos, and thank God for benzos. It helps the anxiety. It's the only thing that's helped in any way.
I seem to be resistant to every medication. Not just with mental health, but every kind. For instance, cold meds... All they do is make me tired. Day or night time, they make me tired and relieve no symptoms. Opiate pain killers (I have arthritis and degenerative lumbar spine) hurt my stomach more than help my pain. I broke my leg when I was 20 ( the HEIGTH of the prescription drug crisis while all my peers were taking them by the handfuls) and chose Tylenol 3 instead because of the stomach aches. In the days before kids, some of my friends were into harder drugs. I tried oxy once. I puked it up before I got high. I tried cocaine and it gave me a burst of energy, but I was asleep a lil while later. Tried the tiniest of special k lines (fuckin ketamine), and had a coming to Jesus moment. I thought I was going to die. Didn't get any type of good feeling at all. I also have an alcohol intolerance. I basically get hung over after one drink, puke, then go to bed. I definitely have a bad reaction to vodka in particular. I've never gotten black out drunk which is obviously a great thing and a blessing my body is intolerant. I don't drink at all now. It's just not worth it. Birth control makes me a demon straight from hell. Anything that changes my hormones seem to do that. I'm clearly ultra sensitive to hormone changes, natural or not, and cannot get a hold of it. 40 has not served me well so far.
What the hell do I do?! Is there anyone else out there that's resistant to not only mental health meds but everything else too?? I feel so dang alone and so dang tired of this battle. I'm not suicidal. In fact, I never have been, which makes Drs not really take me seriously it seems. But my mental illnesses have ruined my life in every aspect. And this burnout is a special kind of hell. I'm absolutely desperate for relief.

I've been severely depressed for almost 5 years now. I've tried several meds, but aside from the first couple weeks of Cymbalta, nothing has made me feel much better.
I started Wellbutrin SR 100 about 2 weeks ago, and I felt amazing. I had energy to do stuff, stopped going into deep dark depression holes (though I still had some sadness), and it was just so refreshing.
I noticed a couple days into taking it though that I was having chest tightness, and this persistent feeling of not having enough air in my lungs. I kept taking it to see if maybe the feelings would go away, but they just kept getting worse, and I begun to feel light headed and tachycardia if I stayed still (like sitting in class) for too long. I was also getting extremely shakey to where I couldn't write notes in class.
The side effects were only getting worse, and were too much to handle, so I stopped taking the Wellbutrin a couple days ago. Very quickly I've returned to my unmotivated, perpetually exhausted, emotionally numb self. It's just so defeating to find something that actually makes you feel like your old self again, just to have to stop it because of the side effects.

I started cymbalta at the end of January, and the first month felt alright, by the end of the second month I was experiencing constant headaches, and felt anxious again, especially in the morning and on top of that I kept waking up in the middle of my sleep struggling to fall back. I talked with Dr. and we lowered dose and that didn’t go well. After a week I felt so low and crushed and no energy and felt like crying constantly. I then contacted Dr. and he never got back to me, and that was about 3 weeks ago when I reached out.
After I got no response, I got an online psych to help get me off of Cymbalta and started taking Prozac. I’ve been on Prozac for about 8 days now and taking 15 mg Cymbalta and I plan to stop cymbalta in a week.
This past month from the beginning of April I just haven’t felt normal, the last couple weeks I’ve felt so anxious every day, depressed, sad, crying like every day (I’ve cried more this year than I have my entire life). Work has been a struggle, it’s my first year teaching and I’m not enjoying anything at this point. I keep holding onto hope that things are going to get better by the end of the month.
Life is just not enjoyable at the moment, and I feel sad every day and feel like crying a lot and the anxiety just makes me want to get the day over with so I can sit in my room. I hate being in this cycle, it feels like I’m trapped in a rut. Anyone gone through anything similar? I know cymbalta can be hard to get off and Prozac has symptoms when getting loaded on. I just feel overwhelmed, sad, and kind of lost because I’ve been having a lot of doubt and regret over getting into teaching. I don’t want to off myself but this past month I’ve definitely had thoughts as I’ve gotten so sad and down, I’ve been attributing that to the Cymbalta because while I’ve always had depression, I never had any thoughts like this before.

Howdy AgingParents,
This is more of a ramble and/or rant than anything else--though I suppose if anyone has any good advice that I'd be happy to take it.
I'm 37 years old and moved back home just under a year ago to take care of my mom. She's relatively young--only recently turned 70--and her mind is pretty sharp. I'd gather that, like many parents, she has become more prone to scams, but that might even be simply the age we live in where robo-calls and phishing emails are as banal as they are ever-present. But it's her physical condition that's been deteriorating, not her mind.
Her physical issues are plenty. She complains that her doctor writes that she has osteo-arthritis, which I understand is true (she does have this), as opposed to emphasizing rheumatoid arthritis (which she also has, as I understand it--I'm frankly not sure I really know the difference between the two), and various / multiple forms of neuropathy. She cannot feel her feet, and walking with either a cane or a walker is equally unbearable. She has an awkward gait and, for reasons no medical practitioner has explained to her (or to me when I am present), for a lack of a better term she *hauls ass* regardless of which tool she is using. She cannot control her quick speed, which inevitably leads to a fall. She uses self-talk constantly in this respect; "lift your foot up, [MomsName]," she'll say; "STOP IT, [MomsName], Stop moving", she'll say. On top of unknown possible timebombs like two coiled aneurysms in her head, she's had a broken knee, a broken shoulder, and a broken wrist all in the span of a few years.
With a walker, we have the experience of her being able to get perhaps 20-30 feet before she loses control of her speed and falls. The last time she used a walker for exercise was this December, when she fell on the driveway and broke her wrist. She insisted on doing it herself; I was out running errands when it happened.
With canes, she expends an enormous amount of energy simply standing still. The bulk of the time I am walking with her, and our arms are interlaced, or I hold her hands, both of'em. Over the year I've been back home, I've increasingly taken over the driving responsibilities, and now I'm the only one who drives. She had been initially opposed to this, viewing that driving was one of the few areas of remaining independence she had, but a fall this April in the shower, wherein her head hit the porcelain of the toilet bowl, changed her view immediately. We've since undertaken the work necessary to have her bathroom, which she has otherwise loved for my lifetime and beyond it, replaced with a walk-in-shower that comes with a seat and several railings or hand-holds (whatever you call the long pieces of metal that exist to be grabbed).
Falling is what prompted my return, in fact. Dad died in 2016, and mom had seemed okay physically at the time. Of course it was the worst thing to happen to her emotionally--she reflects on the loss of her husband, my dad, every day, not necessarily at protracted length, but it remains I'd wager the most persistent thought she has. That said, in 2017 and 2018, mom could do ballroom dancing lessons, something she had always wanted to do in her youth.
But in November 2022, mom informed me of a few falls on the driveway, and another time where she described having fallen in the kitchen, and being unable to get up for two days straight. The idea of my mom being alone on the kitchen floor for days in a row was upsetting to me. I did a surprise visit that Christmas of 2022, the first time I had seen my mom December 2016 after my dad died. My mom would maintain that she didn't want to ruin my life or my independence, but she also welcomed support, and I suggested that if she were to have a serious event again that I could drop things and come home and help. It made sense to me; career-wise, I had achieved many accomplishments, but everything I had achieved was in someone else's name, for someone else's glory, and if money were involved, for someone else's gain. What kind of son would I be if I allowed my mom to be isolated and alone, and to possibly die by having a fall that she cannot get up from, only to find out about it much later after the fact? The point, if I have one, being that my motivation to help my mom came from inside my own heart. I didn't feel any pressure from her or any other source.
In April 2023, my mom fell again, followed by a bout of sepsis and a heart attack whilst in the hospital. I made plans to come home.
At first my mom was very happy that I came to help her out, but so too began a new narrative that, in fact, everything was fine, and she didn't need any help at all. Not a few days after I had permanently moved back, though, and on July 4th as it happens, mom fell on the--well, I want to call it a patio but perhaps it's a terrace. What do you call a part of a backyard that is comprised of purposefully arranged bricks? It's whatever that is.
We would engage in a sort of back and forth for a few months as she recovered. My mom would insist that she didn't want to ruin my life; but I had already moved back home, and without the means to "go back" as it were to where I had been before. I would look for work and, despite every sense of being qualified, would find myself taking on side-gigs and smalltime jobs. Anything to get by, as it were, as opposed to furthering my career, where I'd either be overqualified for jobs, or underqualified, or--maybe worse--the prospective employer wouldn't understand my experience, much of which was abroad. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers would know what I'm getting at, I'm sure; how do you tell an American employer that, yes, you know how to live without electricity, how to build water catchments, how to write grants, how to create emergency plans, how to achieve a smattering of big objectives without financial support, ranging from organizing a community to identify and solve the problems at their school if only so it doesn't close down to how to successfully navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic without anyone dying for two years, and so much more, but also that none of that was your "real" job, only things that your community needed and wanted from you, and that, no, you had no formal training in many of these things, but you did the work because it was what was needed? Regardless, I've enrolled in a Masters program, which starts in a few weeks, for the explicit purpose of wanting to ensure I don't screw myself career-wise. Thankfully, the program is online; but there I go making this about me.
Over the time I've been back, my mom has gotten worse. In September 2023 she could bake a cake, and she could walk up the stairs if she did so holding both railings. She cannot cook anymore, as she drops things, and catches herself from falling, or I do. I've lost track of how many times this must happen. I'd suppose it's at least a daily occurrence that a fall is prevented. And it's perhaps weekly that a fall occurs but in such a manner where its worst outcomes can be avoided.
The stairs are another story. I don't understand it. In the morning, she is rather adept at coming down the stairs herself. She doesn't ask for my help and, given my schedule, I might not know she is downstairs until she's already here. But in the evenings when she goes to bed--it used to be 8pm, and these days it's usually closer to 6pm--she goes from Zero to Exhausted, like someone falling off a cliff. She cannot get up from the couch unassisted, nor can she get up the stairs unassisted.
Simply standing mom up can be challenging. One of her knees was replaced some years ago, and the other you can hear it creak as the bones slide. One of her shoulders was replaced as well, and the other is worse than her bad knee. She injured it sometime recently, though I frankly forget if it was during the April shower fall or another fall. For practical purposes it means she cannot raise it, and any significant movement seems to hurt her dearly.
I do all of the cooking and cleaning now. One time she nearly fell when the oven was open. She didn't fall; I stopped it from happening--but the image of her possibly cooking her face haunts me, and she has consented to allowing me to simply take care of the cooking. So I cook and I clean and I drive. She worries about money constantly--I think it's a result of her being poor until she met my dad, who was poor too but not in the "my soup can lasts me three days" way that mom was--and so I take care of the groceries and other things. I can't do everything; so I've hired out the lawnmowing, and a gardener to take care of weeds. I don't know about these things, but my mom was a Master Gardener--I understand that's a formal title that you earn through some mechanism--so I do it because it's important to her.
Anywho--my mom is in a lot of pain. As I write this, she fell again recently today. To some extent I think I should have expected it. I asked her if she needed help and she said "no." For whatever reason I took that as gospel as opposed to helping her to the couch. She's had much worse falls, but today's was her trying to carry coffee from the kitchen to the couch in the living room. She ended up spilling the coffee on the couch, and planting herself face first into the cushion. It took about 10 minutes to get her in a position that didn't hurt as much. Then she spent an hour on the floor quiet and looking at her tablet. Moments ago, just prior to writing this, I helped her upstairs to her bed. Since there are knee and shoulder problems (a rotator cuff surgery for one of them, probably needs it for the other too), that was a challenge. She had fantasies of being able to shred papers (she gets a lot of junk mail), and being able to take pictures of the lawnmower so she can sell it. Most of her daily desires are put on hold.
My mom is often anxious and stressed. She said it wasn't until I came back home and told her that she's retired (relying on social security) that she realized she still felt the stress of running a business, which she used to do with my dad. It's taken the better part of a year, but I've convinced her to not look at the news so much. She's spent most of her life wanting to write The Great American Mystery Novel. I have attempted to get her to enjoy these sorts of pursuits, though as of this writing that specific fantasy remains such.
But, by and large, my mom isn't happy. She comments daily on how she is deteriorating. She comments about how she doesn't understand why her doctors can't explain why she loses balance; why she wiggles when she tries to gain balance; why it uses so much energy to stand up and to walk; why she cannot stop herself from hauling ass and then either falling or catching herself from falling. She feels despair with medical practitioners, as a GP might suggest going off a specific drug like methotrexate, and the rheumatoid arthritis doctor might recommend it wholeheartedly. She is in constant pain but the only painkiller she is allowed other than over-the-counter stuff like Excedrin is either Cymbalta, which gives her suicidal thoughts, or Tramadol, which as far as I can tell doesn't actually touch her pain at all. She has no friends anymore; not that she had many when I was a kid growing up, but of the ones she had, they're all dead now themselves. Cancer; heart attack; a fall in the shower. And while she and I have a good relationship, she and my brother, my only sibling, ceased communication a few years ago.
My mom is a Catholic who believes very firmly in heaven and hell, and is convinced that if she were to guide herself to death that she would be in the latter. Yet every time she falls, like today, she becomes despondent, and almost cries--she stops herself, though I don't say anything about it; cry if you want to is my motto--and so she talks about death, and how she wants to die.
I don't know what to do when my mom falls so often these days, is so unhappy about her physical deterioration, and simultaneously wants to be "better" but also wants to die. From a purely clinical and/or sociopathic perspective, neither her nor I have the "tools", be it medicine or otherwise, to make for a quick and painless death--never mind it being obviously illegal, probably immoral, and her convinced she'd go to hell if she did try to off herself. From a purely my-own-personal-comfort perspective, I want my mom to be healthy again, and if it gives me nightmarish visions simply imagining her hurting herself near the oven then odds seem high to me that I'd never forgive myself if I helped her with any plan she might make. Not that she has one, as she doesn't.
She's quick to assert, in fact, that she doesn't really want to die, and I'm not in any position to want that for her either. To be pain-free, yes of course; that is very desirable. To have a purpose in life, yes of course; that is also very desirable. On the latter, for nearly 50 years her purpose was to work the business with dad, and to be married to dad, and to be a mom, and to be dad's caretaker when he had cancer. But it's hard to know where the "hope" is for her. I feel like the best I can do is make sure that she eats well, has her medicines, that she can be helped around to where she needs to be, and that she has plentiful books to read, tv shows to watch, and a laptop to write her book on should she become inspired to get started. To some extent I've thought about putting her in one of those elder-care facilities; but what prevents it from happening includes that I can recall from a very early age that that is one of her biggest fears is dying alone in a facility where she has no friends, no family, and at the expense of all of her limited earthly possessions and wealth. She wants to die at home, like dad did. But she also doesn't want to die--not yet, not for real. Just, y'know, if the pain could go away.
Mom is quick to assert that, if a job opportunity comes up, I should take it. She doesn't want to ruin my life, she repeats. I sometimes ask myself if I should look for such a job again. Or if I should try after I complete my Masters--after all, that keeps me on some sort of track that makes narrative sense to an employer, but also allows me to continue being my mom's caretaker. She's so grateful that I am around to help her, but also so worried that she is hurting me in some way by my choosing to be around.
That's almost what bothers me the most about it all. I've lived most of my life abroad, having moved away from home when I was 18. But unlike the great bulk of folks I know personally, I can't think of anyone I've ever known who had parents as ideal as mine are. I always felt like my mom and dad were "there for me" in ways other peoples' parents weren't. My mom would be sure to attend my softball games, or to somehow recall when I'd get home from school on a wintery day so that a cup of hot cocoa would be ready. My opinions were always sought and I was taught to be an independent free thinker. I'd have to make tough choices when I was three years old, like if I wanted to wear blue today or green today. When other three year olds might ask "why" about whatever topic--why does the sun shine? Why do people drive cars and not take the bus? Why do people eat meat? Why, why, why for whatever at all--and be told to stop asking, I would be engaged in dialectic. If I had a bad day at school, I had someone to talk to in detail about what happened. If I wanted to explore a philosophical conundrum of any kind, or a thought experiment--if I were alive in 1776, despite being a proud American today, would I be a loyalist instead of a revolutionary? though I remember having that specific thought at seven, not three--it would be entertained. If I was hungry, there would be food. There would be many hugs. There would be so many trips to the library. All good things, only good memories. This utter lack of childhood trauma is, I suspect, part of the reason I can even remember being three years old despite being 37 presently. (And I also wonder if it made me more prepared in some manner for adulthood traumas, of which there have been a few). Though I grew up socio-economically perhaps lower-middle class (i.e. never hungry with clean clothes), both my mom and my dad grew up astoundingly poor, and they made it a firm point to ensure that I would always know that I was deeply loved and deeply wanted. You'd have to be, I guess, right, if your mom had only two children, but five miscarriages between them.
I love my mom so much. I cannot stand the notion of her being isolated and alone and dying by some sort of otherwise preventable accident or mistake. There's no justice in my mom, who was the best mom anyone could ever hope to be, the superlative exemplar of what a good mom is, spending her twilight years without family or help. I don't feel trapped the way maybe others might, or maybe that I ought to feel myself. But so often I also don't know what to do. Does a career matter more than my mom? Or is the opposite true, and my mom is more important than any job I could have, particularly since I have the professional experience of knowing what career success looks like already, even if the credit went to someone else? If the best mom was always there for her son, then the best son is one who is there for his mom, right? I'm not necessarily Catholic in the way that my mom is, but isn't that part of honoring your parents? I mean, it's better to be there, provide emotional support and cook the best eggs benedict I can, than to be the guy who tells a colleague or friend "yeah buddy, my mom falls and hurts herself all the time and will probably die by falling on the kitchen floor again for days at a time--but I decided that was fine with me, because this job I am doing provides me fame or fortune."
I don't know, fellow internet people. Sometimes I don't know if I know anything at all. But my mom keeps falling, and I sure wish that she didn't. Thanks for reading.

I started 25mg before bed 6 days ago for fibromyalgia. I’m also on 60 mg of cymbalta(been on it almost 10 years). I have had no energy whatsoever since starting the amitriptyline. How long does the drowsiness stay or is it just a part of my life now? I tried scrolling through different posts but couldn’t find much info on it.

I am in that weird limbo where I am currently awaiting an official sleep study (I'm in Canada, so it takes a long time for a specialist referral) but my presumed narcolepsy is becoming nearly debilitating. My GP is treating me as a narcoleptic without the formal sleep study diagnosis in the mean time (I would not be able to function without meds otherwise), but she is not an expert and doesn't know much about the condition.
I'm on Sunosi, but it feels like it's not really doing much? I take 150mg on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and it MAYBE gives me 3 hours of energy? Or maybe not. I still need a midday nap most days, and I supplement with a stimulant once or twice a day.
I've read that this medication has been life changing for some, and I'm wondering if I should stick with it in hopes of some sort of cumulative effect. I've been on it for about 3 weeks. Did you feel the effects immediately, or does it take a while to build up in your system? I'm also on Cymbalta (for anxiety + depression) and I've tried Modafonil but it gave me the worst, dirtiest chemical feeling and even 400mg wasn't enough to keep me awake most days, plus it gave me these horrible splitting headaches when it began to wear off.
tl;dr - I've been on Sunosi 150mg for 3 weeks and I feel that it is not doing a whole lot. Do I give it another month or call it quits?

I’ve been stable for a couple years now (taking a mix of cymbalta, lamictal, and abilify), but every once in a while, I’ll have the “I’m deluding myself, I don’t actually need meds” thought and go off meds for 1-2 days.
When I go off meds, I IMMEDIATELY feel symptoms of hypomania the next day: not needing to sleep, excess energy/fidgeting, racing thoughts, the sudden urge to fix everything in my life in 24 hours, etc. As soon as I notice this happening, I go back to taking my meds.
I’m once again in my questioning if I have bipolar phase and I’m questioning if what I’m experiencing is really hypomania, and proof that my medication is working/keeping hypomania at bay? Is it possible to “rebound” that quickly? (And it’s always hypomania, not depression.) Or, is this just a withdrawal symptom and I don’t actually need these meds?

I need to get on an antidepressant specifically an SNRI And I’m hoping to hear some experiences.
How much did they hello your pain and depression and energy.
I don’t need to know about cymbalta as I’ve taken it before and will never do so again.
My pain is just completely uncontrolled right now. My opiates aren’t doing fucking anything so I’m Hoping an snri will help.
My depression is also out of control and if something isn’t done about either of these I’m a little scared of what I’ll do.
I need some energy too. I’ve been trying to fix all of this without antidepressants and I just can’t.
This is becoming something very different than I intended.

On Easter, I (30F) found out my dad (63M) has been taking crystal meth for about six months. If you told me half a year ago that my dad takes crystal meth, I would've never believed you - he's never expressed interest in drugs. He said the reason why he is taking it (he says twice a month), is to give him energy so he can work until retirement (about a year away) and that he used to take it about 40 years ago.
He swore on his kids lives that he wouldn't take it again when my mom confronted him on Easter. He also agreed to drug tests. Three weeks after that conversation, my mom suspected he was taking and she drug tested him twice. He was adamant that he wasn't taking and that the results were false. But both results were positive for meth. He finally admitted to lying but didn't see why it was wrong. My mom made it crystal (no pun intended) clear that she can work with him to get through this and to help him stop taking meth, but she is not okay with lying. To me, lying is worrisome because it points to the fact that he has a serious problem/potential addiction.
We decided to call his best friend and supplier to see if he could corroborate my dad's story... at this point, we feel like we can't trust what my dad says and need to get some facts for my dad's safety. Our dad found out that we reached out to his friend and lost his shit. Calling my mom a C***, he hates her, he wants a divorce, threatened her, etc. My siblings and I reached out to him but he is saying we are the ones with problems and that he's done nothing wrong. He said we are ruining peoples lives (I'm assuming he means his and his friend's), things will never be the same, etc.
My questions are:
Is there any way of convincing him/making him understand the seriousness of crystal meth? For some reason, I don't think he understands that it's a highly addictive drug and that it most likely has control over him (I think he thinks he has it under control)?
Is it possible to not be addicted to crystal meth? Is it wrong to assume that most likely he has an addiction due to the facts: he has been taking it for 6 months, quit taking his antidepressants (he is psychotic without his antidepressants btw, but that's a whole other issue), he lied about taking the meth, kept it secret, is pushing all of his family members away?
I'm really struggling to figure out how to navigate this. My siblings and I are going to try to have an intervention for him and ask him, if he is willing and wants to, to stop taking the meth. We want him to know that things are not broken on our end and that we can and want to work on helping him get out of this. But to do so we would like for:

1. him to work on cutting back his work hours (the supposed reason he took it in the first place)
2. replacing meth with a prescribed alternative like Adderall (or something else)
3. lastly (this is a stretch) to ask him to talk to a therapist and/or go back on an antidepressant. Going back on an antidepressant would help him think clearly and be a nice person again. He was taking Cymbalta, but quit that cold turkey on Easter and has been unbearable.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

I started Cymbalta like three weeks ago. I have Fibromyalgia (dx by a rheumatologist in January). This is the first med I've taken to treat the fibro. I think it is working because I'm definitely in less pain but I'm noticing some undesirable side effects.
I was taking it in the morning up until two days ago. I'm usually tired all the time (thanks to the fibro). I guess on a scale of 1-10, 1 being feeling great and well rested and 10 being I can't stay awake to save my life, before the Cymbalta I was averaging a solid 5 daily, sometimes a 6. I started the Cymbalta and it shot up to a 9. When I say 9, I mean I couldn't stop yawning throughout the day, felt like I had to keep moving or I would fall asleep, I would literally come home from my 7-3 and climb right into bed and go to sleep. Then the next morning I would hit snooze until the last possible second and risk being late for work.
I talked to my grandma who is a retired behavioral health nurse and she suggested I take it at night instead of in the morning to see if that helps. Gradually over the course of a few days, I shifted the time I was taking it by a few hours until I got to about 8 p.m. at night which is normally when I get ready for bed.
Like I said it's only been a couple of days of taking it at night but I do notice a difference in my energy levels-- no longer yawning constantly, I actually went on a date today after I got off work (my first social interaction outside of work in weeks) instead of going straight to bed. So, yay for that.
But I noticed something else weird.
I've always had a high libido (I have bipolar II). I've been on Lamictal and Vraylar for like two years and have been on Vyvanse for a few months for my ADHD. When I say high libido I mean I would think about sex a lot (and then feel guilty for religious reasons) and basically constantly be in "the mood" (and then just suffer for religious reasons lol).
I took Cymbalta for the first time and it was like a balloon getting stuck with a pin. Poof, gone. All the thoughts, all the feelings of being sexually frustrated gone throughout the day. That was consistent the whole time I took it in the morning. Well, like I said, I started adjusting the time I took it and as soon as I messed with that, BAM. My libido is as high as the eiffle tower. And when I say that I mean I actually pushed through religious guilt and purchased a sex toy because I couldn't stand it.
Has anyone else had this experience with Cymbalta? I'm guessing logistically it causes low libido, which is why when I was taking it consistently in the mornings it became non existent and then when I messed with the timing it somehow did the opposite? I don't know, honestly I'm kind of freaked out lol.

Hello everyone,
After 7 years of trying everything without any effect my doctor finally decided to prescribe me Parnate and switch me from Cymbalta with 3 day washout period. Basically i stopped 50mg of Cymbalta for 3 days and started directly 20 mg of Parnate on day 4. Today is my third day into the Parnate and i feel like the Cymbalta withdrawal is something from another planet. There should not be any interactions between the two, since 5 half-lives have been passed from the duloxetine cessation. The zaps are killing me. I thought that the Parnate should replenish the serotonin and norepinephrine, so the transition would be much more smoother and there would be no zaps. I haven't seen much people switching from cymbalta to parnate and the standard two week washout would be impossible for me to do. I really hope someone can give me some positive energy through this hell of a time. Sorry for my bad english. Wish you all the best.

I don’t see a lot of positive posts here so I thought I should share my experience.
I have been prescribed Zoloft on two separate occasions in the past 5 years for depression/anxiety. The brain fog was terrible. I was too young to advocate for myself at the time, but I wish I had said something. Those years are a blur to me now. Needless to say, I was a little nervous about going back on medication, but my anxiety had been getting progressively worse. I also have a history of BED, and have gone through treatment for that.
I started Cymbalta at 30mg/day for 1 month in January ‘24. I think I initially entered a “honeymoon” phase in which I felt borderline euphoric after taking my meds (in retrospect, this was probably placebo). I also had some GI side effects like constipation and acid reflux. These both went away in about 2 months. The biggest side effect I experienced was a loss of appetite. It returned to normal after a month or two. At my 1 month follow up, my doctor upped my dose to 60mg/day.
I’m entering month 5 of treatment - and here are my thoughts. I have never felt more like myself. I’ve been through a lot of therapy, and sometimes they would talk about your “wise mind vs emotional mind”. The best way I can describe how I feel is that I’m using more of my wise mind every day. When I’m deciding what to eat, I think about it logically instead of the first thing that comes to mind. When my mind starts to run down an anxious rabbit hole, I have the ability to use my wise mind to use productive self talk and reason with myself. I feel more confident and sure of myself because I feel IN CONTROL! I feel calmer. I am more patient. I’m a better friend, sister, daughter, employee, you name it! I don’t want to give Cymbalta all the credit though, as I have been on a mental health journey for years, but I do feel that this medication gave me a serious jumpstart. Another benefit is that I have so much energy. Obviously I get tired and it’s not that I’m hyper or anything, but I have energy to workout, enjoy my hobbies, be with friends, etc.
It hasn’t been all perfect. There are still hard days, and even weeks. However, I can confidently say that this is the best I’ve felt in years. I know that coming off this medication might be a royal pain, but for me, it’s worth it.
For anyone reading this, I hope you find peace. Cymbalta helped me, and I hope it will help you too <3