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[cymbalta? should I?]

Please help...I have an arthritic ankle. It was shattered in a car accident...long story short, I was on pain meds for pain control, and found what the FDA (!) would allow my Pain Managment doctor prescribe was sorely lacking (the way I understood it was, if it's not a back injury it's looked upon with skepticism that you should need significant amounts of pain meds). Anyway, I would get Vicodin or Percocet (after starting on large doses of Kadian (time-release morphine) and Percs for breakthrough pain. They MADE me wean down off the morphine. Found myself needing more than they would prescribe, and found myself hooked...running through my 1 month scripts in a week, etc... (full disclosure: lifelong substance abuser - but with a true painful condition). Asked for a patch (Fentanyl, or something similar), so I would be less likely to pop pill after pill...doctor said "If you can swallow, you take pills". Plus, again, they said they would get in trouble with the FDA if they prescribed me something like that for an ankle injury (which I do not understand. I am constantly in pain due to this injury)...felt they were very unsympathetic (yes, I know you can abuse the patches too, but I would NEVER break one open; I know a guy whose nephew died from that...plus I was truly looking for pain relief over time. Pain pills are very short-acting, and have a larger danger for abuse, as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, sorry for the tangent): I decided to get off pain meds altogether...I figured if I was going to suffer with pain, I could at least get my life under control as far as addiction ( I was either suffering through withdrawal constantly, or spending a fortune to keep myself in pills). I got on Suboxone, which, I was told, could also help with pain. Anyway, I coped for about a year and a half...even weaned down to 1 Suboxone (8 mg) a day. But now my pain is worse than ever (as my orthopedist told me, my ankle will deteriorate over time), and I told my doctor that Suboxone isn't helping anymore; said I wanted to avoid pain meds if possible (I definitely don't want pills, but it's getting to the point where I need SOMETHING. Doc said, go back on meds if necessary, but for now he gave me a script for more topical solutions (which never work) and Cymbalta. And here's where my question comes in:

Having read my story, do any of you feel Cymbalta will help me? And if so, will it be enough to justify taking ANOTHER physically addictive substance (which I have discovered Cymbalta is from this forum), and possible hellish withdrawal from MULTIPLE substances? If I'm going to risk physical dependence, I would like to get my pain relieved. Remeber, I'm still on Suboxone, which isn't doing the trick either. I don't want to keep stacking up addictive medications in my body that don't do anything to justify the dependence/addiction. Any help will be appreciated...you'll be helping point me in the right direction. I haven't found that anything REALLY helps my ankle pain except narcotic pain medication...I find it hard to believe an anti-depressant will do the trick...Anyway, I hope I've been clear. If not, ask me to clarify and I'll be happy to...I really need some advice. Thanks.

[cymbalta? should I?]

Thanks, Doob, I appreciate the input...I've taken other anti-depressants in the past - I know there'ss always SOMETHING to be wary of, but I never dreamed it'd be something like what I'm seeing on these boards, so I'm grateful for them, and your input. I almost threw caution to the wind once or twice, then knuckled down and checked the net...thank goodness I didn't jump in. I think I was leaning toward not starting (after reading this forum), but you pushed me over the top. The only thing I hope doesn't happen is my doctor saying that I never wanted to try an option to narcotics (although HE was the one who suggested I go back on pain meds if needed...however I went to the doctor yesterday and saw a different, younger, female doctor, and she was not receptive to what I was explaining to her, so maybe they won't be so accomodating...I'll have to make sure I see the same doctor. I just don't believe there's anything else that'll help me...but that's another story. Thanks again for the input!