Migraine

Hi guys. I went to see a new doctor the other day and he put me back on Effexor XR. I have been on it before, but came off of it at the beginning of the year. (I was up to 300mg) per day. I have been on Cymbalta for about 3-4 months, 60mg. He told me to switch directly from one to the other. So on Tuesday, I took my Cymbalta (60 mg), then on Wednesday, I took the Effexor XR (150mg). There was no tapering on the Cymbalta, and no slowly increasing on the Effexor. (Although we may go up later). Anyway. I have felt really funny for the past few days - moody, queasy, etc. THen today, I was dizzy and actually fainted. Do you think it's related to the switch? I think it probably is and am just gonna wait a couple of days and see how I do. I was just wondering if any of you have experienced this or if you think the change was too abrupt?

Oh yeah, after 2 days of migraine-he##, I felt a little better today.

Thanks for listening, as always.

Sherry

Everyone reacts so individually to med switches that it woudl be hard for any of us to say. I would call your pharmacist and ask about this, and also your doctor. Between the two of them, you should be able to get a best guess. They can take your medical history in to account. The dizziness and fainting episode should probably be noted in your file, too.

Hi Sherry!

I'm certainly not a doctor, and I've never had Cymbalta, but I can tell you about my experience with Effexor...

I take it as a part of my migraine preventative regimen. When I started it, my headache specialist had me take 37.5 mg for 1 week, then 75 mg for 1 week, then 112.5mg for 1 week, then 150 mg after that. When she recently increased my dose to 225 mg, she again went up 37.5 to 187.5 for a week, then to the 225mg. (In other words, she NEVER moves me by more than 37.5mg at a time.) She said the same will be true if we decide to go off of this med. She said it's one you have to be VERY careful with!!

So, that's what happened with me...hope it's helpful to you!
jenny

From my experience, cymbalta is a drug that needs to be slowly tapered off, when stopping antidepressants. I'm not sure about the taper schedule when you are switching to another antidepressant at the same time, but I would think a quick switch wouldn't be the best thing to do. Please check with your pharm and doctor as Droolie said.

And let us know how you are doing.

Thanks everyone for your input.
I have been on Effexor before and slowly increased it before. And decreased it even slower when I was coming off of it, because the effects were horrible. But I have never just switched from one to another like this. I will tell the doctor about it, but it is better today. I just think the change was too abrupt for my body. I will keep a check on my symptoms, though, and call if anything else funky happens.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Sherry