Hi Anon54, NT poses a good question - it's not very clear what you are asking from your post! I'll give you a bit of info, and hope it's what you are after..
Pristiq is desvenlafaxine, which is the main active metabolite of venlafaxine (Effexor). Usually patients are started on venlafaxine, then if it agrees with them but they need something more potent they are moved to Pristiq. It's a newer drug and I imagine it is more expensive than venlafaxine - I am not sure about it's effectiveness or side effect profile I'm afraid. I can't see the logic in trying Effexor if Pristiq isn't working for you, unless it works but you get too many side effects from Pristiq - it's a step in the wrong direction..
Venlafaxine has similar properties to tramadol in that they are both SNRIs (serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors - increase levels of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain) but tramadol is also an opioid and various other things as well - it's a complicated drug!
When you say you "liked" tramadol, it sounds like you are talking about using it recreationally. This is far more likely to be due to it's opioid activity, rather than it being a SNRI. Effexor and Pristiq are not recreational at all - they are antidepressants..
If you were talking about tramadol as an antidepressant, then it isn't a good choice due to it's opioid activity and therefore potential for dependence, and it also carries a risk of causing seizures (so you should not take more than 400mg/day and be careful what other drugs you combine it with..)
I would speak to your doctor about what antidepressant is best for you - we can't give you an answer on here I'm afraid, everyone is different and it needs to be a joint decision between you and your doctor.
We've had a few threads on antidepressants here lately, but it isn't really the right place - we focus on harm reduction related to recreational drug taking, sorry. I'm going to close this, but if you have any queries or anything to add, feel free to shoot me a pm
