What is the best way to come off of Cymbalta and switch back to Prozac?

[Taximom52]

I was on Prozac for 25 years and felt it was becoming ineffective. My doc switched me to Cymbalta. In the past 3 months I’ve gained 15 pounds. I want to switch back to Prozac. How should I do that?

[Paxiled]

First, a psychiatrist will know how to do this best.  Second, Cymbalta is a much more difficult drug to stop taking than Prozac for most people, so you need to taper off of it as slowly as you need to until you've successfully stopped it.  Switching from one to the other won't necessarily stop withdrawal, as they don't work the same -- no two drugs work the same -- and they're in a different class of drug.  Since you've only been on it for a short amount of time it should be pretty easy to stop, but no need to take chances -- I'm assuming here you're saying you've only been taking the Cymbalta for 3 months.  Just so you know, as this is an anxiety forum, neither of these is the best for anxiety so it's possible you're anxiety is caused by depression, but that's just a guess, but Prozac is a good drug to have work for you because of all the drugs in the ssri and snri classes it's the easiest to stop taking.