Side effects of Pristiq

Hi, @flow65 No one should look to Mayo Connect for medical advice. All we can do is to share our own experience and acquired information.

That said, I've had the same experience trying to taper off Clonazepam. I cut the pills so that I could reduce an eighth of a gram every 4+ weeks, working down from my 2mg per day. Now, six months after starting, I'm continuing to take 1.5mg, and plan to stay there unless I learn of a compelling reason to titrate further. A few years ago I tried to taper off by .25mg, at a time when I was taking only 1mg, but I couldn't sleep, etc.

Some people who have posted about this have said that it can take a year or more. There are titration recommendations that I've seen posted on Connect, but the bottom line is that every person is unique, so don't go any faster than your body permits. I suppose that every time you lower the dose, you can expect some level of discomfort, and if you're OK with the discomfort, give your body time to adjust before lowering the next notch.

We always say that you should taper down with a doctor's supervision. It's unfortunately true that a doctor may tell you to taper faster than your body can stand, so you might have to tell them you need a slower titration pace. It's your body, your mind. It's your right to be in control of your medical care, so if you can't make your doctor listen to you, maybe you need to find a different doctor. Nobody knows your body better than you.

II would be very helpful to keep a pain journal, noting everything - pain level, time, date, dosage, change in dosage, level of anxiety, appetite, physical symptoms...everything. Document it all. As a nurse would do, chart everything.

Don't worry about what someone else thinks. Listen to your body. Stay in touch.

Jim

@flow65 How long did you stay at 10mg before going up to 25? I've found that it can be just as important to take it slow when you increase the dose as it is to decrease.

How were you today?

Jim

Hello, Friend. Please talk this over thoroughly with your Doctor before you stop your medication, even if you taper off very slowly. When we read about clinical trials and side-effects virtually all medications will list "horror stories" in short form. And it is not always certain that some of those side-effects were actually due to the medication in question. Of course, you have identified the increased heart rate (tachycardia) yourself. I also suffer from Depression and take a related medication, Cymbalta. Pristiq and Cymbalta are in the same class of anti-depressants. (Effexor, Celexa, and Lexapro are as well.) Another consideration is whether you will be starting a new medication to replace the Pristiq. Often, though it is not always possible, the Physician will order a start of the replacement medication and gradually titrate the new med up as the old med is gradually lowered. I, too, tend to have a high heart rate due to one or more of my medications for depression and some related issues. However, the benefits of my medications (also on Depakote and Xanax) are far too great to discontinue them due to higher heart rate. (Actually, I could probably lower that rate by quiting all caffeine and exercising more.) I appreciate your situation re: the increased pulse occurs as the Pristiq "kicks in." Your physician may have advice or even a possible treatment to reduce this tachycardia. I hope this is useful. My best to you.

My Dr is currently doing this.. she wants me off Pristiq and is switching me to Prozac. I have been taking 25 mg for 4 weeks. I am nervous to take both antidepressants in one day but I'm at the lowest dose of Pristiq and I know you can't cut them. I'm torn between just stopping the Pristiq or taking both.

My Dr is currently doing this.. she wants me off Pristiq and is switching me to Prozac. I have been taking 25 mg for 4 weeks. I am nervous to take both antidepressants in one day but I'm at the lowest dose of Pristiq and I know you can't cut them. I'm torn between just stopping the Pristiq or taking both.

Your physician is giving you his or her best medical guidance. I have had a similar experience changing medications, and the half life of the drugs is pivotal. Do what your physician directs. Please do not start practicing medicine on yourself…

Hi, you can get off of it, it will take some time, here is what I shared with a support group livng with mental illnesses and depression. You first need to change one thing with everything you do in a day. Meaning stop waking up to doing the same thing each morning, stop doing the same things as you go through the morning, stop doing the same things at lunch, the same for the rest of the day. What this means, you have been living one day to the next with about a 95% repeat of the things you did the day before. So, whats new in your life? What are habits? Habits are things you do without having to think about how to do them. Try to catching yourself doing two things at one time. This also means doing something and also thinking about something not relating to what you are doing. This is a bad habit. *You need to explore your five senses, eat something you have never tried, find new things to smell, listen to something different, engage in new ocnversations, walk away form the same old stuff, reach out to touch all surfaces, feel a flower, feel rough surfaces, feel running water on your hand, find new things to see. What this will do is stimulate your brain helping you to slowly come off your medication with little side effect.
Imagine having a sharp pain, the more you try to feel it, the stronger it will get. But, focusing on something new and different the pain isn't as bad. By doing new things, by taking risk to try something different while slowly over time reducing your intake of the medication will make it easier to get off of it. >I shared this with the group, four months later, a college girl told us she was able to reduce your med. intake by half and was feeling good enough to start dating again. by the time I left the group she was off her meds.
Change your daily habits. Explore your five senses. Find new things to do which means challenge yourself. Avoid interacting with wasteful conversations or activities which have no value. In the future, know that your brain can porduce any medication, all you need to do is change how you think. Thinking makes the brain produce good and bad chemicals

Hello! NOBODY should be weaning off this medication without advice from a doctor who knows what they are doing. Going cold turkey on this is DANGEROUS.
This tablet is extended release so It can't be cut and work quite the same. My doctor is kind and looks up stuff she doesn't know. So far my journey is going OK, but I'm still having withdrawal symptoms. I can't imagine going cold turkey bc the symptoms I have are awful.
I was on 50 mg, my doctor switched me to 25 mg for two weeks. Once I tolerated that change ( my side effects were nausea, light brain fog, not as bad as missing a pill. Now I'm on 25 mg every other day for two weeks. Everyday I don't take the pill I have brain fog, nausea, headache, I use the toilet a lot, am sleepy and irritable. Even though I'm a week, in the day I don't take a pill the symptoms are the same. If I can't tolerate this, there are options other than just doing every other day! My doctor said another option is to instead put me on Lexapro and start weaning using Lexapro, and you can cut Lexapro in half too. I may have to write her a message because I'm still trying to live my life and want less side effects while weaning off. It can be a long process!!
Please please do not try to do this yourself. See your doctor, do a telemed visit so you don't have to drive and see them. If your doctor doesn't seem to know that they are doing ask for a referral to someone who does because withdrawal is NOT easy even when doing a proper doctor overseen weaning method. Best of luck everyone!