[kkrrhh]

Hi! So I'm currently only on Lamictal, depression and anxiety aren't doin' great. I saw my pdoc today and we've decided to do Cymbalta and Ritalin with the Lamictal. I had just tried Cymbalta for 8 days and quit about a week ago, but I wasn't totally sure it was hopeless. Either way, since my psych wasn't exactly enthusiastic about any other options and wanted to settle with that one, I'm trying it again.

Also not sure why in the world I wasn't more concerned with having both an activating med and a stimulant without at least something additional for anxiety, since I can see that possibly being crazy and too much, but fingers crossed. Since they are both that way, though, I'm definitely not thinking I want to try starting both at once and deal with startup and initial side effects at the same time. I kind of really want to try Ritalin first by itself, just to see what it does, because I've been curious about stims for depression. I know dopamine is a big part of my depression, because my symptoms point toward it and I did so well on Nardil which affects dopamine unlike a lot of antidepressants. But then, despite being soo tired with relatively low anxiety lately, suddenly the past few days my anxiety's been higher and I'm afraid Ritalin will be unpleasant with that. Trying this type of new thing when I'm feeling unstable worries me, and I'm thinking if Cymbalta ended up working I could be feeling better and it could help things go more smoothly. Buut I'm pretty desperate for a mood lift right now and the possibility of Ritalin being more immediate is tempting. Especially since the Cymbalta did cause a lot of anxiety and feel unpleasant, and I know it'd be at least a couple weeks until that calms down if it ever does, so I'd be stuck waiting a while before I could even try the Ritalin...

I guess I'm just curious if anyone can think of any reasons why it would be better to start one or the other first, when trying to avoid becoming too much of an anxious agitated mess or letting my depression worsen too much. That's why I posted it here instead of the med forum, which I hope is ok; I'm feeling kind of terrified with med adjustments right now and like I'm at a spot where I haven't fallen too far into depression or anything but am unstable, walking a tightrope and could spiral down if I don't keep the right balance.
I'm trying to rush and I know I'm overthinking, I just don't wanna waste a second getting them to possibly work (or finding out they don't and trying something new) ASAP so I wanna do things right.

Also, has anyone had a good experience with Cymbalta after having bad anxiety and side effects initially? I just feel like while reading about it I haven't seen anyone who went, "oh wow, I felt extremely anxious and tired and sick on this for a while but now I'm great," but I don't wanna think it's hopeless. Between my bad mind lately and the other things that could've been affecting me in that time I'm not even entirely sure what exactly I didn't like about it, but it definitely made me spacey, anxious, and worsened my social anxiety, and it was still getting worse at the 1 week mark.
I'll also take any advice or comments on Ritalin, if anyone's got any.

Thanks so much.

[BlueInanna]

I think I was ok on cymbalta, may have also had adderall and lamictal at that time. Yes I think I was feeling better cuz I quit everything it was a lot of years ago. But the cymbalta withdrawls were Horrible! Bad bad bad. Brain zaps, flu symptoms. Yuck. I almost joined a lawsuit against cymbalta after that. Can you just add in one at a time? It's pretty risky if you're prone to mood cycling, to add in stimulant.

[Ocean Swimmer]

I had horrible Cymbalta withdrawals too. I'd never go on it again.

[Hashi/bipolar mom]

Originally Posted by kkrrhh

Hi! So I'm currently only on Lamictal, depression and anxiety aren't doin' great. I saw my pdoc today and we've decided to do Cymbalta and Ritalin with the Lamictal. I had just tried Cymbalta for 8 days and quit about a week ago, but I wasn't totally sure it was hopeless. Either way, since my psych wasn't exactly enthusiastic about any other options and wanted to settle with that one, I'm trying it again.

Also not sure why in the world I wasn't more concerned with having both an activating med and a stimulant without at least something additional for anxiety, since I can see that possibly being crazy and too much, but fingers crossed. Since they are both that way, though, I'm definitely not thinking I want to try starting both at once and deal with startup and initial side effects at the same time. I kind of really want to try Ritalin first by itself, just to see what it does, because I've been curious about stims for depression. I know dopamine is a big part of my depression, because my symptoms point toward it and I did so well on Nardil which affects dopamine unlike a lot of antidepressants. But then, despite being soo tired with relatively low anxiety lately, suddenly the past few days my anxiety's been higher and I'm afraid Ritalin will be unpleasant with that. Trying this type of new thing when I'm feeling unstable worries me, and I'm thinking if Cymbalta ended up working I could be feeling better and it could help things go more smoothly. Buut I'm pretty desperate for a mood lift right now and the possibility of Ritalin being more immediate is tempting. Especially since the Cymbalta did cause a lot of anxiety and feel unpleasant, and I know it'd be at least a couple weeks until that calms down if it ever does, so I'd be stuck waiting a while before I could even try the Ritalin...

I guess I'm just curious if anyone can think of any reasons why it would be better to start one or the other first, when trying to avoid becoming too much of an anxious agitated mess or letting my depression worsen too much. That's why I posted it here instead of the med forum, which I hope is ok; I'm feeling kind of terrified with med adjustments right now and like I'm at a spot where I haven't fallen too far into depression or anything but am unstable, walking a tightrope and could spiral down if I don't keep the right balance.
I'm trying to rush and I know I'm overthinking, I just don't wanna waste a second getting them to possibly work (or finding out they don't and trying something new) ASAP so I wanna do things right.

Also, has anyone had a good experience with Cymbalta after having bad anxiety and side effects initially? I just feel like while reading about it I haven't seen anyone who went, "oh wow, I felt extremely anxious and tired and sick on this for a while but now I'm great," but I don't wanna think it's hopeless. Between my bad mind lately and the other things that could've been affecting me in that time I'm not even entirely sure what exactly I didn't like about it, but it definitely made me spacey, anxious, and worsened my social anxiety, and it was still getting worse at the 1 week mark.
I'll also take any advice or comments on Ritalin, if anyone's got any.

Thanks so much.

As soon as I was diagnosed BP, they IMMEDIATELY started weaning me off Cymbalta. It's been known to trigger mania. In fact, many AD's do!