lexaro and wellbutrin

I don't think Lex leaves the system quickly. It is Wellbutrin that enters pretty quickly. I think cymbalta and lexapro take a while to build up when you are first starting them, so I would guess they take a while to leave the system when you are quitting them.

That is great so far that this combination seems to be working well for you.

LOL... That's pretty much how I felt about it. My T knows this too. When I first started I told him I was only there because Dr made me. Now we laugh about it. I've come along way in just a handful of months.

Glad to hear that switching the time you take your meds seems to be helping out. The Lex should help you go off the cymbalta. Although you may still have some withdrawl symptoms. But not as intense. The cymbalta should be out of your system by day 5. But keep doing what you're doing as far as slowly going off.

This is EXACTLY what the Effexor did to me. I was angry. And just not a pleasant person. I couldn't stand being around myself! YES, it was that bad. Plus I felt like my body weighed a ton. I was exhausted. Like the little bit of life I had left in me was getting sucked right out. I craved carbs/sugar something fierce. Have you've ever felt like you were on the verge of getting "shakey" from not eating or because of a drop in blood sugar? I felt like this constantly. And I was trying to eat to make it go away. To give myself a boost of energy that never came. I've never reacted to a med. like this before.

Polar- That was how I felt with cymbalta with cymbalta. Like my body couldnt move. And I craved sugar! And yes, I feel like I get shaky sometimes if I dont eat, so I eat something like fruit or something to bring my blood sugar up. I think I have blood sugar things (like hypo) but I wonder if it could be pre-diabetic. I may have swings in blood sugar, but my blood tests are always well within the normal range. But it did feel as if I was hypo on cymbalta. Im glad Im off of it.

How long have you been with the blackmail therapist (LOL!)

Sunny- Ftt told me lex leaves the system quickly and wellbutrin builds up fast, but I dont know anything about cymbalta. I am going to wait this week on just this combination and if I feel like I am getting depressed or crashing I will go up with wellbutrin. I will be able to feel it if it comes. Im doing well today, but its only bee 2 days off cymbalta. DOes that mean I still have a lot in my system? Im having a good day...even with all 6 kids in the house and trying to house train the puppy!

LOL.... I like that. Um, I've been going to therapy since I think June '09. Didn't really put alot of effort into it at first. I wouldn't schedule an appointment for weeks at a time. So I'd say August or so is when I started going to sessions on a regular basis.

It sounds like it is going well. Maybe this pdoc knew what he was doing So you like her/him?

My family doctor is the one who insisted I see T. Yes, after I actually put fourth the effort to build a relationship w/ T, I do like him. Got another funny thing to tell you.......my T is the one who made my appointment with the pdoc to get my meds straightened out. LOL.... He kept saying I really need to find something that'll work for me. I kept saying yeah, okay. After a couple weeks he asked if I called. And I said no, but I will. He's like Yeah, okay I've heard that from you already. So, if you won't get mad at me, I'm gonna make the appointment for you. Guess I have a problem with making appointments huh? LOL......

How are you feeling after being off Cymbalta for a few days? Have you noticed anything different? Do you feel your energy levels changing, your mood different in good/bad way?

I have noticed w/ the combo I've got going now, I really feel good. Did I just say that? Yeah, I actually feel good. It hasn't been a full week yet. But there is a difference in energy and focus. And I don't get frustrated over every little thing. Gosh, thinking about it and typing it out is actually bringing tears to my eyes. I feel that much relief. I just hope that it's not what they call "the honeymoon phase". That would be a major disappointment.

OMG! This is TOO funny! And you are real lucky you have Ts and docs that will go and make appts for ya. LOL! They care, that is a good thing

Its strange, I dont feel any different than when I was on it. I had gone down to 30 and its only been 2 days, so maybe its too soon to tell. I have energy, I really LIKE taking the lexapro in the morning because I sleep much better at night. I just regret that I never tried taking the 20 of lex in the morning except for in the beginning when it made me drowsy. But I think the the wellbutrin is a better idea for the sexual side effects anyway.

WOW! Im so glad you feel good on the combo you are on now. Youve had a hard time tweaking the meds. This is major. I think that is what the meds have done for me, too. Energy and focus and not getting upset, angry or overwhelmed so easily. I hope its not a honeymoon, too. But maybe in another week or two you'll know for sure. But, if you are like me, you watch each and every feeling and energy level all during the day. Im not terribly patient
So....keep posting on updates all day long...lol!

Blue, when you have asked this question, I am not sure quite what you really mean to ask, so am not quite sure how to answer. Are you going to take a drug test somewhere and worried that the drug test will detect Cymbalta? The question of whether the drug is still in your system is a very different question from how long before your body adjusts to no longer being on Cymbalta. And I have wondered if maybe you are really wanting to know the answer to this latter question rather than how long Cymbalta remains in your system (which one would want to know for a drug test).

Once you have built up to steady state levels of Cymbalta in your blood, the half life of the drug is 8-17 hours in your blood, let's just say 12 hours average. So if you suddenly completely quit Cymbalta, after 12 hrs, half of it will be gone and half will still be there. Does that help? It would still be detectable by a blood test, so if you are worried about a drug test, you should give it at least several days to become undetectable.

The other question--how long it takes your body to adjust to no longer being on Cymbalta is a different one. When we begin to take an SSRI (Cymbalta is both an SSRI and an SNRI), we will be left with more serotonin in our system, because our nerve cells are blocked from taking it back up into themselves--they can't remove it efficiently from our systems like they are used to doing. Because of this abnormal situation of having more serotonin than usual kicking around, our bodies begin a process of adapting to this and changing other mechanisms to get rid of that excess serotonin. For example, a common mechanism is to reduce the number of serotonin receptors on the nerve cells. This can take the body a couple of months to do. At some point we reach a steady state when the body has stopped trying to adjust the number of receptors (as well as other mechanisms to combat the excess serotonin) and we are taking a consistent amount of the drug. We hope that together, these things will give us a bit more serotonin than we had before we started taking the drug and we will feel better. If you completely stop taking the SSRI (cold turkey), then you are suddenly left with a system that can now remove serotonin by its usual method (that the SSRI was blocking), by taking it back up into the nerve cells. Well and good, but unfortunately, you have adjusted the number of serotonin receptors on your nerve cells to be quite a bit lower, so you have this double whammy of efficient reuptake into nerves combined with too few serotonin receptors. You will feel depressed. But over a couple of months, your body can readjust and make more serotonin receptors and you will then begin to feel better. It can take a couple of months for the body to adjust after the drug is removed. That is why people are urged to go off SSRIs gradually, so there body can adjust slowly. Unfortunately, many people interpret their feeling of being depressed when they first go off of SSRIs to meaning they still need to take SSRIs. Well, maybe so, but maybe not. They need to wait it out a couple of months and let their bodies increase their number of serotonin receptors before they know how bad or good they will really feel.

Since Cymbalta also prevents norepinephrine reuptake into nerve cells, your norepinephrine system may require time to adjust also.

So, BlueMoon, your body may take a couple of months to adjust to the lack of Cymbalta in its system. However, the drug itself will be out of your system within a few days of discontinuing taking it.

When discontinuing Cymbalta, adding a different SSRI, like Lexapro, can help keep the serotonin in your system at the higher "set point" that you desire to feel less depressed. But you will still have the norepinephrine adjustments your body is making. And it's not an exact science, and everyone's metabolism is different. Plus, there are at least 6 distinct types of serotonin receptors--which ones are you downregulating with each different drug? That could be different. This is very complicated and that is why the pdoc or PNP has to "experiment" on you to find out what works best for you. And because your body takes so long to adjust (2 months?) to having a new drug present, one cannot expect to make sudden changes and assume the changes they see right away will last (whether good side effects or bad side effects).

With a painkiller, one can almost immediately tell if they are taking too much or not enough and the next day adjust the dose. You cannot really do that with many of these psych drugs. You need to give your body a chance to adjust to their presence of absence.

So don't despair, keep going slowly, and don't assume if you feel badly for a few days, that it won't improve later without making any meds adjustments at all.

As for Wellbutrin, it seems to act somewhat differently and you can more quickly get to the point of feeling the way you will feel on it--days instead of weeks/months. Same with discontinuing it. Just doesn't take as long for the body to readjust.

My recollection is that you were not on Cymbalta for long, so your body may never have fully adjusted to having it in your system. This is a good thing in terms of shortening the length of time it will take your body to readjust to having no Cymbalta around.

Nothing I wrote above should be construed as medical advice, LOL. Just follow the plan your pdoc or PNP lays out for you, and report back to him/her on how the plan is going for you so adjustments can be made, if necessary.

I do remember suggesting that to you!

Sunny- What a great answer with so much info. I am going to print it out and digest it slowly. I was asking because I wanted to know how long it would take for me to not be "on" cymbalta and to be just "on" the lexapro and wb. But I see that it is more complicated than that. I have been off now since last thursday and I am taking lexapro 10 and wb 150 both in the morning and I feel pretty good.

And....I do remember you suggesting that to me I thought Id still be drowsy from it. I really did. Well, there was the sexual side effects and WB with lex seem better.