I am going off Effexor to Cymbalta



Any Tips people??????

Did your doctor advise you how to stop the Effexor and start the Cymbalta?

Good luck with the switch!

KA

I just switched from (11 months of) Effexor XR to Cymbalta today.

I titrated down from 225mg effexor to 75mg (37.5mg less each week) using a gram scale and blank gelcaps. Switched this morning to 30mg Cymbalta.

A little dizzy, some minor brain shivers, but what I immediately notice is:

1. My constant back pain is gone. Anything over a 10 minute walk would tie up my lower back muscles. Today I walked 40 minutes with no pain.
2. arthritis-type pain in my left hand is gone. Couldn't close it without tears before.
3. Pain in my toes is gone. Had that for 2 years.
4. A little more energy. I had to FORCE myself to nap today. A STRANGE feeling.

Taking these for depression, not for pain. I have a high pain tolerance, but it is sure nice to feel 30 again (well, maybe 45). Perhaps the pain was also dragging me down without knowing it....

Still waiting for inner peace and tranquility + motavation.........

So, we'll see what the future holds.....I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe to fall.

My BEST to you all!

This post has been edited by nussy: May 18 2007, 07:36 PM

Yes Doc tapered me offf Effexor, coming off that stuff is not fun. I pray Cymbalta works cause side effects kicked my ***.

I went from Lexapro to Cymbalta in about one week with titrating off Lexparo and slowly titrating from 30 for a week, then right onto 60mg. My doc said they were so close in composition that I shouldn't have any problems. Wrong!! I thought I had a stomach virus and when I went back to the doc, she had to put me on some acid reducer. I tried 30mg., twice a day to see if it would have an effect on my feeling tired in the afternoon, and it didn't so I stuck with the 60mg.

I have fibromyalgia and it took away the horrible leg flares, but it probably works better for me on reducing the depression and anxiety. I'm on a small dose of neurontin for restless leg and this med seems to stir it up so some degree. I know I was off from work the Friday I started the Cymbalta and went to work the next week with no issues other than the stomach thing. That side effect lasted a couple of weeks, and then went away.

Be sure to drink plenty of water with this med. It may cause you to have a dry mouth and you're probably drinking lots of liquids, anyways. It's time released and people notice it works better if you stay well hydrated. Some of us have a decreased appetite and I really can't afford to loose any weight, so paying attention to trying to eat with the stomache thing can be tricky, but try to eat.

I hope these side effects go away soon. I guess the other med is leaving and making you feel blah, along with going on a different meds. It's understandable that there's going to be some kind of reaction, and if you're sleeping more than usual, I'm not surprised. I still get sleepy in the afternoon after being on this med for almost three years.

I hope your loss of pain continues. Doesn't work on anything but the leg flares. I know I'd be worse off without it, so no question to changing at this point. My back and shoulders ache all the time from all the movement my job requires. A little Motrin helps with that.

Love, Jackie

The switch from Effexor XR to Cymbalta was horrible for me. If I had known I would get that sick for so long during the withdrawal and that the Cymbalta would make so little difference (actually none) in my pain, I never would have made the switch. I was on Lexapro for over a year, Effexor for almost two years and I've been on Cymbalta for about four months. Neurontin and Elavil did nothing for me. I hope you have a much better experience than I did, sunflower. (I really like your user name. )

I switched to Cymbalta and ended up going back to Effexor. Cymbalta did nothing for me, it was like taking a sugar pill. Is the Effexor no longer working for you? I went off of Effexor for a while because I was feeling so good I thought I didn't need to take meds anymore. Big mistake! When the depression came back my doc put me on Cymbalta, it didn't work at all for me. I'm back on the Effexor now.