after taking amtriptyline 10mg for 2 months with no benefit, I was prescribed notrtryptyline 10mg which I have been taking for 4 weeks with occasional 20mg doses - on benefit. I have now been prescribed Duloxetine 30mg, but with no advice on how to transfer. Can I stop nortriptyline one evening and start Duloxetine the next evening?
does anyone have advice on best time to take Duloxetine, morning or evening?
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Ivyamanda
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thank you - you have provided useful info that I could not get when I asked a pharmacist for their advice as surgery closed and no access to doctor till Tuesday!
bets to ask your GP about what you should do as you are under their care. There are tapering guidance for a transfer from one to another but there are also people that will benefit from being on both medicines. Your GP will advise what is best for you.
I had exactly the same journey and stopped Nortryptiline one day started Duloxetine the next.
I was taken aback by the intense side effects initially - i had fixed pupils, was a bit dizzy and clumsy and could not sleep apart from fitfully for four days and not well for two weeks.
I was thinking it was not going to work and spoke to the GP they said it takes up to six weeks to kick in. And boy were they right.
three weeks and five days in I woke up and it was like a switch had flicked off a huge amount of the pain!
i am benefiting from this drug so much - it has got less effective after two months and this is normal but i take ibuprofen when i need it.
Really hope this works for you - Amytriptiline and Norotryptiline were both non starters for me too and i felt like i wasted 8 weeks on them!
After years of different medications with no improvement I was given Duloxetine. Many side effects which you have to get used to but after 6 to 8 weeks it was very very effective, it will take time to get the dosage right but for me with Fibromyalgia it has worked wonders. Hoping the same for you.
As nortriptyline is similar to amitriptyline, not to duloxetine, switching will have been easier then than now. Generally recommendation is to wean off fairly slowly first, but I came off amitriptyline much faster than usual (just 10 days), because similar to you it wasn't doing me good anyway and I could judge my body well.
I'm wondering whether Ellenindigo 's experience was made worse by not weaning off first.
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