I've been taking Pristiq for a few days and I'm getting very anxious, socially, panicky a bit. It's like being in a cage, I can't go out of my room because my brothers friends are here.
I mean it's a decent antidepressant, but my anxiety is up. It reminds me of Prozac.
Do you think this could fade? Something tells me it will or might..

I have been on Pristiq for several weeks. I also take Klonopin for anxiety. The other day my anxiety was out of control and I took a huge (for me) dose of Klonopin...like maybe 5 mg. It really helped and I wasn't a zombie surprisingly. 4 mg is the max my pdoc really allows on a daily basis...but I had a really bad day. Pristiq may increase my anxiety...right now I can't really tell due to PMS. Once that is over I will try taking 1 mg a day (usual dose is .5) and see if there is a difference.

Your increased anxiety could be a temporary side effect while your body is adjusting to it.

It seems so weird to me that these meds that are indicated to treat GAD can actually increase anxiety. I was on Effexor before and that's when Klonopin had to be added to address increased anxiety.

Why don't you get off it? Be very careful. This seems like a powerful drug to me. See my other post. (O_o)

I'm confused. I have severe anxiety mixed with my depression, and three weeks on Prozac was not helping (although it did in the past). I had an emergency visit with my Pdoc today because of my escalating anxiety, and she upped my klonopin doseage and decided to switch me to Pristiq, which she said would address the both the depression and the anxiety. Now, I'm really nervous to start taking this stuff, seeing as how it may exacerbate my anxiety. Has anyone here taking Pristiq eventually experienced success with it helping diminish their anxiety (after start-up)?

Can anyone follow up if whether the Pristiq gets more calming the longer you take it? It seemed to aggravate my anxiety more than the Effexor XR did.

I have been on Pristiq for 8 days and no side effects so far but I do feel a lot calmer, my Doctor told me that it is slow to get into the system and peaks at 3 weeks of usage.