Duloxetine - effects?

Hi there,

I'm giving duloxetine (60mg/day) a try for endo pain management.

It's day two for me, and it's said to work in 2 to 4 weeks.

Yesterday, I had an upset stomach, and was very fatigued from it.

Today, my stomach is fine, but I'm still rather fatigued (my ears are ringing a bit like how they ring when I'm tired).

I'm starting to hurt less, but that might just be that the flare-up is settling down a bit (still taking diclofenac & codeine to cope).

For those who have tried duloxetine, was it like this to start?

[Violet159]

I'm on that now, the first week or so was really grim but all the side effects settled off gradually after that. That's really common with antidepressants, pretty much everyone feels a bit gross to start with. If you're taking codeine with it then I'd be shocked if you didn't have side effects to be honest!

They take several weeks to take effect for both depression and for pain so it probably hasn't helped your pain yet, but if you can tolerate the side effects it's worth a shot. Personally I've never noticed an impact on the pain itself - sadly these things don't work for everyone - however after a few weeks I noticed a huge impact on my mood and I cope so much better with the pain now so I've stayed on it for that reason.

Good luck 😊

[Hidden in reply to Violet159]

Hi Violet, I think my flare-up has calmed down now, so I've stopped taking the codeine and will be on my 4th day with duloxetine. I can't say I feel my best, but at least the sharp stabbing feeling is less now. I suspect the first week on duloxetine is making me sluggish, my stomach a bit upsidedown, and my ears ring. But, it's not as bad as a flu, so I'll persevere and see if this calms down.

[Violet159 in reply to Hidden]

Glad to hear it's settling, I've got my fingers crossed for you that it helps x

[Molefosey]

I have been using codeine for pain for many years and i have come to think that as a pain killer they are weak and do not lessen the pain a lot? I am on 30mgs x 8 per day Molfosey

[Hidden in reply to Molefosey]

Hi Molefosey, I've heard that when codeine is used regularly the same dose no longer gives the same pain relief - the body gets used to it. I wonder if that might be why you're finding it has little effect? Maybe worth checking with a doctor.