Cymbalta & Neuropathic Pain
Cymbalta, a brand name version of the medication duloxetine, has a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved indication for managing diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. Patients need to take the medication each day to receive the most benefit from it. When taking Cymbalta, patients may experience side effects such as nausea. Patients may also have negative mood changes.
What Is Neuropathic Pain
Doctors use the term "neuropathic pain" to describe any type of pain that patients experience because their nerves have become damaged. Patients experiencing neuropathic pain due to diabetic nerve damage can feel severe discomfort and sharp burning and tingling. Diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain most often occurs in the hands and feet. Controlling diabetes can slow damage to the nerves and lessen flare-ups of neuropathic pain, but damaged nerves cannot be repaired.
Dosing of Cymbalta
The prescribing information for Cymbalta recommends taking a single 60 mg capsule each day to treat diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. Patients whose kidneys have become damaged by their diabetes may have to take a lower daily dose. At the same time, patients with healthy kidneys and severe neuropathic pain may benefit from a daily dose higher than 60 mg.
Common Side Effects
Clinical trial data summarized in Cymbalta's prescribing information indicate that nausea, dizziness, somnolence and fatigue were the most-frequently reported side effects from taking the medication to treat diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. Patients taking Cymbalta to treat other health problems also reported experiencing dry mouth, constipation, decreased appetite and excessive sweating.
Warnings
Cymbalta's prescribing information carries a boxed, boldface warning about increased depression and suicidal thoughts among patients taking the medication. Patients younger than 24 years of age appear to have the highest risk for these negative mood changes. Other serious problems patients and their doctors need to watch for while a patient takes Cymbalta include liver damage, fainting caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure when the patient stands up, nosebleeds and other instances of uncontrolled bleeding and a potentially life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome. Patients experiencing serotonin syndrome have too much of the mood-altering chemical in their bloodstreams. This leads to agitation, hallucinations, very high body temperature, racing heartbeat, muscle rigidity, loss of coordination and, in extreme cases, coma.
Who Cannot Take Cymbalta
People with uncontrolled narrow-angle glaucoma cannot take Cymbalta. Nor can people who currently take medications classified as monoamine oxidase inhibitors , or MAOIs. Used to treat depression and anxiety, the MAOI class of drugs includes isocarboxazid (e.g., Marplan from Validus), phenylzine (e.g., Nardil from Pfizer) and tranylcypromine (e.g., Parnate from GlaxoSmithKline). Before starting to take Cymbalta, patients need to stop taking their MAOI for at least two weeks.
Tags: neuropathic pain, peripheral neuropathic, peripheral neuropathic pain, Cymbalta prescribing, Cymbalta prescribing information