lleksam Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Hey, I've been taking cymbalta for 5 years, I dropped from 120mg to 60mg without issue but when trying to drop to 30mg things went badly. My doctor is great and offered me 50mg (20 + 30) of generic, but I've had bad experiences with generic brands so I thought I would taper. I am just having difficulty understanding all the measurements, I am really terrible at maths. I have some questions? Do I remove 10% of the weight from each capsules? Are all the beads the medication or are some "filler" Thank you, - lleksam Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Gridley Posted October 1, 2019 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 1, 2019 Welcome to SA, Ileksam. It is common for problems to arise when you get to the lower doses if you tapering too fast. Are you now at 60mg Cymbalta? We recommend tapering by more than 10% of current dose every four weeks. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/ This link is specifically about tapering Cymbalta and takes you step-by-step through the process. Tips for tapering off Cymbalta (duloxetine) For weighing, many members use the AWS Gemini-20 scale, available on Amazon. This is your Introductory topic, where you can ask questions and connect with other members. We're glad you found your way here. Gridley Introduction Lexapro 20 mg since 2004. Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017. End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg Oct. 30, 2020 Jump to zero from 0.025mg. Current dose: 0.000mg 3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete. Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium End 2021 year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper. Taper is 95% complete. Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986. Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper. Current dose as of April 1: 6.8mg Taper is 91% complete. Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs. Link to comment
lleksam Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 Hey Gridley, I am currently taking 60mg. Where I get confused is that the capsules content is not actually 60mg, it is more. I guess there is 60mg of the drug and some filler? Are all the beads the drug with filler? Thanks, lleksam Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Gridley Posted October 1, 2019 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 1, 2019 1 hour ago, lleksam said: Where I get confused is that the capsules content is not actually 60mg, it is more. I guess there is 60mg of the drug and some filler? Yes. The 60mg refers to the drug, which we call active ingredient (ai). The capsule weighs more because each of the beads contains filler. The total weight is called pill weight (pw). Generally there is much more filler than active ingredient. For example, I am now taking 1.6mgai of Lexapro but the weight is 16mgpw. Gridley Introduction Lexapro 20 mg since 2004. Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017. End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg Oct. 30, 2020 Jump to zero from 0.025mg. Current dose: 0.000mg 3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete. Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium End 2021 year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper. Taper is 95% complete. Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986. Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper. Current dose as of April 1: 6.8mg Taper is 91% complete. Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs. Link to comment
Giulietta Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Hello Ileksam, Welcome from another duloxetine survivor-to-be. In the USA, the generic is available as 20, 30 and 60. Generic has about 100 beads (avg) per 20 mg capsule. I believe trade cymbalta has larger beads and far fewer of them. If you can get the same mfr of generic consistently - that might work for you. Between generics there can be up to 30% difference in strength/formulation, etc. That is permissible in the state I live in in the US. Maybe this is why you are sensitive to generics (many of us are for htis reason). For your taper - if I could repeat getting off duloxetine - I would use the beads. I had an unintentional and unfortunate (almost? CT) back in December 2018 (20 mg). I was on the drug since 2015 - up to a dose of 60 mg. Like you - I did OK coming down to 20 mg. Welcome. Giuilietta Link to comment
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