Pristiq And Bad Side Effects
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This is NOT a good medicine. I felt more depressed on it and had several side effects, nausea, lack of appetite, dizziness, etc. Then, after being on it for 2 weeks, I had a severe allergic reaction to it. So not fun! No more Pristiq for me. Throw the stuff away!

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Re: Gail (# 43) Expand Referenced Message

Life is a struggle. I tried acupuncture the other day which seems to help. My stomach is still f***ed up from the pristq 10 mouths later and the doc can't find anything.

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43

I took methadone for years. I have come down to 4.2mg of suboxone but am so depressed the Drs prescribed me Pristiq. I've been on them a week. I've always been scared of antidepressants but I don't enjoy life, can't make decisions, am frightened of any drugs, but I take so many just to knock me out at night. I need help desperately. I'm 63 and I have kids. My life has been drug dependent but I must find the answer before it's too late. It is awful. I need to get back to me. Although I was controlled for years I took these things to hide. What a mistake. I just want to be normal but my life was never normal. I was on opiates at age 13, just had a bad childhood. I desperately need help. Thanks for reading. Faith, hope, love & freedom.

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42

I was on it for just 3 days , i never puked,but sick. 3 mouths later and my stumach still hurts

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41

Its like that for all anti depressants find one that works for you

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40

Sounds very similar to my current situation. Good for you!

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39

try to find a good acupuncturist that specializes in drug withdrawal..... my daughter almost went back on pristiq, brought her to the acupuncture her and her relief was immediate.

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38

I have been on pristiq for over 10 years. I am 4 days off and using the viibryd which is not better. I am having horrible withdrawls. I am also taking fish oil pills, eating peppermints, and drinking gingerale to help with the nausea and brain zaps anytime I move my eyes or head. I hope in 4 more days I get better because I am tempted to go back on pristiq. My doc doesn't understand how difficult this is. She didnt even say to taper off.

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37

I've been on Pristiq for a few years for depression. I started off taking 100mg than moved down to 50mg. I didn't have any side affects when I started taking it. But if I forget to take it I feel horrid! It's hard to explain how awfully sick you feel! It's dizzy, foggy headache mixed into one! I ran out Of pills once and hadn't gotten around to getting a new prescription. After 48 hours my body went into melt down the withdrawal symptoms are so bad- extreme nausea and diarrhea. I feel like every doctor I've spoken to about withdrawal symptoms doesn't understand how bad it is they just say oh it will only last a day or two!! I was in tears had to find a late night doctor to get a prescription so I could function. Anyone planning on stopping pristiq take time off work!!

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36

My daughter is almost a year free of pristiq!!! Halleluia !!! Her Dr had her splitting her pills during the tapering. It was a very difficult time, but it is over. Good luck and God bless!

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35

Thanks for sharing this information. I too want to stop (the weight gain around the middle is very upsetting!) but I'm scared to, after reading all these posts. Your solution sounds perfect, but I've also read in many places that pristine shouldn't be cut. Yet you are the second person to show how you weaned off it slowly without the terrible side effects. I'm wondering whether the company just says you can't cut it, because they know it's so hard to stop cold turkey. Did you have any problems at all with cutting it?

Thanks so much for your post!

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34

If it is working for you, maybe you should keep using at the lower dose. Most wanting to stop, on this page, have reasons...makes the them feel sick, exhausted, zombie like. If it works for you, don't stop. I'd suggest talking with your doctor, sounds like you have one you can trust.....that's good. God bless!

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33

I'm on prestiq and am now comming off it which isn't the best feeling.
When i first began I got the side effects for two weeks but after that it was amazing. It really helped as a cushion for me. Before taking the medication i was so sick and had symptoms ironically quite similar to the side affects of this drug. I couldn't even eat and became majorly underweight. The weight i gained from this medication was a huge bonus and it helped me in so many ways, as i am on medication for schizophrenia and bipolar too but even with that medication i needed something that would help me gain happiness and energy like a break to reboot.
My problem now is i have no clue about how long it takes to leave the system, anyone know when i should go back to normal again or am i just returning to my old ways again stopping the medication? I halved the dosage down to 50mg a month before stopping and i got no side effects doing that, should i halve it again and come off it that way so i'm not so out of it at work?
Anyways to people who are thinking about trying it, don't be afraid it was created for a reason it does help some people. If it creates more issues for you, you could be on the wrong thing or even misdiagnosed. I recommend from experience see your Gp or specialist once a week when starting out.
p.s If you feel these people don't take you serious and make you feel crazy, go somewhere else. Like medications, different specialists suit different people.

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32

Thanks for all the helpful posts here. I had a good experience taking Pristiq for 2 years and was confident to try life again without it. My Dr said to just stop, which I did. I experienced severe nausea and diarrhoea that continued for days until I recommenced Pristiq and these symptoms resolved. When I again stopped Pristiq I experienced the same symptoms. On this second attempt I was determined to ride it out however after 6 days of this the abdominal pain and exhaustion broke my resolve. Clearly I needed to try a different approach. I started taking Pristiq every second day. I felt better than ever with no return of depression and none of the dazed feeling I had experienced with daily use. I stayed on this regime for about 2 months. Taking something every second day is challenging to remember and eventually I missed day. What I experienced was far worse the gastric symptoms described earlier, it felt like severe flu with all over body aches and sweats and it was impossible to get out of bed let alone function (i.e. go to work and care for my 2 year old twins). So clearly even after alternate day use I wasn't going to be able to just stop Pristiq. My only other option was to cut them up and go slow which is exactly what I did: roughly 3/4 then 1/2 then 1/4 over more than a month. I went slow and I never experienced any of the symptoms of the earlier attempts. I hop this is helpful!

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31

Read comment #17...sounds like the menstrual cycle can be effected. Good luck!

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30

Ok so I am always off and on with my Pristiq.. I ran out for a week and had to wait for my prescription. I started my prescription a few days before my period... However, I have not had my period since I started my Prescription.. Can anyone tell me could the pristiq be the reason for my late period?!

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29

I'm on prystiq and have been for about 2 months. I have been up titrated to 100mg per day not exactly sure why I do not notice any difference in terms of therapeutic effect however I too am quite low energy now and feeling a bit uninterested in social settings...very not like me. I am thinking of discontinuing and sought out some information, thanks to all of you I feel better prepared for whats to come. I'm curious about the cutting of the tablets as its a time release tablet which usually means that once you have compromised the exterior coating the risk of the drug being immediately released versus the slower release is probable. Any chance this could be exacerbating the withdrawal symptoms.

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28

I took Pristiq for less than a week. It threw me into a transient psychotic state. I had severe memory problems; the shakes; acted out of character; lost my impulse control (I did not connect consequences to my behavior); and stuttered so badly I couldn't put half a sentence together. I went to my MD complaining of sleeplessness and he gave a Pristiq sample package; when I complained of the side effects, he put he on Xanax - which continued many of the side effects for about 10 days. I felt dazed and confused for the next 10 to 14 days; I regained my speech abilities about a 6 or 7 weeks later.

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27

I took Pristiq 50mg. daily for six months. It was good, stopped my daily crying and mood swings, but the lose of my libido and the night sweats were not worth it. My Doctor said " if you want to go off of it, take it every other day", this made no sense to me. So I went on the internet...lol. After reading a lot of horror stories, came to the conclussion it must be done gradually. What I did WORKED FOR ME. I cut up (yes cut up) the tablet into 4 pieces. For seven days I took 3/4 of a tablet, spread out evenly through out the day. Then for fourteen days I took 1/2 of a tablet spread out morning and evening. The for nine days I took 1/4 of a tablet, in the morning and the rest of it at night (very small pieces, now). I also took a really good multivitamin and 1500mg. of Omega 3. I had no side effects, no brain zaps, no down time...but I did it slowly, it took a month.

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26

How are you now? I hope things at better now. My daughter is finally free of that poison, had much relief with acupuncture. We were non-believers, but desperate....so happy and believers now. Her symptoms were mostly gone after one treatment. She is going for a couple more to help with anxiety and depression. So glad we were told about acupuncture and gave it a try. God bless!

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25

I've just stopped taking Pristiq, cold turkey, after about eight months.

I had several mostly minor symptoms I attributed to the medication including a tendency toward incontinence, tinnitus, sleep disturbances, "twitching" while sleeping, diminished sex drive and delayed ejaculation (okay -- that one wasn't so bad).

I was getting tired of these side effects and didn't think I was getting much benefit from the antidepressant effect so a couple of weeks ago, I just stopped. There were some immediate effects of this -- a couple of nights of disturbed sleep some vivid dreams and one truly terrifying nightmare, but those lasted only a day or two.

The long term side effects are still with me, but I didn't really expect them to stop immediately.

For demographic purposes, I am a married 53 year old otherwise healthy white male, 5.11" and 165 lbs. I find that exercise and listening to the new comedy station on the radio helps me avoid major depressive incidents.

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