I do a fair amount of endurance exercises and regularly participate in races. I do hiking, road and mountain cycling and trail running. 18 months ago I had a hip bursitis injury and could not do any of these exercises for a period of 4 months. After 2 months or so I became very unhappy, got headaches and was not feeling well. My GP referred me to a psychiatrist, I was diagnosed with depression and started taking Cymbolta 60mg once a day. It worked like a miracle! Within a few days I stopped having the mentioned symptoms and was back to the way I was before my depression started. I highly recommend it. After 4 months of not exercising, I started training again and within 3 months got back to the same schedule of training that I did before my injury. The main problem is that I cannot get back to the same results that I did before the injury. Can Cymbolta be related to this?
Can Cymbalta affect physical endurance exercises, can't get back to pre-injury results?
Question posted by eagle371 on 24 March 2011
Last updated on 28 March 2011
Answers
Hey eagle,
Cymbalta can slow ya down. I was taking it for years with good results for the depression but it made me so very tired. I slept 12 - 14 hours a day. I am now on Pristiq and am sleeping a normal 8 hours a night. So it could be the Cymbalta. If you have bursitis, is the Cymbalta helping you with the pain? It did help my arthritis pain some.
When you say that you can't get back to the same results, but you are working out at the same schedule, what is the issue? Have you gained weight? I gained weight while on the Cymbalta too, but I wasn't watching what I ate as much as I am now, so it is hard to say if it was the Cymbalta or the diet I was consuming.
Hang in there and keep up the excellent exercise regimen, maybe you just need a little more time to reach your goals.
Good luck,
Laurie
Thanks for your reply. I was advices by the phsychiatrist to keep on using the Cymbolta for 2 years (another 6 months now) and than - if I insist - I actually would like to try :) I can hopefully start a process to stop using it. Any experience with it?
No weight gain. I find that my leg muscle power, more than my cardio system cannot cope with the same pressure it use to. When I do hard sprints or hard hill climbs I am about 10%-15% slower than I used to be.
I also find that Cymbolta makes me tired and I sometimes get nap infront of the PC at work
Thanks
Gil
Hey Gil,
Yes Cymbalta definitely made me tired and I too would take naps in the afternoon. I switched my antidepressant to Pristiq and have had no more problem with excessive sleepiness. As far as coming off the Cymbalta, you will have to taper the dosage slowly over several weeks time so to avoid any withdrawls. You doctor can advise you of the appropriate taper plan when the time is right.
Good luck with the exercise and you may have to accept that you will not get back to where you were because of the injury, as long as you are able to exercise and can do so without pain, then keep up the good work,
Laurie
Related topics
cymbalta, depression, exercise
Further information
- Cymbalta uses and safety info
- Cymbalta prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Cymbalta (detailed)
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