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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Just started Pristiq

Babeston

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
17
I am new to SNRI's. I usually take SSRI's. But the antidepressant I was on stopped working, and the one we tried after that made me worse. So what I am wondering is, will this be helpful to my depression and anxiety? I dont get anxiety a lot, mind you.
 
SNRIs: Basically, worse withdrawals, worse sexual side effects, but more effective for depression.
 
thank you! Well if it works I wont be off of it, I doubt Ill ever be anti depressant free. As far as sexual side effects, its been all over the place for years now. But, I am a female so its not as big of a deal as it is for a guy
 
I have heard Pristiq (o-desmethylvenlafaxine) is not a very good antidepressant. As far as i remember some studies suggested it was not effective at all or much less than other antidepressants - like venlafaxine for example.
 
Pristiq is "supposed" to work like venlafaxine without having the troublesome withdrawals. As far as how effective it is, hard to say. As with every antidepressant its very subjective.

SNRI's are typically used when ssri's fail to work or stopped working after being effective for some time.
For some SNRI's work very well, for others not so much. I wish you the best of luck :)
 
Antidepressants are very subjective. They all have roughly the same efficacy in clinical trials, but individual response varies a lot.

Have you tried venlafaxine, OP? How did you get on? If it helped a bit but not a lot, or if it helped but the side effects were too much then Pristiq might be a good option for you. Otherwise I do worry that it is being pushed because it is new and the pharmaceutical company want to make lots of money from it :\

Some antidepressants are better for anxiety than others; SNRIs tend to be a bit too stimulating in my eyes, so I'd go for one of the less "activating" SSRIs (paroxetine is the one most commonly used for anxiety in the UK; citalopram and sertraline are pretty good too) or even something like mirtazepine or bupropion; however, we're not a medical forum and there is no substitute for discussing it with your doctor. Not only are they the experts, but will know your full medical/psychiatric history too.

How many different antidepressants have you tried now? Have you thought about non-pharmacological treatments, such as CBT or other forms of therapy? Most studies show that an antidepressant plus a talking therapy is more effective at treating depression than either one on it's own, and often therapy is the best treatment for anxiety too as it gets to the root of the problem rather than masking the symptoms. There are many useful threads in The Dark Side forum covering depression and anxiety, and it's a very supportive place - I recommend checking it out. Good luck! :) <3
 
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