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Having Pain And Depression. Taking Celexa 40 And Have Tried With Cymbalta. Is It Safe To Take Cymbalta 120 For Long-term?
Question: I have both pain and depression.Currently I take Celexa 40 mg and I'm fine mentally but tha pain in my back and legs are something else.I've tried Cymbalta 120 mg previously with good effect for both pain and depression.The 60 mg did't cut it for the depression.Am I safe to go back to Cymbalta 120 long-term?
Hi,
Thanks for writing to us,
You have mentioned that you have Osteoarthritis, Diabetes mellitus and Depression for which you were previously on Duloxetine upto 120mg (Cymbalta) and are currently on Citalopram 40 mg (celexa). What was the reason for switching to citalopram? For how long had you taken duloxetine 60 mg/day before you concluded that it does not help your depression? 60mg/day is the usual recommended dose of duloxetine and it is found to be useful in cases of chronic pain especially fibromyalgia, apart from benefiting depressive symptoms. Some individuals may require higher doses but this usually tend to cause adverse effects in patients.
You want to know if it would be safe to take 120mg duloxetine. In a case like this where only specific drug show good response on a specific dose the risk benefit ratio is weighed and decision usually taken by the treating doctor based on his clinical judgement after examining the patient. If you do not experience any side effects that make the drug intolerable then you may be put on it for long term. In your case a specific side effect of the drug you may need to watch out for is hyperglycemia or increase in blood sugar levels.
Hope this helps,
Write back in case of doubts,
Dr A Rao Kavoor.
Thanks for writing to us,
You have mentioned that you have Osteoarthritis, Diabetes mellitus and Depression for which you were previously on Duloxetine upto 120mg (Cymbalta) and are currently on Citalopram 40 mg (celexa). What was the reason for switching to citalopram? For how long had you taken duloxetine 60 mg/day before you concluded that it does not help your depression? 60mg/day is the usual recommended dose of duloxetine and it is found to be useful in cases of chronic pain especially fibromyalgia, apart from benefiting depressive symptoms. Some individuals may require higher doses but this usually tend to cause adverse effects in patients.
You want to know if it would be safe to take 120mg duloxetine. In a case like this where only specific drug show good response on a specific dose the risk benefit ratio is weighed and decision usually taken by the treating doctor based on his clinical judgement after examining the patient. If you do not experience any side effects that make the drug intolerable then you may be put on it for long term. In your case a specific side effect of the drug you may need to watch out for is hyperglycemia or increase in blood sugar levels.
Hope this helps,
Write back in case of doubts,
Dr A Rao Kavoor.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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