??? cymbalta + lamictal ???

quick ?

i started cymbalta about 2 - 3 months ago.  my dosage was increased to 60 mg a day but i decreased it back to 30 mg once a day to try to mitigate side effects. 

it has been AMAZING for my generalized anxiety disorder.  it is the only med i have EVER been on where i feel completely NORMAL, totally like ME except without the anxiety.  so i love it.  (the side effect i was having severe insomnia & still have to take benadryl to sleep at night even at just 30 mg.  but it works SO well for the anxiety, im living with that & just taking benadryl daily.)

i have read that it takes approximately 8 - 12 weeks for the drug to be fully effective.  i think im there.  unfortunately the reason I think im there is that im having what i believe to be another (albeit rare) side effect.  for the last week, i have an urge to binge eat. 

i USED to be a binge eater when i was fat (before my surgery).  and for the first few months after my RNY, it was hard NOT to binge because the urge was there.  (for the first 3 - 6 months, id even chew entire boxes of cupcakes / bags of chips / boxes of donuts / etc up & spit them out into the trash after chewing them up.  gross i know, but honest.)  in any event, it was a behavior i "grew out of" as i progressed further out from my RNY.  since then, i rarely get the urge to binge eat at all - id say 4 times a year as a guess - n i just "grit my teeth" through those rare days because i know it will pass & it does.

BUT for the last week, i have wanted to binge almost every day!  since i have not changed ANYTHING about my life, have added no new stressors or had any "life changes", i am left grasping at straws as to why there is this sudden return of unhealthy THINKING.  (i capitalize THINKING because i have not, and WILL not give in & binge eat.  but constantly fighting the URGE is just crappy.) 

ive even had the urge to DRINK a little bit over the last week and I DONT DRINK!  i havent for YEARS! 

i have started researching cymbalta & binge behavior.  i read that it can be a very rare side effect (something like .05%) and that cymbalta can actually be used to TREAT binge eating disorders oddly enough (i know - wtf right?). 

but i read one person who wanted to binge & had lamictal ADDED TO THEIR cymbalta.  so i wanted to ask if anyone here has experience w/ the COMBINATION of the 2. 

i do NOT want to stop cymbalta if i can help it at all.  but if i HAVE to, id like to hear if anyone has any experience w/ lamictal by itself for anxiety as well in case i change to that.  (i had a DR previously ask if i wanted to try lamictal for my generalized anxiety disorder before cymbalta even was proposed but i tried something else instead & forgot about it.)

any positive or negative feedback / comments would be appreciated.  thanks

Now I'm no doc so DO talk to yours about the situation. Plus I take cymbalta forr pain not anxiety but my doc had me start very slowly with a low dose like 1/2 the lowest doasage capsule(had me open it and pour out half). Then I took 30 a day then upped  it to 30 twice a day, one at night and one in the morning. Then finally up to 60 once a day and this was over months. So maybe it is time to go up to the 60 mg he originally prescribed, maybe you aren't getting enough.Anyway I would for sure discuss it with him and see what he says, I'm sure he knows more about it than we do. Good luck!

i slowly increased to 60, then decreased to 30.  this has been over about 3 months (maybe 4).

I have taken cymbalta for 2 years now for fibromaylgia not for anxiety - and since i have taken it i have gained some weight not from binge eating just from eating more - i still limit myself in my meals since i can only eat a small portion even after 8 years out from a revision.  with the fibro my real only form of exercise is swimming and our pool is closed right now so while i am here in atlanta i am going to swim some laps to get my muscles moving again.

cymbalta is proven that you will gain weight - everyone that takes it for fibro has gained weight that i am in the groups for fibro... advice monitor your eating habits and know that it is a side effect.

i know it CAN be a side effect - but no side effect is definite.  i havent gained any weight on cymbalta at all.  (but ive never been one to gain weight or loss weight on ANY of the antianxiety meds ive tried through the years.)

i just have the URGE to binge (and drink).  im not ACTING on those behaviors.  so my weight has not moved.