Taking Cymbalta And Abilify. What Can I Use For Pain After Surgery ?

Posted on Fri, 31 May 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 31 May 2013 Answered on

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm a surgeon , My patient is taking Cymbalta and Abilify,
What can I use for pain after surgery ?

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (13 minutes later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

Essentially all narcotics can have an interaction with aripiprazole, in terms of increasing sedation and CNS depression. On the other hand, NSAIDs have an interaction with duloxetine in terms of increasing the risk of bleeding. The only pain medication that would not have an interaction is acetaminophen, but it is a weak analgesic.

So, all in all, it depends on the surgery performed and the expected levels of pain. If severe pain is experienced, then consider temporarily discontinuing the aripiprazole and using narcotics for the short term; conversely, if the pain is moderate, can consider holding the duloxetine and using NSAIDs, but the risk of bleeding and renal dysfunction could be increased. If there is no way that either medication could be held temporarily, then high dose acetaminophen up to 4 grams would be warranted.

Hope that helps, truly yours,

Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Cardiology
Mayo Clinic MN

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T