[muse]

Just curious if any of you know what the possible side effects might be if the dose of Cymbalta I'm taking (currently 60mg) were doubled without a ramp-up period (like taking 60mg one morning and 120 the next, and 120 every morning after that).

I'm not planning on self-medicating, I know that's REALLY unwise! I'm just curious if that sort of thing is at all possible. Thank you!

I think I went from 60 to 120 at one point without any problems. Check with your doctor or your pharmacist.

[muse]

I'm definitely going to ask my psychiatrist, since she has to okay it before she writes the prescription, but I guess I'm just impatient lol. I only have 3 months, realistically, to figure out if upping the dose will alleviate my untreated symptoms AND if Cymbalta is really the right drug for me. XD

[Perna]

How long have you been taking it? It can take a month before it shows any effects. But it's used for several illnesses, not just psychiatric and taken in all different doses, depending on what you're taking it for; I think you are on a starting dose.

[muse]

I've been taking it in various doses for about 2-3 years now, for psychiatric purposes. I was at 120mg at one point and I recall that during that period my symptoms were less severe than they are now, but again that's just my recollection.

The fact that it takes a month before it reaches efficacy is precisely why I want to double it without slowly increasing the dose--If I double the dose at the beginning of the summer, I will need a month to see a change and another month at least to see if it stays. That leaves me only one more month to look at options for other meds if it doesn't work, since at that point I return to school and can't see my psychiatrist.

I wish I wasn't smart enough not to self-medicate. This is getting quite awful.

[Perna]

I would find a psychiatrist near school and continue working on it while you're at school too?

[muse]

I've tried, but they're all booked, and after the psychologist I was referred to by the school turned out to be pretty pathetic, I'm not sure where to start. I'm DEFINITELY not going through my school again, that's for sure. My current doc doesn't know anyone in the area (she's in a different state), nor do any of the other folks I know in the psychiatric profession. I'll see if I can't do more research over the summer though.