# Pristiq



## gaddis (Sep 18, 2005)

I switched to this from my previous anti-depressant, an older one with a lot of side effects.

It's a metabolite of Effexor (Venflaxine), and has very few side effects, and has been very effective in eliminating DP, panic/anxiety and mild depressive symptoms for me.

It only requires one 75mg dose daily, in the morning.

It's no good for insomnia though, and I'm taking Ambien 10mgs nightly for sleep.


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## ThreePlateDan (Aug 30, 2008)

Gaddis,
Glad the Pristiq is helping you with numerous problems, including dp. YEAH! Let us know how this continues to fare for you.
Dan


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## tease11982 (Apr 17, 2013)

Wanted to know if this member is still on the board and if this medication continued to help you with your dp/dr. was thinking of switching to this if my Lexapro don't work.


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## gaddis (Sep 18, 2005)

I'm still taking Pristiq at the minimal 50mg (I don't know why I wrote 75mgs in my original post), and it has been effective for me in terms of eliminating DP and panic attacks, but it seemed to exacerbate my anxiety symptoms, so my doc added 10mgs of Lexapro, and I felt better.

I was fine until last year, when I had a breakdown from job pressure, and started experiencing extreme anxiety, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep,

The only relief i got was from Klonopin.

However, the combination of Pristiq and Lexapro at the doses mentioned still seem to block panic attacks and DP.

My doc wants me to try Neurontin for anxiety and insomnia, because he seems to be afraid I'll get addicted to Klonopin.

I've been very careful not to use Klonopin every day, and have twelve full bottles of Klonopin left that I haven't touched!


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## tease11982 (Apr 17, 2013)

yeah ive been taking 20mg Lexapro and not doing it yet was really thinking of this pristiq now. Ive never heard of doing them together though ill have to ask my dr. maybe he will slowly wean me off Lexapro and onto pristiq and if ifeel better with both he will leave it like that. I have no problem sleeping at this time but my depression and anxiety and dp are all the same. How long did it take for pristiq to work for you Im bad about taking my klonopin every day but its only .25 mg but it seems to help with the neg thoughts from my depression/anxiety.and help dp be little less noticeable im giving Lexapro 3 more weeks on the 20mg that will be a total of 6 weeks since increase that should be long enough to know if its the right drug.


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## gaddis (Sep 18, 2005)

Pristiq took about a month to start working. Since everyone reacts to drugs differently, I can only say how I responded to a particular drug.

In my case, my doc switched me to Pristiq because it was a safer drug for Panic Disorder than the imipramine I was taking then. He had a lot of ads for it around his office, so maybe he's getting a kickback... AFAIC, it effectively blocks panic attacks and the anticipatory anxiety associated with them, but little else.

I had a bad year or so- lost both parents and a dog, and was forced to retire from my job because of extreme anxiety resulting from harrassment at my workplace.

Pristiq did nothing for me; if not for Klonopin, I would've been totally fucked.

Luckily, I was prepared for retirement, and have a pension and annuity equal to what I was making at my job,plus 200k in the bank, so they can go fuck themselves.

After a year of hell, I'm much better now, and still on the two ADs, with ambien CR for sleep, and Klonopin every few days.

My doc hates benzos, so he wrote a script for Neurontin to replace Klonopin, but I took one and had a DP reaction to it. Back to one klonopin every few days.

My doc blames my anxiety about taking a new drug for the bad reaction to neurontin, but that makes no sense, because I've taken so many different drugs, it would be pretty odd for that to account for my reaction.


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## tease11982 (Apr 17, 2013)

so overall except the time of stress pristiq workef for you. sometimes I think medication wont help at times like that and u have yo imagine how it would have been with no medicine.


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## Cheryl Z (8 mo ago)

gaddis said:


> I switched to this from my previous anti-depressant, an older one with a lot of side effects.
> 
> It's a metabolite of Effexor (Venflaxine), and has very few side effects, and has been very effective in eliminating DP, panic/anxiety and mild depressive symptoms for me.
> 
> ...


How long did u take 75mg for? I’m taking 25mg and I haven’t seen an effect on my dpdr 😞 I knw it’s been a long time but maybe u can help me


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