# IBS - D brought under control after 30 years with Cymbalta 30 mg day



## Dd3vlin (Oct 18, 2010)

Hello everyone,I’m a 48 year old male who has suffered with IBS-D for 30 years. I’ve been to many different types of doctors from gastro, infectious disease, chiropractic, Chinese med, accu-puncture, yoga and holistic. I’ve been tested for everything from Celiac disease to parasites. Had upper and lower GI’s several times over the years and been on MANY types of meds & herbal (dragons blood, ginger, peppermint, st johns wort) prescribed antidepressants drugs including; tricyclid antidepressants, Paxil, Effexor (and several other I forgot), calcium pills, cholesterol powders and pill, I live outside of Baltimore which has allowed me to partake in several study medications relating to this issue at Johns Hopkins. NOTHING worked. When I traveled I used Lomotil and Pepto to help me through the day. I followed a new drug several years ago from Solvay Pharmaceuticals called Cilanestron. Unfortunately it never made it to market. Our illustrious FDA should be thanked for that.Every doctor / specialist has a different opinion about the cause and reasons. Ten years ago I just gave up trying and decided to deal with it as best I could. I was diagnosed several years ago with mild arthritis in my back and right hip joint. It has become more painful since then. My family doctor recommended I try Cymbalta earlier this year. Besides its obvious use for depression it is also helpful for treatment of pain. I was reluctant due to my past experiences but decided to give it a try. I’ve been on Cymbalta for five months now. After five days at 30 mg a day I began to see a change in my bm’s. By the end of week two I was down to one bm a day. My dosage was upped to 60 mg after two weeks. This is the amount I have been taking for almost five months. I’ve gone from 3-6 bm’s a day to one every day or two. I’m simply blown away. 30 years of urgency and going to the bathroom 3-6 times a day to sympton free in two weeks from starting this med. This drug has been nothing short of a miracle for me. I feel like I did when I was in my teens. I no longer have pain, gas or cramps associated with the diarrhea. The first few weeks I yawned a lot but this symptom went away. I have experienced no symptoms since and have been on Cymbalta for almost six months now. Cymbalta has not caused bloating and constipation followed by D as with meds like Immodium and no foggy dream like state I experience with the antidepressants from the 90’s. I feel fine with no change in my mental status. Even with IBS – D I’ve been pretty happy go lucky most of my life and I was afraid Cymbalta would affect me negatively. The only exception is I still have the pain from my arthritis…lol. My doctor reduced my dosage back to 30mg a day (since it had no effect on the pain) several weeks ago and so far so good with the IBS. I felt it was important to pass this info along. Hope someone finds this helpful.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks for sharing.Very interesting.When time allow (testing other meds) and if I still am in the need I will try it.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Just got Cymbalta prescribed now. I will start at the end of the week.Should I take it in the morning or in the evening?


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## Jackmat (Jun 13, 2005)

One of the side effects of CYMBALTA is constipation.And obviously that effect is normalising for you.Wow. Great News.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Jackmat said:


> One of the side effects of CYMBALTA is constipation.And obviously that effect is normalising for you.Wow. Great News.


Could be it...But many antidepressants have a positive effect on IBS-D.Not the constipation effect but the effect of normalizing the stomach.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Well I think it may have also to do with the serotonin as well.Siea YOu can always ask your Dr or the pharmacist this question. But if it were me and on a weekend....when nothing great is planned... I would try it in the morning at first.. and see how you feel. Keep in mind that you may experience side effects initially that will wane off the longer you take it. So give it some time before you make any judegement calls on side effects.But if you find you are too drowsy etc... then switch it to the evening maybe??Everyone is different so you will have to try it for yourself and see.I wish you all the best with it!


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

Could you give me more information on your trial of cilansetron please.The Professor i see about my IBS D said that when he and his team trialled cilansetron a few years ago and said they had great results with it but it wasnt endorsed by the drug administrations in the US and here in the UK.I believe it is used or something very similar in other parts of the world.


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## Dd3vlin (Oct 18, 2010)

Siea said:


> Just got Cymbalta prescribed now. I will start at the end of the week.Should I take it in the morning or in the evening?


Hi Siea, Sorry for the delay in responding. Wondering how you made out with the Cymbalta. Still working fine for me. I take the medication first thing in the morning (30 mg). Hope the results have been positive!


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## Dd3vlin (Oct 18, 2010)

jmc09 said:


> Could you give me more information on your trial of cilansetron please.The Professor i see about my IBS D said that when he and his team trialled cilansetron a few years ago and said they had great results with it but it wasnt endorsed by the drug administrations in the US and here in the UK.I believe it is used or something very similar in other parts of the world.


I was not in the trial for Cliansetron. I follow the message boards for a few years while it was in testing. It had VERY good positive results. The drug maker Solvay failed to get FDA approval after phase three trials. The FDA made request for additional info / trials and the UK followed suit. Solvay just threw up their hands and withdrew completly. To my knoweledge, Cilansetron is not produced or used in any country.


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## Siea (Jun 21, 2010)

Dd3vlin said:


> Hi Siea, Sorry for the delay in responding. Wondering how you made out with the Cymbalta. Still working fine for me. I take the medication first thing in the morning (30 mg). Hope the results have been positive!


Noticed no improvement at all for a week. And at the same time I had trouble sleeping at night and my hunger went away so I was losing weight. (I am skinny to begin with so that was no good).My girlfriend asked me if I was sick since I looked so pale and tired.Then I decided to stop after a little more than 1 week.I know the side effects can take a bit longer to go away. But since I noticed no improvement at all I decided it was not worth it and that I rather try another treatment. Currently trying the Dr. Snow method.


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## Dd3vlin (Oct 18, 2010)

Siea said:


> Noticed no improvement at all for a week. And at the same time I had trouble sleeping at night and my hunger went away so I was losing weight. (I am skinny to begin with so that was no good).My girlfriend asked me if I was sick since I looked so pale and tired.Then I decided to stop after a little more than 1 week.I know the side effects can take a bit longer to go away. But since I noticed no improvement at all I decided it was not worth it and that I rather try another treatment. Currently trying the Dr. Snow method.


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