Advice on choosing between Duloxetine and Paroxetine.

[Nad1971]

Dear Health Unlocked community,

I am new to this forum and would appreciate some advice please.

I am thinking of changing Fluoxetine which I am on now, to either Duloxetine or Paroxetine, with my psychiatrist’s help, but not sure which to take.

It is to help me with depression and anxiety which I have been suffering from for over 20 years. I was on Paroxetine for about 20 years and found it very beneficial initially. It felt like I was ‘riding a wave’ and I could get over any feelings of anxiety I may have had about a new job etc. It also helped with depression a great deal.

Over the past couple of years, it was not helping so much. I tried changing to Venlafaxine, which is from the same family as Duloxetine but suffered with terrible nausea. I stopped it and went onto Fluoxetine which I have been on for about a year. The fluoxetine was not so bad initially, but I went through a great deal of stress for six months between August and December when my mum had to have a serious operation and I felt I was solely responsible for her care. In mid December I became very depressed and quite anxious. I have increased the Fluoxetine to 60 mg but it has not helped so much and the anxiety is still quite bad. I have irrational fears which I know are irrational , but can’t quite get rid of especially the feelings of dread that accompany them.

I would like to try the Duloxetine but am afraid of the side effects- with Venlafaxine which is from the same family, I threw up a lot and could not tolerate it. Or I may simply take up Paroxetine again. It would make me stable, but not so sure if it would help with the irrational fears. I am also having counselling.

Apologies for the long post and thank you for any help you can offer.

[Hidden]

Hi and welcome! What does your doctor recommend in regards to the medicine? It wouldn't be right for us to advise you since none of us are doctors (or your doctor). Your doctor is trained and knows your medical history I am glad you're getting counselling for your anxiety. How's that going?

[Nad1971 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you very muchfor getting back to me. My doctor has left it to me to decide what to go for. He has given me various options and left it to me to research, talk to people and decide,hence why I reached out to your forum. I don’t mind going back on the Paroxetine- I think it definitely agrees with me more than the Fluoxetine. But if I could get the SNRI benefits of Duloxetine and it gives me something the SSRIs cannot I don’t mind trying. Just scared of the side effects as when I tried Venlafaxine I felt very, very I’ll.

[Hidden in reply to Nad1971]

You're welcome! Oh, I see. I would go with your preferrence, then. After all, you know your body best.

I'm pretty surprised your doctor told you to talk to others about it (am I correct here?). We all have different chemical and biological make-ups, and therefore, what one prefers, might not be what the next person prefers.

Follow your gut. Have a good day!

[Nad1971 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I think my doctor likes me to take an active part on deciding how to proceed. He gives me the options and I look into them and decide. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

[Hidden in reply to Nad1971]

Oh, ok. You're very welcome!

[Beholy]

Paxil was the first one I took my anxiety and it worked well and that was about 20 years ago, but it stopped working and I'm on different meds since then some would work not as long though .I'm now trying Cymbalta for six weeks now and still sick every day, nausea, headache, shaking and trembling, maybe if I vomit I would better but it won't happen I wake with this every morning and all day almost every day all day. I'm going to give it another week and if it doesn't work my doctor is going to have to change to another meds again! So so sick and tired I also cry everyday just by having negative thoughts which is hard to control.