PRISTIQ Reviews (DESVENLAFAXINE SUCCINATE)

Average Rating: 2.8 (628 Ratings)

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 ANTIDEPRESSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

PRISTIQ  (DESVENLAFAXINE SUCCINATE):  Desvenlafaxine is used to treat depression. It may improve your mood, feelings of well-being, and energy level. Desvenlafaxine is known as a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). It works by helping to restore the balance of certain natural substances (serotonin and norepinephrine) in the brain.   FDA Approval Date: 2008-02-29 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

Results are sorted by Date added.

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR PRISTIQCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  mild bi-polar disorder; menopausal Initially experienced mild nausea and insomnia, which got better when I switched to taking it early in the morning. It wears off quickly if you take it take it more than 24 hours apart. Pristiq has been a good fit for me. Have been able to stay focussed, have less anxiety in day to day situations (am a lawyer who works with a lot of other type A personalities, which can get a little crazy), generally feel like my mood is balanced and that I am happier. Has also helped with menopausal symptoms. F 46 4 months
100 1X day
4/10/2011
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 2  Anxiety/Depression Overeating / Weight Gain Pristiq helped with my worrying and some of my obsessive thoughts, but made my eating out of control. I had zero sensation of feeling full and have been gaining weight in my mid section, which has never happened to me before. I'm discontinuing Pristiq. I had high hopes for this medication, but it's just not working out for me. If you're considering this drug, please give it a try. It does have the least amount of side effects compared to other meds I've taken (Prozac, Effexor, Zoloft). F 31 2 months
50 MG 1X day
4/10/2011
 4  depression loss of appetite, horrible withdrawals This medication helped to mellow me out after adjusting to it the first week. I stuck with it for about three months, and then decided it was no longer needed. I could feel when i missed a dose, so i knew coming off of it was bad. I actually tried coming off sooner, but the withdrawals was so horrible i continued to take it. This is my fourth day not taking it, and I feel extremley dizzy and keep having what feel like brain spasms, not smiling much, having problems turning head from left to right, any sudden movements i feel as though i could pass out. F 23 3 months
50 MG 1X day
4/8/2011
 2  severe major depression JOINT PAIN, fatigue, lethargy, decreased sex drive, vivid dreams, night sweats. It did not reduce my depression. I am currently in the process of pristiq withdrawal and it is VERY unpleasant. Brain zaps, shaky hands, jittery, cognitive impairments, but the worst is, I am ITCHY all over. I believe the itchiness is nerve related as opposed to being a dermatological issue. I have no rash, and while I have tried numerous remedies, the only thing that seems to (sort of) relieve the itchiness is benzocaine (a topical anesthetic). I am also on provigil and wellbutrin and have been on them for over 1 year. Prisiq was a drug my doctor and I were introducing to see if it might help my drug resistant depression. F 29 5 weeks
50mg 1X day
4/6/2011
 2  Anxiety/Depression From the beginning I haven't been very impressed with this drug. Doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I can't say that I'm exactly sad on this med or happy, just totally BLAH. That's one of the reasons I just quit cold turkey last Friday. Today is Tuesday. Another reason I'm quitting is I've had a weight gain of 7 lbs in 9 mths time. I was already unhappy with my weight before I started this drug. Mind you I write down my calories every day and keep them at about 1600. AND in January I purchased an elliptical to try and lose some weight. Started out doing 30 min a day, 5 days a week and NO weight loss. Then upped it to 1 hr, 5 days a week. Still no weight loss! Worked out like this for 6 weeks. I'm hoping it was the Pristiq messing with my metabolism and that's why I'm not losing weight. So anyways, stopped the Pristiq cold turkey 4 days ago. On Sunday the dizziness was pretty bad, got nauseous. Monday which was yesterday was not a great day but seems to be improving day by day w While on it I have noticed weight gain, complete apathy, and tired all the time. F 36 9 months
50 mg 1X day
4/5/2011
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 3  Depression originally - weight gain .. when i tried to come off med .. Horrible headaches during sexual climax. Got a pinched nerve. Couldnt focus / vision issues. Total medical cost trying to come off the meds was easily a thousand dollars out of pocket.. just crazy Was on celexa - first few weeks pristiq was great. As time goes on it seems like the drug is not working. I did try to come off of this med with HORRIBLE SIDE EFFECTS. Ultimately stayed on med - very concerned at what this drug has done to my brain. I think we will try to come off of it again in short future. M 50 9 months
1X day
4/1/2011
 1  Anxiety Massive hot flushes accompanied by panic attacks, excessive salivation, aggression,wierd dreams,low tolerance to alchohol,altered smell and taste - food tastes disgusting, ear lobes tingling, aching legs and arms Withdrawal is terrible. Cramps in fingers and toes, feeling jittery, massive headaches, severe anxiety with constant feeling of dread. A feeling that I am dying. F 53 4 months
200MG 1X day
3/26/2011
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 1  Depression agoraphobia, right arm numbness, brain zaps, suicidal thoughts,insomnia, no sex drive,increased appetite, craving sweets, weight gain, blurred vision, foggy head, intense dreams, lower back pain, racing thoughts The first two weeks of taking this drug, I felt like it was really helping. After that, it has gotten progressively worse. I feel like I'm losing it and I'm getting off this stuff as soon as possible. I am convinced that none of us truly know how much harm these prescriptions are doing to us long term. I feel like this has really screwed up my brain and my body. This stuff is poison, I would strongly recommend that no one take this and try to find a holistic approach to treatment. F 33 2 months
50 mg 1X day
3/21/2011
 4  Depression; pmdd Dizziness if not taken on time; few heart palpitations I have been on this for two years and have very few side effects. Works well for me. F 43
50 1X day
3/20/2011
 3  Major Depression Headaches, Nausea, Dry Mouth, Tingling (Only Dry Mouth was persistent 24x7) Pristiq was the first anti-depressant I ever took in my life after falling into a deep depression in Fall 2010. It took 34 days to work well enough to cure my depression and take an edge off my anxiety. However, I had to add Buspar to truly feel better (I strongly believe my depression was caused by my intense anxiety). Eventually, the doctor switched me to Paxil (an SSRI, Pristiq is an SNRI) since it also works to help alleviate anxiety and panic attacks related to social situations such as public speaking. It took approximately 8 days to withdraw from Pristiq... I suffered from severe brain shock sensations whenever I moved my head and at random, and I was extremely irritable. I strongly recommend you ween yourself slowly off of Pristiq as I could not imagine doing it 100% cold turkey. Though I stopped 'cold turkey,' Paxil still works on some similar Serotonin receptors in the brain, so it was not as bad of a withdrawal as it could have been. I strongly recommend that you give this medicine time to work, as it took over a month for it to start making me feel 'happy' to be alive once more... M 21 4 months
50mg 1X day
3/16/2011
 1  Major Depression Had been on Effexor 375mg for 3 years, then titrated off. Later, depression and anxiety returned. Doctor insisted Pristiq was exactly the same but better. Started at 100mg. Two days later rise in anxiety plus agoraphobia (new) had me bedridden. In response, doctor raised to 250mg, insisting this wasn’t due to Pristiq. After 3 months disagreeing, demanded Effexor. The anxiety subsided and the agoraphobia diminished. Was then able to get out of bed. As with all medications that deal with brain chemistry, everyone’s experience is going to be different. In my case, these side-effects were visible in two days, and though highly regarded in the medical community, it was that particular doctors arrogance that extended the suffering. See Wikipedia for Pristiq, for good info on trials. Scroll to Clinical efficacy section. BTW Immediately changed doctors. M 57 3 months
275 1X day
3/16/2011
 4  hot flashes and anxiety No side effects but maybe some irritation, dont know.Have been on it for a year and a half.Pleased with anxiety help. My hot flashes are cut in half in intesity and duration. F 52 1 days
1X day
3/12/2011
 5  anxiety If I forget to take it then by the next day I am very moody (mainly shown by crying alot and for no real reason) I am so glad I started taking the drug. I am a graduate student and started taking Pristiq toward the end of my undergraduate years. I was always an overly emotional and anxious person and every little thing got under my skin and make me anxious and somewhat depressed. Things roll off my back alot easier now, I handle situations with more emotional stability and am much less anxious. I have not lost my ability to have emotions (I still cry when things really make me sad, and still get anxious when I have big tests, etc) but pristiq has given me the chance to live life without being ruled by my emotions! F 23 1 years
50 mg 1X day
3/9/2011
 2  major depression I feel high. Like I could stare at the wall for hours sort of high. Hopefully, this effect decreases as my body adjusts, otherwise I don't think pristiq will be helpful in making me a more productive member of society (though, I will be less sad while I am being nonproductive.) Also, I feel nauseous and my hands are shaky. I am also on provigil and wellbutrin. F 29 2 days
50 mg 1X day
3/9/2011
 1  Depression Crazy anxiety. Crawling out of skin feeling. Tried all the antidepressants, thought I would give this one a shot. Increased anxiety like mad! After trying 25 antidepressants, my doctor put me on 5 mcg's of Cytomel. After 15 years of depression, it went away in one day with Cytomel. It was like someone turned on the life switch. My thyroid tests were and are still normal.'I don't think big pharma has depression quite figured out yet. Try Cytomel!!! Read the testimonials on here, they are the same as mine. Start low and go slow (5 mcg's - 10 mcg's). No more than 10 mcg's per day.'You will feel like a dead plant come back to life! No generics! M 40 14 days
30 1X day
3/6/2011
 2  mild depression headaches, nauseau, feel lousy...i felt great for the first three weeks...then the side effects started every day...going to go off...i'd rather feel a little blue than feel like crap every day! M 58 2 months
50 mg. 1X day
3/3/2011
 1  Anxiety I had blurred vision, dry mouth, tense jaw, insomnia. I could not eat. It was absolutely horrible for me. I only took it for a week due to the overwhelming side effects it caused me. F 28 1 weeks
50 mg. 1X day
2/28/2011
 4  Major Depression I got brain zaps if I did not take the meds every 24 hours. It's an excellent drug with the exception that its activity is of such a short duration that I would experience side effects if I took two doses 36 hours apart (morning one day, evening the next) as opposed to 24 hours. M 50 6 months
40 1X day
2/25/2011
 1  Major Depression Terrible headache/pressure across forehead, neck pain and stiffness, lower back pain and stiffness, periods of increased heart rate/palpatations, hot/cold flashes, feeling incredibly anxious/jittery but outside myself at the same time, insomnia (couldnt sleep more than 3 hours a night) On my 9th day of this medication, I took a nice little trip to the ER because I thought I was gonna DIE! My heart was racing, I was short of breath, anxiety level out the roof...in other words, I was having a panic attack. ER doc said some people do well on this med and some just dont...guess that's me! He said I was getting a norepinephrine overload which caused me to feel way too "speedy", unable to relax, ect. which after days led to the panic attack. I'm tapering the Pristiq down over 10 days then starting Effexor 75mg BID, which I've taken before with ZERO problems. F 31 9 days
50 mg 1X day
2/25/2011
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 1  Major depressive disorder/ GAD Nausea, terrible stomach pains, shakes and tremors, brain fog, fatigue, loss of appetite I've taken MANY different SSRI's and SSNRI's over the years and this one, by far, has had the WORST side effects of any I've taken. I can barely function at all on this stuff. I feel like a toxic zombie. I can handle side effects. Like I said, I've been on many but none have been this bad and had this many side effects all at once. After today, I'm not taking anymore and am contacting my doctor about it. This stuff sucks! M 33 7 days
50MG 1X day
2/24/2011

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