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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Happyflower on May 24, 2008, at 22:42:46
cymbalta? I was on 80mg of Prozac. But he said the Cymbalta does the same thing and more.
So when you withdrawal from the drug, is it more like your body is withdrawling the effects to your body that the drug was responsible for. Seems like a dumb question. But if Prozac doesn't need to be tapered down before quiting to take Cymbalta, isn't the horrible withdrawal from the neurotransmitters being unblocked then, not so much the type of medicine, as long as it does the same thing.
So suppose Cymbalta only effected the same neurotransmitters as Prozac, then the withdrawal symptoms would be the same?
Clear as mud? So the drug in Cymbalta may be different than the drug in Prozac, but since they do the same function, that is why I am not having trouble stopping Prozac cold turkey? I know Cymbalta does more than what Prozac does, but I am just speaking of the part that is simular to Prozac. If you are confused, so am I. lol
Posted by Phillipa on May 25, 2008, at 0:06:47
In reply to Should I have taperd down with the Prozac b4 the c, posted by Happyflower on May 24, 2008, at 22:42:46
I think I understand. There is serotonin in Cymbalta as prozac was just serotonin. Now the cymbalta has norepenephrine in it too. You still have prozac in your sytem as it stays for weeks. Didn't know you'd switched to cymbalta. But my docs have always just gone from one to the other with no time in between. Hasn't been a problem for me. Are you having problems with cymbalta? Is that what you're saying that maybe you should have waited til all the prozac was out of your system before starting cymbalta? If you started it maybe start at a lower dose in the beginning. Did you discuss this with you doc? Love Phillipa
Posted by Walk_Roll_Float_Fly on May 25, 2008, at 7:04:44
In reply to Should I have taperd down with the Prozac b4 the c, posted by Happyflower on May 24, 2008, at 22:42:46
Cymbalta is effecting one of the same neurochemicals as Prozac did thus switching should not have a withdrawal effect if the dose is adequate. There is an added effect in Cymbalta of also effecting the reuptake of NE so it is doing the same thing and then some. By the way, I am glad you are aware you are not ingesting neurochemicals. These drugs act on where those chemicals are but aren't contained in the pill. I think its misleading and incorrect to imply these pills contain neurochemicals. Its a pet peeve of mine but also nothing is guarranteed accurate that is said here.
Posted by william puga on May 25, 2008, at 22:42:20
In reply to Re: Should I have taperd down with the Prozac b4 the c » Happyflower, posted by Walk_Roll_Float_Fly on May 25, 2008, at 7:04:44
Yeah, the above is correct:
prozac withdrawal symptoms not an issue as it "self-tapers". In adults, when you stop prozac, it takes about 6 weeks before it is all out of your system.There are many serotonin receptors in the brain (at least 13). prozac affects some, cymbalta others as well as noradrenalinm, therefore, though cymbalta is still affecting serotnonin, it's affecting it differently from prozac, so if needed, different is better. Noradrenalin addition should make it an even better effect.
because you are adding cymbalta when you already have prozac in your body for a while longer, report any side effects to your doc. There is a rare serotonergic syndrome that occurs if you get too much serotonin.
Good luck!
Posted by blueboy on May 28, 2008, at 9:22:55
In reply to Should I have taperd down with the Prozac b4 the c, posted by Happyflower on May 24, 2008, at 22:42:46
> cymbalta? I was on 80mg of Prozac. But he said the Cymbalta does the same thing and more.
>
> So when you withdrawal from the drug, is it more like your body is withdrawling the effects to your body that the drug was responsible for. Seems like a dumb question. But if Prozac doesn't need to be tapered down before quiting to take Cymbalta, isn't the horrible withdrawal from the neurotransmitters being unblocked then, not so much the type of medicine, as long as it does the same thing.
> So suppose Cymbalta only effected the same neurotransmitters as Prozac, then the withdrawal symptoms would be the same?
> Clear as mud?The difference between you and the medical community is that you know that you don't understand what the heck is going on.
Personally, I will not start a new drug until I have been off an old drug for a number of weeks. It just creates too many variables.
Posted by michael on June 5, 2008, at 19:08:12
In reply to Should I have taperd down with the Prozac b4 the c, posted by Happyflower on May 24, 2008, at 22:42:46
> cymbalta? I was on 80mg of Prozac. But he said the Cymbalta does the same thing and more.
>
> So when you withdrawal from the drug, is it more like your body is withdrawling the effects to your body that the drug was responsible for. Seems like a dumb question. But if Prozac doesn't need to be tapered down before quiting to take Cymbalta, isn't the horrible withdrawal from the neurotransmitters being unblocked then, not so much the type of medicine, as long as it does the same thing.
> So suppose Cymbalta only effected the same neurotransmitters as Prozac, then the withdrawal symptoms would be the same?
> Clear as mud? So the drug in Cymbalta may be different than the drug in Prozac, but since they do the same function, that is why I am not having trouble stopping Prozac cold turkey? I know Cymbalta does more than what Prozac does, but I am just speaking of the part that is simular to Prozac. If you are confused, so am I. lolIf I get your questions correctly, it's not necessary to taper off of prozac because it has such a long half-life - so much so that even if you stop taking it abruptly, it will still leave your system gradually, over the following several weeks.
Therefore, you don't need to taper off of prozac.
As for cymbalta - part of it's method of action is supposed to be similar to, and supposed to affect the same neurotransmitter (serotonin) - in a similar way.
Maybe that would make your what your doc said, seem to be a bit more logical? (btw - not saying that he is correct - nobody really knows how all of this works, if they did, they'd fix us all...)
[disclaimer: I'm not trained in any way other than my own research & reading - which means I may be incorrect.] - but I don't think so...?
Michael
Posted by Justherself54 on June 5, 2008, at 19:23:27
In reply to Re: Should I have taperd down with the Prozac b4 t, posted by blueboy on May 28, 2008, at 9:22:55
I don't claim to know the mechanisms of meds, but I have switched directly over from one to another on more than one occasion) with no problem. They have always been SSRI's. The only one I've tapered down has been with the MAOI's. Let us know how it goes! I hope it goes smoothly..
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