Posted by bluebayoula on July 7, 2008, at 22:13:02
In reply to Re: Starting Pristiq today » amdew717, posted by bissie66 on July 2, 2008, at 13:39:19
Hello, I thought I'd add my two cents here. I've been taking Pristiq for about a month now. I have depression, sometimes major dep, anxiety and ADHD. You can search on my user name for a more thorough explanation of my background. For what it's worth, when I first started taking Pristiq I experienced some increased anxiety and although it was unpleasant, I decided to continue and give Pristiq a full try.
I've read some of the negative things on blogs, some from the medical community and some from the pharm rep community, and it sounds like a lot of people are concerned that Pristiq is just another patent extender. That may be true to a degree but I was curious to see if there was some merit to the claim that it had a lower side effect profile compared to effexor. I had some experience with effexor and although the treatment was very successful the withdrawal was pretty bad.
So here is what I've observed in the little over a month. At first some increased anxiety but also increased productivity and focus at work.
When I took Paxil I experienced the inability feel sexual desire or achieve orgasm. On Pristiq I've had a complete reversal and to be honest, I think this is the most sexual desire I've felt in a long time and I have no problem acheiving orgasm. This effect took a 2-3 weeks to manifest.When I took Paxil, I felt great, a little too great, and too laid back and not motivated (I liked it but I can't function that way). After a few weeks on Pristiq I feel normal as if I'm not taking an antidepressant. I've noticed that others have reported not feeling anything and interpreting that as the drug is not working. That may be true but I've noticed that I'm less depressed and I can think clearly and express myself which is a big deal for me and I have some anecdotal evidence to believe this to be true. I wonder if you have to be pretty observant to see these changes in yourself. One reason that I believe it's working is the way people around me react to me. I'm a nicer person and they're reacting to me in a more positive way.
I don't feel as anxious as I did when I first started taking it so it may be that axiety symptoms take a little longer to alleviate. I'm not sure how that will pan out but I no longer feel like I have to have something additional to combat my anxiety although I hope for some additional relief.
I hope this makes sense and if anyone has any questions I'm willing to share anything I know.
Chris
poster:bluebayoula
thread:831370
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080706/msgs/838751.html