Bipolar Disorder & Cymbalta

I think Cymbalta is making me manic. My psychiatrist prescribed it to me knowing I'm bipolar. My old antidepressant (Effexor) stopped working. That is my experience with antidepressants. They work for awhile and then stop. My doctor prescribed it for my depressive mood. Also, I have Fibromyalgia. I think Cymbalta has caused it to go into remission. So, I'm really torn as to whether to take it or not. Once again, it's 11:45 p.m. I want to go to bed at 10 p.m. I take Trazadone for sleep. Recently, I've been taking Baclofen -- a muscle relaxant -- to help me to sleep. My husband takes Remeron for sleep. I don't want to take it cuz it really knocks him out and if the apartment burned down I would have to drag him out. Recently, I had to go to the ER and had to take an ambulance because he was so out of it. My doctor told me to stop taking Cymbalta until I was no longer manic. But the withdrawals from Cymbalta were horrendous and I had to start taking it again. If you search Gooble for "Cymbalta Withdrawal Forum" you will see how difficult it is to stop taking it.

Welcome Pegasisnine. Do the depressive episodes correlate with the fibro?
Are you on a mood stabilizer at all?

I take a HUGE dose of Cymbalta every day. Then again, I also take 10mg of Abilify to keep the lid on the crazy jar. If you are BiPolar, it might be prudent to advocate for a mood stabilizer before taking an antidepressant. I know from having taken Welbutrin, Serzone and Paxil all at the same time w/o a mood stabilizer. That went badly: I sojourned in rapid cycle city for a while there.

Efexor and Cymbalta are both SSNRIs, so there should not be too much difference between them... but then again, neurochemical science is total guesswork.

If you managed to glean anything of relevance from that, I applaud you.

I have read about Cymbalta quite a bit and found that it helps depression, pain and anxiety. I take 90mg a day and it has done well for me. However, I can't take it without also taking a mood stabilizer, in this case Lamictal. When you listed your meds, I didn't see a mood stabilizer. Is this something you can talk to your pdoc about?

Wow. I never thought about it. I'm so rarely depressed now. I take Lamictal as a mood stabilizer. It gave me a permanent rash on my feet, ankles and calves.

I take 200 mg of Lamictal. I just had my hair done. I was overly talkative and flirtatious with my stylist. My stylist now thinks I'm romantically interested in him. Usually, I reveal very little about myself. I am married and not interested in pursuing an affair. Truly, I'm embarrassed to go back. I realize now that I was manic. What to do?!

You may need the lamictal increased or you may need to be on a different mood stabilizer. Lamictal is good for helping with the lows, but not so great at controlling the highs. Perhaps when you're off the anti-d it will be able to work better. I'm on 300 mg of lamictal and on 300 mg of wellbutrinxl (anti-d, but not a SSRI) I would suggest speaking to your Psychiatrist. In the meantime to help keep the hypomania in check exercising can help burn off some of the excess energy.

As far as your flirtation with the hair dresser I wouldn't worry too much about it. You won't know what he thought about it and chances are he hasn't thought about it at all. I hope you're feeling like yourself soon.

I take 120mg of Cymbalta and 2.5mg of Abilify, I don't have any problems with this combo. I also take 1mg of ativan to help my brain slow down at night.

I'm also on Topamax but Remeron has been my magic bullet for over ten years. I wish it still knocked me out the way it used to. I'm really, really not myself without it.

I was just dx with Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar 1 a few months ago. I've been on Cymbalta (120 mg a day) for the past 7 years for my chronic depression. It has saved my life as the other anti-d's I tried the for the 3 years prior didn't deal with my anxiety. After being newly dx I had wanted to "meet the real me" and took myself off all my meds. NOT a good idea quittin the Cymbalta cold turkey!! But i see my T twice a week and am back on my 120 mg of Cymbalta... I am NOT a nice person without it! I don't see my phyciatrist until the end of May so any new "cocktail" is out of the question until then . I've found that my suicidal tendancies (Borderline related) are severe when not on Cymbalta. Thank you for this thread, I have been wondering what has worked for others and this is the first I've see anyone mention Cymablta!

I take 120mg of Cymbalta per day. It has been a life saver. It was the first antidepressant to work on me, and I'd tried about a half a dozen or more before it over the course of 2 years: some did nothing at all, some made me angry and impulsive.

The first day I took it I had results. My brain felt euphoric. Now it just keeps me happy and calm. I don't wake up dreading the day or trying to sleep it away.

It's truly awesome. I'm also on Lamictal, Geodon, and benztropine. I have diazepam for sleep. It sure didn't work last night. I woke up at 3:45 and have been trying to find stuff to do before I have to go to work. Must be a little hypomanic. Better than depressed though!

Thanx for the feedback. I went down to 30 mg. of Cymbalta and am now not manic. Didn't want to go off it cuz my Fibromyalgia has gone into remission. What is benztropine for? I'm taking Trazadone for sleep but it's not working anymore. How does the diazepam work?