Effexor and Pristiq are 99% the same drug in terms of active chemical. Pristiq being Desvenlafaxine and Effexor being Venlafaxine. In fact if you look at the molecular chart for the two drugs they even bind the same.
Funny thing is you know why Weith pharm released Pristiq? (a drug much like Effexor) Because the 7 year patent on Effexor was close to an end and Weith didn't want to lose market share. In comes Pristiq (Name brand only for another 7 years)
It's all about the money.
I just recently got on Pristiq 50mg and have had a migraine everyday since. (10days). I initially started with 25mg and did not get any migraines. For about 10 years, I was on Zoloft and had about 8-12 migraine days a month. I got off it last year and my migraines went down to 1-3 a month. I had no idea the Zoloft was the cause until I discontinued it. Unfortunately my panic started coming back and I really need the antidepressant.
Equivalencies are generalizations, and you are an individual. Besides, Pristiq is a different class of drug than Lexapro. Lexapro is an ssri while Pristiq is an snri. And if it were me, which it isn't, I'd start at a low dosage and work my way up on any medication so I could see how bad the side effects were and the lowest dosage at which it works is.
I really dont feel depressed at all,I feel ok when i had my clonazepan dosage,but what if I become an addict, how can I start taking pristiq and not being scared? Like I said above , i feel more anxious and panic than depressed. So Pristiq will work with my anxiety? What about Clonazepan withdrawals?
I think that the doctors often don't consider the time needed to taper off a medication and rush it too fast. I wouldn't go so fast that you are very sick.
Yes, Effexor can help as a pain killer, but I was under the impression that all anti-depressants were pain relievers. I could be wrong on that, but hate to have you change your anti-depressant if one has helped you so well.
So do daily preventative migraine medications help as pain relievers for migraines, e.g. Topamax.
I'm a 15 year old girl and I've had a migraine for close to six months now. It's a constant pain from my temples to over my eyes. I've tried countless medicines and none are helping. When I was in 4th grade(5 years ago) I had a migraine for a month. Eventually it went away, but we had extensive tests, and everything came back clear. My neck hurts, moving hurts, I'm sensitive to light and sound, I'm nauseous, my migraine is very optical.
So I cold turkey stopped taking it again and I am now on my 3rd day of no Pristiq. This is the WORST feeling I have ever experienced in my life!!! I am having headaches that are continuous all day long, dizziness so bad that it keeps me from getting out of my bed, everytime I turn my head left or right it feels like I am hitting my head against the wall. I can even hear myself "blinking my eyes". Nausea is starting to set in now making me afraid to eat anything.
Some people report gaining 30 pounds in less than 6 months with Efexxor and Pristiq. Others say these medications stopped working after a few weeks and now they have to go through the worst withdrawal effects without any real benefit from the drug. Others say it is great and they have not gained or lost weight.
I know there is no drug out there that won´t cause side effects, but how to know which will at least help and not add more problems to your health without the benefits?
t feel it is working for me, I have gained so much weight since I started taking Pristiq and have carb cravings when I did not before. I will be laid off at the end of next month and will no longer be able to afford the doctor visits or medication. I have been waiting for my Dr to get back with me and am looking for alternatives.
I was taking Savella 50mgs twice daily and blood pressure went to 180/100.Stopped it and went on Pristiq 50mgs once daily.Went to Dr. and blood pressure was 179/93.Are these meds casuing this?I have always had normal blood pressure.I am obese and have family history of high blood pressure.I have taken cymbalta and quite a few years ago took effexor xr and didn't have any probelms with blood pressure.
I called the pdoc back and he's having me take a 75 effexor xr and my pristiq 50---I guess a ween off of it, no more brain zaps for now, I dont know what will happen after I stop taking effexor all together, we shall see in a few weeks.
As for the comment above, I too have seen people have to pay out of pocket for perscriptions and its usually elderly and people like me, who had been laid off and take medications and are put into a situation of having to pay out of pocket, what to do?
The advantages are that one of those medications would probably help with your anxiety much sooner than the Pristiq, and as the Pristiq started to work you could taper off those medicines. In general, studies that look at the use of a benzodiazepine as a short term adjunct to an antidepressant find that the results are good. However I can't answer the specific question about the benefits and risks of such an approach for you particularly.
A Potential for Adverse Events
Many patients may take their medications with a glass of juice. However, since the accidental discovery of an interaction between the calcium channel blocker, felodipine, with grapefruit juice,1 it has now become evident that grapefruit juice has the potential to alter the plasma concentrations of many medications when they are taken by mouth. In some cases, this may result in undesirable clinical effects of medications.
this could be a symptom of Graves' disease or the combination of the medication and the Graves' disease.
hell hell and more hell come off valium 15mg and pristiq 100mg. I have entered into an episode. mum and sister have bipolar...why was i put on this drug. i told dr i didnt want to after my research. After 1 week on 5omg felt great twoo weeks mania began dr said to increase to 100mg that is when it started to completely fall apart. Have been off both meds cold turkey on drs orders Have had to have 24hr supervision to get through it with two expert natural therapists. driving my hubby insane .
Besides this they are also elevated in conditions like muscle injury and sometimes due to medications. GTT (gamma glutamyl transpeptidase) is often elevated in those who use alcohol. But it is also elevated due to liver-toxic substances like paracetamol. It's likely that the medications you are using could have caused this elevation. Please re check these values to study their progression.
Hope this helped and do keep us posted.
Grapefruit can decrease the amount of food or medication absorbed by the body. I believe that is why you are not meant to have grapefruit with a heap of different medications including most anti-depressants, though i am not a doctor but that is what i was told, so correct me if i am wrong. It depends on how the medication is digested and how it works within the body, i think that's why some medications and not others. If you want more information ask your doctor next time you see them.
One problem is you will be taking meds that affect the same neurotransmitters, and that can cause an overload. both Pristiq and Elavil affect serotonin, and while Pristiq does so more profoundly than Elavil you could still theoretically run into the problem of serotonin syndrome. You don't say how much you're taking, it could be tiny doses of each, but the risk exists though it's probably not common.
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