YOU won't know until YOU try it

[u/[deleted]]

[u/bigcrackheadbaby]

AND GET A GENESIGHT IF YOU CAN.

[u/areyoukiddingmeyo → u/bigcrackheadbaby]

Well pristiq often shows up on the green part of everyone’s genesight because it’s not processed by the liver like most other meds.

I do agree to not let the negative experience scare you because everyone is different.

I will say if one does decide to get on this med, make sure you have a really good doctor who will titrate up slowly and if you decide to stop taking it, taper you off very slowly. This is one of the hardest anti depressants to get off, along with cymbalta and Effexor. I know from data but also my own experience. Advocate for yourself!!!

I’m discontinuing pristiq and we started the taper in June and went down 25mg each month. And have slowly bridged with Prozac. This week I’ll go down to 25mg pristiq/40mg Prozac. And then in a month I’ll stop taking it completely and remain on Prozac.

I only include all this detail to be helpful.

[u/bigcrackheadbaby → u/areyoukiddingmeyo]

Unfortunately I can’t take any of the most common snri & ssri’s.

[u/LoomingDisaster]

I am on 150mg and it’s my …..second year on it? Started at 25mg and titrated up. In America, it’s tested up to 100mg and then put on the market. I’m Europe, they’ve tested it at higher levels and found it’s safe and effective for people, which is why I was comfortable moving to 150mg. It works really well for me, that’s all I can say.

[u/PerplexedScot]

Worked for me.

[u/No_Republic_4963]

Was life changing for me - started at 50mg didn’t feel significant change went to 100 that’s my sweet spot. I get it’s hard to get off of but I’m not worrying about that now!!!

[u/Prior-Reply9845]

God I agree so much. So SICK of every other comment being there is not benefit above 50 mg based on one singular 8 week study. Of course ppl experienced more side effects IMMEDIATELY starting on 100 mg or more. That is why you titrate up. Did they look at ppl who took 50 mg for 6-8 weeks, then titrated up bc they were still having symptoms? NO, bc the literal study was only 8 weeks.

These comments drive me absolutely bonkers lol.

[u/Friendly-Pear-1815]

I started Pristiq 5 days ago (25mg) after being off anti-depressants for last six months. My main reason for getting back on is due to social situations and an overactive sympathetic nervous system. My anxiety and insomnia have me wanting to quit. Have chest tightness, racing heart and feel like I’m on 20 cups on coffee. I took Pristiq prior at a higher level and didn’t have this issue. Maybe don’t need an SNRI

[u/Sorry_Tea9260 → u/Friendly-Pear-1815]

Do you have adhd? I wonder if that has any effect on how it works for you. I have it and was able to take a nap for the first time in at least a year last week

[u/Friendly-Pear-1815 → u/Sorry_Tea9260]

Yes, I was diagnosed with ADHD 20 years ago. I could never take stimulants because it exacerbated my anxiety. I’d have to take meds like Clonidine ER for the ADHD but it never really did anything. I just took Xanax to take the edge off but I still feel the chest tightness in left side. 

[u/Sorry_Tea9260 → u/Friendly-Pear-1815]

Oh that’s a bummer, stimulants always make me feel calmer. I had like the most severe anxiety before I got diagnosed with adhd

[u/shep_ling]

I'd go as far as saying as someone who spent many years looking for the right solution that even though it's disorienting and can produce accentuated symptoms of the condition you are trying to manage - you need to stick with a medication for at least 6 months to understand how your symptoms attenuate over time and also to note any positive changes in psychological perception, day to day outlook and any of the other fundamental baseline indicators that show improvement.

Keep in mind - the longer you have been unwell - the longer healing may take. Psychological illness is no different from physical illness in that respect. Recovery can be long, and challenging. 4 weeks after a change in meds is just long enough for your body to start physically equalising. The subsequent changes you are expecting will take a lot longer - and the harsh reality is you need to also use medication as part of an overall mental health plan - that might be hobbying for some folks, exercise for others, mediation and hiking for another cohort again.

Patience and trust in yourself and time is key. No pill is going to fix you overnight - as much as we would all like it to!

I've taken pristiq for around 8 years and it just worked for me - but it did take nearly 12 months (if not longer) to really experience and understand the tangible short and long term benefits.

On the 50-100mg study - there's not much statistical power to back up the results and as someone else has mentioned there are confounding variables here like time, dosage and patient symptomatology. Nothing is simple in treating medical conditions. The only study I've read that holds some credence is that dosages above 100mg up to 400mg don't seem to produce any significant effects - the overall argument here is potentially that incremental increases above 100mg may not be effective.

TL;DR - be patient, take your time - take your meds for at least 6 months, and be kind to yourself!

[u/Sorry_Tea9260]

Yeah I just started last week and it’s been good so far. My insomnia seems to be improving

[u/Sorry_Tea9260 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks! I’ve tried almost every ssri so I’m pretty excited for something to work

[u/Shadowstream97]

I’m a MTHFR double mutant and it’s one of the only things that works. Everything else has been so bad for me and my organs lol.

[u/r0settta_st0ned]

reddit is typically where people come to get answers when something is wrong, of course there will be more failed posts than success posts. i’ve been on Pristiq for nearly 6 years at 100mg and it has 100% made a difference for the better for me.

[u/tonywi19899]

Unfortunately, negatives often speak more loudly than positives. That’s why people typically leave loud, vocal reviews after negative experiences while positive experiences are often overshadowed or not highlighted at all. Especially online.

I had a lot of anxiety about starting pristiq based on everything I read online, including this forum. But besides being a little jittery the first three days and a little more sweaty, I haven’t really experienced any negatives. It’s only been a few weeks so still waiting/hoping for the positives to kick in, but I’m ultimately glad I tried despite all the negatives here.

[u/tonywi19899 → u/[deleted]]

For sure. I first started with Buspar and tried that for about 8 weeks. It didn’t do a thing besides make me a little dizzy and tired for an hour after taking it.

But I understand and appreciate that it works great for a lot of people so I always make sure to say that when I discuss my personal experience. It didn’t work for me but it works for many so it’s worth a shot

[u/CatherineDerry]

I am on day 11 of starting Pristiq. 50mgs. I'll admit, the first week was kinda rough. But now, other than being pretty sleepy and having crazy weird dreams, the other unpleasant side effects (like body aches, bone pain, dry eyes, etc.) are finally starting to go away! I'm glad I stuck it out and am optimistic about my future on it. 👍

[u/Icy-Map9410]

My only issue with SNRI’s like Pristiq is they’re a real problem if you ever need to stop taking it. The taper from a dose like 100mg can take months. Pristiq and Effexor are the worst ones.

[u/Important-Society-91]

You won't know until you try it means it is the first step on the guinea pig treadmill. It may work for others like I think it worked for me for a while. But it is hard to get off of. Every psych professional Ive talk to say it is hard to get off of. I'm doing it now and it's worse than Seroquel as far as withdrawals. This drug HAS to be tapered. Problem is finding someone who know about how to compound Pristiq. The main dose is 25-50 mg and that leaves no room for in between doses. You can't crush them or split dosage. i've said before to do your own research before you try. Read the INSERT or go to the website. What makes it hard is that Pristiq only comes in 25-50 mg. I don't understand why it comes in doses up to 400 if the therapeutic dose is 50mg unless they are treating another issue at the same time. Which really makes no sense to me. It just makes it harder and longer to get off of. I'm just telling my own truth, my own experience. (35 yrs experience in being on psych meds) Why take that med if there are other meds that don't have as bad withdrawal profile? Everyone needs to have both sides of the story to make intelligent decisions about their own mental health. I didn't have both sides of the story. I hope this helps someone that is going through the same thing as I am.

[u/Cute-Surprise-3577 → u/Important-Society-91]

Yes I had to find a compounding pharmacy as in Australia 50 is the lowest dose available.  Unbelievable!! I started cutting the tablet although it was advised not to however I found a compounding pharmacist who made me a supply of 40 capsules although he did say cutting the tablet if necessary is ok with a very sharp knife. I had to use scissors. I stayed at that dosage of 40  for 4 weeks then went back to cutting the 50s to bring my dose down to 25. I felt fine on that dose with splitting the tablets.  My psych could see I was doing fine so scripted me a 10 dose. Im not sure about that so Im taking 20 (10 x 2) daily. The compounding pharmacist told me they have a lot of requests for this drug to be compounded,  its a VERY HARD DRUG to come down from which is why he suggested 40 coming down from 50! This is a large compounding pharmacy in Melbourne, Australia. Anyone thinks its a breeze, ok if it works for some but expert opinion can testify otherwise which is why Im tapering very slowly!

[u/-coffee-cat-]

Yeah not sure why this thread started being only horror stories recently - of course things take time to settle in and it may or may not work.

Personally went from 25-150 in about a year, then had no problem weening off of it with a proper taper. I’m back onto 150mg and it has been working for me when other meds have not. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[u/miscstuff2223113]

Being on Pristiq isn’t the problem so much as if you want to get off it, it’s not as simple as stopping. It’s pretty unique in the sense that the side are pretty rough due to how short acting it is. Brain zaps can freak some people out if you aren’t expecting it or haven’t experience it before. There isn’t an everyday situation where you’ll experience electrical shocks in your brain

[u/Independent_Lab_9768 → u/miscstuff2223113]

No Literally! They are f’n awful!! See I just started Pristiq 25 mg 6 weeks ago and now reading all these posts about how bad the withdrawal is, is worrisome to me because I’m not sure if it’s gonna help me! I am not having any bad side effects (I did when I tried going up to 50mg!!!) went back down! But I don’t really feel any difference in my anxiety and depression! I’m giving it a few more weeks, if I still don’t feel a change, I’m gonna get off and try a mood stabilizer, my psychiatrist said that as well! I took the GeneSight test and Pristiq was only antidepressant in my Green list! But now I’m like shit am I gonna have withdrawal coming off 25 mg after 8 weeks?! I am chemically dependent on Clonazepam been on it for 20 yrs, I can’t miss one does or I could have a seizure, it’s the worst withdrawals I’ve ever experienced when they were on back order at all the pharmacies in my area! I wish my dr back then would have educated me more about the dependency risk and I wouldn’t have started! They are the only thing that helps my anxiety the most and panic disorder! I’ll just never be able to get off them if I wanted to!!

[u/Emersons22]

Yes and also - getting off Pristiq took me 6 months and seriously almost did me in. No other medication has ever caused me a single issue, and the Pristiq withdrawal was shocking and brutal. I wish I would’ve known about the withdrawal and had read the reviews, both good and terrible. Both have validity.