Cymbalta vs. Effexor

[The Emperor]

I'm getting frustrated. I don't think ANYTHING is going to help this shit at all. Therapy, no, meds, no, I'll be negative and go ahead and say that since I've been an anxiety ridden weirdo for as long as I can remember that this is just something wrong with me that nothing is going to fix. Except whiskey, that'll take care of it.

Don't worry, I'm not going to start chugging half gallons of Jim Beam to medicate this(ye)

Sure, there was an original topic.

Oh let's see, I was just instructed to stop taking my 20mg Prozac since it was only making my anxiety worse and start on Cymbalta.

I've already been on Effexor XR, which was HELL to get on and it SUCKED ASS to go up on the dose of it as well, and I didn't sense an improvement, but it didn't seem to mak anything worse, except my mood, but only for a little while.

So I was just wondering if anyone has taken both(for any reason) and found one to work well and the other not so much? I believe they are both SNRI's, so I'm expecting some shitty start up effects here soon.

He also just told me to straight up STOP taking the Prozac(I've been on it for a coupe months now about) because it's only 20mg andI shouldn't have any problems. But it sounded like at first he wanted me to take 10mg tablets for a while, but when he learned I didn't have any left, he just said to stop takng it and start Cymbalta today.

I'm waiting a day anyway. Sounds like he was too lazy to write another script for 10mg prozac. Whatever. I'm not going to hold that against him, he's still a lot better than last p-doc. I'm sure these people are getting irritated with me, nothing works for me. In the end I'll just be another 6mg klono a day patient I'm sure. Argh. I don't want that.

Anyway, so yeah, differences between the drugs and what, am I going to get bain zaps or something? Was that bad that he told me to just stop the Prozac.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Thanks guys.

[beetle]

I didn't take either of them for anxiety but just wanted to tell you that effexor was a very effective drug for me but cymbalta didn't do shit. So that tells ya how different they can be. That means it could be totally different for you than the effexor was. And it might work.

Oh and prozac has such a loooong half life that it sort of self tapers. It's the easier of the SSRIs to come off of.

[DogMan]

i'm on cymbalta. it's good.

it wasn't rx'ed for anxiety but it helps with it. i also didn't cross taper [i was on 40mgs celexa] but the second "s" in ssnri kinda takes the edge off that anyway.

just don't skip doses or expect anxiety, nausea, diarrhea, cold sweats...

[SashaSue]

I'd actually say I found effexor better for depression, but cymbalta better for anxiety I was experiencing at the time. Absolutely no idea why.

[Anna]

I've never taken cymbalta, but I know a couple people who were prescribed it specifically for anxiety, and found it quite helpful.

The two drugs are different enough that you probably don't need to prejudge the cymbalta based on what the effexor did. Sure, they are in the same class, but there are wide varieties of effects within classes.

I hope it works for you.

Anna

[Thomas]

I'm on Cymbalta too (never tried effexor) and it helps me with anxiety, at least I think it does because I take Klonopin too. I really do think my anxiety has been improved by the Cymbalta though, because I have cut my Klonopin dose in half.

Tommy

[The Emperor]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I'm just nervous about it, and I want one of these fucking pills to be THE ONE that works!! Effexor helped with SOME things, but I didn't ell p-doc that, it ddn't help with any of the symptoms of my DX's, so I dropped it, which sounds stupid, but it wasn't helping anything, not hurting either, hell, I lost ten lbs, that was cool, I'm hoping that'sone thing the cymbalta might have in common with it!!!

Effexor made me feel slightly less than human, so, yeah, that was cool. That was only for the first few weeks.

It's nice to know that some of you like it or had a different response to it than effexor, either way, thanks, every one of the replies was helpful.

I'm sick of this shit, I think we are running out of options. I'm getting scared.

[Velvet Elvis]

One thing I can say about cymbalta is that it kicked in faster than any psych med I've ever taken other than Wellbutrin and the stimulants. I was feeling the effects after about three weeks and prozac has a really long halflife so there should be no reason to step down on the prozac.

[The Emperor]

One thing I can say about cymbalta is that it kicked in faster than any psych med I've ever taken other than Wellbutrin and the stimulants. I was feeling the effects after about three weeks and prozac has a really long halflife so there should be no reason to step down on the prozac.

Yeah, I didn't take the Prozac today at all and really I feel fine, or, well, not like I'm experiencing withdrawal anyway.

Good that it seemed to kick in quickly, hopefully it does for me. P-doc said to start taking the cymbalta tomorrow, but if the prozac has such a long half-life, is that such a great idea? It's only 20mg Cymbalta, and I'm sure he wouldn't tell me to do anything particularly dangerous, I just hope it doesn't make me really anxious or something, if it mixes with whatever the hell is left over of the prozac, if there is any, I should look up the pharmacology of these drugs, that ought to help, assuming I can understand a fair percentage of it. I'm still following orders, I'm just curious.

[SashaSue]

It really shouldn't be a problem. The Cymbalta won't kick in right away, you know?

[Velvet Elvis]

Cymbalta didn't do anything for me until I hit 60mgs. I did 2 weeks at 30 mgs then 2 weeks at 60 mgs then BAM it attacks my brain with a chainsaw.

I wouldn't think it would do anything dramatic at that small a dose. 60mgs is pretty much the standard recommended dose. Your pdoc is probably just testing to see if you can tolerate the drug before moving you up to the functional dose.

[The Emperor]

Yeah, I know it won't kick in right away, but the shitty side effects will, not to be a negative Nancy here, but that's how it goes.

And he LOVES to start me off at the tiniest dose of anything possible because I guess I'm this big whiney wuss when it comes to meds. I appreciate the acknowledgement of my wussiness, at the same time, it's irritating because I'd like help faster than that, but oh well, that's what the lovely benzos are for.

Just being cautious, yes. I think I started Effexor at 75mg and moved up to 150mg, and at initiation of treatment with that pill and the dosage increase I felt like SHIT. So hopefully that doesn't happen with this one.

Thanks for the re-assurance guys.

[Velvet Elvis]

I started taking psych meds with the perspective of a former recreational drug user. The way I look at it, if once upon a time I was willing to puke my guts out just to trip for a few hours, feeling antsy or nauseous for a few weeks so I can feel like a normal human being isn't that big a deal.

[grousemouse]

hi,

i didn't read all the other comments but i did a page search for seroquel and it didn't come up so i thought i'd mention it. i took it for anxiety and found it to be the most effective anti anxiety drug i've had. the down side for me was the sedation (they do call it 'slurroquel') but if you take it at night it might not be so bad. i eventually stopped taking it because of the sleepiness but i still miss it.

i've taken effexor but not cymbalta. it was okay but did little for me.

good luck,

grouse.

[The Emperor]

VE- I see where you are coming from with that. I didn't start out on my anxiety meds like that, but yeah, was a recreational drug user for quite some time, so that makes sense to me. The thing with the shrooms or DXM or whatever the hell it was that I took to get high was that the vomitting or panic lasted such a short time, I could always tell myself "This wll be over in a few hours" not so much the case with Effexor or any other med I've tried, it's more like "Well, hopefully this SHIT subsides in a week or two and I can function and start feeling better again." But, in both scenarios, the main idea is to tough it out so I'll eventually feel better. I don't know if that made sense. I'm willing to go through weeks of basically feeling braindead and all around shitty so that, in the end, I can be a stay at home mom that DOESN'T freak out all the time and set the stage for my kid to become as freaked out by life as I am. I'll do it all. It just gets tiring.

grouse- they've tred to put me on Seroquel and I wish I could have taken it, but it was WAY too expensive, and my insurance company won't cover it, I'm assuming because I don't have a DX warranting the use of that drug and there is no generic form. Cymbalta is indicated for GAD, so I can get that, same with Effexor. I wish I could try Seroquel, I hear a lot of good things about it, except the sleepiness thing.

[SashaSue]

Effexor can be extra specially suck for starting up. I don't remember having any real start up issues with Cymbalta, either time.

[The Emperor]

Effexor can be extra specially suck for starting up. I don't remember having any real start up issues with Cymbalta, either time.

Yeah, I can't imagine having made it through the start-up period of effexor without klonopin, I cannot describe it, but it was pretty bad. It's good to hear that you didn't experience any weird start-up effects on Cymbalta, hopefully I don't, and it's only 20mg.

For now though, just today(and yesterday too) I'm just taking my klonopin 3x a day and enjoying that. I feel much better this way, I wish this is all I had to take instead of all this other shit. But if something else out there will help, I guess I'll go through all of them dammit.

Tomorrow I'll start the Cymbalta, but I just wanted a day or two with just me and the klono, that's always felt the best. I make it sound like a love affair, he, sometimes it feels like it, why p-doc wants to push another drug into my relationship with klono, I don't know, I'm a one drug lady, I don't want a threesome.

[Guest marcus]

I was on and off effexor for a couple of years, I eventually got sick of it and didn't feel like myself anymore, almost as if the drug was changing my thought and brain waves. I've aslo taken prozac, paxil, celexa, and a couple other ssri's, the side effects were untolerable for me. I find I am sensitive to seretonin, I am taking an nri called wellbutrin right now, it's been a few days and so far the side effects are fine, doesn't seem like it's helping my anxiety that much though. I have been reading about cymbalta, it says cymbalta is more noradrenergic than effexor. Venlafaxine (effexor) has a 30-fold higher affinity for serotonin than for norepinephrine while duloxetine (cymbalta) has a 10-fold selectivity for serotonin. I'm hoping the cymbalta won't be as intense as the effexor, since it's the seretonin that messes up your head. Let me know if you feel any different on cymbalta, and if it's any better than effexor!

[The Emperor]

Thanks for the info, marcus. I'm hoping it works too. I'm on such a tiny dose right now that I don't feel anythign, good or bad, might be making me tired, but that also might be the klonopin, or the whole staying up until four in the morning for no reason thing. Hmm.

Yeah, serotonin seems to mess with me pretty bad, it scares me when I find that something acts on serotonin. Though I took Saint John's Wort before I decided to let someone else handle my troubles, and SJW is suspected to act much like an SSRI, it really lifted me out of a funk very well, so well that I don't even think I need meds for depression anymore, but by the end of the fourth month, I was so fucking anxious I couldn't ever sleep and was having a panic attack all day everyday for about a month or two, it was awful. So I don't think my anxiety reacts to serotonin inhibiting drugs very well. I don't think those are the kinds of drugs to fix my problem, but maybe. I'll probably have to have a few more awful experiences on different ones before we give up on them all together. Ugh.

[Guest marcus]

how long have you been taking klonopin for, and what dosage? I have been taking klonopin since March, I take 0.5mg 2-3 times a week. My doctor advised me not to take it more than 4 times a week because my body will become tolerant to the drug and will need a higher dosage. I find it really helps my anxiety but I'm afraid I will become tolerant to it, therefore I only take it when I really need it. Do you find it as effective from when you first started taking it?

[The Emperor]

Um, I've been taking klonopin for like a year in February. For the longest time, I was taking it as needed, which was usually once a day, .5mg. For the past two months, P-doc has had me on .5mg 3 times a day. No, I honestly don't find it as effective as I did when I first started taking it, but life is still tolerable. When I first started taking it, it alleviated ALL anxiousness and nervousness and anything like that. I was calm as hell. Now I can feel anxious and nervous at that dose, but I manage it a lot better than I would if I weren't on the klonopin. It isn't useless at this dose in any way whatsoever, but I suspect it might be in a few months, but I don't really know. Maybe it will continue to work at this level indefinitely, hopefully, I don't want to develop a tolerance either.