Posted by Simcha on December 15, 2006, at 1:12:41
In reply to Re: Switching to Cymbalta... Depressed Again, posted by Phillipa on December 14, 2006, at 12:01:06
Thanks for the responses.
OK, I'm on day 2 of 30mg of Cymbalta + increasing the Neurontin to 1,200mg per day. I'm still on the 40mg of Celexa and the 400mg of Wellbutrin XL.
I'm not having any negative side effects. Per pdoc's orders I'm increasing to 60mg of Cymbalta and decreasing the Celexa to 20mg.
I'm still depressed, of course. I still have pain, of course. It's not long enough to know if the Cymbalta is doing anything, also considering all the other meds I'm on.
I'm still angry that I need to switch. To add insult to injury, I just found out that Cymbalta is not on my PPO's formulary. At least it's only a $35 co-pay for non-formulary drugs on the plan. It's still a heck of a lot more than the brand co-pay of $20 and a far cry from the generic $10 co-pay. Of course, the other option was Effexor XR, that would be a $20 co-pay.
I guess I shouldn't complain, because I'm aware that many on this board don't have health insurance, due to the sad state of health care in the USA.
The only thing is that my first med was Effexor XR. While being great for the depression, it was terrible for making me completely impotent. Also it was terrible to withdraw from.
I could go into a rant about the state of health care in our country (USA) and how darn expensive it is. I could launch into a rant about how inaccessable health care is for many in our country and one of the reasons is the high cost, even if you have insurance. (Greedy darn American insurance companies! Umph!) But, alas, that might be for another board.
It certainly doesn't help my depression to be barely able to afford my life. Geez, I'm hearing another Cymbalta commercial on the TV again. I wonder how much those darn commercials add to the price of Cymbalta?... Gee, I wonder...
Did I mention that I've had agitated depression?
I'm a psychotherapist intern and I make a very low salary at it because we don't value our youth or anyone's mental health in this country. I qualify for section 8 housing on the salary I get (Section 8 is assisted housing for low-income earners.) In Cali it isn't difficult to be at a job that doesn't pay enough to meet basic, and I mean BASIC, expenses.
At least I can work. I tend to be high functioning even when moderately to severely depressed. I just have a strong will, that's all. It gets me into trouble in that I can grit my teeth through more pain than most, so I often don't recognize that I'm in pain (emotional and physical) until it gets very bad.
I hope these med changes I'm going through bring some sort of relief for all the expense and the trouble that it causes me.
Simcha
poster:Simcha
thread:713453
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061212/msgs/713840.html