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switching medications
I am taking 15 mg. elavil (very low dose) for depression and nerve pain. I just started two weeks ago. I think it has been causing some problems with my asthma and it says don't use albuterol inhaler. Has anyone switched from Elavil(or any tricyclic) to an SNRI? Can you do this immediately? I mean stop one -start taking another the next day. Thanks, Shelley
thats too bad what happened? What kind of bad reaction did you have?
I'm glad you are able to get in to a p-doc this week!!
Hang on for sure there honey.
I'm glad you are able to get in to a p-doc this week!!
Hang on for sure there honey.
Hi Guys, Well I am trying to hang on Opus. The Cymbalta didn't go to well. I had a bad reaction. I am trying to get a new med this week and appt. with psychiatrist. Shelley
Well said opus. Depression at this level doesn't give a damn what's going on in your life, good or bad. In fact 3 of my relapses were during a period in my life when everything (from an outside prespective) was just fine.
When I'm on a bad med combo, you could give me 10 million dollars and my response would be, "oh well big deal."
When I'm on a bad med combo, you could give me 10 million dollars and my response would be, "oh well big deal."
hey honey I do know how you feel I've been that low many times myself!...I have cyclothymia a mild form of BP..but tried many AD's over the years, now I am on Lamictal.
Also the neurontin at 1800mg that is the theraputic dose so you can go up quite away yet from where you are.
You will get feeling better, I know it sure doesn't seem like that now to you..but you will honestly just a matter of getting on the right meds that work for you and than you will see a huge difference...Cymbalta works well for some people....honey anything is better than the elavil you probably(more than probably) not getting any help what so ever from that one...so give it another few weeks and see how you are doing.
don't give up ever..sometimes it takes a few trys to get the right med.
Depression is a disease and it doesn't take into account the wonderful family you have anymore than diabetes would, this has nothing to do with HOW you SHOULD be feeling! So don't ever feel guilty, go ahead and have a good cry sometimes that will relieve some of the pent up frustration.
I hope you will do better real soon, keep posting talking helps too.
hugs
Also the neurontin at 1800mg that is the theraputic dose so you can go up quite away yet from where you are.
You will get feeling better, I know it sure doesn't seem like that now to you..but you will honestly just a matter of getting on the right meds that work for you and than you will see a huge difference...Cymbalta works well for some people....honey anything is better than the elavil you probably(more than probably) not getting any help what so ever from that one...so give it another few weeks and see how you are doing.
don't give up ever..sometimes it takes a few trys to get the right med.
Depression is a disease and it doesn't take into account the wonderful family you have anymore than diabetes would, this has nothing to do with HOW you SHOULD be feeling! So don't ever feel guilty, go ahead and have a good cry sometimes that will relieve some of the pent up frustration.
I hope you will do better real soon, keep posting talking helps too.
hugs
Well, I the doctor said to just go off of the elavil and go on Cymbalta the next day as I was on such a low dose of elavil anyways. We'll see how it goes. Shelley
Hi, Thanks for your response. I take Neurontin. 300 mg/3xday. I guess the norepinephrine part of the SNRI's and older tricyclics is supposed to help with pain- that is what the neurologist said. If you are on this forum- you must know what it is like to be way down. well- that is how I feel. I don't even have the energy to call the doc. - I might just start balling. But I will call- I have to go on I have 2 kids and a great husband and nothing to be sad about. Shelley
meant to add, you mentioned taking it for nerve pain too?...I don't know of anyone taking it for nerve pain...I've been on medication for this for years and have never ever heard of elavil being theraputic for nerve pain.
For this type of pain you need an anti-epileptic medication such as Neurontin, Lyrica or Tegretol.
Sorry if I'm stepping out of line here but I can see where you wouldn't be getting no relief from depression nor nerve pain....I am sure glad your doctor is trying another med on you, ask him abt the anti-epileptics also if your nerve pain is severe...
good luck
For this type of pain you need an anti-epileptic medication such as Neurontin, Lyrica or Tegretol.
Sorry if I'm stepping out of line here but I can see where you wouldn't be getting no relief from depression nor nerve pain....I am sure glad your doctor is trying another med on you, ask him abt the anti-epileptics also if your nerve pain is severe...
good luck
hi Shelly, just wanted to throw a word in...elavil at 15mg is basically doing nothing for you beneficially anyway...at that dose all you are getting is side effects...and being that its a very old AD its also one with the most side effects!!
My husband was on elavil 10 yrs ago when he started seeing his P-doc/psychopharmacolgist...this doc told him that elavil should have been taken off the market years ago as its just the worst one avail anymore and only GP's prescribe it because they know zip abt AD's.
and at 15 mg there should be no problem getting out of your system in just a few days.
My husband was on elavil 10 yrs ago when he started seeing his P-doc/psychopharmacolgist...this doc told him that elavil should have been taken off the market years ago as its just the worst one avail anymore and only GP's prescribe it because they know zip abt AD's.
and at 15 mg there should be no problem getting out of your system in just a few days.
Pristiq is kind of a funny SNRI. Remember it was released just before Effexor XR ended it's 7 year patent protection. Effexor and Pristiq are 99% the same drug in terms of active chemical. Pristiq being Desvenlafaxine and Effexor being Venlafaxine. In fact if you look at the molecular chart for the two drugs they even bind the same.
Funny thing is you know why Weith pharm released Pristiq? (a drug much like Effexor) Because the 7 year patent on Effexor was close to an end and Weith didn't want to lose market share. In comes Pristiq (Name brand only for another 7 years)
It's all about the money. You know Effexor XR made Weith 3.5 Billion dollars a year. Not million, but Billion. Many don't know that for several years Effexor XR was the highest earning antidepressant on the market. For good reasons, it does work very well for many people when SSRI's do not.
Strange thing is that Weith sold out to Pfizer several months ago, but Effexor XR in name brand will still be avalible.
I was on Effexor at 300Mgs a day at one time. For a good many years it worked wonders for me. Many years later and many drugs later I tried Pristiq, but it didn't work so well for me even at a 100Mg dosage. Maybe it was just too much like Effexor and since that pooped out on me the Pristiq wouldn't work for me.
One thing is for sure, Effexor was a rough swith to a different med, but Pristiq OMG! The withdrawl from 100Mg of Pristiq was murder. 10 solid weeks of ultra bad withdrawl the likes of which I swear I didn't think I would recover from. I tapered as best I could but unlike Effexor you can't step down slow. 50Mg tabs only at that time.
Funny thing is you know why Weith pharm released Pristiq? (a drug much like Effexor) Because the 7 year patent on Effexor was close to an end and Weith didn't want to lose market share. In comes Pristiq (Name brand only for another 7 years)
It's all about the money. You know Effexor XR made Weith 3.5 Billion dollars a year. Not million, but Billion. Many don't know that for several years Effexor XR was the highest earning antidepressant on the market. For good reasons, it does work very well for many people when SSRI's do not.
Strange thing is that Weith sold out to Pfizer several months ago, but Effexor XR in name brand will still be avalible.
I was on Effexor at 300Mgs a day at one time. For a good many years it worked wonders for me. Many years later and many drugs later I tried Pristiq, but it didn't work so well for me even at a 100Mg dosage. Maybe it was just too much like Effexor and since that pooped out on me the Pristiq wouldn't work for me.
One thing is for sure, Effexor was a rough swith to a different med, but Pristiq OMG! The withdrawl from 100Mg of Pristiq was murder. 10 solid weeks of ultra bad withdrawl the likes of which I swear I didn't think I would recover from. I tapered as best I could but unlike Effexor you can't step down slow. 50Mg tabs only at that time.
Thanks for your response. I am nervous about waiting any time as I have been very depressed. I am on such a low dose of amitriptyline that I hope it will be o.k. to switch right away. How do you like the pristiq? I have been reading about it- it is a metabolite of EFFEXor? Maybe I got that mixed up. I know it is new to the market. Shelley
Elevil (Amitriptilyne) same thing.
Yes I have made the switch from a tricyclic to an SNRI. In my case from Nortriptilyne (sister drug of Amitriptilyne) to the SNRI Pristiq. I did this because the Nortriptilyne stopped working for me after 18 months.
In the case of Amitriptilyne you can not take both at the same time, but you can make a pretty fast swap. I took my P-docs advice and just made the switch after only a 3 day wash out of the Amitriptilyne and had no problems.
Obviously some of the Amitriptilyne will still be in your system, but not enough to cause a problem when you start the SNRI. No worries you will be safe.
In reality you could probably just make the swap right away, but I always like to do a couple day wash out on the old drug first just to be safe.
It's good you ask though because there are drugs that can not just be switched fast like that.
Yes I have made the switch from a tricyclic to an SNRI. In my case from Nortriptilyne (sister drug of Amitriptilyne) to the SNRI Pristiq. I did this because the Nortriptilyne stopped working for me after 18 months.
In the case of Amitriptilyne you can not take both at the same time, but you can make a pretty fast swap. I took my P-docs advice and just made the switch after only a 3 day wash out of the Amitriptilyne and had no problems.
Obviously some of the Amitriptilyne will still be in your system, but not enough to cause a problem when you start the SNRI. No worries you will be safe.
In reality you could probably just make the swap right away, but I always like to do a couple day wash out on the old drug first just to be safe.
It's good you ask though because there are drugs that can not just be switched fast like that.
I didn't mention that I weaned off Cymbalta 8 months ago. And I was on zoloft for 5 years before that. So I ahve taken my share of AD's. I also have OCD. I am just concerned with going too far into this elavil with my asthma and not being able to use my inhaler. Of course I did not know about this before I started it. And my doctor did not mention anything. Shelley
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