((((((Di)))))),

I like your little Disney lineup -- it's cute :p You tend to not think of Disney characters as having to be involved in that :D

I'd be careful of both Effexor and Cymbalta for both your sons.

They're a new class of drugs. Supposed to be the "next generation" Prozac. I was in the clinical trials for Prozac for over two years and took it for over 10 years after it came on the market (good drug, for me). I was in the Cymbalta trials for about 6 months -- got kicked out cause it was not working on my depression but it WAS working on my neuropathic pain.

This class of drugs is a combination of what made up the old Prozac (a serotonin reuptake inhibitor) plus a norepinephrine (norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor).

Both Effexor and Cymbalta plus Paxil can cause MAJOR withdrawal symptoms that can last for months if you don't ramp down very-very slowly.

In my experience, I've gone into HUGE withdrawal symptoms within just 7 days of not taking the Effexor XR due to weather and transportation problems.

Also, my depression (which has been pretty stable for quite awhile) kicked up early in the Summer. I suspect it might have had something to do with getting epidural injections for my back. I always turn into 'ROID witch (http://smilies.sofrayt.com/hal2/halloween27.gif) when I get those. This time, though, I got depressed instead of angry.

I wanted to go back on the Prozac in addition to the Effexor XR. My doctor wouldn't do that. She ramped up the Effexor XR. Good Lord :eek: Racy -- like I was on speed -- that's the adrenaline. My pain was worse. I couldn't sleep. Took almost a month to get leveled back down to my original dosage. I hate doctors that don't listen to their patients :mad:

You might want to read this http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/ -- a real good resource about this type of drugs.

I'd be leery of giving your sons Cymbalta or Effexor or Paxil.

If they're in clinical depression, partly because of losing their sister and partly because of any other 'issues' that they've got going on, I'd recommend, as a first step, talking therapy -- maybe with a time limit on it. If results weren't seen from that, then I'd go with the older drugs that have been around quite awhile.

I don't know how old your boys are. But, they're seeing a lot of problems with SSRIs and SNRIs in younger people. They're now not recommended for adolescents.

I hope some of this helped. I know how confusing all this stuff is. They're just starting to find out now that drugs like Prozac (which were great and leveled out people like me who just could not function) -- they're finding out that these drugs are actually changing the architecture of the brain. Who knows the long-term implications of that. It would be wonderful if we had a Food and Drug Administration that really did "administer" :mad:

BIG HUGS (and love).

Barb :hug: