Posted by Racer on December 6, 2008, at 11:13:22
In reply to Re: Cymbalta overdose/rejection?, posted by Zoomzoom on November 30, 2008, at 13:39:19
> If I go down to 30mg, should i begin immediately at my next dose time? Is there any point in skipping one day so the excess can dissipate?
No, you don't want to skip a day. The shortish half-life of Cymbalta means that it's best to take it every day -- skipping a day can lead to some discomfort from the "discontinuation syndrome." (That's the euphemism for withdrawal. ;-) Sounds much more scientific, you know.)
> The reason why I would or did consider continuing with the 60's is to explore the optimal result. At this stage, and considering everything you all have said, would you say my persistence and my concept of "optimal result," is just erroneous?
>Erroneous in the sense that more is not necessarily better. Many of these drugs have a pretty distinct therapeutic window, and too much can be as ineffective as too little. It's hard to know sometimes whether your lack of adequate response is caused by too low a dose, too short a trial, or just the wrong drug. That's the frustration of a lot of these drugs -- it's all trial and error, and it's best to extend a trial to at least 6 weeks.
Your optimal dose of Cymbalta may be 30mg, it may be higher, it may even be lower. The only way to know is to experiment -- but don't make a lot of changes. Stick with a dose for about 6 weeks before changing. If you felt the 30mg was starting to do something for you, then it's worth going back to revisit that dose and see what happens.
Also, if it turns out you do need to raise the dose, you might ask your doctor about raising in stages -- 1-30mg capsule, to 2-20mg capsules, to 1-30mg and 1-20mg, etc. Again -- it's all pretty individual, and sometimes a lower dose is optimal.
Best luck to you!
poster:Racer
thread:865882
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081204/msgs/866997.html