[march2017]

I have been on 120mg of Cymbalta for 15 years and feel it no longer works in managing my depression. I am going to see a psychiatrist but I am asking for an opinion regarding what medication others have switched to in this situation. I am also on 40mg of Adderall and 2mg of Klonopin. Thanks so much.

[CANDC]

Hi March2017. Welcome to Psych Central. Your decision to see a psychiatrist is wise in my opinion. Whenever a med is not doing what it is prescribed for, it is prudent to call the psych doctor and tell them. I leave it to their professional opinion as to what steps to take. Sometimes they change the dose or change the med or add a med. It is really a very technical and skilled decision to diagnose and prescribe psych meds. You may get others opinions and that can be helpful to know but every person reacts to meds differently. Because of all this I would recommend seeing a psychiatrist and following their recommendations for the amount of time they say it will take to have an effect. Then if the condition still is troublesome, then give them another call. This is a slow subtle process and takes time for the body and mind to adjust to changes in meds.

I just want to add that Klonopin can cause or exacerbate depression. If you recently added Klonopin or increased your Klonopin dose, there's a possibility that Klonopin is causing depression, especially if you're taking it everyday.

I'm not a doctor, but that's some food for thought. You could ask your doctor about that.

[still_crazy]

hi. like bluebicylce wrote, any benzodiazepine can cause depression or make depression worse, but Klonopin is regarded by many as the worst offender. I don't know what that's about.

The first thing that popped into my mind would be to think about maybe Remeron at night. Remeron is an effective antidepressant by itself, and its also used as a "booster" when other antidepressants aren't working as well as needed. Sedation and weight gain are potential issues, although I seem to recall reading that both the sedation and the food cravings are less pronounced at higher doses.

Anyway, just a random thought-of-the day. Clearly, a psychiatrist will have the expertise to figure something out. One can take more than the usual 60mgs/cymbalta per day, also. I was briefly prescribed 90mgs/day and some people are prescribed 120mgs/day. I don't know if that actually helps or not, but it happens.

Good luck.