Pristiq Withdrawal (waking Nightmare)

I have been taking 150 mg of Pristiq for over 5 years. As of 5 days ago, I have completely weened off the drug (with support from a psychiatrist). I have a lot of the common side effects (fatigue, dizziness, "brain zaps", agitation, depression, suicidal thought, nightmares); however, I also feel delusional. It's hard to describe because of how subtle it is.

Essentially, everything around me feels amiss. I apologize for the dramatic description, but it's like the feeling of my nightmares is transcending to my waking life. I don't know how else to describe it. I feel like I'm living in a nightmare.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? It is agonizing and disturbing.

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Hello, Daniel! How are you doing?

Yes, I have! Not with Pristiq, since I've never taken it, but I experienced that same issue with Ambien and Zoloft. It is a horrible feeling. The FDA does warn about it as being a possible withdrawal effect, along with the others that you've described, and I found that it took about 2 weeks for the worst of them to wear off, then a full month before everything went away, entirely.

I remember sitting in the library and just suddenly feeling totally out of it, like nothing was real, or right. It was the strangest thing. I left and caught a bus home, but the symptoms persisted most of the way.

Are you on any other medications?

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