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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on April 6, 2008, at 22:59:12
Well, my suspicions where true. Just when I seemed to be doing good on Cymbalta, my blood sugar reading where getting all out of control. I didnt know what it was at first, but I just had a gut feeling it might be one of my meds. It seemed that after I started Cymbalta, the glucose thing became bad. So, I got around to my Cymbalta, and stopped taking it for a few days. Ta-da. Blood sugar lowers to between 7 and 10 (That is Canadian..I dont know how Americans measure it.) They say, try for between 5-8, but 5-10 two hours after eating is supposedly acceptable. So, then the next morning I take my Cymbalta dose, and within 3-4 hours, my reading is up to 24!!! I jumped up at work, took two extra diabetes pills, and headed for the emergency room. The doctor looked Cymbalta up in our CPS (Canadas version of the PDR) and yep, buried in there, rise in blood sugar was listed close to the top of the side-effects.
Now, the reason I also bring this up is that the Cymbalta drug company here in Canada, Lilly, published their own little bit of research on this issue. They came to the conclusion that Cymbalta had a slight effect on rising blood sugar. Now, do yall remember that little pill called Zyprexa? Yes, of course you do. They kept some of its very damning research locked away for years, that even the FDA (the government) couldnt get a hold of! Could you imagine if they had published that story about the one poor guy in the Zyprexa trials, who didnt even have diabetes, and when he started Zyprexa, his blood sugar shot up to 130 (Canadian) or something like that, and of course the poor guy died as a result. I am not knocking Zyprexa or Cymbaltathey are good medications, but as someone with type 2 diabetes, likely brought on by Zyprexa, and the weight gain and the increased blood pressure that goes with thatIve put some odds on things that can easily kill this 38 year old guy!
Okay, enough of my rantI tried to be civil.I hope I was. No disrespect to anyone. I am just suggesting to make choices with caution and getting as much knowledge as you can, from all angles.
Best,
Jay
Posted by Phillipa on April 6, 2008, at 23:06:10
In reply to Cymbalta causes rise in blood sugar:(, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on April 6, 2008, at 22:59:12
Wow what else can I say??? Love Phillipa
Posted by antigua3 on April 7, 2008, at 19:28:44
In reply to Cymbalta causes rise in blood sugar:(, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on April 6, 2008, at 22:59:12
Thank you so much for this piece of information. My doctor told me last week that my blood sugar was a little high and the test was taken not long after I took my Cymbalta.
Will definitely look into this.
thanks again,
antigua
Posted by Maxime on April 8, 2008, at 20:07:09
In reply to Re: Cymbalta causes rise in blood sugar:( » Jay_Bravest_Face, posted by antigua3 on April 7, 2008, at 19:28:44
Oh crap, it better not happen to me ... I can't handle it!
Maxime
Posted by Racer on April 9, 2008, at 8:14:20
In reply to Cymbalta causes rise in blood sugar:(, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on April 6, 2008, at 22:59:12
I'm not surprised, really. Effexor was known to cause increases in blood glucose levels, and with a similar profile, I'd have expected Cymbalta to do the same.
Here in the US, we measure blood glucose by mg/dL -- milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood. Normal is generally recognized as about 70 -- 110 mg/dL. While on Effexor, not only did I gain a considerable amount of weight -- they say you gain more if you're underweight to begin with -- but my blood sugar got nutty. I am not diabetic, but at times my husband would test me and find my readings totally out of whack -- at one point, 180 mg/dL, which I believe if nearly high enough to be diagnostic. That's about when I did the research that showed the increased blood sugar is a known side effect with Effexor.
My current pdoc, who is very, very good, and generally knows more than any three doctors out there -- I've got a sort of iatraphobia, so the fact that I like him so much might indicate that he's really that good -- and when I brought it up with him, he wasn't aware. He said that it often normalized blood sugar. I figure if even he isn't aware of it, most other doctors probably aren't, either.
My advice for any diabetic out there -- if you see a separate psychopharmacologist, try to find one who will work with your endocrinologist. Try to find one who already knows something about diabetes, blood glucose regulation, etc, and how psychotropics interact with them.
I'm sorry you had this trouble, Jay. Good luck in future.
This is the end of the thread.
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