Startng pristiq, what to expect?

[Chiliphil1]

So, I went to my gp today, and told him about ALL my symptoms. With my chest pain he wasn't even concerned at all, so that was nice! I explained my anxiety issues and everything, told him how buspar and zoloft had not worked for me and he prescribed pristiq.

I am wondering if anyone has experience with this med, and what kind of side effects I should expect and for how long, the zoloft side effects blind sided me, and I would prefer to not do that again. I am also wondering if it is safe to take ativan or xanax with pristiq if needed, and help would be appreciated, thank you

[alankay]

Chili, it's an SNRI(same class as effexor/cymbalta) so a benzo should be fine with it. If you're worried about it just take a low dose of the benzo to kind of verify all is OK with the combo. I would not worry about it at all. Alankay.

[Chiliphil1]

Hey everyone, just thought I would give an update.

I am on day 2 of pristiq, and so far it hasn't been too bad, I have been taking itvat night before bed and it seems to have a calming effect after taking it, bit I am having a bit of trouble sleeping through the night, I end up waking up before my alarm and I'm not able to go back to sleep, from what I read though this should be temporary.

Yesterday being the first day of it I seemed to have a very tired feeling and also a bit of a "spacey" feeling. I find that my pupils are dilated, but nothing major. So far the worst side effects have been nausea, it comes and goes sometimes it's not bad and others it seems like I was punched in the stomach.

Today, I am feeling pretty good, my anxiety seems up there but not as bad as it was, I feel more calm on this stuff, sort of like a small dose of xanax. My only hope at this time is that it will keep getting better and thatthis wll be my gateway tovgetting better.

I will post more updates as I go through all this!

[alankay]

In time it will get better. That's the usual course for these meds. Give it fair trial.:) Alankay