Weaning Off Pristiq For Good (Page 4) (Top voted first)

I just wanted to tell all of you trying to get off pristiq, its possible. I was on pristiq for severe panic attacks for 6 months. It saved my life. It gave me a chance to slow down my career, gave me a huge wakeup call. This drug put a cloud over my brain. I was not my happy, fun loving self. I was like a step ford wife. You can't wean off this pill. I was on 50 mg. I did every other day for a month. Every third day for two weeks then cold turkey. It really was not so bad. I layer on my couch for three days, cried a bit and watched movies. I'm happily on all holistic medications, no longer a slave to Pristiq. If I can beat anxiety, anyone can. My biggest advice.. Exercise. Next, surround yourself with positive people. Three, talk out your problems. Good luck.

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Hey aldri

I just came off pristiq. I was on 100. Then I dropped to 50 for 3 weeks with minimal side effects. I them planned to do 50 every other day for a few weeks.

The first day I didn't take it I was fine during the day but when evening hit was a total mess. Couldn't put thoughts together enough to pourydelf a glass of water! Didn't sleep, all the zaps you eo reD about, disorientated, blurred vision, and feeling like I was out of my body. It was very rough. I felt so bad that I figured it could get any worse so decided to ride it out and go cold turkey. Those effects lasted 3 days then tapered off significantly to where I barely noticed. I am now 2 weeks without. It was rough but worth it.

I will say that excersize was the best thing to counter any effects. No matter how bad I felt I moved.y thought was to replace the chemical drug with endorphins from excersize and I noted in the days I did not the side effects were worse.

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Hey there Aldri

I would love to tell you a great story, however the truth is you are going to have a hard 3 days minimum. I am telling you i thought i would be the only one that didn't have this issue - but it hit me - and I'm VERY resilient so it was not something i expected. Additonally although i am very conservative now, i experimented with a lot of recreational drugs when i was younger, so the feelings that i was experiencing were something i knew how to deal with - people that cannot understand that feeling would have even more difficulty.

Weight gain. Yes. I went from 95 pounds to 115 in 9 months. I am very strict with my food, and work out more than people should so pristiq is the only culprit. This is the reason i wanted to come off it - i had no other side effect so had no real reason to except not only weight gain, but it got to the point that i couldn't lose it either.

I think you should know that even weaning slowly you are going to have side effects - you need to be prepared to rationalize with yourself that you are going to get them, its temporary and once you are through the tough time you will feel AMAZING! Happy to answer any questions for you :)

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I tapered off Pristiq over a 2 month period. This drug was so horrible to be on, like all of the other antidepressants I have tried.
I myself grew up with anxiety and panic (didnt know it then).
Living in Orange county can really be a scary place for gays (getting harassed) on top of being abused at home. I have been on this wheel of antidepressants for almost 3 years trying different ones for the "right fit" as most would say.
Pristiq and Viibryd were the worst for me. I ended up seeking therapy once again to help me tackle my anxiety.. sometimes bringing up the past isn't so good. I was given pristiq with a heavy dose of alprazolam to help cover up the side effects. The dreams were out of control and realistic that woke up in a state of panic (nightmares).
I began to this think irrational thoughts (they still haunt me) making me not want to be around anyone at all. Where I drew the line was when I was leaving my freelance job (over an hour away from home) I got lost and drove around for over an hour just shaky and confused, thoughts going a million miles an hour. In short the next week I told my Dr I want off all drugs. I went down from 50mg to 25mg for a month felt like I was not even myself. I then cut that in half and did that for 2 months, then nothing. If you have ever done LSD before it felt like a "bad trip". I am honest with my Dr and told him numerous times about the side effects while on it: worst anxiety ever, neck and body sore all of the time, I would get sick all of the time with chest problems, my headaches are still persistent (even off the med) , I began to withdraw from people in my life. My work has not been stable and my personal life was flipped upside down.
Now 3 months later I went to the Dr and told him about how horrible I feel and he just gave me another antidepressant called Brintellix.... and uped my alprazolam. I will not take the antidepressant.
I went on the meds because of the way my life was going, work was and still is not steady (management at a big corp.) changing upper management many times. I graduated school but did not celebrate the fact that through all this I kept a 90% attendance and a 3.8 in my studies. I work full time as a manager 40 plus hours a week while going to school 5 days a week at night.

Does anyone experience any of these effect still, months later:
Headaches, nausea, seeing spots, amplified hearing, intrusive thoughts, sweats and shakes? There is more but I am just curious. Sorry for the essay. I just want to be unfiltered and find some good advice. Thank you
By the way I went through 3 therapists and they turned out to be pretty horrible and not concerned about anything other than the co-pay

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Hi AJ,
Thank you for sharing...good news that you are realizing that psychotropic drugs are not always the best solution. I have definitely learned this in a very difficult way over the past 2-3 years. Amazing to me that your doctors solution for possible side effects to one medication - is to up your dosage on another medication! The same thing happened to me... due to side effects (that I now know were related to Pristiq) my doctor added adderall for ADD for brain fog - and xanax for sleeping. After 2 years on this combination my life came to a crash....this was late last year - and thankfully now 6 months later or so- I am doing MUCH much better. I am still taking a low dose of lexapro (an anti-depressant that had worked well for me in the past) as well as some high quality vitamins - including vitamin D which is essential. I also found a wonderful therapist who specialized in bio-feedback training - awesome way to deal with anxiety and learn how to relax the brain in a natural way! The main thing I have learned from all of this is how important it is to be our own "health advocates" - and not just blindly take prescriptions as the one and only answer. Hope this helps... take care and keep moving forward!

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I have been on anti depressants for 15 years. Zoloft then lexapro then Zoloft again and then celexa (as of two years ago) and pristiq (as of one year ago). I suspected that I was overly medicated and decided to wean off of pristiq. I can't afford the $200/month and samples started becoming scarce. My doctor said not to. But I felt in my gut that's what I should do. Not to mention I am a little annoyed that doctors don't stress the importance of therapy coupled with medication. And that these medications don't have to be lifetime meds. I've been doing a lot of reading and personal internal work and I'm no longer afraid of being medicine free. I've learned skills and am no longer afraid of the panic attacks. Here's how I weaned myself off....(no one should do this without a doctors supervision and I am not a doctor)
For ten days I took 50 mg pristiq every other day. I would get the brain zaps around 3-4pm on days I wouldn't take it. Then I would take it first thing in the am and I was fine. Then for the next ten days, I did every three days. The zaps would start on the afternoon of the next scheduled morning dose. I added a day in between doses every 10 days. Right around 5-6 day dose increments, there were no more withdrawal symptoms so I quit taking them. I'm glad I listened to my intuition and went with how my body felt. I feel less stressed and I'm not crying non stop daily anymore. My last dose was May 6

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Hi
I've been on pristiq for 3 years. I lost my insurance and I don't want to fill my prescription. I'm tired of being dependent on this drug!!! I quit cold turkey. I love how it has taken my depression away but I feel maybe I'm living in a cloud. Getting off this is so hard. Day three and I'm having all the symptoms of course. I want to thank everyone for your posts. It's 3 in the morning and reading them have brought me a lot of comfort!!!!

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Nicole, I pray that the worst is over soon. Keep posting and reading the journeys others have had....this was helpful.to my daughter. In a year from now, you will be supporting someone else going through this. Thinking of you! Give yourself a big hug from us!

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Ps.... Adri I took your advice and went for a walk and no joke ten mins later I bumped into some people who said to me " don't give up.. God hears your prayers". Thank you!!!!! You all are so amazing and supportive!!!!

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I'm soo glad that you saw a little bit if the light at the end of the tunnel. Detox is difficult for EVERYONE. If you were detoxing off of sugar it would be similar Just keep it up and post when you need to. Peace

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Yes - jstu keep going - you will get there and you will feel amazing when you are free from it. Even more than that you will realize how strong you are to withdrawal from this - its such a difficult thing to do - something that cannot be underestimated or explained to someone who hasn't gone through it - it takes a strong strong person - i feel so proud of doing it - and you will feel the same sense of accomplishment when its done - i'm sorry its hard at the time though.

HANG IN THERE….! every day it gets a little better……… then one day…. you are smiling!

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Another night over!!!! Each passing day and night is bringing you closer to freedom!!!

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Nicole...your post gives me goosebumps!!!! Thank you for the update!!! You are a warrior!!! So glad to hear that you're giggling :D I look forward to your updates, you will be such encouragement for the next person battling this stupid drug!!!! <3

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Do not go off this medicine cold turkey! It's dangerous! I have a business that is not going well, so I wanted to take a couple days with my family. Thought I had my pills, but actually didn't. Too far from home to get them. Ugh!!! It was only 2 days. Day 1 wasn't that bad. Day 2 I had this horrid headache, was crying, difficult vision issues, ears ringing.. When I go off, I'm going to exercise like mad and pray, but I'm going to taper, and slowly....

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Hello, I am a 57 year old post menopausal woman. I have been on both Wellbutrin XL 300 mg and Pristiq 40 mg for years. I have been having horrible sweats day and night for years now. My GYN tells me that it is NOT hot flashes 12 years out of menopause(sorry gents, but I have to tell this).

My PCP recommended that I wean off Pristiq as sweating is a top side effect. So he switched me to Effexor 37.5 for 14 days then every other day until gone. He gave me 25 pills. I am now on the every other day regimen and the past two days I have been crying for no reason. Being a retired LPN, the only thing I can figure out is that I have been on two anti-depressants (plus Xanax, Trazodone, and on and on) for so long that I am now having rebound depression.

I would recommend that anyone on Pristiq ask about switching to Effexor to wean off of Pristiq. I have had no ill side effects that others have mentioned, except for the rebound depression. I may just have been on two for way too long, or I am someone who needs two meds to combat depression.

Anyway, my point is, ask your PCP to look into Effexor to wean off of Pristiq.

If anyone agrees with me about the rebound depression, please let me know.

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Karen and Anthony.....I wish you the best. Depression and/or anxiety creates a difficult struggle... I thank God that you have help while dealing with it. You are stronger than you know. I remember a sermon that compared human struggles to a chick trying to peck its way out of its shell....it's that struggle that makes it strong....it wouldn't survive if someone just cracked it open.....it would miss the development necessary for survival. Peace, prayers and thoughts to you :)

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Your so sweet Nancy, I'm hanging in there. Since the third day, I've been feeling very sick, brain zaps, can't stay focused, but can't fall a sleep. even looking at the computer or TV bothers my eyes, makes me very light headed. It's on day 5 and still the same, just staying on the couch but when I do get up I feel very sluggish. I've been on all kinds of meds since 2006, I'm still going to stay on the .05 klonopin because it does help me sleep a little, but no more of the other stuff. Do you know how much longer than sick feeling last ? I hope soon.

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Hi there. My message is to all of you on PRISTIQ . I have had a real breakthrough this week. After being on this drug for 6 years I really thought I would never be free of it after experiencing the traumatic physical withdrawal every time I didn't take a tablet. I was always up and down on dosages of 100 then to 50 . My doc told me to skip a tablet ever second day to start to come off them. For me this was AWFUL !!! Brain zaps , nausea, unbelievable dizziness and just simply the constant pain in my head like someone has beaten me with a hammer. WELL for 8 days I cut
50 in half and took 25 daily. I have been cold turkey now for four days and am so relieved. It has been nothing like the pain before. Slight grogginess on the first couple of days but I could still function and go to work. It has definitely been manageable. Wish I did this earlier, I am truly amazed at how this worked and can't believe I'm finally free of it. Yes we all need to talk to the doc about our reductions but I encourage you to talk about this method with them And good luck. If I can do it anyone can.

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Hey there. I took Pristiq for 6 years because my gf (at the time) said I was moody. Pretty much killed my libido, stopped being able to process emotions. Two years or so ago I cut down to one every two days because I wanted to see if it bothered me, and it didn't. About 20 days back I forgot to take it on the second day and only remembered to take it on the third day, this kickstarted some thinking. I vowed to take it again in another 3 days, and when that day came I didn't crave it so I took a tiny bite out a pill, and in 3 days I did the same. Then stopped. It's been about 2 weeks clean. I've cried, I've felt happier than I've felt in a long time. Libido has been amazing. I truly think the key is to keep busy, stay positive and don't over think everything. Life can be great without it and you don't need Pristiq.

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Reassuring to read your post. I'm in the midst if coming off prestiq. My dosages same as yours. I do believe I will get there but it is such a strain on myself and more importantly my husband and kids. I will get there.

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I need help with this. I been all kinds of meds for 6 years I think. I know the docs. make some money all this stuff, anyway day 5 cold turkey from Pristiq. I cry a lot and I feel now I want to overdose. How long does feeling go on? I call my soon ex doctor to be he call get back on and gave me some nice words too. He said because of this I could die or end up in the hospital anyone please help me.

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