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SNRI's & switching meds

deleted_user
deleted_user
Last Friday I *finally* had an appointment with Dr., who decided to take me off of Effexor XR and put me on Cymbalta. Right now I'm tapering off Effexor by decreasing one pill every 4 days (my dose was 4 pills, which=300 mg) and taking 30 mg of Cymbalta. Once I'm completely off the Effexor, he wants me to double the dose of Cymbalta.

Ah...& I also take birth control, but that's just a fun fact. :P


So my main question is: Should be a bit more concerned about taking two SNRI's at once? I've already started getting day-long headaches and stomach pains, which really hasn't helped the start of my spring break.

I'm the type of person who really doesn't know what's normal in terms of pain or side effects in treatment because I haven't had the best of luck with meds.
tgreen
tgreen
To change meds, it is ok to slowly decrease one while slowly increasing the other. All the research shows this is safe and has less side effects. i have done both the slow switch and the cold turkey, switching slowly is the lesser of two evils. Also cymbalta can cause gastritis which results in sore stomach. There are sites on the web that list all the different side effects when coming off meds. Look up discontinuation syndrome and you will find the list, it is different for each person.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Lots of people have awful withdrawal symptoms when coming off of effexor, this is why you have to come off slowly.
You sure can't go on just decreasing effexor without replacing it with something, if you are still in depression...
The best way to switch medication is to cross them, one going lower, the other higher... That saves lots of sides effects and withdrawal symptoms, though there might be cross sides effects during the transition...
Hope everything works out good for you!
deleted_user
deleted_user
I've looked up discontinuation & seratonin syndrome, I just wasn't sure on the whole crossing-meds thing. Thank you both for the advice!
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