HealthCareMagic is now Ask A Doctor - 24x7 | https://www.askadoctor24x7.com

Get your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
159 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM BlogQuestions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction

Loss Of Appetite, Nausea, Severe Agitation, Crying For No Reason, Depressed. Taking Cymbalta. Normal?

I was on Cymbalta for about a year at 90mg and experiencing severe loss of appetite and nausea, last few weeks. I have been advised to reduce to 60mg a day for a week then 30mg for a week, then stop. I am experiencing severe agitation, crying for no reason, overly sensitive and overall fatigue and just feel horrible and more depressed. Is this normal?
Tue, 27 Aug 2013
Report Abuse
Psychiatrist 's  Response
Greetings !

Welcome to the site.

Well, no this is not normal as it seems like you are still reeling under the depressive cognition and Cymbalta after 1 year long use has become ineffective owing to increased tolerance/ resistance that your body must have developed against it.

So while I support the idea of bringing you off Cymbalta but the weaning strategy can be improved by first bringing you down to 60 mg dose and after 1 week further down to 40 mg dose / day and then after 1 week down to 20 mg / day dose and then after 1 week taking 20 mg dose every alternate day for another week and then stopping the drug completely. This slow tapering of the dose is essential to prevent development of withdrawal syndrome which can further worsen the condition.

Also alongside the withdrawal of Cymbalta there is a need to replace it with another anti depressant which can be done by introducing Lexapro ( generic name -- escitalopram ) at dose of 5 mg / day in the morning when you have reduced Cymbalta to 20 mg / day regular dosing. This process of introducing a new drug while discontinuing the older one is called as Cross- titration, kindly discuss about this with your doctor.

After 1 week of being on 5 mg dose / day the dose can raised to 10 mg and then after 2 weeks further up the dose to 20 mg /day as per the discretion of your doctor.

I am hopeful that such sort of replacement of the current Cymbalta with Lexapro will prove to be useful in bringing you out of the clutches of depression which is present at the moment.

I hope this helps.

Regards.
I find this answer helpful

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer. For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service [Sample answer]
Share on
 

Related questions you may be interested in


Recent questions on Escitalopram oxalate


Loading Online Doctors....
Loss Of Appetite, Nausea, Severe Agitation, Crying For No Reason, Depressed. Taking Cymbalta. Normal?

Greetings ! Welcome to the site. Well, no this is not normal as it seems like you are still reeling under the depressive cognition and Cymbalta after 1 year long use has become ineffective owing to increased tolerance/ resistance that your body must have developed against it. So while I support the idea of bringing you off Cymbalta but the weaning strategy can be improved by first bringing you down to 60 mg dose and after 1 week further down to 40 mg dose / day and then after 1 week down to 20 mg / day dose and then after 1 week taking 20 mg dose every alternate day for another week and then stopping the drug completely. This slow tapering of the dose is essential to prevent development of withdrawal syndrome which can further worsen the condition. Also alongside the withdrawal of Cymbalta there is a need to replace it with another anti depressant which can be done by introducing Lexapro ( generic name -- escitalopram ) at dose of 5 mg / day in the morning when you have reduced Cymbalta to 20 mg / day regular dosing. This process of introducing a new drug while discontinuing the older one is called as Cross- titration, kindly discuss about this with your doctor. After 1 week of being on 5 mg dose / day the dose can raised to 10 mg and then after 2 weeks further up the dose to 20 mg /day as per the discretion of your doctor. I am hopeful that such sort of replacement of the current Cymbalta with Lexapro will prove to be useful in bringing you out of the clutches of depression which is present at the moment. I hope this helps. Regards.