After three weeks back on Prozac, my mood is still pretty low and worse yet, my anxiety has been escalating. Yesterday my pdoc suggested that I switch to Pristiq, and gave me a month's worth of samples. She feels that we need to take a more aggressive appoach to my symptoms, and said that the dual action of Pristiq should help with both my depression and anxiety/panic. She said that she has several patients that have been enjyoing success on this med. But I've been reading a lot of negative things about Pristiq, both in DF and elsewhere online, and am afraid that if I take this stuff, I may be getting myself into even worse shape re: the anxiety and panic. Before these three weeks on Prozac (which has worked in the past, but never this bumpy at the start) she had me on Wellbutrin for five weeks, and that made me worse than before I went on it. I reminded her yesterday about that and asked if maybe it was because of the norepinephrine, and she said she thought that the problem with the Wellbutrin for me was that it did not work on serotonin.

Anyway, I'm torn. Like all of us, I want to get better..soon!...but I'm afraid to take that first Pristiq tablet. Is anyone here taking it for anxiety or anxious depression, and having success with it? I'm desperate for answers, because if I start it, it's going to be this weekend (I was thinking of starting tonight). Any and all feedback is appreciated - thank you!

I started on pristiq 1 month ago and find it effective with no visible side effects. Amazed! I am very sensitive to AD's. My last med was cymbalta which I was on 7 months of 120mg. It was not that effective, difficulty sleeping and poor motivation. Plus constipation. I tapered off the cymbalta for 9 days while also taking pristiq. I find myself with a brighter outlook. I guess i should say more positive which in turn helps with the energy level. I hope you can tolerate it. I have taken so many with paxil cr absolutely the worst drug to get off of. I had 5wks of the worst side effects. Wellbutrin makes me depressed. Go figure. We can feel like lab rats I know . have found that therapy is a must in conjunction with the med management. Sometimes I have to remind myself being a woman postmenopausal with anxiety and depression a pill can't fix it all. It's perserverance, pray and the right people to talk with.Good Luck to you my friend.

Thank you, Blessed1! I'm happy to hear you've had such positive results so far with the Pristiq. I took the plunge last nigh and took one before bed, and feel pretty good this a.m. Just very slight nausea (and I was feeling that from the anxiety lately, anyway) and some insomnia, so I may switch to a.m. dosing. Yes, Wellbutrin made me depressed, too...when I originally went to the Pdoc, I was just feeling irritable, anxious, and slightly depressed - Wellbutrin pushed me in to major depression. I realize that I absolutely need something that works on serotonin - it's a family tendency (have two relatives on SSRIs, and others that should have been).

I, too, am a postmenopausal woman and maybe that's exacerbated my lifelong depression/anxiety issues. I would love to go back into therapy, but life circumstances won't permit it at this time. I'm thinking of getting some self-help books and workbooks, I've heard there are some good ones out there. Prayer has been helping quiet my mind too. Thank you again, and good luck to you to, my friend.

Has Pristiq worked for you? It just seemed to add to my anxiety and panic

The Pristiq is helping with my depression, although the pdoc bumped me up to 100 mg from 50 almost two weeks ago when I wasn't feeling any better after 3 weeks on 50 mg. My anxiety is better, although she also increased my Klonopin. I'm only taking 0.5 of that three times a day though (vs. twice a day) so the Pristiq may be helping with the anxiety as well. Unforunately, since I've gone up to the 100 mg/day of Pristiq, my insomnia is back - early morning awakening around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., and then tossing and turning until the alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. I'm also waking up with a headache many mornings...whether it's from the lack of sleep, or another side effect, I don't know.

Because of the improvement of my depression (which I hope continues), I want to stick it out with this med at least another month or two. If the insomnia and headaches continue, I may have to wean off of it and try something else. Insomnia doesn't exactly help one recover from anxiety and depression. I hope I don't have to discontinue the Pristiq, though...since it is related to Effexor, I image that the weaning process would be pretty grim. Honestly, I miss my Prozac and wish that I had given that more time to work, since it always had helped before. And I didn't have the side effects that I am currently experiencing with the Pristiq.

Scottybear, it sounds like you are no longer taking Pristiq. How long were you on it? Are you taking any meds now...if so, what? Do you feel it's helping you with your anxiety and panic?

I tried it for a few weeks and I am not so sure about this one. It seemed to aggravate my anxiety, and not quite help with depression as much as some of the SSRIs did. I felt much less calm compared to regular Effexor XR