⭐

Community AnchorEffexor

Doctors don't realize that it can take much longer than a few weeks for things to improve. Personally, if it were me I would not go this route. The Cymbalta is what your brain was used to and Lexapro affects the brain differently. Just because you were on it in the past and didn't have those issues doesn't mean you won't now. Too many drug switches - either with different drugs or doses - can destabilize the CNS. And switching to another drug won't necessarily stop the withdrawal symptoms from the Cymbalta. I think the safest thing would be to just give things more time as they currently are, but it's up to you want you want to do @Flyguy10. This is why bridging onto another drug can get tricky. I'm sorry things are a bit rough for you right now. Let us know your thoughts.

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

F

Flyguy10Sep 1

LighthouseProzac · supporting

I honestly don't know. I'm so lost with all the physical and pharmacological issues I don't know what is what. The prozac hits more targets than the lexapro and since I've only been on it a few weeks stopping before I get too dependent sounds good. That and letting the liver enzymes free up to get me back to my baseline blood levels on the valium sounds good since daytime fatigue is becoming more of an issue. I think the prozac was helping in some ways but also causing new symptoms. Going to something I have experience with is a little more comforting. On the flipside, your concerns are what I was worried about. I think this MRI in 2 days is causing me further stress. I need it to show something or I'm at another dead end for my physical issues, which have been making it progressively harder to get through each day. Don't worry about me doing anything rash, I won't hurt myself, and at least the psychiatrist is going to try to find me a new therapist that specializes in people with chronic pain. I'm just juggling a lot and starting to become completely overwhelmed.

Valium — Started 02/2025, max of 20mg — current 10mg - holding | Lexapro 5mg - Started 9/25 | Prozac 10mg — Started 8/13/26 — Ended 9/2 | Cymbalta 20mg - 1 month, 40mg - 6 months, 60mg - 1 month, 90mg - a few days, 60mg - 1 month, 40mg - 15 days, 20mg - 3 weeks, discontinued 8/13/26 | LDN 4.5mg - 1 year - discontinued | with clinician

⭐

CatinaSep 1

Community AnchorEffexor

It's so hard to know what to do sometimes, I understand. You have multiple things going on at once. I do know that with tapering psychiatric drugs that keeping things consistent and as simple as possible is best. I hope things go well with your MRI. Keep us posted. 💜

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

F

Flyguy10Sep 2

LighthouseProzac · supporting

Thanks again. After giving it more thought, I'm going to stop the prozac as was planned, fill the Lexapro, but not take it unless my mental state deteriorates or discontinuation symptoms spike. Makes sense to not add yet another drug into the mix. And without a gap, switching so fast would cause occupancy rates to go above where I was before because of the slow prozac clearance, which seems like a very dumb idea. I appreciate all the responses; you and @basedpsychiatrist are great and I appreciate you both.

Valium — Started 02/2025, max of 20mg — current 10mg - holding | Lexapro 5mg - Started 9/25 | Prozac 10mg — Started 8/13/26 — Ended 9/2 | Cymbalta 20mg - 1 month, 40mg - 6 months, 60mg - 1 month, 90mg - a few days, 60mg - 1 month, 40mg - 15 days, 20mg - 3 weeks, discontinued 8/13/26 | LDN 4.5mg - 1 year - discontinued | with clinician

⭐

CatinaSep 2

Community AnchorEffexor

Thanks @Flyguy10 for the update and for sharing your thoughts. It sounds like you have a very good pulse on things and have a plan for yourself, so that's good. Continue to keep us in the loop!

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

F

Flyguy10Sep 9

LighthouseProzac · supporting

MRI showed nothing new, eliminating the doctor's suspicion for my one pain. It's a setback but I'm managing. One less surgery needed to get me fixed up physically. Unfortunately now we don't know why I can't tolerate the PT needed to prep for labral repair. On the bright side, no new symptoms after stopping the fluoxetine. Duloxetine discontinuation symptoms have not worsened either, relatively steady with small improvements when averaged over time. More bad days, less worse days (no good ones yet). And my windows throughout the day seem to be getting more frequent and longer lasting on average. Definitely not moving on the valium until this all stabilizes a while.

Valium — Started 02/2025, max of 20mg — current 10mg - holding | Lexapro 5mg - Started 9/25 | Prozac 10mg — Started 8/13/26 — Ended 9/2 | Cymbalta 20mg - 1 month, 40mg - 6 months, 60mg - 1 month, 90mg - a few days, 60mg - 1 month, 40mg - 15 days, 20mg - 3 weeks, discontinued 8/13/26 | LDN 4.5mg - 1 year - discontinued | with clinician

⭐

CatinaSep 9

Community AnchorEffexor

Hi @Flyguy10, thank you for updating us. I'm glad you're not any worse, that's a silver lining for sure. The fact that your windows are getting longer is a great sign. You've been through a lot and are quite the trooper. I'm glad you're waiting until you're stable before making any more changes. 💞

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

M

MashaSep 9

LighthousePaxil · holding

I agree. Make one change at a time.

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

F

Flyguy10Sep 16

LighthouseProzac · supporting

I just wanted to update again one this. I'm now at 15 days since stopping the fluoxetine and my windows seem to still be getting slowly longer. It's still daily symptoms, but my portion of the day without the vasomotor/ flushing/ hot flashes is increasing, and the intensity of the symptoms seem to be on the decline. It's very slow, but looking back over weeks and not days the pattern is clear. It would probably be more of a nuisance if I wasn't dealing with the lack of sleep from pain, though my pharmacological sleep disruptions (hot flashes and vivid dreams) have improved more than the waking symptoms.

Valium — Started 02/2025, max of 20mg — current 10mg - holding | Lexapro 5mg - Started 9/25 | Prozac 10mg — Started 8/13/26 — Ended 9/2 | Cymbalta 20mg - 1 month, 40mg - 6 months, 60mg - 1 month, 90mg - a few days, 60mg - 1 month, 40mg - 15 days, 20mg - 3 weeks, discontinued 8/13/26 | LDN 4.5mg - 1 year - discontinued | with clinician

⭐

CatinaSep 16

Community AnchorEffexor

"my windows seem to still be getting slowly longer" — @Flyguy10

Nice to hear this promising update Flyguy10. 😊

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

M

MashaSep 17

LighthousePaxil · holding

There’s so much to juggle with multiple medications and symptoms. As Catina always says do one thing at a time and go slow.

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

W

WolfSep 18

Community AnchorProzac · researching

The windows have a tendency to become longer, yes. It's a good sign that you are on the right path. It took me a few extra months to stabilize after that.

Prozac — 40 mg — 6 months — holding | Zyprexa — 20 mg — 6 years — holding | Depakote — 600 mg — 8 months — **tapering** | Buspirone — 20 mg — 8 months — holding | with clinician
"If life is painful, start a rebellion and make it good."

F

Flyguy10Sep 27

LighthouseProzac · supporting

Update, after a few hours of crisis the other day I decided to try adding the 5mg Lexapro. I gave it 4 weeks to let the prozac flush itself out. Better history with that for me and I'm not doing well handling my still undiagnosed injury. Psychiatrist says we can still try to start the valium taper once I'm adjusted and stable. I failed before to get below 10mg but he can prescribe me smaller tabs than I have to go slower this time.

Valium — Started 02/2025, max of 20mg — current 10mg - holding | Lexapro 5mg - Started 9/25 | Prozac 10mg — Started 8/13/26 — Ended 9/2 | Cymbalta 20mg - 1 month, 40mg - 6 months, 60mg - 1 month, 90mg - a few days, 60mg - 1 month, 40mg - 15 days, 20mg - 3 weeks, discontinued 8/13/26 | LDN 4.5mg - 1 year - discontinued | with clinician

⭐

CatinaSep 27

Community AnchorEffexor

Sorry to hear you hit a rough patch @Flyguy10. Wishing you the best with your course of action. Keep us updated. 💜

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

M

MashaSep 27

LighthousePaxil · holding

Praying for you Flyguy!

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

Psychiatrist wants to abruptly change meds again

15 Replies

Join the conversation

Need a clinician who understands tapering?