stopping pristiq

[forwells]

Howdy .

I researched this drug when they wanted to put me on it .

I didn't mind the side effect list and such but i didn't like that the start dose was the effected dose and you could not cut down .

good luck with it all and your new job .

cheers kev

[Chiliphil1]

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.

[forwells]

I am not sure how they do it .

I know there would be symptoms will the stopping wile your brain adjust . I am guessing that
you have to suck it up so to speak and maybe they add a benzo in there to aid things.

I got told its about 8 weeks that they take to fade and adjust from your system . Guess thats not to say its that bad all over the 8 weeks .

I really did like what i read about the drug , it has very good reviews but i could not find much about people coming off of it .

[Chiliphil1]

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.

[forwells]

I have never taken these sort of meds .

I was on a benzo when it first started . I had a bad reaction and also got addicted . I tried to stop the right way by cutting 10% and i can tell you two days rolling on the floor in pain was bad . It got that bad i was ready to end it .

I saw my doc and changed meds to a different one . With in a week i was off the benzos with no problems and never had another .

I think there is good information in what Alan said and maybe something worth looking at .

What sort of problems you have with Zoloft , doc wants me on it for depression but i am still wondering if i need to sort the problems out causing the depression instead .

cheers kev

[Chiliphil1]

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.

[forwells]

Thank you .

Thats sort of my problem .

My problems are around money and as i own and run my own business i dont want to
take a pill that's going to stop me working and just add to the problems .

I don't think my depression is bad , more a pain in the butt than anything and i dont have the anxiety anymore thank god .

I am thinking i will just buy my time until xmas break and see what happens .

cheers kev

[Chiliphil1]

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]

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]

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.