Advice, please! I was diagnosed with major depression more than 15 years ago while in college. Since that time, I have never been out from the effects of depression. SOme times are better, some are a big struggle. Regardless, it is always present to one extent or another. For the last 10 years, I have been on prozac. However, before that, I tried Wellbutrin, Serzone, Paxil, Effexor (I think that is it). I remember feeling awful getting off the Effexor - that really stands out in my mind. Anyways, in August I went from 80 mg to 40 mg of prozac. About 3 weeks ago, I switched to a different manufacturer of the generic prozac and THAT SAME NIGHT - I couldn't sleep. (Unusual for me). I have had horrible trouble sleeping for the last three weeks and have gone straight downhill into suicidal thinking. I haven't had that in years. I went to a doctor today, and he told me to get off prozac within a week, and start Cymbalta, 30 mg for a week and 60mg thereafter. I hae never looked into Cymbalta, and so I agreed. When I got home, I found this and other stories of getting off the stuff and the brain zaps, and it scares me. Then, I read something about serotonin syndrome, which I'm still not sure exactly what causes it - but from what I could tell, prozac and cymbalta together (if even only for a week) was not a good combination. Questions: 1. Can a manufacturer change in a generic drug make that big of a difference or is the suddenness of the re-onset of bad symptoms a coincidence? 2. Have any of you gotten somewhat significant help from Cymbalta to make it worth the side effects? 3. Are the side-effects worse than other anti-depression side effects? 4. I have samples of Cymbalta sitting here, I'm feeling miserable with my 2 preschoolers wanting and needing my attention and love, do you think I should try taking them? Anything that anyone can tell me about any of my questions would be greatly appreciated.
Marcia
I'm not sure what I can add to Cynthia's excellent post.
Marcia no one knows whether or not they're going to be one of the one severely affected by withdrawal symptoms if trying to come off Cymbalta. some have been on high doses for a while and come of with little trouble, others have been on low doses for a short period of time and had great difficulty coming off it.
Those who've had little difficulty are unlikely to bother googling 'cymbalta withdrawal'are they? So it's unlikely we'd ever hear about them. Anecdotal evidence tells us that many doctors have had other patients come off it without difficulty.
[b]However,[b] a [b]significant[b] percentage of people have intolerable and unacceptable problems getting off it. My experience has meant my GP will not prescribe it to anyone. Anecdotal evidence from google searches etc show that this drug exceeds all others when it comes to people searching for withdrawal information. Given there are other drugs more widely prescribed, that's pretty telling.
I don't care how small the percentage of people with problems is, the consequences for those people make this drug an unacceptable one.
Unlike Cynthia, the side effects when ON Cymbalta were the reason I wanted to get off it. So again, everyone's different. I'd second the bit about the filler, though.
You sound as though you're having difficulty making the decision, which is, of course, one of depression's hallmarks.
I do hope you can work through this with your doctor. Is there any reason you can't go back to the other brand of Prozac?
regards, Maureen.
