I have been on Cymbalta for a month, now, for acute Fibromyalgia pain in neck, shoulders, and severe headaches. I can't yet assess its value, as I have been on a 30mg introductory dosage.

I would be very interested in other Fibro sufferers' experience with this or any other drug!

I have been on Cymbalta for over a year for fibromyalgia pain. I started on 30 mg and moved up to 60 mg after 3 months. My pain is everywhere, but upper body is definitely the worst! I have fairly sever headaches, also.

Cymbalta is a wonderful part of my pain management "tool box." If feeling good (no fibro, no chronic pain, just feeling good) is the 2nd floor of a house, and normal fibro pain is somewhere in the sub-basement, Cymbalta helps me get up to the main level fairly regularly. The pain isn't gone, but it is manageable. And it seems to help other pain meds work better.

The main thing you need to be aware of is to not stop taking it abruptly. I don't have any side effect problems if I run out and don't get it refilled for a few days. My daughter, however, who also has fibro, has fairly sever side effects if she goes 36 - 48 hours without taking it. Just be aware!

I have been using Cymbalta for dysthymia for over a year, and it has been the best by far of any medication out of the dozen or so I've been given. An unexpected side benefit has been that my lower back pain does not bother me nearly as often - I'd had it for 20 years as a result of a bike accident with 2 cracked vertebrae - some days I don't feel any pain at all now. After reading this article now I know why!

Agree strongly about interrupting dosages - at 60mg/day I can't go more than 36 hours without getting short bouts of disorientation, "sparks" at the periphery of my vision, and sleeplessness. So no, don't try stopping abruptly.

what about cronic ankle pain/nerve spazams

I took Cymbalta for a summer for Fibro pain.

It took away the pain, no question. The only problem was that I slept for the entire summer, just about 24/7. I couldn't function, so I had to stop taking it.

I've also taken Lyrica and Savella, also approved for Fibro. Couldn't take either one of those, either. Savella also helped the pain, but caused such excruciating headache and neck pain that it wasn't worth the trade off, especially since it also made me more tired.

I've been taking 120mg of Cymbalta for several months for chronic pain and for fibromyalgia, and it is helping a great deal. Combined with neurontin, they're the perfect match for me.

I had been taking Cymbalta for depression. It definitely worked. However, after a while as it built up in my system, I developed urinary incontinence. My Dr. checked and a percentage of the population can develop this type of side effect. Proof that it was the Cymbalta, after I stopped using it, urinary control returned. Just info for any who are using it who may notice this undesirable side effect.

The hell with that crap... Medical Marijuana is the safest and best med for pain. Its also free and no side effect.

I have a few herniated lower back discs that cause lower back pain. I use Cymbalta for it and love it! I would describe the pain as manageable, and sometimes even non-existent. I wouldn't be able to walk without it. I used to get steroid shots every three months otherwise; they weren't nearly as effective. Those were also more invasive, much more costly, etc. I really hope the FDA indicates Cymbalta for lower back pain because it will help so many people!

Ask These Folks about the subject ! http://www.cymbaltasurvivors.com/

The FDA is a poorly run organization they recommend medicine to the masses based on the pay checks they receive from the pharmaceutical companies. Instead of recommending medicines that are proven to work over extended testing periods. They instead push products to market (not to mention waste millions of dollars on advertisement, instead of using that money for testing of their own product) and to the "consumers" but unfortunately in the case of the pharmaceutical companies these are ill patients who need help, not healthy people shopping at a mall. My mother is incredibly ill and it's due to the past few years, doctors prescribing medicines that are brand new to market and have minimal testing(and when you are ill as people will unfortunately find out, you become desperate to be healthy again, and vulnerable, usually willing to try anything). If you are taking a large combination of medicines it is recommended that you do lots of independent research, because usually, your doctor has not. The only information they have is usually the information given to them by the pharmaceutical companies, who want you to think that other then the obvious side effects it's bound to have, it's going to instantaneously cure you. And it won't be until later (if ever) that the FDA discovers the medicine is full of strong narcotics (like they discovered yesterday with a fibromyalgia medicine containing the date rape drug) or that it doesn't work at all. So be wary and be safe, your doctors are people too, they still have human tendencies, and unfortunately they can still make mistakes.

I am not saying that these medicines cannot work for you, because by all means they can. I know many people who take Cymbalta and it has truly improved the quality of their lives. This comment is a cautionary one because I have seen first hand what blindly trusting pharmaceutical companies can do. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you have them, and if your doctor cannot answer them, find a new doctor.

I took Cymbalta and it worked pretty well for psoriatic arthritis pain.

I'm so glad people are being helped by this drug. However, it was Not the drug for me for my fibromyalgia pain. I made me feel very aggressive and nevous. Two months after taking it I had to come off and put on an alternate medication.

I have been taking a combination of drugs for fibromyalgia and/or depression for a number of years, including Cymbalta, and, for me, Cymbalta lessens my pain by maybe 40%. That may not sound like much, but it is significant to anyone with fibromyalgia. Sometimes I forget my medication or run out of Cymbalta without thinking too much about it (sometimes depression overcomes my common sense), and boy do I know it in just a couple days. I would like much more improvement for my pain and depression, but for the moment I'll settle for whatever I can get. I have an appointment with a new doctor in a few weeks and hopefully we can either increase the Cymbalta or add something new.