Janet, please bear in mind that not everyone with a pouch is going to have this reaction. While my very wonderful surgeon Dr Kiran knew of many cases involving SSRIs, Drs Milsom and Sonoda were absolutely clueless at the time about what was wrong with me and they had both dealt with plenty of pouches working under Vic Fazio at the Cleveland Clinic. So we don't know how common my reaction is in the continent ostomy population. I am particularly sensitive to SSRIs (confirmed thru genetic testing as well as experience) and needed only low doses to get results for depression. Considering those two factors, its certainly possible that you will be able to take Cymbalta without any problems. The worst part for me was that for months I did not know know why my pouch was leaking and why I was having pain but if you were on the drug and had unfamiliar pain near your pouch or if your pouch leaked even one time, you would know what the problem was and could lower the dose or taper off the drug completely, as I needed to do. If the risk sounds reasonable, you might want to try it. Symptoms will be reduced with a reduction in dose, but remember, you would need to taper off the drug, you can't just stop it cold-turkey.
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