r/Pristiq

I was on pristiq 150mg from the age of 19-22. It wasn’t the first antidepressant I was on but it was the first and only SNRI I’ve had and it worked a lot better than the other medications I’d tried. Pristiq put headphones over my ears to drown out my depression until it was mostly background noise. I coped a lot better on this medication.

A couple years ago my life circumstances changed, and all the growth I’d made in my life thus far, must’ve just hit me all at once or something but suddenly it just became so much easier for me to feel happy. 10 years ago I never would’ve imagined that I’d live a life free of depression.

So naturally, when this sustained I decided to taper off my pristiq. Took me about 1-2 months and I had no issues with the process. That was what I thought.

Around this exact time was when a relationship I was in started to become abusive. I ended things a couple months after that and began to realise that my insatiable libido was suddenly gone. TMI but I used to be able to masturbate or have sex multiple times a day. Suddenly I didn’t even want to have sex with the most gorgeous men I had ever met. I was as dry as the Sahara.

It felt like whiplash going from one end of the spectrum to the next but I chalked it up to my body being traumatised from sex because of my ex.

But years on, this low libido has persisted so I looked into post-SNRI-use as being a cause and what do you know; post-SNRI sexual dysfunction is a thing. And it can last months, years or DECADES. All those years I was thinking how lucky I was that I had not succumbed to the common side effect of low libido and maintained my (very high) sex drive whilst medicated.

If this lasts me decades long I think I’ll relapse into my depression again. It’s impacting my relationship with my partner to the point where he’s the one who is always initiating. He doesn’t complain about it- he is so sweet and understanding. He tries so hard to get me wet every time although most times we end up relying on lubricant. It breaks my heart to admit it to myself but sex is just a chore to me now. I only do it because I want to make him happy.

Has anyone else experienced this sexual dysfunction?! If I had known this could have happened I would’ve just taken my chance with my depression and remained unmedicated. I considered going back on Pristiq to see if it will resolve it but it’s a double edged sword because then I’ll just become more and more dysfunct.

I’ve been on Pristiq 50mg 8 weeks now. Initially I found it helped my depression and has almost entirely erased my social anxiety. I am now having a lot of rumination and negative thoughts. I’m prone to rumination and I thought this med was helping, but I don’t feel great. I’m worried about upping my dose as I sensitive to norepinephrine and don’t want to feel wired/more anxious and I heard there isn’t much more benefit from increasing the dose but more risk of side effects. Not sure if I should try and up the dose or add something else on. I’ve tried many many medications in the past and feeling a bit defeated now :(

I was on 100 mg for almost 4 years. I tapered down and last Wednesday was my official last 25 dose.

The craziest side effects I have been having are the body temperature changes. I am either freezing and need a blanket or I walk across the room and my body is drenched in sweat. It’s so insane.

I of course have had other horrible symptoms. Nausea in waves. Headaches and crazy brain zaps. Gastrointestinal issues. Super emotional.

Man this taper has been hard.

This might be a placebo but did anyone else feel great right away? I have a substantial increase in motivation and energy but was told it would take 2 weeks to feel any differences like this!

Never ever will I ever go on anti depressants again. Pristiq taper sucks sooooo bad and I wasn’t even on a high dose - 50 MG.

Anyone immediately start gaining weight when you started Pristiq? Or did you lose weight? Stay the same? Cus I’ve been on 25 mg now for 7 weeks, tried to increase to 50 mg, but had severe side effects, I’m good on 25! Not sure if it’s helping my anxiety and depression yet! My biggest concern is the 8 pounds that I have gained and starting this medication was the only change that I made. I have maintained the same weight for like 10 years after losing like 75 pounds so I’m just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and did you stop taking it or what did you do because I’m literally about to get off of it because I cannot deal with gaining weight after I worked so hard to take it off! I mean my clothes don’t fit me right now and I can’t afford to go buy new ones…. besides that, I just don’t even feel comfortable with the extra pounds!!!

I’ve been taking it for a little over a year and honestly love it since it’s the only antidepressant that doesn’t give me horrible side affects and does the job
But now that I’m trying to get pregnant my doctor suggested we switch to Zoloft since he says it’s been tested to be safe during pregnancy but honestly I’m so nervous to change because I really don’t want any side affects to make me anxious right now

I was on 50mg for over a year and then my depression came back and I've been bumped up to 100 mg for 2.5 weeks now.

I'm hoping that it's wayyyyy to early and that by 6 or 7 weeks I'm back to myself, but oh my gosh. I have this voice in my head screaming "HELP ME!." I'm just a shell of the person I used to be. Depression is horrible, and I'm actually doing like very marginally better than I was, but existing is a chore and if I didn't have responsibilities, I would stay in bed or live on the couch. It's a horrid existence and it's just wild. I only have my therapist and husband to vent to and I really just sugar coat my suffering to my husband.

I can't imagine enjoying life and wanting to get out of bed and do things. Feeling capable instead of fearful of everything. My gosh. It's horrible.

Just please please please work. It's horrible waiting weeks to feel better.

And I constantly have this low grade anxiety lately that I'm sure is my body adjusting to this higher dose. I hope 100mg isn't too much for me. Don't know why my doctor just jumped to this instead of 75mg. I hate feeling like a trapped hopeless guinea pig. I'm so sad that this is my life.

title says it all 😞 i feel kinda numb down there a lot of the time and it never really bothered me that much as a single person but now im in a relationship and it’s frustrating to me! i’m also on strattera if that means anything but is there anything that can be done besides lowering dose or switching medications because i don’t really want to do that either

I had a really busy day yesterday and forgot to take my daily dose (25mg) and this morning I woke up with mild brain and chest zaps. Throughout the day it subsided but now I’m sweating and overheating. My air is on at 67° and my bedroom fan is on full blast. Heart rate is a bit up, too. I feel like shit. I took my dose today and it helped a bit. How long do these last?

As I’ve gotten older delayed ejaculation has gotten worse, especially while on pristiq. It’s not good for my partners and then I feel bad, because they think they are doing something wrong. A hour plus is and maybe not at all is untenable, but I came back to pristiq after trying a few other medications that just made depression/anxiety worse. I’m in my 30s so it has me thinking about trt and ed medication, because maybe that will help this glaring issue. But who knows what issues I’m not aware of

I know there’s other posts about this, but trying to find them is like a needle in a haystack.

I’m in the process of tapering - 125 to 100, no problem; now 10days into 75 & experiencing raging, daily migraines. Excedrin Migraine (acetaminophen & caff) is the only thing that gives me relief & my psych doc says it’s ok to take according to directions, but I remember a post that says not to take it w/ pristiq.

Why is this so? What else can I do? Ibuprofen gives no relief at all.

I was weaned off pristiq 75 mg in about four weeks. I’ve been off pristiq completely for a week now. The brain zaps and insomnia have been awful but getting better. However the headaches have been WORSE. Since being off I’ve had head aches so bad I’ve thrown up. Do they get better?😵‍💫

I’ve been taking 25 mg of Pristiq since the beginning of June. I was taking 150 mg of Wellbutrin SR 2x a day but quit before switching to Pristiq. I’ve felt great mentally. However, these body aches are awful. I’m a recovering addict (12 yrs in October) and they feel almost like withdrawal pain. Ibuprofen doesn’t help. Has anyone found anything to help? I don’t want to have to switch because I’ve tried so many others and this helps more than any I’ve ever tried. I also did a genesight test and only 3 or 4 came back that might work for me so I don’t want to give up on this one yet.

edit: been a complete week without it, SLIGHT dizziness if i get up too fast or turn my head to quick, headaches ceased, from 1-10 from awful to being normal i would say im at a 9.2!

I’ve read a lot of posts about people getting off of pristiq and wanted to share mine incase it helps anyone else, since it helped me!

I was 50mg for half a year, then 100mg for a year and half. It helped a lot with my anxiety BUT I had no motivation at all.. barely… I want to switch to wellbutrin so planned to stop pristiq (Doctor didn’t recc taking them together)

I started cold turkey stopping with 100mg and yeah.. don’t be delusional. I got really sick, headaches, vertigo and nausea then just automatically went back on the 100mg.

Switched to lower dose of 50mg, and honestly switching from 100>50 wasn’t that bad I really didn’t notice any changes. I was planning to take 50mg for a week then take it every other day etcetc but I had skipped a day and didn’t feel the symptoms I had stopping 100mg, so then I was like might as well! First two days were bad but not as bad as my first attempt, just headaches and vertigo, slept more of those days (it was the weekend) and now it’s been a week since I stopped taking it and almost back to normal! Just slight vertigo with sharp turns and movements but overall, your experience depends on you! So, to whoever is stopping it can be realllly bad but can be tolerable too!

I have been on Lexapro and Zoloft in the past for an anxiety disorder and after being diagnosed with adhd I switched to pristiq about 7 months ago. I’ve made the decision to get off the drug because it hasn’t helped my adhd at all and has made my anxiety worse. I’ve been trying for a couple months to get off but I just can’t do it. I’m on the lowest dose of 25mg now and I’ve been told not to split the pill and from what I’ve read, taking it every other day only makes the withdraw worse. I recently tried using a bridge by taking Zoloft. My plan was to get on a low dose of Zoloft and then stop taking the pristiq but I can’t even manage to take the Zoloft because of how wired and panicked it made me feel. I wasn’t able to sleep more than an hour or two for two nights in a row and it had me feeling so terrible I just gave up. I don’t know what to and I want to be free of this drug so bad I feel like everything I try just makes it worse and I feel like just giving up. I would appreciate any advice from people who could get off the drug and how they did it.

I'm aware how dumb this is/ sounds. I've been on a zero sugar Dr pepper kick lately, and I took my Pristiq with only my zero sugar Dr pepper yesterday, and have been feeling awful. Intense brain fog, nausea, my body has had an inability to regulate temperature. Literally the only thing I could think of to cause this is I'm guessing the soda affecting the extended release coating of the pristiq. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Im just starting 50mg of pristiq, today is day one. I'm taking it for pretty bad health anxiety and general anxiety. I'm only 2hrs in and do notice increased anxiety, higher heart rate, dry mouth, and I've had a few of these wierd rush feelings that start from the gut and go to the brain that gives a second of slight nausea that goes away in a few seconds. I'm also pacing the house because I can't sit still.

I do have to say that I was already super anxious about taking the med before I even took it so maybe that is why I feel like this, but i do hope it gets better from here.

Please tell me it gets better after day one lol.

Day 7 of stopping 50mg Pristiq (was on it for 5 weeks, but found it numbed me too much). Unfortunately there isn't 25mg in my country and I can't afford compounding. Been dealing with nausea, dizziness, sleep disturbances, and recently headaches. Any tips? :(

Hi all, just putting this post in to break up all the negative/panicked posts about how bad Pristiq is. Remember to all that finding the right medication for your personal mental health challenges is mostly a completely individualistic experience because of our unique neurochemical/biological situations. I understand posting about "Did you experience X??" and "Don't try Pristiq it sucks because X" and "I gained 8000 lbs this drug is NOT weight neutral" posts all stick out because we are all anxious people looking desperately to not be anxious but let's take a breath.

This medication is prescribed because... it genuinely does work for some people. Not everyone gets intense side effects. Some people DO respond better on the higher doses (enough of this "theres no difference between 50 mg and 100 mg" bs please), because... some people have more intense panic/anxiety/depression than others... (imagine people having different experiences?! wild!) I understand the need to vent and not feel alone but please do not let these negative posts discourage you from trying the medication your doctor prescribed.

You don't know how it will work for YOU until YOU try it. And for the love of all that is holy please do not self-adjust your doses or whatever. Take your medication, log off reddit for the 4 weeks it takes to see if it works, and then come back and vent if you need. Ok!