What is the highest recommended dose for Cymbalta?
Question posted by Ladyblue52 on 29 April 2010
Last updated on 18 January 2022 by WildcatVet
9 Answers
"Usual Adult Dose for Depression:
Initial dose: 20 mg to 30 mg orally 2 times a day
Maintenance dose: 60 mg per day, given either once a day OR 30 mg orally 2 times a day
Maximum dose: 120 mg/day.
Usual Adult Dose for Fibromyalgia:
Initial dose: 30 mg orally once a day for at least 1 week
Maintenance dose: 30 to 60 mg orally once a day.
Usual Adult Dose for Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
Initial dose: 60 mg orally once a day
Maintenance dose: 60 to 120 mg orally once a day
Maximum dose: 120 mg/day.
Usual Adult Dose for Pain:
Initial dose: 30 to 60 mg orally once a day
Maintenance dose: 60 mg orally once a day.
Usual Adult Dose for Neuropathic Pain:
Initial dose: 30 to 60 mg orally once a day
Maintenance dose: 60 mg orally once a day.
Usual Adult Dose for Chronic Pain:
Initial dose: 30 to 60 mg orally once a day
Maintenance dose: 60 mg orally once a day.
Usual Geriatric Dose for Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
Initial dose: 30 mg orally once a day for at least 2 weeks
Maintenance dose: 60 mg orally once a day
Maximum dose: 120 mg/day."
120mg
60mg
I am taking 120mg now and I haven't had any bad side effectd or any significant pain relief. I have Trigeminal neuralgia and my medication regime was 200mg lyrica 2x daily, 900mg trileptal 2x daily, 10mg baclofen 3x daily, 100mg amitriptyline once at bedtime. The lyrica made me gain 110 lbs in 15 months but I was still having severe pain each day. Pain Management doctor added lortab 10mg 3x daily but I still had pain. In the last 3 months my doctor stopped the lyrica and put me back on gabapentin 900mg 3x daily which i was taking before the lyrica still no relief. Just started the cymbalta 2 months ago Im at 120mg now and stopped the trileptal for tegretol 200mg 4x daily and stopping the gabapentin all together. I am having more relief in these last few months than i have in years. I am still in pain everyday most of the day but it is much more bearable than with my other medications. I will keep taking the cymbalta and tegretol and hopefully I can go into remission!
Tegretol is fabulous for weight loss and as a mood stabilizer. Trileptal packs on the weight. Cymbalta is fabulous for pain and depression... FYI. Good luck!
Cymbalta packs on the pounds too! I gained over 80 pounds while taking it. I’ve been taking it for over 10 years for chronic nerve pain but it made my pain worse. I never had anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts before taking Cymbalta but I experienced all of these while taking it and tapering off. I am down from 60 mg to 15 mg and almost every side effect is gone. For me taking Cymbalta was a nightmare and I would never advise anyone to take it. Cindy
I have been on 90 mg for a while. I tend to sleep quite a bit so my doctor and I thought it would be a good idea to stop it so I am weaning. I have been on 60 mg for the last week and a half and my neuropathy has gotten ridiculously worse.
Neuropathy is absolutely not a joke! I am not finding any relief with my current regimen. I take Cymbalta 60 mg daily (was weaning, but I can't stand the neuropathy worsening!!), Lyrica 75 mg twice daily, Gabapentin 300 mg twice daily, alpha lipoic acid 600 mg twice daily, and turmeric!
I will be contacting the doctor tomorrow to ask if I can go back up to the 90 mg a day and possibly to 1:20. I was having a lot of breakthrough pain so I think maybe 120 would help. This is my two cents worth, I hope it helps someone.
Hi FradyCat. I have been taking Cymbalta (60 mg) for chronic nerve pain for 10 years now. When I started tapering because of all the horrible side effects I found that my nerve pain started to get worse. I was going by the doctors recommended way. I researched about the best way to taper off and I found out that I was going too fast. So I made sure that my body was stabilized from tapering too fast and I started to taper off slowly by 10% of my last dosage taken and the pain that I had actually reduced. This is the recommended taper from a Cymbalta group on Facebook. There is a lot of good information there. I started my taper last year (2017) around June and I’m down to 7 mg. (I had already finished tapering off Lyrica in June of last year. I feel so much better and the pain is completely gone. Almost every other horrible side effect is gone too and I had many of them.
I have heard from many others who have tapered slowly off Cymbalta and other medications like it and they have less pain than what they had when they were on the medication. I don’t understand this but I know it’s true from experience. Also Cymbalta, Lyrica and Gabapentin all have interactions when taken together. Hopefully your doctor has explained this to you. Another thing I found out is that any dosage over 60 mg of Cymbalta has never been proven to be of more benefit. There is a list of ‘Natural Remedies’ on Google for neuropathic pain that you might want to check out. These medications can deplete so much from our bodies so something that might help you is a good B Complex vitamin. I also take Magnesium, Vitamin D3 and Omega-3. You should check with your doctor before starting any of these. Take care and I wish you the best. Cindy
60 mg. Some people are in 120mg but the studies states that there is not proff of more confort in the condition treatment. See Cymbalta facts at Cymbalta.com. Hope this help!, AnnieG
My pain management doctor (an anesthesiologist) says the highest recommended dose is 120 mg.
i beleaive its 60 mg .im currently weening off cymbalta i gained almost 50 lbs and now im putting it on rapidly every two wks not even im putting on 2 too 2n a half lbs that sucks so i was prescribed viibryd havnt tryed it yet but read nothing but good things about it so far hope this was usefull
For anyone having weight gain issues, the probiotic called Lactobacillus Gasseri (made by Swanson) helps a lot with weight loss. It works at a safe rate of weight loss, too. It can interact with a few prescription medications, so be sure to check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking it. Assuming it's safe for you to take, be consistent in taking it. After you've been taking it for a few weeks, the weight loss stops for a bit, but stick with it. It starts working again. Just be patient. I gained a significant amount of weight from a medicine I was prescribed and no matter what I did, I couldn't lose any weight. This probiotic helped me lose all of the weight I'd gained. Remember to be patient as safe weight loss should generally be 5 or less pounds a week, so it takes some time. Last, it caused me to have diarrhea for a few days when I first started taking it as it flushed excess fat out of my system, but I've had no problems at all since then.
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the maximum highest dose for cymbalta is 120 mg. I am on 120 mg. and have not encountered any problems or side effects. The doses go from 20mg to 30mg to 60mg to 90mg(1 60mg and 1 30 mg pill) then it goes to the max which is 120mg 1 times per day. Hope this helps. If your Dr. tries to put you higher than 120 mg, I would research the drug completely. Try to find out if more severe side effect can happen at increased doses.
Related topics
cymbalta, depression, anxiety, diabetic nerve damage, pain, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (cfs), diabetic neuropathy
Further information
- Cymbalta uses and safety info
- Cymbalta prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Cymbalta (detailed)
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