Genetic efferox went right thought me it did not work at all I went on prisque and doing better . My Dr, just prescribed wellbutin also and today for the first time in years I felt wonderful. I also take diazampm and it has helped so much with the panic attack along with prisque and now Wellbutin.
I was more relaxed and calm as well as patient that is a first for me in 19 yrs july 18th Good luck to you!!!
If I were you, I wouldn't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole! It is the same as Effexor. The patent for Effexor will be up in 2010, so they came up with this miracle drug "Pristiq". 78% of patients on Effexor have withdrawals. Those are very, very high numbers. And, Wyeth (the maker of both meds) cannot confirm, they are only HOPING, that Pristiq will not have the withdrawals that Effexor had. They want to make money... period. I say go to a Naturopath doctor and have some intense testing done to get to the root of your problem. Medication only covers it up. Do you want to be one of the 78% who has withdrawals? I'm in the midst of them, and it is hell on earth. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones and have no problems, but then again, you might end up stuck on it for 8 years like I have. The doctor has convinced me all these years that whenever I tried to come off of Effexor and had anxiety it was my "original" condition returning. NO it wasn't...it was severe withdrawals!!! We have become the Lab Rats!!! I had to teach my doctor how to wean me off of this stuff...they simply listen to the pharmeceutical company, who tells them it's a great drug. Try another route, stay away from the newer antidepressants, (lexapro, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Remeron, luvox, celexa, effexor, pristiq, cymbalta, serzone). These all have very short "half lives". Meaning, they are out of your system very quickly (Effexor being the quickest...24 hours) So, your chances of having withdrawals are high. If you have to go on one, go on an older one, like Prozac or Tofranil, etc. These have very long half lives...3 weeks. So, they have their own self tapering system. Only 14% of patients have withdrawals on these meds. Thats a major difference. Either route you choose, good luck! Hope I helped.
OH by the way, when I started Paxil, I had blurred vision but did not on Pristiq, the only side effects were the dry mouth and now insomnia (which totally *****) but I hope goes away.
I have been on Pristiq for about a month now. I was on Paxil for about 3 months and just felt flat, i wasn't happy or sad - just sort of there, so I asked for something different and my doctor prescribed Pristiq with Ambilify as a little booster. The Pristiq seems to be working, my personality is back and I feel more like myself without the depression. I had horrible drymouth for awhile but that has gone away but now I am experiencing insomnia which is driving me crazy. I take Trazadone to get to sleep which works but then I wake up at 2 or 4 in the morning and can't go back to sleep. I walk at least 5 miles each day so you'd think that would help, but I always end up waking up for the past 2 weeks and average about 4 hours of sleep at night. Despite that, I like the fact that I actually feel like myself. Plus on the Paxil my sex drive was really down but on the Pristiq it seems back to normal.
Is Pristiq more simillar to Effexor or Effexor XR? When does the Effexor patent run out and when will a generic effexor be available?
Thaks for your input. I really appreciate it...
Aviken
A little background before I start specifically with Pristiq: When I first started taking medication for anxiety and depression, I took Effexor. Over aobut 2 months, I gradually felt better. My doctor prescribed Valium along with the Effexor until the med kicked in and we got the dose set. Having both worked very well for me. As the Effexor kicked in we weaned off the Valium. I took Effexor 75 mg for three years with very good results (I promise I will get to Prisiq soon.) It did not make me feel immediately better but gradually over time, I realized that I was not constantly worrying about things. I no longer have thoughts that my airplane is going to crash when I go on vacation (three months prior to the trip!). The intial side effects were extreme dry mouth and sweating. These went away and what remained was sexual side effects which were alleviated by combining Effexor with Wellbutrin. I also did alot of jaw clenching and had to get a mouth guard to protect my teeth when I slept.
Now to the Pristiq:
My doctor and I decided to swtich me over to Pristiq from Effexor. (Pristiq is essentially the same drug, but supposedly without all the side effects). This was in the hope that maybe I could reduce or get off Wellbutrin (memory problems) if the Pristiq did not cause sexual side effects. I have been on Pristiq for a month and a half now. The transition was seamless. Within two weeks, I was no longer clenching my jaw and stopped using the mouth guard. I am also seeing a lessening of the sexual side effects. I did not have any of the sweating or dry mouth, but that may be because I have been on an SNRI for awhile and my body was used to it. I think Pristiq (50mg) is great so far and plan to stay on it. I continue to be able to put things into perspective. I can "turn off" the worry and think about things later rather than ruminating on things constantly and losing sleep over stuff that turns out to be okay. Cognitive therapy that I had in the past also helped tremendously . Unfortunately, I do not think any antidepressants work immediately (God, that would be so wonderful!) Benzos like Valium and Xanax have the quick acting effects. Valium was a life saver for me.
My doctor (who I think is brilliant and I feel very comfortable with) told me he has placed many of his other patients on Pristiq with good results. As I mentioned previously, it is supposed to have very few side effects, if any; but of course every body is different. If you do not trust your doctor, maybe you could get a second opinion. I know it is hard to change docs as it just adds more time to an already painfully long process, but I think having a good doctor with whom you have confidence is essential. If/when the time comes to go off medication (if you decide to start it), a good doctor will have lots of options to put before you and work with you through the process.
Even with all the horrible stories of discontinuation of Effexor, Pristiq, Lexpro, etc. I would definitey have taken medication again. They are not "happy pills", but they have had a very positive impact on my life. I could not answer all of your questions but I hope some of the info was helpful. Telling you to "hang in there" sounds so trite, but hopefully it helps to know that those words are coming from someone who has been there.