Can I Take Melatonin with Cymbalta?

An important component of general well-being is the care of mental health and sleep issues. In search of better sleep, people look for solutions that will help to rebuild their sleeping routine. This search sometimes ends with the use of all-natural supplements like melatonin. Concurrently, drugs like Cymbalta (duloxetine) are recommended to treat mood disorders, including anxiety and depression. 

But can I take Melatonin with Cymbalta?

Yes, you can take melatonin with Cymbalta, but only if it’s needed according to your health condition and prescribed by your doctor. Cymbalta is recommended to address depression and anxiety, and melatonin is a natural hormone often used to regulate sleep. Their combination might possibly result in unwanted effects or reduced efficacy of either chemical. 

This article will shed light on the aspects you should take into account when thinking about using melatonin and Cymbalta together. So get ready to dive into the complexity of their simultaneous usage.

Can I take Melatonin with Cymbalta?

Well, to answer that question, we need to first figure out what these two medicines are used for and how they work.

Cymbalta

Cymbalta is a medicine that is quite beneficial in treating major depressive disorders. It is used to treat adults’ major depressive disorder. This medicine has norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor antidepressant (SSNRI) and serotonin. 

Sometimes depression causes a chemical imbalance in the brain. Cymbalta helps to regain the chemical balance with serotonin and SSNRI.

Melatonin

Our body produces a hormone called melatonin. You will be glad to know this hormone is responsible for your peaceful sleep. The human brain produces melatonin as a response to darkness. If you spend too much time under light, even at night, it can hinder the production of melatonin and result in a lack of sleep or insomnia. 

But what happens when your body stops producing enough melatonin you need? In that circumstance, doctors prescribe melatonin in medicine form. Melatonin works like a sleep supplement. This medicine is mostly prescribed to correct your delayed sleep and wake pattern. In some cases, it has been proven to remove anxiety caused by insomnia.

Can I Take Melatonin with Cymbalta?

Yes, you can, but you might face some side effects too. Cymbalta’s one major drawback is it causes insomnia. Cymbalta affects norepinephrine and serotonin receptors in the brain which results in difficulty in sleeping. If you have recently taken this medicine, this side effect might show signs in a few days. Doctors often suggest melatonin to help patients sleep well during this period. 

While taking Cymbalta and melatonin together, you must be ready to face some side effects, such as drowsiness and dizziness. In some cases, it can be confusing as well. Though rare, combining these two medications can lead to thinking impairment in older people.

If you are on higher doses of this medicine, then the chances of getting severe sleep disturbance are higher too. At first, your doctor may suggest lowering your doses. But if that doesn’t solve the problem, then in such a scenario, you need to let your doctor know about your condition. After that, most probably, they will suggest melatonin to give you some relief.

Potential Side Effects of Taking Cymbalta And Melatonin Together

Some potential side effects of taking Cymbalta and Melatonin together are given below:

• You can feel tiredness or lightheadedness.
• Mixing the two drugs may reduce cognitive function, including focus and attentiveness.
• Taking Cymbalta with melatonin may raise your risk of bleeding, especially if you already take other blood thinners.
• These two medicines together can elevate the serotonin level and cause serotonin syndrome.

How Long Does Insomnia Last When Starting Cymbalta?

Your sleepless nights caused by Cymbalta will disappear within a few days or weeks. When you take Cymbalta, you will feel a surge of energy due to the medicine’s role in boosting some brain chemicals already mentioned above. 

Due to this sudden boost in energy levels, people struggle to fall asleep on time. If you don’t notice your sleep pattern getting better within days, then put a reminder on your reminder list to call your doctor to discuss the matter.

No matter how energetic and sleep-deprived you feel, it really won’t harm your overall health. So, you can relax knowing that this phase will pass soon.

How to Ensure a Good Sleeping Routine While on Cymbalta?

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One of the key factors to ensure a good sleep routine is to adjust the time of taking Cymbalta. It may have little impact on improving your sleeping pattern.

SNRI can make you feel like not going to bed at all if you take it at night or right before sleep. You can take this medicine in the morning or during the day to avoid such a strong effect of SNRI on your sleeping schedule. 

Though this medicine is known to boost your energy level, it may not be the reality for everyone. Some may feel exhausted due to lack of sleep. That’s why you need to take extra care of yourself during this time. 

When Cymbalta disrupts the sleeping pattern and causes drastic changes in the normal way of life, the doctor may reduce the dose of this medicine. This can aid you with a quality amount of sleep.

If reducing the dose doesn’t have a significant effect on reducing insomnia, then your doctor may consider changing the medicine or adding medicines like melatonin to help you sleep better.

On the other hand, some of you can benefit more from Cymbalta and even sleep slightly better than before. You must be wondering how? Well, Cymbalta acts to reduce chronic pain also. Many people suffering from chronic pain actually struggle to sleep well at night. This medicine may have some positive impact on such a patient’s life by comforting them through reducing the excruciating pain they have been experiencing.

Seeking therapy can be another solution to ensure good sleep and taking Cymbalta at the same time. Therapy calms our nerves down and promotes a healthy sleeping schedule and productivity.

What Can Not Be Taken with Cymbalta?

Taking MAO inhibitors and Cymbalta together can cause fatal medicine interaction. It is suggested not to take MAO inhibitors for at least five days before starting Cymbalta. Start using Cymbalta after 14 days or more of using MAO inhibitors. Share your history with your doctors and be transparent with every detail to avoid any possible medication interactions.

Herbal medication has become widely popular among the new hipster generation. They sometimes seek solutions to mental illnesses in the form of herbal medicines. But taking herbal medicines and psychiatric medications can become dangerous. 

Many psychiatric medications like Cymbalta contain SSRIs and SNRIs. Some herbal medicines like Ashwagandha, Mugwort, and St. John’s Wort can interact with Cymbalta, resulting in serotonin syndrome. 

This condition mainly refers to a state where your body gets more serotonin than it needs. This excess amount of serotonin can cause fever, diarrhea, and muscle rigidness. In some cases, it can cause shivering and seizures as well.

The clearance of duloxetine from your body can be impacted by other medicines, which may change how duloxetine functions. Cimetidine, viloxazine, and several quinolone antibiotics (such as ciprofloxacin and enoxacin) are a few examples.

The effectiveness of other medications may be impacted by this medication’s ability to delay their elimination from your body. Antiarrhythmic medications (like propafenone, flecainide, and quinidine), antipsychotic medications (like thioridazine), and tricyclic antidepressants (like desipramine, imipramine), among others, are some examples of impacted medications.

Food Interaction with Cymbalta

Cymbalta has no severe food interaction reports except for herbal supplements, as mentioned above. However, stopping acidic fruits like grapes or grape juice would be better. Acidic fruit or juices hampers the metabolism of the medicine and can cause medicine accumulation in the body.

Food Interaction with Melatonin

Just like Cymbalta, melatonin can interact with herbal supplements. These interactions can be fatal and lead to health issues like seizures, low blood pressure, and bleeding in extreme cases. It would be best if you avoided alcohol, carbonated beverages, and caffeine while on melatonin.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs

Is Cumbalta A High-risk Medication?

One of the most severe medicine label warnings the FDA may apply is the Black Box Warning 7, which is included with Cymbalta. It suggests that this substance has the potential to result in withdrawal symptoms, suicidal ideas, and suicidal conduct. When Cymbalta is administered to teens and young adults, suicidality is particularly prevalent.

Who Should Not Take Melatonin?

Using Melatonin can be harmful if you have an autoimmune illness, a seizure disorder, depression, or are nursing. If you have ever experienced an adverse response to melatonin, then avoid it. 

Having a liver or renal condition can worsen if you take melatonin. If you have had lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, this medicine might not be good for you. Consult a doctor before taking it.

Can Melatonin Help with Anxiety?

Doctors advise Melatonin as a therapy for anxiety. It will be beneficial for you if your anxiety is accompanied by sleeplessness. If you are facing anxiety after acute coronary syndrome (ACS)

then Melatonin is a reliable and secure treatment option for you. 

Bottom Line

Can I take Melatonin with Cymbalta? Combining two medicines at the same time without guidelines can be daunting. So, through this article, I tried to make it easier for our readers how to proceed when it comes to taking Melatonin and Cymbalta together.

You must not forget the seriousness of side effects that can happen if you go for an unsupervised dosage of these two medicines. Prioritize your healthy lifestyle to ensure better sleep while on Cymbalta. In this way, your need for sleeping supplicant will have better chance to be reduced.