Cymbalta ...So Worth The Minimal Side Effects Compared to the Nerve Pain I was Experiencing

A reader asked me to let her know how I am doing on the Cymbalta, but I don't have an email address for her so I will just talk about it here. She was asking in regard to nerve pain....I am just going to cover everything. My reader was concerned about side effects.  Cymbalta, like every drug I have ever taken, has a long list of possible side effects.  I experienced awful nausea the first day but I took it without food and I was suppose to take it with a meal.  When the Dr increased the dosage last week I experienced nausea for a couple of hours the first day of the doubled dosage, but I again took it without a meal.  Other than that, if I take it with food I am just fine.  It can cause dry mouth.  At the beginning I experienced that slightly, but I just sipped water all day and it went away.  Since I have been on Cymbalta food has not been appealing and my appetite is diminished but that is OKAY.  I have suffered with insomnia for years so I don't know if it had any effect as far as making it worse.  I would consider my experience with side effects as pretty minimal.  Every person is different so I can not say what kind of side effect experiences someone else might have.  My daughter took this drug for awhile and she experienced sweating to a degree that it was constant and very uncomfortable for her.  She also had extended periods of dry mouth.  On to the results, so far.... I am not a Dr so I can only give you my experience. I was given Cymbalta for my depression but my psychiatrist said it should also help with my Morton's Neuroma because it is also prescribed for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia.  I really didn't expect it to do much for my Morton's Neuroma.  I previously had endured painful steroid shots in my feet and was told the only other option was surgery and odds were that it would just grow back.  At the time I started taking Cymbalta the two drugs I had been taking for depression and anxiety had just stopped working for me.  In addition, I had decided to see if I could do without any medication for 3 months.  It was clear to me and everyone else that I can not function without medication.  By the time I saw the psychiatrist I was crying throughout the day over any thing that evoked any emotion in me....Hallmark commercials, my dog doing something cute, a friend expressing concern, a song.  My depression was horrid.  RE: Morton's Neuroma---it is a knot of swollen, enlarged nerves formed at the base of toes & ball of your foot.  Normally, your nerves don't grow into a ball right there but my do.  When my Dr presses on it he can hear (my hearing is too impaired to hear it), and I can feel the pop, sort of like a small marble in there. Most common cause is wearing high heels and pointed toes that cram your foot in an unnatural shape.  Well, I have never worn either....I am a big believer in wearing comfortable shoes.  I have it in both feet and have no idea why or how I came up with it. It is incredibly painful.  When I have flare-ups it is just all but unbearable.  Feels like lightning bolts going from my toes throughout my foot.  Feels like walking on sharp, pointy shards of glass or rocks.  I am really a pretty tough cookie, so when I tell you this pain is all but unbearable I mean it is PAINFUL with a capital P.  I delivered 4 very large babies and the worst labor pain was a piece of cake compaired to one second of Morton's pain......and Morton's Neuroma pain just goes on and on and on for months when you get a flare-up.  Cymbalta was a lifesaver for me.  My Dr started me on a low dose November 1st, as is normal and then increased the dosage this past week.  Back in November the effects of the medication were pretty dramatic and quick.  Within 2 weeks I was not crying all the time.  My depression was better, not gone, but better.  Holidays have always been horrible for me because of history, because of my agoraphobia, because of my anxiety issues.  I got through the holidays ok.   In December my dog died.  This was not just a dog to me - this dog had been with me for 11 years and he was my baby.  His passing was very, very hard on me.  It was a death of a family member to me.  I think I handled it fairly well, considering, because of the Cymbalta.  The BEST thing about Cymbalta though, is my Morton's Neuroma pain is GONE.  I have NONE.  At the time I started taking Cymbalta I was in a flare-up that was going on it's 9th week, best I remember, and was the worst flare-up I had ever had.   9 weeks or so of non-stop, excrutiating pain stopped within 2 weeks.  Truthfully, I have been afraid to go on any really long walks---like several miles as I was doing when the last flare-up started but I can walk around Wal-Mart and not experience a flare-up.  Many a time walking around Wal-Mart or a grocery store would bring me to tears from the pain in my feet.