4 replies to this topic

[AliYogini]

My prescription for 30mg ran out. The prescribing dr had wanted me just to just start taking 20mg and did not want me to open the capsules and wean down to 20mg.  He said it was not necessary.  However, I did it anyway.  Now I have a problem.  He said to call his office to get my prescription for 20mg.  I used the bead removal method and I am actually at 10mg, by using my original 30mg capsules.  I'm reluctant to call in and get the 20mg from my pharmacy  because I don't know how many beads are in them.  My 30mg had 180 beads but some people have said the 20 mg only has 5 large beads which would be too hard to use to taper down.  How can I find out how many beads are in the 20mg?  I think I should try to stay with the same pharma Co for consistency.  Or do I just try to get a 30mg prescription again from my dr and stay the course (continue to wean down using the 30mg)?  I'm not sure how well I explained this..?  Any advice/ideas are appreciated.

[fishinghat]

I understand clearly. It is a tough choice. I guess if it was me I would get the 20 mg and hope there is more beads than 5. It really depends on the brand. You might call the pharmacy you use and find out what brand of 20 mg Cymbalta they use. Let me know the brand and I will see what I can find out about the beads.

[AliYogini]

First of all, thank you FH so much for your replies. They are more helpful than you will ever know. I get so crazy with this, I feel like I can't think clearly to make any decisions.
Ok, my generic for my 30 mg capsule says: manufactured for Prasco Laboratories in Mason OH, but manufactured by Aurobindo Pharma Ltd in Hyderabad, India. My pharmacist at CVS said she can continue to get my refills from the same place if I prefer. I didn't specifically ask her about the 20mg, but I am assuming she would get it from there if I requested that. She didn't know or wasn't willing to tell me how many beads are in the 20mg. I tried looking up the pharma website but it didn't say.

[fishinghat]

Well after digging all I could find is that the Prasco 60 mg and 30 mg both contain over 300 beads but I found out nothing about the 20 mg capsules. On the other hand Prasco was the first to offer Cymbalta as a generic and was sanctioned by Eli Lilley (so they could get their cut). Before that Prasco was the one that made the brand name Cymbalta for Eli Lilley at the Hyderabad, India plant. It would seem logical that they would continue the same processing method and would have a large number of beads but that is just an educated guess.

[AliYogini]

Interesting. Your educated guess sounds reasonable to me. Thanks for checking that out.
Going to see my pcp tomorrow about a cough and congestion I can't quite shake after going on 3 wks. I'm going to be brave and ask her what her advice would be on getting off this drug. I may not agree with her or do what she suggests (I am not the best patient ).... but I will at least listen to what she says. It was her husband (a neurologist) that got me into this mess. We have to look out for ourselves. I learned the hard way.