Posted by gapsgal on April 17, 2006, at 7:59:20
In reply to Re: Cymbalta withdrawal, posted by SLS on April 16, 2006, at 10:31:33
Scott,
Thanks for your response...the withdrawals actually tend to remind me of vertigo...and as odd as it is, just a few pellets relieve the symptoms...if I ever get off of this I will never take anything other than Wellbutrin again!
Donna
I don't know whether or not Cymbalta has been formulated with a controlled release delivery system. I don't think it is. It might not matter. The random distribution of pellets should provide that you get the proper ratio of immediate versus controlled release medication. I discontinued Effexor XR by counting pellets. It worked well for me. The sooner you recognize the withdrawal symptoms reappearing, the sooner you can take a remedial amount of medication. However, I believe that it is important to be sure that you are indeed experiencing withdrawal symptoms before dosing again. I think this optimizes the rate at which you force the body to re-regulate itself. When I got down to a low dosage of Effexor, I tried to take only enough medication to get me through 6-8 hours before needing to dose again. I ended up taking small amounts of medication 3-4 times a day. I didn't feel the need to be precise with measuring doses. You can remain flexible that way. If you take a little more than is necessary, you will simply extend the time until the next dose. Ideally, the trend will be towards using smaller and smaller doses. I just "eye-balled" and approximated dose sizes. It is probably better to take too little than too much in order to discontinue the medication as quickly as possible. Either way, you will eventually reach a point when it is time to discontinue the drug completely. I always have difficulties describing how to determine where this point is. I guess when you can no longer reduce the dosage by the smallest amount such that a symptom-free period of 4 hours is possible, you can stop. You will likely experience a period of a withdrawal syndrome, but it should be relatively brief and mild.
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> It is confusing to explain, but simple to do.
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> - Scott
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poster:gapsgal
thread:466069
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060412/msgs/634069.html