renee - tapering cipralex

[renee]

hello everyone havent posted for a while.I managed to get down to 10mg a day from 20mg of cipralex in about 3 months.I have stayed at10 for over 3 months now and am going to try to lower my dosage again .I cannot get liquid cipralex so i have to cut the pills up so i have cut the 20mg pill i 4th and im taking 7.5.Its been a week now of this but im a little nervous it will be too quick but its to hard to cut them any smaller .Has anyone eles come off cipralex??

[Altostrata]

Cipralex comes in lower dosages, see http://sweden.lundbeck.com/Sweden/vardpersonal/lakemedel/bipacksedlar/pdf/Cipralex_bipacksedel_ENG.pdf .

 

Have your doctor prescribe a lower dosage and you'll be able to cut the pills up into smaller amounts, which may make your taper safer.

 

Otherwise, you can measure small dosages cut from a tablet with a digital scale

 

Also see Tips for tapering off Lexapro (escitalopram)

[renee]

I managed to cut my pills and get 8.75ish although its probley not totally accurate its still more then 7.5.I will keep this for 3 or 4 weeks then go down to 7.5.I will look for a digital scale to weigh grams.Im coming down from 10mg,Im feeling better about going slower with my taper but I sure need patience for this journey!!

[renee]

im going to try the prozac bridging tec. as i cannot seem to get down past 10mg of cipralex without terrible withdrawl,and i have tried many times.My new docter gave me 20mg of prozac today to take together with my 10mg of cipralex.He said to wait until 3 weeks is up because by then the prozac should be fully working then go straight of my cipralex.Does any one eles out there have any experience with this

[Nikki]

Hi Renee...

 

I did a taper from Cipralex a few years back. I was at 40mgs. You were at 20mgs. which is much better. I was able to purchase the liquid. I was very sensitive to tapering.

 

At the 10 mg. dose the anxiety was unbearable. Prozac is not good for people who have anxiety. It can greatly exacerbate the problem. It can really make it worse.

 

If you switch to another drug and began a taper right away you will be continue to experience WD issues at the same time you are crossing over.

 

When we stop a drug, it doesn't end there. There is protracted WD which another medication may not be able to cover up. This doesn't happen to everyone. It did happen to me.

 

In order to get off of Cipralex I switched to Imipramine which is a tricyclic. It helped to subdue the anxiety from the Cipralex taper. I stayed on the Imipramine for about two years or so because I could not handle another taper and I needed something for anxiety.

 

Please search this site for members who switched over the Prozac to gather some more info.

 

Nikki

[Altostrata]

Hi, renee. 20mg Prozac plus 10mg Cipralex is a hefty amount of SSRI, risking something called serotonin syndrome.

 

If I were you, I'd ask my doctor to give you a prescription for 5mg Prozac capsules so you can add up to 10mg Prozac gradually.

 

What is his plan then? For you to just quit the Cipralex?

[renee]

i was on 20mg of cipralex for along time and have now stabilized at 10 for quite a few months now.docter said prozate 20 is close to 10mg of cipralex and i can either go straight off cipralex and start the prozac or take them together for a few weeks to let the prozac kick in then go straight off the cipralex

[renee]

im scared to just go straight off the cipralex and want the prozac to get into my system for 3 weeks then go off cipralex what does everyone think

[renee]

could i just switch straight over to 20mg of prozac from 10mg of cipralex??or should i stay on cipralex for a while yet??

[Skyler]

could i just switch straight over to 20mg of prozac from 10mg of cipralex??or should i stay on cipralex for a while yet??

 

Hi Renee, I would discuss the suggestion made by Alto with your doc. She is the admin here and very well versed in the ways of ADs. I've made important decisions based on her input and always been grateful for her expertise.~S

[renee]

im going to stay on 20mg of prozac and in one week go down to 5mg of cipralex then in 2 weeks go off cipralex

[renee]

or i mite just go straight off my cipralex and hope the prozac will kick in

so that im not getting so much drug

[Altostrata]

renee, there's no set way how to do this. From what I've heard, it's best to overlap the Prozac and Cipralex a bit.

 

Example: take 5mg Prozac with 10mg Cipralex for a week, then up to 10mg Prozac for a week, then decrease the Cipralex to 5mg for a week, then zero Cipralex. You'd be on 10mg Prozac alone then.

 

That's the way I'd do it in your situation.

 

Adding a full dose of an SSRI (20mg Prozac) on top of a high dose of an SSRI (10mg Cipralex) is a risk. You can always increase the Prozac once you're off Cipralex if you feel you need to.

 

But there are no guarantees. Here's a topic about the Prozac switch http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1463-the-prozac-switch-or-bridging-with-prozac .

 

Perhaps our member strawberry17 can give her opinion.

[Nikki]

Renee.....Strawberry has a webpage/blog on her transition to Prozac and her tapering down process from Prozac.

 

Check it out.

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, prozac can cause more anxiety. If it is not right for you, you will know it.

 

Nikki

[renee]

thank you so much everyone for the replys.I have already taken 5 days of prozac and cant see my docter for another week so it think ill just have to stay on the dose of prozac for now and taper the cipralex.any suggestions?I used to take 20mg of cipralex for years the docter said 20mg of prozac is the same as 10mg of cipralex so it would be like taking 20mg of cipralex again if i stayed on both which i dont think is that bad.If i taper off the cipralex ill still be getting the same about as im used to,20mg prozac or 10mg cipralex so i cant see my brain being to upset

[renee]

my goal is just to get the **** off ciralex and worry about tapring the prozac later

[Altostrata]

I'm not a doctor, but if I were you, I'd start sneaking off the Cipralex now.

 

Can you cut the 10mg Cipralex tablets into quarters? Reduce by one-quarter (2.5mg) every 4 days, slower if you get withdrawal symptoms.

 

renee, if you're reading this site on a cell phone, you'd get more info if you read it on a computer.

[renee]

i can certainly cut them into quaters.Thanks for the advice i will do that.Will the prozac kick in quickly though?So i dont feel withdrawl from the cipralex??Thats my worry I guess i could up the prozac to 30 if i need and taper later off prozac.I am on a computer.u r a godsent

[Altostrata]

The Prozac should have reached steady state in your bloodstream by now.

 

There's no guarantee whether the Prozac bridge will work at any dosage, or if you will have withdrawal symptoms when you reduce the Cipralex. That's why I suggested you go off the Cipralex gradually.

[renee]

isnt that a fast taper for cipralex

[renee]

has anyone out there switched to prozac

[Altostrata]

renee, the idea is when you add in the Prozac, you can go off the Cipralex faster because the Prozac is substituting for it.

[renee]

ok thank you that makes sense

[renee]

im now totally off cipralex 10mg!!Iswitched over to protac 20,then upped to 30mg 3 days ago.I stayed on the cipralex weaning down to 5mg then off 3 days ago.11 days of prozac.I have never felt better!!Thank god for prozac.I will stay one it as long as i feel i need it but when the time comes I will slowly wean off it. am so happy

[Altostrata]

That's good news, renee.

 

Why did you go up to 30mg Prozac?

 

Please keep us posted on how you're doing!

[renee]

to stop any withdrawl from the cipralex,and it did the trick i have no withdrawl at all!!Its amazing im so thankful i switched to prozac

[Altostrata]

So you got withdrawal symptoms at 20mg Prozac and 0mg Cipralex, then you added 10mg Prozac and they went away?

[renee]

yes thats right

[Altostrata]

Well, okay!

 

What's your plan now?

[jr1985]

20mg Cipralex is about 40mg Prozac, so it makes sense that you'd have to updose to 30mg Prozac to combat w/d.

[renee]

im doing ok but alittle hung over drank a bottel of red wine at a barbacue,had a fight with the boyfriend mind you thats nothing new been really rocky for ayear.Im just trying to keep to myself.im glad to be off cipralex and on prozac i thinl ill just stabilize on it for the summer,then maybe start my taper off

[renee]

update:7 days totally off 10mg of cipralex,17 days switched to prozac.Feeling great!!No withdrawel at all coming off cipralex.Im taking 30mg of prozac now.I feel clearer and calmer then I have in a long time.I guess the prozac agrees with me.

[Skyler]

update:7 days totally off 10mg of cipralex,17 days switched to prozac.Feeling great!!No withdrawel at all coming off cipralex.Im taking 30mg of prozac now.I feel clearer and calmer then I have in a long time.I guess the prozac agrees with me.

 

Awrighttt.. way to go. Congrats!

[Altostrata]

So glad to hear switching to Prozac is working, renee. When you have time, could you post how you did it in http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1463-the-prozac-switch-or-bridging-with-prozac ?

[renee]

update:

been on 20mg of prozac for 8 days then upped to 30mg of prozac for 17 more days.When i upped my prozac dose to 30mg,I stopped my 10mg of cipralex.{took 10 mg of cipralex and 20mg of prozac together for the 8 days}So I have successfully "bridged over to prozac with no noticable withdrawel coming off cipralex.This is a miricle for me as I have tried 6 times to wean off cipralex in the last 6 years,with never being able to do it.The withdrawel was so awful I would go back up to my 20mg dose.After finding this site i slowly tapered down to 10mg,which was awesome!!

As of today i am now going down to 20mg of the prozac as i dont want my brain to get to used to the 30mg of prozac.I will hold here now for a few months before tapering futher.I think I will be ok as i was only on 30mg for 17 days.Ive been on the prozac for a total of 26 days now.

[Altostrata]

Excellent news, renee! Thanks!