reassurance please!

[Chiliphil1]

Hello all, I am posting today just for some reassurance, I have been on pristiq for a month now and have had great changes, I have had almost no panic attacks, and my anxiety has been very low. I have also noticed a reduction in my physical symptoms such as back pain, chest pain, etc.. I have been able to keep myself from having anxiety even in situations where I would have normally flipped out.

My question is, last night I had a panic attack, and today I am feeling some anxiety, nothing bad but it's there. I am just wondering if this may be normal, or if anyone else on an snri has experienced this, I know it takes a while for the meds to kick in fully, but they have been doing so great up to this point.

The only things in my life affecting me right now are, I had an accessed tooth that caused some swelling on my face, and I had to have some teeth removed, I've been on lortab every 4 hours for a week now, and I am going to have to return to work tomorrow which I am not looking forward to, but other than that all is well.

Btw I will be going to my doctor Friday for a follow up and will mention all of this, any advice or similar experiences?

[anxiousmess]

hiya. your meds can increase any feelings you were feeling before taking them. it can also bring on extra ones! like anxiety and panic.
could your tooth removal be a trigger to your anxiety?
my son started nursery and my anxiety came and whacked me in the face. i'm still battling through with it - he has been in nursery for over a month now!
i'm always anxious, but certain things make it ten times worse.

it's good that you are goign to the docs. like you say, mention it to him. i wouldn't worry too much about this. at the end of the day, it is only anxiety/panic ...it isn't going to kill you. you are fine :)

[Chiliphil1]

Thank you, it is possible the tooth issue could cause it, I really think going back to work is my problem, but I'm just confused because my anxiety has been so much better and is starting up again a month after being an an antidepressant, I thought it was gone, but seems to be surfacing again.

[jessed03]

Hey Chip,

Are you on a starter dose, or a regular one? I went on one, and it was amazing for a month, I was my old self again after this tragedy. Then it wore off, and I was back to Sq.1. Not saying it will happen to you, by any means. Sometimes it can take a little playing around with dosage to find the right one. I put the dose up a little and everything was right as rain again, until I quit due to another unrelated med problem. It's a good sign though, as the med clearly agrees with you.

Hopefully this was a one off :)

[alankay]

Yep, you can get some anxiety on an ssri or snri but it usually passes and you forget about it. Maybe 2-3 "waves" of anxiety and then it seems to...go away. Whereas without the med it would get worse and worse until.... panic/high anxiety. The med help keep it down like that. Sure, you can feel some anxiety on the med. But usually the med helps limit it and it passes. Alankay.

[Chiliphil1]

Hey jessed, I am on 50 mg, from my understanding since pristiq is delayed release you cannot take it in halfs, it can only be taken as a whole pill, so I'm stuck where I am, I think that it may just be standard anxiety, I'm sure even if your on an ad you will still have anxiety like everyone else, I just wasn't sure if this may be normal. I know zoloft made me paranoid for a couple weeks, but that was when I was starting it.. Hopefully I can either stay on this, or get something else that will work, pristiq has been a godsend for me.

[Chiliphil1]

Ok, so I went to the doc today, he is keeping me on pristiq as is. He, as well as myself believe that some of the anxiety as well as achyness that I've had may be due to coming off of lortab for a toothache issue I had. The doctor did add a beta blocker, 5 mg once daily.

I'm wondering what the point of this was, I don't have performance anxiety or anything like that, just general anxiety.. What can I expect from the beta blocker? Is it going to do anything for me?