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BeyondtheRainbow
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Default Mar 27, 2020 at 09:45 PM
  #1
Since it looks like I may have to chance antidepressants to a generic I've been looking a bit into my options. It looks like my best options are probably wellbutrin and cymbalta unless my pdoc has some surprise. I really want to try wellbutrin again but I'm not sure what my pdoc will say. I was on it before I was diagnosed with BP and it made me nauseous and I lost a good bit of weight. With clozaril on board I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue though and I'd love to lose weight plus it it supposed to work well for people with bipolar.

Cymbalta I know little about. What have your experiences been?

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Clozapine 250 mg, Emsam 12 mg/day patch, topamax 25 mg, ,Gabapentin 1700 mg & 100-2 PRN,. 1.5 mg clonazepam., 50 mg Seroquel
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Default Mar 28, 2020 at 01:08 AM
  #2
So interesting to find this post. I had to add up all the meds I have been on for this book I am finishing writing about my state hospital hospitalization. I have been on somewhere around 54 meds, since 1997. The vast majority of these have been antidepressants, as my bp 1 was initially mistaken for major depression w/ addiction issues. Sort of had that backwards. Oh well.

So, anyhoo, when I look back on all those ADs, the two that clearly stand out as having been head and shoulders above all others in efficacy for me have been Cymbalta and Wellbutrin. They were much better even than Emsam for me, for whatever reason.


I do think they share some commonalities. Maybe it is the SNRI properties of Cymbalta that is responsible for some of this in me, I dunno. But in any event, I have found it a tad activating/stimulating, like Wellbutrin, which is what my particular brain needs. I got none of that SSRI fatigue/whatever from Cymbalta that I have had with other pure SSRIs, which, again, for me, was quite welcome.

All that being said, when I was in a massive, dangerous depression in 2005, my then-psychiatrist desperately put me on both Wellbutrin and Cymbalta. Boom!! Massive manic episode! Hospital. Etc. My current psychiatrist has told me several times that in more than 20 years of practice, he has never seen Wellbutrin induce mania by itself, in his opinion.

So, that's what I know. Currently on 300 of the XL version of the Wellbutrin and it is working nicely.

Good luck to you!!!!

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Default Mar 28, 2020 at 01:37 AM
  #3
OH yes, the other thing I really hope for is an energy boost so I'm glad you got one although not the big bad wolf one. I get some from Emsam and when I was on Seroquel with it it was great but it's not strong enough to fight clozapine/gabapentin.

You've got me met on meds and i thought I'd been on a lot........my last count was 40 meds in over 70 combinations. It's probably higher now; I gave up on counting at some point. Although I actually haven't had a med change in 4 years since I started clozapine. I did increase the dose once for 4 days to stop mania and I've adjusted my Emsam dose a few times but I've had no big changes in that time which is amazing. I just wish I could combat the fatigue from whatever I'm taking; it's hard to know.

Thank you!

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Default Mar 28, 2020 at 02:40 AM
  #4
Well, you are on some pretty sedating stuff, as you of course know. And I know I have said this before, but I am always going to nudge folks toward Provigl/Adderall/Ritalin for anyone in this sort of situation. It's just such a quick and effective solution for so many people, without a whole ton of downside. Ritalin is cheap. Some forms of Adderall are pretty cheap. My Provigil is 30 bucks a month with the GoodRx card--FWIW.

Hope you find something that works!!

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Default Mar 28, 2020 at 04:35 AM
  #5
Cymbalta saved my life, and I am of the opinion that SNRI's can be good for people with bipolar, at least bipolar II in my case.

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Default Mar 28, 2020 at 12:27 PM
  #6
I'm on Effexor, Lamictal and Zyprexa. However, Effexor doesn't relieve my anxiety. Does cymbalta have anxiolytic effects?
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Smile Mar 28, 2020 at 01:50 PM
  #7
I was on the maximum recommended dosage, first of Cymbalta, & then of its generic equivalent when it became available several years ago now. I had previously been on Prozac & Paxil & a few other things I can't recall the names of.

For me... Cymbalta was the best antidepressant I ever took. Even though I was on the maximum recommended dosage, I experienced almost no side effects. And along with helping me with depression, it also helped with the low back pain I've experienced for years. The one thing I did notice, toward the end of the period of time I was taking it (a year or two... memory fails me) was I began to notice some jerkiness in my hand & arm movements. This went away as soon as I was off of the medication.

I finally decided to go off of the medication when I changed health insurance plans & the out-of-pocket cost skyrocketed. I went in to see my pdoc to seek his advice. He gave me a withdrawal schedule that took me from the maximum recommended dosage down to zero over the course of two weeks. I had read horror stories about people trying to come off Cymbalta. So what my pdoc recommended seemed very fast. But since that was his recommendation I went with it & had little or no difficulty.

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