Drugography: A Closer Look at Duloxetine (Cymbalta®)

Understanding your patients’ medication habits is critical when making decisions for their treatment. Duloxetine testing in urine and blood can easily be paired with any of AIT’s core panels for compliance testing, offering a complete picture of patient compliance and improving patient care.

Basics

Marketed as Cymbalta, duloxetine is one of the most widely prescribed medications indicated for major depression, anxiety, diabetic nerve pain, fibromyalgia and chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Duloxetine falls within a drug class called selective SNRIs – selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. According to Cymbalta’s website, exactly how the drug works is unknown but likely related to an increase in serotonin and norepinephrine activity; these are natural substances in the brain that help maintain mental balance and stop the movement of pain signals in the brain. (Visit the Cymbalta website)

Taken orally in capsule form, possible side effects of the drug include vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, stomach pain, decreased appetite and dizziness. More serious complications might involve unusual bruising or bleeding, yellowing of the skin or eyes, difficulty breathing or swallowing, blisters and hives. (Learn more about side effects and drug interactions from PubMed)

Did You Know?

Cymbalta is manufactured by Eli Lilly and was approved by the FDA for treatment in major depressive disorders and diabetic neuropathy in 2004—the same year college student Traci Johnson committed suicide at Lilly’s Indianapolis lab. Johnson was a test subject in a clinical trial for duloxetine to determine its effectiveness in treating stress urinary incontinence. Cymbalta is currently not approved to treat this condition in the United States. (Read the article on Slate.com)

Testing Considerations

When testing for duloxetine, it is important to note that urine excretion depends on a number of physiological variables. Patients taking infrequent or PRN doses may be inclined to test negative.

Learn More about Duloxetine Testing at AIT

Click here to learn about our DetectiMed® Panel for prescription drug and therapy management. 

For more information on duloxetine testing, visit our test catalog or contact our Client Services Department.

References:

"Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl): Official Site." Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl): Official Site. Web. 09 May 2012. 

"Duloxetine." U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 09 May 2012. 

Lenzer, Jeanne. "What the FDA Isn't Telling." Slate Magazine. The Slate Group, 27 Sept. 2005. Web. 09 May 2012.