Duloxetine for Peripheral Neuropathy User Reviews

• NJR...
• September 20, 2011

Duloxetine "I have had non-diabetic neuropathy pain for several years. The pain was very intense, causing loss of sleep and impact to normal activities. I had tried Elavil, Lyrica, Neurontin, Mobic, Zanaflex, and many others. The cause of my pain is herniated discs, so physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic treatments were also tried. A new pain doctor finally recommended Cymbalta and it was a miracle! After a week, there was a significant reduction and after 6 weeks, the reduction is truly outstanding. I have not encountered any side effects other than loss of appetite (a bonus!). I am taking 60mg daily and am grateful we tried this before attempting any invasive procedures. I strongly encourage anyone in my category to give this a try."

• dec...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 4, 2012

Duloxetine "I have been taking Cymbalta for 3 weeks for Peripheral Neuropathy, a painful disease that hasn't responded to any other meds. It blocks the pain signals to the brain and works wonderfully. I have about an 80% reduction in pain and rarely need a pain med. It also helps my mood and reduces my appetite. No side effects. It's great! On another note: NEVER go off an antidepressant cold turkey! It can be a nightmare. Work with your doctor to taper off slowly & safely."

• rap...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 15, 2012

Duloxetine "At the age of 70, I can go back to interval training and my stomach has gotten flatter, and my energy increased by 60% since taking Cymbalta. A true miracle. No pain at all, whereas I could barely walk six weeks ago."

• dim...
• July 23, 2011

Duloxetine "I have severe small nerve fiber disease. Besides taking Neurontin, I was prescribed Cymbalta. Cymbalta took away the burning pains I was having at night on my feet. I LOVE it. I no longer feel like someone put gas on my feet and set them on fire."

• big...
• April 16, 2011

Duloxetine "I'm male, 52, and a diabetic on insulin. After developing severe peripheral neuropathy six years ago, I was prescribed Neurontin, which did not work for me. After two weeks with no relief, I checked into the ER due to intense pain. I was prescribed Cymbalta by the ER doctor and have never looked back. Within a couple of days, the pain was gone! My feet and lower legs felt great, and the ominous feeling of intensified pain in the evenings had vanished. As for side effects, I sometimes have difficulty sleeping, and sometimes I feel a bit wonky-headed. However, those are easy trade-offs to accept in return for the pain relief I feel. Cymbalta continues to be my miracle medication."

• D b...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 23, 2024

"I experienced relief after 3 weeks on a low dose (30mg) at night of duloxetine to treat unexplained peripheral neuropathy in my feet. I am now more active and sleep well at night. It has helped immensely. I had had numbness in my feet for almost 2 years, I walked badly, which caused pain in knees and back. I had become quite depressed, was unable to participate in many outdoor activities."

• Anonymous
• April 22, 2012

Duloxetine "I was given this originally for fibromyalgia. It worked well for the pain, however, it took a higher dosage to keep the pain away. The side effects became a problem, spacey and fuzzy all day. I tried to stop taking it, yet the doctor did not want me to stop. I stopped on my own, cold turkey. Wow, 6 weeks to get it out of my system! Went to the hospital with withdrawal symptoms, bad."

• EXW...
• October 28, 2016

"I'm a 74-year-old woman who has had peripheral neuropathy for about 7 years. None of the meds prescribed gave me any relief until I was started on Cymbalta. It seemed miraculous, as within a week or so, I had almost no pain or burning in my legs and feet. I'm on 60 mg daily, along with oxycodone (7.5 mg twice daily). In the last couple of years, the Cymbalta is far less effective than it was initially, and I would have even more pain if it weren't for the oxycodone. I asked my doctor about increasing the Cymbalta to 90 mg, but he says you don't get much more relief beyond the 60 mg dose. It's very disappointing to have the effectiveness decrease. Side effects are weight gain and sensitivity to heat and sweating."

• JMC...
• July 19, 2011

Duloxetine "I have severe nerve pains in my hands and feet. I am not diabetic, my doctor tried me on 60 mg. By the 7th day, I had my wife call the doctor and advise that I would like to discontinue use. I take a lot of different medication for different medical problems and can tolerate them well, but this 'Cymbalta' was different. It made me feel disconnected, my body was here and my mind was out there somewhere, like I have tunnel vision. Did not like this medication."

• Den...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 23, 2017

"I am a 59-year-old male with non-diabetic nerve pain due to several bad discs. I was prescribed Gabapentin, which worked very well, unfortunately, after about 13 months, I developed an allergy to it, so my doctor prescribed Cymbalta, 30 mg 2x/day, and it has worked quite well also. The only side effect I have experienced is a bit of tiredness and sleeping more than before, but I have always been a poor sleeper, so this has been a bonus! During my annual checkup last week, my doctor suggested I try to go off Cymbalta to see if the nerve pain has improved. I was told to cut my evening dose for a week, then begin taking one pill every other day for a week, and so on. At one pill every other day, my foot pain has returned, I can't sleep, my head is literally spinning!!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 11, 2019

"Dr. prescribed duloxetine for neuropathy. After taking just one pill, I had severe side effects for five days: severe nausea and diarrhea, and also uncontrollable muscle movements in the shoulder (dystonia) and stomach that lasted much longer."

• Sus...
• February 1, 2017

"I took duloxetine for 90 days. It helped reduce my pain enough that I could stop most opioids, but drug side effects were worse than the pain. I had dry mouth, then nausea, which went on every day until about a month after I stopped it. I woke up in a panic sometimes after horrible nightmares, which I hadn't had before. I began teeth grinding, chipped many teeth, and was advised to have a mouth guard made. My headaches worsened markedly. My blood pressure rose substantially. I itched, sweated, and passed gas horribly. I had difficulty passing urine. My doctor had no idea how to help me; all I would be told was to 'drink ginger tea.' Stopping it was hellish, with shaking, wide blood pressure swings, and painful brain zaps."

• sid...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 15, 2017

"Started Cymbalta, but also started gabapentin at the same time. Not sure which drug has caused some relief with the intense cold and pain feeling in my feet. It seems most folks are having problems with hot feelings along with pain in their feet. My feet are freezing. I'm 46, and my wife and I had a great sexual relationship. The Cymbalta has totally killed my libido and ability to get or maintain an erection. She's supportive, but I can't keep on with this diminished sex drive. I'm so tired of every med having such terrible side effects, and it seems docs just don't get it...."

• JTa...
• January 11, 2021

"Cymbalta has completely stopped my severe neuropathy pain in both my feet. My feet used to feel like a truck had run over them at the end of the day. After taking Cymbalta, I have absolutely no pain whatsoever. At the end of the day, my feet feel like they did when I wake up. No pain. It is a miracle. Duloxetine has also stopped the ringing in my ears, commonly known as tinnitus."

• Che...
• July 8, 2017

"I got breast cancer mets in my bones (mainly spine) in 2010 and had chemo. I recently was diagnosed with chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). I'm on Lyrica 250 mg/day, which helps a bit. They tried all the anti-epileptics and most of the amitriptyline family and gave up. My psychologist suggested Duloxetine. I've been on it two months, and I'm loving it! The lightning strikes have abated, but I still have a little burning, etc., and still drop everything I pick up, but without this drug, the pain was intolerable! It has even helped with my cancer pain. It has caused a bit of fogginess, occasional bouts of double vision, and ringing in the ears - BUT that's nothing compared to the side effects I got from all the other concoctions. Love it."

• Uji...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 19, 2013

"I am on 60 mg duloxetine twice a day. This has definitely helped me, but not completely. I still have to take at least one oxycodone. I haven't experienced any side effects, except a little depression at the pharmacy checkout counter. Ha ha."

• mrs...
• December 21, 2015

"My right arm and hand were in horrific pain, nothing gave me relief. I suffered for three weeks and lost a lot of sleep while waiting to see a neurologist. The doctor prescribed Cymbalta for peripheral neuropathy, and within days, the pain began to subside. After two weeks, I'm just about pain-free. It was making me feel groggy at work, so I just altered the time I take it, from morning to evening, and it worked out well."

• Anonymous
• January 25, 2011

Duloxetine "My neurologist recommended this for my peripheral neuropathy. I took it (60 mg) only once because it made me nauseated, dizzy, shaky, and sleepy. I could not keep my eyes open. I realize that this might get better if I keep taking it, but I have to work, and there is no way I can do that with these side effects. It did work, however. Just this one dose made the pain much more bearable for two days."

• Wil...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 26, 2016

"71-year-old male. Started on 30 mg. Works well in terms of reducing numbness and cramping from peripheral neuropathy. Side effects - slight constipation and slight reduction in energy level. Also, possible reduction in sexual performance. Again, side effects seem to be slight so far compared to benefits."

• Mac...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 20, 2020

"I have to warn you, for me, duloxetine was an ineffective drug with severe side effects. What they won't tell you is how duloxetine/Cymbalta is highly addictive. I took it for a year. Once I went on a 3-day trip and forgot it. I was a nervous wreck. My doctor added it to my neuropathy cocktail. Only on the third attempt was I able to kick it. I wasn't a depressed person. I went through severe depression and thoughts of suicide while kicking this stuff. I believe it was unnecessarily engineered to be addictive."

• Anonymous
• July 13, 2011

Duloxetine "I'd give Cymbalta a ten if it didn't stop working. 60 mg killed all my pain. Then, after approximately 3 months, it all came back. My doctor just upped me to 90 mg, and I get by on Percocet, which works, but not as well as Cymbalta initially did. We'll see what happens."

• Anonymous
• February 17, 2011

Duloxetine "It worked great; pain was totally gone. But the side effects were awful: couldn't sleep (for days), sweating lots (just sitting still in the air conditioning), bowel movements were so dry it was like passing glass. ETC, ETC."

• Mas...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 20, 2017

"Started taking this drug about three weeks ago because of the neuropathy in my feet and legs. I already take three different antidepressants for bipolar II. I found that this did lift my mood a little bit more, but I haven't seen much improvement in the neuropathy. I am taking 60 mg once a day. Major side effects I am struggling with are hot flashes and disrupted sleep at night. Has anyone else had the side effects, and did they go away?"

• Boo...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 26, 2018

"I was taking 3200 mg of gabapentin daily, but still would have spells of neuropathy in my toes. The doctor suggested I add Cymbalta 30 mg for a week, then up it to 60 mg. I took it for 6-8 weeks and the spells of neuropathy remained. I also had explosive diarrhea on Cymbalta. Anti-diarrhea medication didn't even help. I dropped back to 30 mg for 3 days, then totally stopped. My diarrhea has stopped and I have decided to just live with the periodic spells of neuropathy in my toes. I may increase to 3600 mg of gabapentin to see if that helps. Cymbalta was a waste of time!"

• Aus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 7, 2021

"I am being treated with 300 mg duloxetine, 10 mg amitriptyline, and 75 mg pregabalin for bad neuropathy in my feet and legs, along with generalized fibromyalgia pain in other parts of my body. I have suffered these symptoms for about 10 years. The neuropathy has decreased markedly, as has the fibromyalgia pain. It took about 10 days to work properly, but I am now essentially pain-free. Side effects are feeling dozy in the morning and total loss of libido. I am prepared to put up with the side effects as the drugs are working so well."