username Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I have been through many ADs, and Cymbalta is by far the best for me. I understand however that it hits norpinephrine first. Would I need to go higher to get the full benefit in terms of serotonin? I ask because I feel that meds that block the reuptake of serotonin help my anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null0trooper Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I have been through many ADs, and Cymbalta is by far the best for me. I understand however that it hits norpinephrine first. Would I need to go higher to get the full benefit in terms of serotonin? I ask because I feel that meds that block the reuptake of serotonin help my anxiety. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> IIRC, it inhibits re-uptake of both receptors at the same time. It's Effexor that's more noted for that sort of dose dependency... I did find an online abstract for research that suggests that duloxetine (Cymbalta) may be a stronger serotonin reuptake inhibitor than fluoxetine. I suspect it's better at keeping serotonin in circulation than norepinephrine, but I haven't bookmarked supporting references for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 I have been through many ADs, and Cymbalta is by far the best for me. I understand however that it hits norpinephrine first. Would I need to go higher to get the full benefit in terms of serotonin? I ask because I feel that meds that block the reuptake of serotonin help my anxiety. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> IIRC, it inhibits re-uptake of both receptors at the same time. It's Effexor that's more noted for that sort of dose dependency... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianca Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I was on Cymbalta for quite a while. The N does kick in before the S where as Effexor is the opposite. 60mg is the theraputic dose. I was still having anxiety issues so I went up to 90mgs after being on 60mg for one month.... It seemed to help for a while but then I still had a few issues. I was rx klonopin so I decided to drop the Cymbalta since after a while I felt no difference between 60 and 90mg. Plus the fact that its very hard on your liver and I was taking WB as well to counteract the sexual s/e. For me the SNRI was way worse for that s/e than a regular SSRI. Needed a higher dose of WB to counteract that and then it still was hit or miss whether I could O or not. The higher doses of C are really for individuals taking it for pain versus an AD. I've done alot of research on it. Like I said the 90mg helped for a while but then felt just like the 60mg. Alot of pdoc's don't want to go above 60mg anyway b/c its very experimental. I have since switched to an SSRI Lexapro since its more for anxiety and thats my biggest issue. Hope that helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 I was on Cymbalta for quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianca Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 How long have you been taking the 60mgs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 About 3 months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libby Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 My experience is the opposite of Bianca's. Cymbalta helps a lot more with anxiety than any SSRI did, and Lexapro didn't do a thing for me. I felt horrible on it. I was on 90 mg Cymbalta for a long time, then 120mg Cymbalta for about 6 mos due to hormonal issues. I'm going back down now because the hormonal stuff is changing (has to do with girly stuff). Side effects are less with this drug than with SSRI's for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianca Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 If you've been on it for 3 months now at 60mg, you either increase it or change to another ad. I added a benzo (klonopin) which has really helped me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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