View Full Version : stopping pristiq
Chiliphil1
06-04-2012, 09:55 AM
Hello everyone,
I know I havn't posted in a while, I have been doing pretty good lately, things have been pretty good for me, my job still drives me up the wall and gives me all sort of stress and anxiety, but things have changed for me in a good way.
I put in my 2 weeks notice at my job, and they asked me to go ahead and leave, I guess it was for security or something they didn't want me working there during the last 2 weeks, either way it doesn't effect me they agreed to pay me through my quit date, so that means I have a 2 week paid vacation!!!
Anywhoo. I am going back to my old job which was commercial truck driving, I think I am going to be alot happier and my life should get back on track, I am really excited about this move and so relieved and happy to be out of that hell hole I was working at.
I tell you all of that to say this, I will be driving an 18 wheeler, and will be subject to DOT regulations, as such due to the info I have found I cannot be on an AD medication and still drive, so I therefore need to come off of Pristiq. I feel that I will be ok without the meds, I believe that most if not all of my anxiety issues came from my job which i don't EVER have to go back to again :D
My whole point here is that I am quitting pristiq in a " have to " situation, I know that the withdrawl can be rough, but this is something I do not have a choice in, so I am just going to do it. The one big problem is that with this med, there is not a lower dose than what I am currently taking, so I am stuck just dropping it, I read online that you cannot cut these pills in half as they are XR. I also read that you should not do the every other day method as this puts your brain on an up and down that just isn't good.
I am asking if anyone has an experience or tips in this case? I did not take my pill last night, so I am into the withdrawl stage now as Pristiq has an 11 hour half life and it's been about 36 hours since I took my last one, hopefully it won't be too bad for me I have been on about 4 months now, I came off of Zoloft cold turkey after a month on it with no side effects, hopefully that will be the case here. So far I just have a touch of nausea and a slight pressure in my head which could also be allergies, either way I am just hoping this is quick and that I will be good to go in no time.
as an aside, does anyone know if something like Pristiq which is an SNRI would show up on a drug test?
alankay
06-04-2012, 11:38 AM
Pilots can take prozac, zoloft and celexa and lexapro(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304871704575159740692643072.html) so consider a switch to a long lasting med like prozac and taper off it. It's pretty easy to taper off of or stay on as it might be approved for truckers. Alankay
Chiliphil1
06-05-2012, 07:57 AM
Thank you Mr. Alankay. That is an interesting find, the only concern I have is the 1 year waiting period in which I have not been on the meds that long, however I have had my doctor prepare a letter which states what I'm taking I am going to submit that to the company and see if they approve it.
In the interim I am going to go ahead and come off of pristiq considering it is most likely not going to be allowed and I figure that since the stressor isbgone from my life I believe that I can go without these meds.
I figure that I have gotten so much help from this forum I will take the opportunity to give back and I will write about my experience coming off so that if anyone else wants to stop this drug they will have an idea of what's coming.
Chiliphil1
06-05-2012, 08:01 AM
First post about coming off of meds.
This is day 3, I took my meds on Sundays night and it is now Tuesday morning.
This is the first day I have had any withdrawal symptoms, yesterday I could tell I was off the meds, but it wasn't bad I just felt an urge to keep busy all day so I ended up getting alot done!
Today I woke up with some dizziness and serious nausea, the dizziness continues up to this point, it feels like a "swimmy" head feels a bit like the room is spinning, but it's bearable, I am also still having the nausea off and on, it is pretty much equal to the symptoms I had when I started the meds, it's a bit rough but bearable.
That's it for now, I will update if anything changes and I will write again no later than tomorrow.
Chiliphil1
06-06-2012, 08:26 AM
Day 4 off of pristiq.
Yesterday was an odd day, I went around feeling this numb tingly feeling in my face and lips all day long, it made me feel a bit off balance, but it wasn't like I was falling over dizzy, just felt a bit "off"
The feeling lasted nearly all day long there were times when it was off and on, but it was pretty consistent. The nausea left early and I did not have any further issues with that.
I felt a bit tired yesterday but was still able to do all the things around the house that I wanted to get done.
Last night I took some benedryl before bed, it seemed to help with the goofy feeling, but knocked me right out, I slept for 11 hours last night!
This morning I feel pretty good, I can talk that the tingly feeling is there, but it doesn't seem bad, I am also noticing that I am a bit sore, especially my back I'm not sure if this is the meds, the way I slept, or something I did its just an observation I made.
So far so good with the withdrawal, I will update more, hopefully it will continue to go smoothly.
alankay
06-06-2012, 08:39 AM
Sounds lik a plan. True.......without the work stressor(job you had) you might be AOK! Alankay
Chiliphil1
06-07-2012, 06:16 AM
Day 5 off pristiq
Yesterday was a good day, the numb tingly feeling seemed to subside some, it was still there, but not nearly as bad. I definately still had the swimmy head feeling which is sorta like being off balance but not to the point where I'm unable to function, it's more annoying than anything.
One new symptom that started yesterday was what people call the brain zaps, I did not realize what this was at first but then it became obvious what was going on. These are the strangest things! You are just sitting there and you feel a little bump inside yourself, it's odd. The only way I can describe these is to say that it feels like when your heart skips a beat, but it's in random places on your body, I checked my pulse and found that it was not coming from my heart and that's how I figured out what was happening. These sensations were not too bad, but they seemed to become more frequent the later it got, again no harm, just annoying.
I am really glad that I am doing this now, it will give me time to hopefully be back to normal by the time I start my new job in a couple weeks, I am really having a hard time believing what these meds will do to you when you come off, the symptoms of withdrawal are almost as bad and crazy as the anxiety symptoms themselves! Speaking of which, I have noticed that I have not been having anxiety over all these odd things going on with me, I know that normally I would be flipping out, hopefully that's a sign that my anxiety is going to be under control when I get done with all this.
Looking back I cannot regret starting this med, it is rough now stopping it bit when I think about it I realize that this stuff bailed me out of the darkest place I have ever been in, and really got me through the last 4 months, if it hadn't been for the pristiq I cannot imagine how bad things would have gotten or where I would be today. That being said I don't want to discourage anyone from getting the help they need, pristiq is a great med and it really allowed me to turn the corner.
Today I'm doing good, I feel a bit spacey headed still, but so far I have not noticed any zaps I am however still having alot of muscle soreness mostly in my back and legs, again this could be from things I'm doing around the house, or could be related to the withdrawal I'm really not sure, but I wanted to mention it in case it is related. I am going to have a very busy day today, I can only hope that I will be able to get through it good, I don't think I will have any issues but as you may have noticed I'm not at my best currently.
One more not from today, I found that when I was feeling dizzy and weak that eating seemed to help, so if you are going through this and feel that way have a nice meal, it really made a difference.
Chiliphil1
06-08-2012, 05:27 AM
Hello everyone, got an update today that is not really what I was planning on doing when I started this thread, but anyway. I heard back from the job that I'm going to start and they say that the meds will be ok as long as my doctor signs a release. This is good news and bad news, meaning that I stopped my withdrawal and started taking the pristiq again.
I am going to stop the meds, however since the company will allow me to take the pills I am going to speak with my doc today and see if we can do some sort of weaning process. I will say that coming off these meds is rough, it is unbelievable how bad it is, it's nothing dangerous or scary, you just feel like true hell while you're doing it.
Yesterday all the issues persisted, I had the numb tingly face, the spacey head, and fatigue. I really felt like I was going to fall out a couple times yesterday, it was rough to say the least. For anyone who is considering stopping these meds, I encourage you because I know it can be done, but I caution you as well it is not a walk in the park, and if you plan on stopping make sure you have about a week where you don't have to do anything so that your body can reset, I can't imagine having to go to work during this last week that would not have went well.
Chiliphil1
06-08-2012, 06:42 PM
I just wanted to update, I told the doc I wanted to stop the meds today, and he put me on a regime to wean off, one pill every other day for 2 weeks, then every 3rd, 4th, etc.. Until I am on one pill a week and then stop doing each drop for 2 weeks.
Hopefully this goes better than the last week has!
Chiliphil1
06-09-2012, 03:08 PM
So, I'm on day 2 of being back on the meds, and I feel alot better physically, but wouldn't you know it I'm getting the start up side effects again! The meds are making me feel really anxious I took a xanax last night, the first one in a while. I am going to try to leave those alone, but anyhow all is going good to this point, I'm just frustrated that I'm having to go though all this again, but if history repeats itself I should be good to go in about 5 more days.
I will keep updating this post as a wean down, I want to be able to help some people even if it's just a little, I know I really couldn't find anything with someone coming off pristiq when I went searching, so I guess I will make a thread for all to see.
Aren't these meds fun!
Chiliphil1
06-09-2012, 03:56 PM
Thanks kev, seems like that's my issue here, if they made a 25 mg dose, or even a 12.5 mg dose that would be great, but 25 mg is the smallest that have and that's what I've been on this whole time, so here I am stuck on it, seems to me that there should be some sort of way out. Stopping abruptly was very hard and I don't know how long the effects would have lasted or if I could have taken it much longer, we will hope that spacing out the doses will work.
Chiliphil1
06-09-2012, 04:21 PM
I think it's a great med, I tried buspar, then zoloft, then went without anything for a while, when I started pristiq I felt like I had hit the end of my rope, I was in panic attack mode constantly and couldn't seem to cope. The doc put me on the pristiq without any input from me he just gave it to me and I swear it made a big difference from the first day after a week or so once the initial side effects wore off, which were mostly nausea and headaches it had been great, my anxiety has been reduced by at least 90% and I was able to take another 4 months of my job which was pushing my to my breaking point daily. I really do reccomend this med, it's just a b#tc* to get off of. I will say though I've read alot of things about switching meds to stop, even alankay recommended prozac to stop the pristiq and then wane off of that as you can take smaller doses, either way I'm thankful that I have taken pristiq and I would do it again of given the choice.
Chiliphil1
06-09-2012, 05:13 PM
With zoloft I had severe anxiety for the first week, I took ativan to help. That stopped and it worked pretty good, but I got really tired, I would get out of bed and then go back to sleep until I had to get up to run out of the house for work, then I would be on the verge of falling asleep at work all day, so I just stopped with that one. I figured that I could do it without meds, but that was incorrect. The funny thing about it is that I was on zoloft a little over a month and I did not have even the slightest withdrawal symptom. Either way, I like pristiq alot better, it seemed to work almost instantly and then kept working with no side effects after about the first week. I can't really say anything bad about zoloft but I just couldn't take being dog tired all the time.
Chiliphil1
06-09-2012, 08:53 PM
That sounds like a plan, I will say that neither of the meds affected me from working, again the zoloft made me paranoid at first, but as far as the sleepiness I was working a desk job so I didn't have much to keep myself awake with, if you move around during the day, you would most likely be fine.
Chiliphil1
06-26-2012, 11:15 AM
Its been a while since Ive updated, so I figured I would take a minute to write.
I started the new job today, so far its going ok but I have had some serious anxiety about it, I'm assuming its just stress from all the changes at least I hope so. I am bringing myself off of pristiq by alternating days, I will then go to every second day and on until im off completely.
I have been feeling ok, Ive had some headaches and have felt a bit out of it so to speak, I'm guessing that if from my system adjusting, anyway I had some bad anxiety last night and into this morning, mostly heart anxiety because my chest pains are still there and have been since the bigining of all of this pretty much without fail. I also felt really sick this morning, again not sure if its meds, anxiety, or something else.
I am just ready to get done with this, the med withdrawals remind me of the time before I started them, just feeling nervous and out of it. I also have that hopeless "I don't want to" feeling as well, but I'm sure it will pass as it always has. I will write more later or if anything changes.
Chiliphil1
06-28-2012, 03:08 PM
Another update,
If anyone has to come off of this med, I feel bad for you. This is one of the most terrible things Ive had to do, I will be honest and say that this med was a blessing, and truly turned me around and im thankful that I was able to take it. With all of that said coming off of it is miserable!
I am still on the every other day portion of my waining process and goodness I can definately tell you what days I have and have not taken it. On the days that I have not taken it, like today I feel horrible, I get a massive headache, dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light and a host of other things including just generally feeling like crap. On the days I take it, I feel completely normal.
I called my doc today though I have not heard back from them yet, im going to ask if there is something else I can do, maybe a switch to prozac or something. My new job is fine with the meds, so I could keep taking it however I am uninsured for the next 3 months and pristiq is way too expensive for me to buy, so I am going to have to stop anyway.
I just really hope this gets better, it is straight misery right now.
For anyone else doing this, please just do as im doing and keep in mind all the crazy crap happening with you is due to stopping the meds, it is not you its the meds! My anxiety is flaring like crazy due to the various different things going on with me, it is hard to deal with but I just have to keep reminding myself that it is due to the meds and im not going crazy!
Hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel is somewhere around here, I will keep updating for anyone else trying to come off this stuff.
Chiliphil1
06-30-2012, 09:48 AM
More info.
I am continuing my slow taper from pristiq, the past couple of days have been hellacious. When I don't take the meds I feel super sick, have a massive headache, and fell just hungover. On the days I take it I feel normal, with the exception that I am getting some start up side effects.
So, when I take it I have side effects and when I don't I have withdrawals! Also yesterday I had horrible anxiety all day long, it felt like that anxiety that makes you sick, and bordered on the paranoia side,. 5 mg of ativan took care of that, and this morning im feeling pretty good, this should be my withdrawal day, so we shall see how it goes.
Damavandi
06-30-2012, 12:28 PM
Hi There:
I suffered from depression, and panic disorder for forty years. Accidently, I discovered that I am deficient on vitamin D3.
I went to an endocrinologist, and took care of the deficency. All my symtoms vanished in a short while after starting on
high doses of vitamin d3 (300,000 IU injections). I lost forty years of my life, because nobody told me to have my vitamin d3 tested. Please have a vitamin d3 (25-OH) done, and save yourself.
Feedback will be appreciated, after the test is done.
Best wishes,
Ali
Chiliphil1
07-01-2012, 05:48 PM
Another update.
I am still on the one pill every other day, and today was my day with the pill, but I swear I am having alot of the same withdrawal symptoms, albeit not as bad. I am supposed to go to every 3rd day starting with this dose, but I am going to have to see how it goes, its been rough but we shall see.
Chiliphil1
07-01-2012, 07:26 PM
Got cut short on the last one.
The symptoms I have been having today include the normal headache that I have carried every day that I do not take the pill. I have also had a bit of chest pain today, the same old stuff that I have had all along, sometimes sharp, stabby, dull, all kinds of things. I have felt kind of out of it too.
The only thing I can figure is that the meds are low enough in my system now that one dose is not enough to bring me back to normal levels. I assume that I am truly starting the withdrawls now. I really hope that it keeps going ok, I have also had a bit of anxiety today, almost a feeling of excitability, not so much worried or paranoid, just jumpy, again I assume that this is from the meds being up and down as anxiety is a symptom of both stopping and starting these meds.
I am going to see how tomorrow goes and see if I am ready to go to every third day, I have a limited dose of meds left and have to be sure not to run out, my taper schedule should take me through the next couple months hopefully this will work.
Also I asked my doc about maybe switching to prozac, but I have not heard anything back yet. I don't know if I want to go that way or not, I feel like I am finally making progress with this, but I don't know if I can keep on feeling this bad. My new job is not one where I can be out of my right state of mind, but I also cannot have a major headache all the time. We will see how it goes, more later.
Chiliphil1
07-02-2012, 08:41 PM
Before I get into todays update I just want to say that today is definately the worst day so far with the withdrawls.
This was my " no pill day" I am not supposed to take one tonight either, this starts my every 3rd day portion of the waning process.
I started off this morning feeling ok, a little off but not too bad. As the day progressed it just seemed to get worse and worse. I got the typical headache that feels like my brain is in a vice while bouncing around in the ocean. I also had horrible pains today, my back felt like I was being stabbed in the spine and my chest felt like someone was reaching in and squeezing my heart while punching me in the ribs. I also had terrible nausea, it felt like someone was punching me I was the stomach, or like I had been hit I in the lower regions!
I am currently having a very stiff neck, and the headache seems to be returning.
As far as anxiety, I have definately had it today but with all the pains Ive had its not at all surprising. I seriously thought something was very wrong with me, the chest pains were horrible and I was truly scared about my heart again, but I noticed my pulse was great, and I just convinced myself its the withdrawls.
At this point I think I am just going to keep with the plan. I am obviously in the grips of withdrawls now, so I don't want to go backwards. If I add prozac or get back on pristiq then I am just going to have to do this all over again.
The good news is that I have the next 3 days off, so hopefully there will be some improvement by the time I have to go back to work....
More later.
Chiliphil1
07-05-2012, 06:31 AM
Update for 7-5-11
Yesterday was my day with the pill, it wasn't nearly as bad as the day before, but I can definately tell that the meds are coming out of my system.
For the most part yesterday was fine, but I did have some pains mostly in my lower back, but otherwise all was pretty good.
The only major thing that im noticing is that I am really irritable, I seem to have a very short fuse and it doesn't take much to set me off. Im not getting crazy or anything, just very easily frustrated with things, and I feel very irritated if things don't go my way.
So far this morning, I am having the same lower back pains, and I feel a bit foggy this morning, but I feel ok overall, we will just have to see how the day evolves.
Chiliphil1
07-05-2012, 08:08 PM
The withdrawal continues:
To anyone reading this, please keep in mind that it may not be entertaining, or you may not find much point in reading this, but my aim is to provide a day by day follow up for anyone who is trying to withdraw from pristiq or any other antidepressant.
Today was like all the rest for the most part, this was the day after my pill day so I had all the same symptoms as the last one. I had a lot of chest and back pain, my stomach also hurt and I have 2 new symptoms. The first new symptom is tingling face and lips, this hasn't been too bad so far but it is aggravating. The second new one is what most people call the " brain zaps" I have started having those within the last couple hours.
I have been feeling really out of it, just somewhat disoriented and dizzy. The headache continues, mostly in the front of my head but also the top, the back, my neck, everywhere.
I am hoping that tomorrow goes better, and im really thinking that I may not take my dose tomorrow night and see what happens. I feel like taking one every third day is just putting me back into withdrawls when maybe I would get through it if I didn't keep putting the meds in my system.
I will take that one as it comes tomorrow. For now, im just gonna keep on keeping on, thats about the best I can do at this time. Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention is anxiety, I have been having that again, I assume just from my system resetting, but im not sure. For anyone going through this, im with you, but don't worry about all the crazy stuff going on, its normal!
Chiliphil1
07-12-2012, 05:30 AM
Day 7, med free!
When the last day came around where I was due for a pill I decided not to take it, that was a good idea. I have had a major reduction of the withdrawls symptoms. I have still had some things.
The major issues that I still have are some muscle pains, mostly back and neck, but the biggest thing I still have is the zaps. I seem to get those quite a bit, it is a very odd sensation, its like I am just sitting there and I get a quick rush of lightheadwdness and then my lips tingle.
I really don't know what this symptom is about, but it is annoying as all get out, I hate the feeling of being dizzy, and this feels like dizziness just sweeps over me periodically. I have been (knock on wood) doing good as far as headaches and all of the other side effects seem to have subsided, hopefully the zap thing will go away and I will be in great shape.
I have not noticed my anxiety coming back, I was afraid that maybe coming off the meds would cause my issues to start over, but so far it hasn't seemed to be an issue. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I am no longer miserable every day at my workplace.
I am feeling good now, oddly enough I feel like my old self, pre anxiety. I say that, but I am different, I am not the old person and I feel like I never will be again. I have learned so many lessons and changed in so many ways since this all started a year ago. I also know that I will always have anxiety issues of some sort, and I always have, just a nervous person but I hope that I have made it through the crazy anxiety that I had, maybe I will see some marked improvement and really get back to how things were.
For anyone withdrawing. I did it by half way following my doctors plans. Firstly he told me to wane by progressing in steps from one pill a day all the way to one pill a week I found that this did not work because it prolonged the withdrawls I found that just stopping after a week of taking one every third day worked for me. I also want to say again as a recap, it is not easy coming off these meds not at all, but if you stick with it and just be as tough as you can, you can do it. Don't put too much worry into the side effects from coming off of these, don't let it scare you!
So, I guess this will be my last post on this topic, unless something changes in which case I will update.
To recap, I withdrew from pristiq by reducing the dose to 1 pill every other day for 2 weeks, then 1 pill every 3rd day for 1 week and stop. So far so good.
dyluck
12-01-2012, 07:53 PM
My experiencs and reccomendation.
I am on week 2 of quitting pristiq. If you havent gone on them don't. i had a long talk to the pharmasist about feedback received from others. my "after effects" were confirmed. After a very awesome anti anxiety rush at the beginning, it actually slowly makes you have hard to control, limited patience for anything. in essance instead of getting anxiety attacks, you would handle the situation with a short fuse instead of being humble. note. this doesnt happen right away. i noticed this 6 months in, before that i was care free. I was on 50 mg (smallest daily dose).
quitting. well you cant cut time release pills. pharmasist and Dr both said this could be dangerous. do not cut pristiq. they have a special release mechanism that inclueds all walls of the capsule. you remove the wall, you will get high doses too fast.
i went off and on a day at a time for a week. it didnt do much for the second day off withdrawl symtoms experienced in week two. due to this horrible time wasting discovery, i simply went cold turkey after much research. on and off does not work and just perpetuates they symptoms.
Wait until friday for day one of cold turkey... saturday and sunday (sunday -day 3) is the worst you will experience magnified massive flu symtoms, shakes, jitters, sound dips, nausia and tiredness. Also the odd "zaps" others say. i hate those the most. anyway, this weekend is a writeoff. Monday, symtoms not as bad with nausia and could work in this condition. you will continue to get shakes, jitters, muscle spasms, zaps, and sound dips. this gets better as the first week of cold turkey progresses. In fact, you can go some time with no symptoms nearing the end of the week. I did notice, though, high physical activity will enhance the symptoms at any time.
Pharmasist said end of week two , the wost of it is done. a full month to be back to 100%
good luck and dont forget to use your first weekend wisely, take T3s if you have them, they helped me the first weekend.
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