CYMBALTA - I like it but IT won't Let the Wolf SLEEP!

megawolf · July 15, 2006, 10:01am

I just started Cymbalta today. I am hyper by design. I have autism, antisocial personality disorder and brain damage. I have cerebral palsy lots of disabilities. I know it is early yet but after the first pill 60 MG, I have noticed a few things I really do not like.

I have NO sex drive which I really do not miss being autistic. Having antisocial personality disorder makes it a real constant struggle to keep my behavior within the expected parameters of societies rules under normal conditiions. Cymbalta is making it much harder to keep the most negative antisocial desires that are ever present under strict management. Thus far I have been able to keep my most base desires well managed but it is a real struggle I can not endure forever.

Cymbalta makes me so hyper I can not sleep at all. I am up all night. I am not depressed or at least I feel good, but I am but I feel like I drank a river of coffee with tons of caffene. I am kind of afraid because, I am feeling really inwardly aggressive even at home alone like I want to fight something or someone but there is no one here for me to get mad at, which is not a good or safe place for me.

I am thinking about speaking to my doctor tomorrow, because this scares me. Not being able to sleep at all is another Cymbalta negative. I am happy that I am more alert now than I have been in a long time but, I would like it to wear off long enough for me to get at least a little sleep. Let me know if any of you have any comments or suggestions. I will let you know how my chat with my doctor works out later today.

els · July 15, 2006, 10:41am

Hi canislupus, Welcome to Healing Well forum, we are happy to have you. I have never taken Cymbalta so I dont have personal experiance to draw from on this...however, many of my clients have taken this medication and had great success from it. You are correct that one day is alittle to early to draw any real conclusions toward the medication. What I would be most concerned with is if your taking any other prescription medications or OTC's that could potentially cause interaction or mixing them could cause these side effects for you. Speaking to your physician about this is a wise choice.

I am sorry to hear about your antisocial personiality disorder. I understand how difficult it is to control as my little brother (he is 29) has this disorder and can be very scary at times. I think it is good that you recognize that you do have this disorder and try to control it as best you can, and know what society at a whole expects from you behavior wise. Alot of people dont then blame their actions or reactions on others and circumstances. It sounds like your a strong person trying to do what you can to get better and survive in the best way possiable. Please know we are always here, so do feel free to continue to post. Take care

Elisha

http://www.healingwell.com/donate

cajunbrat · July 15, 2006, 12:13pm

Canis, I do take Cymbalta......2 - 60mg daily I take them both by noon to ensure I settle down at night. Are you still perky from that 6am Cymbalta?

~Kathy~

els · July 15, 2006, 2:24pm

thank you for mentioning that Kathy

...I forgot to post that question of what time you take your Cymbalta? I take Effexor XR and it makes me pretty hyper too so I have to take it pretty early in the AM so I have enuf time to settle down during the day.

Elisha

http://www.healingwell.com/donate

megawolf · July 15, 2006, 2:49pm

Ok that tells me something right there. My only experience with anti-depresants was when I took Elavil and Siniquan years ago. I learned it was best to take them at bedtime. Elavil and Siniquan really knocked me out right after ingestion so I had to take them at night just before bed. Wrongly I figured Cymbalta would knock me out just like Elavil used to so I took it just before bedtime. Its forum helped me out because I see from your posts that Cymbalta is likely best taken at mid-day or early in the morning.

On the Antisocial personality disorder yeah you are right it is a constant real time struggle. Between fighting the effects of the autism and the antisocial personality disorder it took me 41 years to manage both with enough success to get and hold a job. Trust me it is still hard to hold a job and deal with life in the world with both autism and antisocial personality disorder. Sometimes I think I am holding on to success by only the slenderest spiders web sized thread. That Cymbalta causes me to loose sleep is bad but, the fact that Cymbalta makes me less able to manage my antisocial personality disorder is my primary concern because that could potentially hurt me or others which is something I will not let happen.

So I will be talking with my doctor today about this. Thanks for the taking Cymbalta in the morning tip because I would have had to figure that part out. Just puts me wise to the fact that not all antidepressants will act like the Elavil and Siniquan I grew up with. Just so you know I take 60 mg of Cymbalta once a day. Well thanks and I will let you know how it goes. I will try to be here for you all as well. Thanks again and best wishes from WOLF

els · July 15, 2006, 4:43pm

Wolf, I am so glad that the forum is being of some help to you. I know it has been of tremendous help to me. I totally understand how important it is to make sure that your medications don’t interrupt your daily routine and alter your sleep pattern, as it can become disastrous for a lot of people. As I mentioned in a prior post my younger brother has Antisocial Personality Disorder with Bipolar (quite a mix huh?) he is 29 and refuses any medications or help, and can at times be quite violent and hateful. He does work as a landscaper but often ends up having problems with a fellow employee or boss and quits and moves on to the next job. He isn’t a bad kid and I love him to death but most of the time I just don’t like him.

Anyway, I am amazed at the amount of insight you have into your disorders and with having APD with Autism and being able to work. It is just truly great and an inspiration.

Elisha

http://www.healingwell.com/donate

megawolf · July 15, 2006, 10:01pm

I did not learn to master my antisocial personity disorder well enough to start working among people till I was aged 41. I do not have a close relationship with my sisters or family for the same reasons. I love my family and oddly enough they still love me. We will help each other however and whenever needed but we do seldom if ever socialize because, I do not like being around people without a tangible goal we are striving for. Social gatherings generally have no clearly defined goal so for me they are a disaster.

I did not learn to stop fighting at the drop of a hat till age 1995. What changed me is I almost killed a friend I grew up with from high school because he stole $5 from me and then lied about it. Generally when I had no memory of fights between me and the people I fought because, honestly I did not care about them whatsoever. The difference with fighting my old friend is I did not want to kill him so I tried to restrain myself as such I remember a great deal of it. I bashed the dude in the head with a heavy This End Up coffee table busting his face and giving him a concussion so serious he had to have it fixed by surgery. He almost died all for stealing $5 from me.

I was shocked at seeing just how horrible I looked when I was in a blood rage. Another time I learned about how aweful I Looked when upset occured when I was in a fight at a hospital and it was caught on video tape. I saw the fear of me in the faces of good people I considered dear friends. Having dear friends be afraid of me actually hurt me because, those people I would never hurt. I realized I was a monster because, I felt nothing. Since I feel nothing, having no conscience, I must manage my anger using pure intellect, logic and an understanding of the rules of polite society and its functioning.

I say all this because I want you to know their is hope for your loved one with Antisocial Personality Disorder. Like him I spent most of my life wandering from one low paying job to another. I'd stay at a job until someone got on my last nerve I'd blow up explode throw things smack someone, turn over a desk and leave. Like him I had like almost 60 jobs in like 28 years before going giving psychological help as part of my rehabilitation plan that included me going to college for computer science. Just know there is hope for him. Sometimes if a person with Antisocial Personality Disorder works long enough with time and age they learn to manage their antisocial personality disorder. Just know there is hope for him. Like you My sisters Love me in that they will help me if needed but they do not like me and frankly I do not blame them.

Best Wishes WOLF

Kris44 · July 16, 2006, 4:06am

Hi wolf, my name is Krista,welcome! I've been taking cymbalta for over 3 months, it has helped me tremendously. I feel so much better, hey I actually even smile once in awhile.Ha Ha! But about the insomnia problem, I've had that before the cymbalta while taking other meds. I was having to take ambian every nite to get any sleep at all. Now on the cymbalta and I'm taking 80mg a day they added another anitdepressant called doxipin 50mg, that I take before bedtime, it tends to make you drowsy. But I've come to find that since I'm feeling so much better with the cymbalta that when I lie down to go to sleep, my mind isn't running rampant anymore. It's pretty cool to be able to relax. I still have all of the stress in my life, but I seem to be handling it all much better. Hang in there and I have a feeling it will work for you too. Ask your doc for some samples of AmbianCR, it will help you go to sleep and continue working through the night. Hope this helps. Take care, Krista