Posted by ed_uk2010 on October 18, 2010, at 23:05:50
In reply to Re: Cymbalta withdrawal, posted by Starwood on October 18, 2010, at 8:43:16
>I am currently in the process of coming off effexor..I am down to 37.5mg every second day with no symptoms now, I jsut cant seem to stop that last tablet so the Dr is putting me on cymbalta 30mg every second day then next week every 3rd day..he said the withdrawals are very manageable compared to effexor.... Id like opinions..thanks!
I do not understand what your doctor is doing. First of all, Cymbalta's withdrawal symptoms appear to be very similar to Effexor's withdrawal symptoms. Secondly, withdrawal symptoms appear to be very frequent with Cymbalta - probably similar to Effexor. Finally, the dose of Cymbalta is too high relative to your previous Effexor dose.
Effexor should not normally be tapered by reducing the frequency of the doses. It is too short-acting for this to work. Effexor should be tapered by reducing the size of the doses eg. by cutting tablets or opening capsules and dividing the granules. It is quite easy to do this and many people have had success. Reducing the frequency (eg. to one dose every three days) does not work well because the amount of drug in your bloodstream will be going up and down like a yo-yo, which is not a good thing.
If you are still struggling despite opening the capsules or cutting tablets, you could switch to a very low dose of fluoxetine (Prozac) in liquid form. Fluoxetine is much easier to stop than Effexor. The liquid form is needed to give a small dose eg. using an oral syringe.
Please note that if you open Effexor capsules, the granules inside should not be crushed, sucked or chewed. They are coated slow-release granules and must be swallowed whole or else the slow-release mechanism will not work. The manufacturer advises that the capsules should not be opened in case the granules are damaged, but in reality there does not seem to be any problems when this method is used for tapering.
Take care.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:966123
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101009/msgs/966217.html