sweetsouthern Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 hi! i have been taking celexa for a few years now for anxiety. im up to 60mg a day and just found out that that dosage is no longer allowed due to side effects. my doctor wants to switch me to cymbalta or effexor. since i know nothing about them (i have tried lexapro, wellbutrin, prozac and zoloft previously), she told me to research them and see her next week. i see some scary stuff out there about both, but then again, theres scary stuff about all pills nowadays. can anyone offer some experiences with these meds, good or bad? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I have taken effexor XR (for many years) and I am now taking cymbalta. I have been carefully weaned off effexor XR by my MD twice and I did not experience any side effects either time. I have been taking cymbalta for a year now and I have no issues with it. I have highs and lows -- lows not so awful that I cannot get out of bed, just lows that are not as good as the highs. My rationale is that one cannot have highs without lows. I probably feel as much 'like me' on cymbalta as I can......and that is fine. Diet and exercise seem to play as huge a role for me as the meds. When I get all three clicking along, it is good. I resisted Cymbalta when my doc suggested it and tried zoloft first -- that only worked initially and in about 2 weeks, it did not seem to work at all. THEN, I agreed to the Cymbalta. Good luck with whatever you decide.:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: www.crazymeds.com has good stuff to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I've been taking effexor for a month now and I so wish I had started earlier. I had some side effects the first week (nausea, excessive perspiration, and hot flashes) but they have all gone away now. I take them both for anxiety and for fibro and I am not in any pain now, I have more energy and I feel so much more "stable". Before, as soon as I got anxious or stressed, I would start crying. I haven't had a single instance of that since I started. Good luck ETA: My doctor talked about both effexor and cymbalta but wanted to start me on effexor since some people have problems with breaking down cymbalta and he didn't think it was worth the risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I tried Cymbalta but the side effects were to much for me. I am now taking Zoloft and wellbutrin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I've been taking effexor for a month now and I so wish I had started earlier. I had some side effects the first week (nausea, excessive perspiration, and hot flashes) but they have all gone away now. I take them both for anxiety and for fibro and I am not in any pain now, I have more energy and I feel so much more "stable". Before, as soon as I got anxious or stressed, I would start crying. I haven't had a single instance of that since I started. Good luck ETA: My doctor talked about both effexor and cymbalta but wanted to start me on effexor since some people have problems with breaking down cymbalta and he didn't think it was worth the risk. In red, :iagree:. 'Crying' is the barometer I use to judge if my meds are workiing or not. My doctor uses it as well (for me). FWIW, when I first took effexor (first time was 10 years ago), it was a miracle -- when I switched to cymbalta it was because the effexor had stopped working. Effexor, though, until that, had always worked wonderfully well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsouthern Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 thanks so much for the responses! :) anyone else taking them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I'm not sure if I should reply, since I don't take Cymbalta for anxiety... I take it for peripheral neuropathy (it's approved for that, too)... At one point I was up to an unorthodox 90 mg, now I'm down to 20 mg. We think I'm ready to get off of it totally, but I'm scared of the weaning off process. Getting down to 20 mg was a feat! I never had any major issues with side effects, and overall, I think it's been good for me. I can't speak to the anxiety help it will offer, but wanted to throw out another positive experience. (It did wonders for my neuropathy, and if we hadn't taken care of the causal issue of that, I'd likely stay on it.) My one word of caution is to wean off very slowly, when it's time. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I was on effexor and it worked wonderfully. I did have some insanely scary dreams but my dreams are already pretty vivid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I took Effexor - although not specifically for anxiety - for 6 months, and had a very good experience with it. I remember being very, very dopey and sort of out-of-body for the first week. Looking back, it would have been helpful to have planned a very slow week, and if I'd had a younger child, someone to help occasionally. We weaned off very slowly, lowering the dosage fractionally every second week, with the intervening week being an alternate-day schedule between the old and new dose. It worked very well, and I had no side-effects from the process at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 If I remember correctly, Cymbalta is a BEAR to wean off of. Near impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I took Effexor for about three days and it had me bouncing off the walls but I am bi-polar. I hear it is a bear for regular people as well. I don't know much about Cymbalta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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