[cbrooks73]

Hello,i have tried lexapro,buspar for my anxiety/panic attacks and nothing seemed to work until i tried Paxil,has worked great last few yrs,but has done nothing for my depression,so doc added cymbalta,well went to pick up my Rx and pharmacist said i can't take both together.So i quit my Paxil cus my depression has gotten outta hand,and wanted to try Cymbalta,still going through the with drawls of Paxil,manageable i guess have felt worse,but my anxiety is increasing.
So my question is what anxiety med can i take with my cymbalta? Anyone have this experience?
tia,
Carly

[*Laurie*]

Yes! I have had the awful experience of ssri's and even Buspar causing my anxiety to become terrible and unmanageable. The one med that has really, really helped my anxiety is Inderal. I don't for the life of me know why p-docs don't prescribe betablockers for anxiety more often.

[pinkflower17]

Originally Posted by cbrooks73

Hello,i have tried lexapro,buspar for my anxiety/panic attacks and nothing seemed to work until i tried Paxil,has worked great last few yrs,but has done nothing for my depression,so doc added cymbalta,well went to pick up my Rx and pharmacist said i can't take both together.So i quit my Paxil cus my depression has gotten outta hand,and wanted to try Cymbalta,still going through the with drawls of Paxil,manageable i guess have felt worse,but my anxiety is increasing.
So my question is what anxiety med can i take with my cymbalta? Anyone have this experience?
tia,
Carly

I would call your doc and discuss this with them. You can take the two together, you're just at a slightly increased risk for some drug interactions. Did they refuse to give them to you and say you absolutely can't take them together, or just advise you to be careful when taking together? Talk to your doctor and maybe find a better pharmacist.

[AncientMelody]

A better pharmacist? I'd more seriously question the doctor! For one thing, there is no good reason to combine paxil and cymbalta. A taper down from the paxil while ramping up the cymbalta would be a good choice, but not staying on both together (unless a taper was involved but not mentioned in the OP). Cymbalta itself has a serotonin reuptake inhibitor along with its norepinephrine effects.

[RisuNeko]

That's really weird that your doctor would prescribe two meds that have a bad interaction. I'm guessing one of the risks is serotonin syndrome or something. It's really easy to look up drug interactions online, your doctor should have done that first. It's sad that your pharmacist had to catch the mistake.

[pinkflower17]

Originally Posted by AncientMelody

A better pharmacist? I'd more seriously question the doctor! For one thing, there is no good reason to combine paxil and cymbalta. A taper down from the paxil while ramping up the cymbalta would be a good choice, but not staying on both together (unless a taper was involved but not mentioned in the OP). Cymbalta itself has a serotonin reuptake inhibitor along with its norepinephrine effects.

SSRIs are often combined, if you look at any suggested drug algorithm, if the patient has a partial or a non-response, one of the options is adding another SSRI. It's pretty commonly done. Yes, Cymbalta has a serotonergic effect, but much less than paxil's. Plus Cymbalta's added on all the time to other meds for pain management, neuropathy etc. I'm sure the doctor had a good reason for doing what he/she did. I'm just saying there's no significant interaction.

[Seqoya]

I know someone who took Buspar along with Cymbalta. But you said that Buspar didn't work for you.

[LonesomeTonight]

My p-doc had me continue taking Paxil when I started Effexor (an SNRI like Cymbalta) until I got up to a therapeutic dose of Effexor and was on it for 4 weeks. Then she had me stop the Paxil. By being on both for a bit, it reduced the Paxil withdrawal effects. So it's not that uncommon to be on both at once, at least for a short time. Same happened when she tried me on Prozac while I was still on Paxil (Prozac greatly increased my anxiety though!).

I think pharmacists are required to give you the warning. I just told them that my p-doc was having me on both to avoid me going through Paxil withdrawal, and the pharmacist said OK. If need be, you could have them contact your p-doc.

As for what anxiety med you could take with Cymbalta, do you feel comfortable taking a benzo like Xanax or Ativan? If so, you could try asking your p-doc about those, at least on an as-needed basis (they have the potential to be addictive if you take them regularly). I know they can be taken with SSRIs--not sure about Cymbalta.

I'm following this thread, too, since I'm in a similar situation--switched to Cymbalta due to depression, but it isn't helping my anxiety very much. I mainly have generalized anxiety and panic disorder, plus some OCD, but I've recently--and in the past--had some issues with major depression.

[Ocean5]

Originally Posted by PoppyRoad

awful experience of ssri's

Same here. I won't touch them again.

But thanks for suggestion of Inderal. I'm going to look into it.

[Lika Li]

For depression + anxiety, I was prescribed until now, sertraline, venlafaxine, and now, mirtazapine (but not taking them at the same time). And for anxiety alone, clonezapam.

[RisuNeko]

Clonopin is the only anxiety med that had worked for me. Before I was diagnosed bipolar I was put on ssris and they just made me more anxious and irritable.