Posted by Cherry Carver on February 10, 2010, at 18:33:25
In reply to Re: Oregon University's new antidepressant » Cherry Carver, posted by bleauberry on February 9, 2010, at 19:14:40
I totally agree with you. Nuclear bomb says it all. Cymbalta = death.
So many different reuptake inhibitors...Savella is described as a dual-reuptake inhibitor that eases the pain of fibromyalgia. So far, I don't have that, but I do have mild arthritis.
Klonopin works well enough without any noticeable side-effects, but it's always good to keep apprised of new things in case somebody wants to offer me something better than K. Mr. Carver takes Lorazepam and he was taking Lexapro, but his insurance wouldn't cover it. I thought about trying it, but the expense is prohibitive (I am uninsured). K already costs over $260/100mgs, and generic isn't an option (tried it with poor results).
Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I especially like your home laboratory experiments. Your way is the most sensible way to go with a new med: try less than the doctor prescribes and work up to the right dose. Everybody ought to do that. It never occurred to me to take a few grains of Cymbalta instead of the whole dose. It would have saved me a day of agony.
> I can understand not being able to tolerate any of those meds. Some people are very sensitive. I am. Any of those drugs can feel like serious nuclear bombs to certain people.
>
> As for cymbalta, its power does not come from its NE reuptake. That is minimal, at just 1 part NE per 10 parts serotonin. There is something else about cymbalta, I'm not sure what, that makes it as harsh as it is. Its withdrawals are hell also.
>
> A med much stronger than cymbalta, yet feels much cleaner and much easier to tolerate and much faster to work, is Savella. It is almost an equal balance between NE and serotonin. What makes it so much friendlier I have no idea. As sensitive as I am, and an ECT failure, Savella really surprised me.
>
> You were asking about effexor. If you couldn't tolerate any of those other meds, I would stay far away from effexor or pristiq if I were you.
>
> Safest bets for someone like you:
> Lexapro liquid. With the measuring dropper you get at the pharmacy, you can make custom doses as accurate as 1/10th of a milligram. One of my doctors has people in remission on as little as 1mg lexapro. The usual doses are supposed to be 10mg to 20mg. Takes more time for small doses to work, but they can still work.
>
> I'm not suggesting lexapro in particular, just using it as an example. Prozac, zoloft, risperdal...many meds...available as liquids for custom small dosing. Me, I make my own custom doses.
>
> I think doctors commonly and blindly overdose patients on what are supposedly normal doses. As I see it, there is no one-size-fits-all. For people with a history like yours or mine, I feel it becomes an integral and crucial part of the strategy to approach any new med with very tiny doses. Custom-made doses at home if need be. I've gotten real good at that.
>
> Who knows, one of those meds you couldn't handle might have been magic for you, if they had you start at a much lower dose (1/10th) and go from there. Me and cymbalta...I found 3mg was decent...how do you get 3mg?...inside the capsule are coated beads...about 10 of them is 1mg...just count out a custom dose and swallow with applesauce. The usual dose of cymbalta...30mg...holy cow.
>
> Anyway, yeah, cymbalta sucks bigtime. A few people love it. Savella is in my opinion the unsung hero that probably won't be fully discovered for another 5 or 10 years.
>
poster:Cherry Carver
thread:936057
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100204/msgs/936618.html