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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gadman on January 21, 2005, at 8:09:17
I have been on a 75 mg dose of Effexor for appr 3 years. Recently I have switched from Effexor to Cymbalta and so far I am having very good luck.
I am on my 2nd week with Cymbalta @ 30 mg. So, far my overall mood is better with fewer side effects.
My question is, where should I go from here? My doc thinks 60 mg, but I don't think so. I wish someone could give me some Effexor equivelancies. I called Eli Lilly and they could not help.
My thought is to either stay at 30 or go up to 40.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Posted by partlycloudy on January 21, 2005, at 8:53:14
In reply to Cymbalta - Good Luck and Dosages, posted by gadman on January 21, 2005, at 8:09:17
I had been on 150mg of Effexor XR and am presently on 90mg of Cymbalta (4th day at this dose). Fewer side effects - thank heavens - and my anxiety has lessened quite a bit at this dose. Feeling pretty darn good, if a bit spacey...
Posted by Bill LL on January 21, 2005, at 11:32:37
In reply to Cymbalta - Good Luck and Dosages, posted by gadman on January 21, 2005, at 8:09:17
The typical experience with SSRI's is that the dosage needs to be raised over time.
If you are feeling good on 30 mg, stay on it for a while. There is between a 99.9% and 100% chance that you will need to increase the dose soon, but there is certainly no harm in waiting as long as you do not hesitate to increase it when the effects start to diminish.
> I have been on a 75 mg dose of Effexor for appr 3 years. Recently I have switched from Effexor to Cymbalta and so far I am having very good luck.
>
> I am on my 2nd week with Cymbalta @ 30 mg. So, far my overall mood is better with fewer side effects.
>
> My question is, where should I go from here? My doc thinks 60 mg, but I don't think so. I wish someone could give me some Effexor equivelancies. I called Eli Lilly and they could not help.
>
> My thought is to either stay at 30 or go up to 40.
>
> Anyone have any thoughts on this?
>
Posted by gadman on January 21, 2005, at 14:29:50
In reply to Re: Cymbalta - Good Luck and Dosages » gadman, posted by partlycloudy on January 21, 2005, at 8:53:14
That is good news for you! What is interesting is that I have been on the same dose of Effexor for 3 years (75 mg) Since I was doing so well on this dose, the doc wanted to lessen the Effexor dose to 37.5. This might have worked but I did not give it enough time...
I went into an extreme depression in day 2 of the switch and decided to go with Cymbalta instead of going back up to 75 of Effexor.
Another question, Would it be better to take the 20s at different times of the day or all at once in the morning?
> I had been on 150mg of Effexor XR and am presently on 90mg of Cymbalta (4th day at this dose). Fewer side effects - thank heavens - and my anxiety has lessened quite a bit at this dose. Feeling pretty darn good, if a bit spacey...
>
Posted by Colleen D. on January 22, 2005, at 20:02:08
In reply to Re: Cymbalta - Good Luck and Dosages, posted by gadman on January 21, 2005, at 14:29:50
I was on 150mg of Effexor and am now taking 60mg of Cymbalta.
The first clue I had that I needed to go from 30mg to 60mg of Cymbalta was the return of my chronic sciatic pain, and when I'm in pain with it I get very depressed.
I know every person is different, but I agree that waiting a bit longer before increasing your dosage would be a wise thing. Good luck!
Colleen
p.s. - I've been very happy overall with Cymbalta. It's not so "speedy" as Effexor was for me and I feel more like I'm not on a med while on it. :-)
Posted by gadman on January 23, 2005, at 6:09:34
In reply to Re: Cymbalta - Good Luck and Dosages, posted by Colleen D. on January 22, 2005, at 20:02:08
Thanks Colleen! I do agree that I feel more like myself these days...
It definitely sounds like a 30-40 mg dose is for me (Given I was on 75 of Effexor)... I wonder if a 30 one day and 40 the next might work? I still don't quite get the Cymbalta Delayed Release Mechanism (And why they would Delay Release rather than Extended Release like Effexor).
If you open an Effexor Capsule you will see all different size pellets. This is the XR action I believe... Not more medicine per pellet, but more coating, thus creating the XR effect.
If you open a Cymbalta capsule they are all the same size pellets.... I believe they have a coating which will NOT break down in the stomach but WILL break down in the small intestine, thus the delayed release... My question, is WHY?? It seems to me you are just causing the whole capsuled amount to be let into the system with a delayed response, rather than allowing bits of medicine to be released over time...
Instead of taking the Med at 7:00 to have it acting by 9:00, Why wouldn't I just take the Med at 9:00? Why do I need the delayed response?
If someone could shed some light on this, please do!
Anyway I took between 30 and 40 mg yesterday (I dumped some of the 2nd 20 mg capsule)
> p.s. - I've been very happy overall with Cymbalta. It's not so "speedy" as Effexor was for me and I feel more like I'm not on a med while on it. :-)
This is the end of the thread.
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