I say give it a try.
I had been on 50mg of Amitriptyline daily when I was first in the hospital and just continued it when I came home. After being home almost a year I wanted to decrease or discontinue any unnecessary medication I was on. I was not depressed so didn't think I still needed an antidepressant. So with my doctor's ok I started decreasing the amount I was taking over several months. I started getting massive headaches when I decreased it too fast.
Back then I did not know that, although it is an antidepressant, it was also used to treat neuropathic pain. Luck for me I wasn't having neuropathic pain any longer so I didn't notice any difference after stopping Amitriptyline. Just one less medication.
We now know that depression is a symptom of TM (see the article Demoralization and Depression in Multiple Sclerosis and Transverse Myelitis by Adam Kaplin, MD PhD, http://www.myelitis.org/newsletters/v8n1/newsletter8-1-02.htm )
I also decreased the amount of Dantrolene I was taking for spasticity until the spasms got to strong. I have now been on the same amounts of baclofen (Lioresal) and dantrolene (Dantrium) for 17 years now.
Jim
At 10:42 AM 5/29/2009, Lawrence King wrote:
Dear friends.Mindy the Artist
I am continuing to feel better. Now that I look back I can see that I have been Improving for about a month even though I'm passed the 2 year mark. The hope it has given me above and beyond the general "coming to terms" and "acceptance" that one should reach by their 2 year mark, has made me decide that I am ready to get off my antidepressant. I have read that Cymbalta is very difficult to come off of and that other people have had good results opening the capsules and reducing the dose incrementally themselves every few days. I just spoke with my doctor and have her blessing in this endeavor as she has had other patients wean off successfully doing this.
Cymbalta saved my life and helped with the nerve pain in ways that other antidepressants do not but I am ready to face the world again. Will keep you all informed of my progress!
Jim Lubin
jlu...@eskimo.com
http://makoa.org/jim
disAbility Resources: http://www.makoa.org
