I’ve been on Effexor for almost a year now and it helps my OCD, but only at doses where the side effects are intolerable. I’m thinking about talking with my doctor about switching to Pristiq. I’ve tried every SSRI and I react very badly to all of them.
Hi everyone, I’ll try to keep this short.
I have been on lexapro most of my adult life, on and off for 15 years. There were periods in between that where I was on zoloft before going back to lexapro. i’ve been on 20mg for years.
I was feeling really tired, struggling to sleep, sluggish etc for so long that I wanted to try to move off it. Lexapro helps with my gastritis a lot, but I was hoping there might be more options for me.
My mom died in october which adds a whole new layer to this. There’s PTSD and traumatic grief in the mix since she died unexpectedly from an accidental overdose.
I had been having health issues and i was sick of doctors continuing to gaslight me saying it was probably my lexapro making me gain weight and be sleepy etc. It seemed every problem I had they blamed lexapro, which ultimately led to my decision to switch to something else and see how it went. Regarding the medical stuff, it turns out I have pernicious anemia. Treating that has helped a lot too. (iron infusions, b12 injections every other day.
When I tapered off, I was cross tapering onto Pristiq 50mg. The first few weeks I felt a lot better energy wise. I wasn’t near as sluggish and I was finally sleeping normal / good. After 2-3 months off lexapro, my stomach issues had returned and my depression was still really bad.
ultimately we went back to a small dosage (5mg) of lexapro to stabilize my depression and stomach. for a minute it felt like it was working but the last 3 weeks are awful. emotionally blunted, no sex drive, constantly tired, takes hours to fall asleep etc. The symptoms line up with starting lexapro but I told my psych I never thought pristiq did much for me regardless.
next week i start tapering off pristiq (dropping to 25mg for a week, then off) and i told her i want off lexapro and to try something else, like prozac.
Has anyone ever experienced this? I feel crazy. i’m so exhausted and sad and feel like nothing is exciting. im irritable all the time. there was a glimmer of hope around may where my energy was returning post iron infusion and i was feeling so much happier and stable. then it just like, dropped? my baseline hasn’t been super consistent since being on pristiq and 100mg gave me insane side effects.
After knowing what i could feel like, i cant stand being in the state im in.
as a note im also diagnosed with adhd and take vyvanse for that. ive noticed the efficacy dropping when my mood hits a low like this. it keeps me more regulated emotionally. but i’m also forgetting things more often now in a borderline worrisome manner.
Anyone else experienced worsening depression on an SNRI?
TLDR; doctors blamed lexapro for health issues like exhaustion and weight gain, i got sick of that so i switched to something else. got a diagnosis for an autoimmune disease called pernicious anemia, but was 3 months into pristiq at that point. had to go on 5mg of lexapro due to awful depression and stomach issues even tho the pristiq helped with energy. 2 months into adding in the low dose of lexapro i feel so depressed that im crippled by it.
I've been on 50mg of Pristiq for 6 weeks now. I was on lexarpo before for about 10 years and I'm completely off now as I had a lot of breakthrough anxiety. Getting on Pristiq has had its share of side effects, primarily insomnia, fatigue, and dizziness. I would say that has all passed now, but I have been recently been having chest tightness and anxiety symptoms coming back up now. I would think by now I should be leveled out, but I'm curious if this is similar to anyone else's journey?
Hey all! Ok so I started Pristiq 3 months ago at 50mg. I had constant nausea and constant heartburn. I was miserable. I would literally wake up in the middle of the night to vomit. After 3 weeks I decided to ween off of it. I had discontinuation syndrome for 4 weeks. Then I tried Viibryd. I liked it because it didn’t make me sleepy, but it started to make me irritable and cranky all the time so I stopped taking it. Now I’m back on Pristiq. I started at 25 mg and that helped a lot. Very minimal side effects so I went up to 50 mg after 3 weeks. So it’s been a week on 50 and I’m so sleepy all the time. The 25 mg actually gave me energy, but definitely wore off so I thought that was a good time to move to 50. Now I feel like there’s been zero difference between the 25 and 50 except for the sleepiness. I know it can take up to 8 weeks to feel the full effects, but this is strange to me. I thought I would start to feel something by now and I definitely didn’t think it was going to make me so tired. Has this happened to anyone else? Should I stick it out? I can’t be on meds that make me drowsy. My motivation is already low. Oh also I’m on 450 mg a day of Wellbutrin and have been for about 8 years.
Started Pristiq again recently to help with PPD and am anxious about sexual dysfunction happening for me. Last time I tried to start this drug I was literally numb down below from day one and didn’t take it longer than a week to see if it improved. After a long scary pregnancy and recovery from emergency c section, I don’t now want sexual side effects from an antidepressant. Is it guaranteed or have some avoided it??
Comecei a tomar Pristiq há 14 dias. Na primeira semana senti uma leve diferença em energia é disposição, porém ainda com muita ansiedade. Depois dos dez dias sinto como se tivesse melhorado um pouco a ansiedade, mas me sinto mais para baixo.
Na verdade eu bebi algumas cervejas nesses dias mais proximos.
Ai queria saber de quem já toma o remedio há mais tempo.
De fato quanto tempo demorou para você olhar para o dia e querer sair da cama? Para ver felicidade?
Outro ponto…
Vocês bebem? Quanto? Sei que o ideal é parar mas eu gosto bastante de uma cervejinha com meus amigos e namorada.
M26/ 50mg
TAG/TDAH/DEPRESSAO LEVE
It's been 4 days since i started taking pristiq insomnia hitting hard , no appetite , feeling dull and depressed more
does this really work ? Emotinally numb , no thoughts which I don't like that feeling earlier i used to have full of ideas , thoughts for conversations now nothing it's like brain fog.
Hi everyone- checking here to see if anyone else has experienced this…
I’ve been on Pristiq since May. Initially no major side effects or changes except the night sweats and some heat intolerance which wasn’t fun but bearable.
Then all of the sudden it felt like the clouds had lifted and my anxiety, ocd quieted and the depression subsided significantly. It finally felt like I found the perfect med for me and I was so happy. Even a little over a week ago I met with my psychiatrist and she basically said “see you in 3 months” and that felt great.
Seemingly out of nowhere, I started feeling more anxious, brain fog, body/muscle pain. It almost felt like I had flu like symptoms? And then I felt like I was losing control- I’d go out for errands and shop excessively (I do love shopping- but this was not normal). I felt irritable and just not connected to anyone or anything.
I’m so frustrated I feel this way but I think if this isn’t a momentary blip I definitely can’t continue this. I’m only on the lowest dose of 25mg but have no desire to go up in dosage because of how difficult it sounds this med is to come off of.
Thinking of tapering with Prozac cuz I have some on hand. If anyone else has a similar experience please let me know!
I would like to add when it first started I actually found taking it at night helped lessen the severity of my sweating but the consistency of timing in taking it isn’t great and there had been a time when I took it in the morning thinking that might help me during the day. I’ve read you really have to be consistent taking this med at the same time every day. Does anyone have experience feeling like this and then getting on a consistent schedule of taking it and feeling better?
I just don’t know if this is user error or like the paradoxical effect happening.
how are my fellow pristiq warriors with this heat? i sweat so often already but with pristiq even more so
please make sure you drink a lot of water, wear loose fitting clothing and don’t go outside in the heat unless necessary
I’ve been on 100 mg for a few years now, and the excessive sweating has driven me mad for years. Constant agitation and irritability, and now due to the sweating I broke my favourite sandals. I’ve had enough of this stupid drug 😭
Hello! Back in the beginning of May I decided (with my psychiatrist) to discontinue my desvenlafaxine (50mg). I decided to because I felt that I felt the same mood wise even before I took it, however now I had low libido. At the time my thoughts and emotions felt in a decent enough place. However since then it’s been a roller coaster. TT__TT my provider had me cold turkey it since she figured I was on a low enough dose, but suggested cutting it (I did not because I got scared it would go through my body faster due to cutting it in half and causing some weird body problems). So for the first two weeks I was a rollercoaster emotionally and mentally, and my body felt sick (which I know is a common side effect). However I’m about 2 months out now and am still feeling emotionally like a rollercoaster except now I’m just more irritable and lack impulse control. I feel that when I was on the medication I managed my irritation more and it made it easier to control my impulses. Thankfully I have a patient and loving fiancé, because he has verbalized more frequently that my anger is out of control — which he did not do as much while I was on the medication, but did previous to me before getting on the medication. I hate feeling this way and the cycle that comes with it (the shame and guilt). I don’t know if it means I need to get back on the medication because maybe it was actually helping me control my mood better or if I wait a few more months and this gets better😭 I know before when my fiancé has talked to me about my anger I was also constantly changing my medications (about every 6 months to 1 year) around trying different antidepressants, so maybe that could’ve been a reason for the anger then (due to the discontinuation side effects)?
I've been on Zoloft for anxiety (GAD: Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and it has been fantastic! I love it. However, after 2 years I've grown tired of the side effect of loss of libido and sexual desire.
My doc then tapered me over to 100mg Pristiq. FORTUNATELY it also works great for anxiety but after 3 months I'm still having the libido issue. After reading how studies indicate that 50mg and 100mg have the same effect, I just dropped to 50mg. So far so good with anxiety.
Anyone have experience with this similar issue? From here, my choices are fewer and fewer:
Already tried Buproprin in combo with the zoloft for 3 months. Maybe see how Pristiq + Buproprin works? Or maybe just Buproprin solo.
Try some of these herbal supplements that some people swear by?
This is my first time on an SNRI instead of an SSRI, and I’ve never heard of Pristiq before. What was your personal experience with the medication (both positive and negative)? I took my first dose this morning and so far I’ve just had a slight upset stomach. I haven’t noticed any new dizziness but I’m used to being a bit dizzy when standing up. The only big side effect I’m concerned about is weight gain (I’m in recovery for an eating disorder and I’m afraid that’ll ruin all the progress I’ve made)
Mine are all mental. A little bit a nausea but I've been on it about two coming on three weeks and im LOSING it. My ocd has sky rocketed and im too overwhelmed when thinking about my relationship (long distance), work, or school. I have completely fallen flat. Everyone says it needs to get bad before getting better but surely it should not be this bad. I see everyone on here say the worst they experienced was the activating effects physically, but nothing like this. I just don't think this will work?
Hi everybody,
After a recent particular rough patch with my mental health which resulted in suicidal thoughts and panic attacks, my GP prescribed me Pristiq. The main reasons were:
I've been doing a lot of reading as one does when prescribed a new medication and a general consensus is that although it's not formally recognised as treating anxiety, there are instances of it helping.
Does anyone have any success stories of Pristiq being useful for their anxiety?
Hello! I just started this medication yesterday for my headaches, anxiety, and dizziness. Same day, I felt a bit jittery. My head hurt. This morning, my head still hurt. I’ve had a slight headache all day and i cannot. stop. YAWNING 😭 I’ve also been a bit nauseous, and occasionally my brain feels like its freezing in a sense.
I keep seeing everyone in here saying its a miracle drug… How long until these side effects go away? Was it like this for all of you too?
I tried it twice and had panic attacks, overwhelming emotions, irritability, mood swings, feeling off, feeling weird, heightened anxiety, blurry vision, all within 6 hours at its peak but kinda brain fog lasting a couple days after and not feeling myself or able to be productive at work. Has this ever happened to anyone?
I am taking this medication for GAD, OCD, and depression because of the anxiety and panic attacks and agoraphobia that I now have because of it all.
For context- I’ve been on Pristiq a little over a year now. Started at 25mg, didn’t feel much of a change, went to 50mg, still not much, was on 75mg, less panic attacks, then tried 100mg- that was too much. was very flat and depressed. Went back down to 75mg- big change. So much happier. A lot more stable and willing to do things out of my comfort zone. I decided to try to go down to 50mg, to see if I could handle anxiety cold turkey as the idea of being on meds my whole life is scary. Since then, it’s been 2 months on 50mg, and I’ve really gone back to being avoidant and more anxious than usual.
I’m looking to see if anyone else has experienced the heart palpitations from lowering the dose.. I get these flutters when I’m anxious now and they get more intense because I have health anxiety. But any time I feel a strong emotion like anger or anxiety they appear now. I’ve just had my yearly physical and my blood work is great, I’ve had my heart looked at within the last few years and it’s fine. I’ve read that this medication can cause physical sensations like this to be intense.
I’m going to go back up to 75mg seeing as that seems to be my sweet spot. I don’t care about being on medication anymore, if it lets me live a normal life, I’m good.
Has anyone else experienced the palpitations though? I’d really appreciate any feedback or reassurance.
Can desvenlafaxine treat panic disorder? My doc switched me form escitalopram to fluoxetine to desvnlafaxine now(3 days) . Can it treat panic disorder ?
I have been on Pristiq for four weeks now and oh my gosh, the anxiety is killing me. Every day I wake up in a panic and it’s like that until I go to sleep. I originally got on meds for my Postpartum OCD and anxiety and this is making both so much worse. I’m trying not to give up because this is the fourth medication I’ve tried and I don’t have it in me to start a new medication again.
I just want to hear some positive success stories because I’m really close to giving up. But I’m trying to keep fighting because my baby needs her mom.