“SSRI medication change question?”
I was recently on Luvox (fluvoxamine) and have been on 100 mg for just under 7 weeks. My psychiatrist has decided to take me off of it because it was causing really bad fatigue and GI side effects/rapid weight loss that was interfering with my life.
The plan from my psychiatrist is the following:
For 3-5 days: Drop from 100mg Luvox to 50mg Luvox (I take at nighttime)
Days 5 onwards: Stop Luvox and following morning start Prozac 10mg for 4 days
After initial 4 days increase Prozac to 20mg.
I know it is fast taper because my doc wants me off Luvox. I was not on Luvox for long but I am so so scared of intense withdrawals like severe vomiting, hallucinations, and seizures, etc.
Does this medication switch seem safe/okay? I have always cross tapered medicine, never directly switched so I am very scared.
I am on day three of dropping Luvox to 50mg. I have had some crying spells, anxiety, and dizziness but nothing severe. Do you think I would have experienced intense vomiting as a withdrawal effect by now? Just want to make sure this med change is okay.
The plan from my psychiatrist is the following:
For 3-5 days: Drop from 100mg Luvox to 50mg Luvox (I take at nighttime)
Days 5 onwards: Stop Luvox and following morning start Prozac 10mg for 4 days
After initial 4 days increase Prozac to 20mg.
I know it is fast taper because my doc wants me off Luvox. I was not on Luvox for long but I am so so scared of intense withdrawals like severe vomiting, hallucinations, and seizures, etc.
Does this medication switch seem safe/okay? I have always cross tapered medicine, never directly switched so I am very scared.
I am on day three of dropping Luvox to 50mg. I have had some crying spells, anxiety, and dizziness but nothing severe. Do you think I would have experienced intense vomiting as a withdrawal effect by now? Just want to make sure this med change is okay.
Female | 23 years old
Complaint duration: Days
Medications: Mirena IUD
Conditions: OCD, GAD, Panic Disorder, IBS
3 Answers
I am a big fan of tapering psych meds very slowly. Whether you are taking a benzo (Xanax, Clonopin, etc), if your brain is used to it, taper slowly. When you taper very slowly, your brain doesn't "notice" that anything has changed. If you drop by 30% quickly, withdrawal if much more likely. 30 years ago I attended a conference sponsored by 2 drug companies. The topic was the treatment of depression. The drug companies were clear. Start with an SSRI (20 mg Prozac or Paxil). If it works but the effects start to decrease, increase to 40 mg. If that helps, but not enough, you can increase to 60 mg...or stay at 40 and add Wellbutrin. The other option is to stop the SSRI and take Effexor, which deals with serotonin and norepinephrine. Times have changed, although the sciende has not. The drug companies told us psychiatrists, "All the SSRI's are very closely related so there is no point in switching from one to another."
It is a complex case. Anyway, please make sure you share your fears about the medication change with your prescribing psychiatrist; he/she is the best and most qualified person to explain the benefits and risks of switching an SSRI for another SSRI.
View this link...
https://www.nps.org.au/assets/Products/Guidelines-switching-antidepressants_A3.pdf
or
https://www.healthalliance.org/Cms/Media?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthalliance.org%2Fmedia%2FResources%2Fgeneric-antidepressants-chart.pdf
https://www.nps.org.au/assets/Products/Guidelines-switching-antidepressants_A3.pdf
or
https://www.healthalliance.org/Cms/Media?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthalliance.org%2Fmedia%2FResources%2Fgeneric-antidepressants-chart.pdf
