I Am Having Trouble With A Medication Combination Of Cymbalta

Posted on Fri, 23 Aug 2019

Question: I am having trouble with a medication combination of cymbalta and prozac. I am taking 20 mg of cymbalta and 5 mg of prozac. When I take this combination, I have excessive brain fog and drowsiness during the day. When I do not take the prozac, I do not have this problem. My doctor demands that I do not quit taking the prozac because of my OCD. However, I am finding this to be really unpleasant and would like to go off. What can I do?

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Fluvoxamine or serttaline

Detailed Answer:
Hello
I can understand your concerns.
Prozac works very well in OCD. That's why your doctor must be insisting you to take it.
However, there are other drugs like fluvoxamine and sertraline are also good in OCD.
You can request your doctor to change to any of these medication if you are not tolerating prozac well.

Hope this helps.
Thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Shubham Mehta (41 minutes later)

Do you know if there is anything that can be done to alleviate these side effects on the prozac? I have tried both fluvoxamine and sertraline in the past. I was on dosages that were way too high nevertheless. On the lower dosages, I had less OCD symptoms but didn't notice it. Perhaps I'll tell my doctor this (who disagrees). Agh.

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (9 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Side effects may be self limiting

Detailed Answer:
Sometimes these side effects are self limiting and may wean off in a week. Or you can try taking the drug in night time. If these are still persisting, you will have to stop the drug.

You can consider increasing the dose of cymbalta after discussing with your doctor.

Feel free to ask further.
All the best.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Shubham Mehta (34 minutes later)

Thank you for your prompt response.

I have been on cymbalta for around two months and on prozac for around a year and a half. The cymbalta was added to the prozac to help with the depression. Unfortunately, their combination does not work as well as the cymbalta. However, I am not sure if cymbalta alone is considered treatment for OCD. I am noticing an improvement in my mood nevertheless.

I guess I am not sure how to express this to my doctor. That is why I posed the question here.

Thanks so much.

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Increase dose of cymbalta

Detailed Answer:
Cymbals alone is not the drug of first choice for OCD. However, it depends which condition is more problematic for you. If the depression is more problematic, only cymbalta should be sufficient. In my experience, cymbalta does work for mild OC symptoms.
So you can try cymbalta in higher doses after discussing with your doctor.
Hope this helps.
thanks.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T