I take Cymbalta and was wondering if anyone is taking this drug after surgery? My PCP as asked their Pharm salesman but still don't have an answer. Hopefully someon out there has experience with this situation and can help me find answers before my surgery. Thank You.:biggrin:

I am 4 wks post op and take Cymbalta and Celexa. I"m a little more sensitive it seems now but no big problems. Let me know what you hear from your PCP.

Hi! I take 60 mg of Cymbalta every night... the surgeon and his office said it's ok to take...

What I've noticed is that sometimes when my band is too tight, it's very uncomfortable to swallow the pill.. so what I do is I open it and take the tiny little specks of the meds INSIDE of the cap.... I've got the technique down to a perfect science. LOL

anyway.. today I was able to swallow the pill whole - didn't have to take it apart and swallow all of the little particles inside.... just depends...

Good luck to you!

HUGS

I've been taking Cymbalta for over two years with a recent increase from 60 to 90 mg, which my doctor tells me is fairly common. Haven't noticed any difference before or after surgery in the drug's affect on me.

It's been a no-go for me. I'd taken it (very successfully) for pain for years before surgery.

I don't have problems with capsules postop; they do dissolve well before passing through the stoma.

However, Cymbalta is not intended to be released from the capsule in the stomach. It is intended to pass into the small intestine intact. Its appropriate time release is dependent on this, and if it remains in the stomach (it can't pass through the stoma until the Gelatin cap dissolves), bioavailability is really skewed, and dosing becomes very, very difficult.

My doctor is very skilled with meds, and also consulted with my pharmacist and pain doc. I've written a pharmacology textbook, so I'm no slouch on the topic either.

And it's just not a great drug for bandsters. Opening the capsules is not recommended because again, the drug is meant to be released over time in the small intestine, and this route of administration bypasses that. (The exception to this is during weaning; some people find it useful to literally count out the little beads they take each day, very slowly tapering. I didn't need to wean that carefully; slowly reducing dosage over a few weeks was fine for me.)

We went with a liquid SSRI instead. (Other antidepressant capsules often have the same time-release issue Cymbalta poses, and I have difficulty with pressed pills/tablets getting stuck.)

I weaned off Cymbalta preoperatively with no difficulty. I did it slowly, according to recommendations from my pain doc, and had no side effects at all. Switching to an SSRI (Cymbalta's an SNRI) was pretty seamless.

Dear Betsy,

I'm taking Cymbalta for anxiety and I do appreciate the pain relief I also get for this drug. Since you are expericenced with these drugs what would you recommend as an alternative? I appreciate your response to my question.

Thank you all for your responses. I do appreciate all your input into my situation. Amanda I will let you know if when I hear back from my doctor.

Dear Betsy,

I'm taking Cymbalta for anxiety and I do appreciate the pain relief I also get for this drug. Since you are expericenced with these drugs what would you recommend as an alternative? I appreciate your response to my question.

Several of the SSRIs are available as liquid; they do not have to remain intact until they reach the small intestine. Zoloft, Celexa, and Prozac leap to mind.

They don't seem to have the same pain relief benefits as SNRIs, but depression and anxiety both do exacerbate pain, so dealing with them effectively can have a positive effect.

None of the SNRIs are currently available as liquid; most are time-release, and therefore need to pass into the small intestine still intact. (Of course, if you have a band, they linger in the stomach longer than they should, the capsule dissolves, and the bioavailability--and therefore dosing--is affected. Your doctor may not have a problem with this; s/he may adjust dose accordingly. Mine didn't want me to have the variability.)

Thanks Betsy for all your information. I will let my doctor know about this particular situation with Cymbalta.