Haven't been keeping track of how long I've been on the Cymbalta. Probably for about a year, not continuously. My first dosage was 30 mg, for about a month. Then I was on sixty for a month, only to have my supply interrupted for weeks, during which time I went back to the thirty mg dose. The beginning of August 2007 seems about right.
I started sleeping better around then. It helped that I changed my room to the top floor, here at the Baltic Inn. When I was on the ground floor, I was convinced that my upstairs neighbor was insane, clomping around in his heavy shoes at all hours of the night. That was the most difficult time of all.
The Cymbalta helped a bit, I guess. For sure my dreams became more vivid, more detailed, which I like. Mostly the drug helps me stay balanced if an event becomes emotional. Then I have the time to recover and pull myself together before my brain starts the downward spiral to depression.
By far the best friend to my sleep has been the exercise, which I started about two months ago. I fall asleep when I want to, all the time. I don't get full of sleep and then can't sleep on Thursday nights, like before. I still wake up three or four times during the night, but have no problem returning. I admit to being the type person who needs ten hours a night. If I have a few nights of eight hours, then I start needing a nap. Just how I am. My dad is the same way, so it has never bothered me.
Time for some therapy.