concerta + pristiq

[hollywood]

I have generalized anxiety , my anxiety symptoms were not all that bad when I do stuff I like but since working in my current job since college graduation back in 04 my mind has been overfocused on all the wrong things. Basically worry thoughts. My question is does pristiq work for a long time? I started the med today and can tell it is working against my worry thoughts which usually manifest out of boredom so my symtoms are not truly depressive in nature and pretty easily treated with the right medication. Pristiq makes me a bit well not sleepy but mentally different, it's like the worry channel in my brain is slowing down. I want to know from others if I stick it out will my body adjust and will my adhd meds still work effectively? I think that sounds like this would be the case but I googled some stuff on pristiq and found some good reviews and then some bad stuff with people saying it caused them tiredness, but I'm pretty sure worrying all the time can make you feel tired. I feel as though pristiq works a bit differently than cymbalta and still allows me to not feel so mentally tired while curbing anxiety or worry thoughts-

[hollywood]

give me some feedback

[hollywood]

nothing?

[hollywood]

anything

[tony2009]

Well from what I read Pristiq is the same thing as Effexor XR just a few small changes to keep there patent going since effexors is about to expire in 2011.

I was taking effexor xr for depression and anxiety with concerta. I felt its effects on the first couple days then I didn't feel anything from it for about a month.

I found it best to take it in the late afternoon to keep it from keeping me up at night. When I took it at the same time as Concerta it was like they intensified certain effects of each other. But I did seem to need more Concerta for my ADHD while I was taking effexor. It also did make me sleepy during the afternoonn.

Another problem I found while on Effexor XR is apathy, I just didn't care about anything which was nice when you're depressed and anxious all the time but when you do need to care to keep your job or get a promotion it's bad.

So I'm not taking it anymore and my concerta dose is lower now, my drive is back, and I've just tried to learn other ways to deal with my anxiety.

Of course everyone is different and even though Wyeth just changed a molecule it would probably affect me differently too.

My advice is to keep trying it for at least a month, providing there are no intolerable side effects, if it is not working and if it has withdrawal effects like effexor get off it as soon as you can after that month.

SSRIs seem like decent choice for anxiety, don't know why your doctor or my doctor would have prescribed an SNRI for anxiety. I have taken Clonazepam and it works however it's not safe to take it for a long time so stay away from benzodiazepines unless you're having panic attacks.

[hollywood]

I'm very uncertain about it , I took it for a few days and although that is not enough time to do anything my drive was down, and I didn't give a crap about anything literally. Not so good when your inattentive plus hyperactive.

[JR1973]

F* pristiq (and Effexor XR). I was on Effexor years ago and had bad results. My shrink recently tried me on Pristiq for a couple months. Gave me bad anxiety in the evenings. Nasty crap.

Switched back to Lexapro and all is good in the world.

[hollywood]

jr-

your thoughts on cymbalta ?

[tony2009]

JR funny to see you mention lexapro as I know a couple people who take celexa the drug lexapro is derived from and they've had success with it for there anxiety/depression.

I had taken celexa before but it was before I was diagnosed adhd and it didn't help me with my problems so I didn't think it worked, so if my anxiety or depression come back I might consider lexapro.

However right now I'd prefer to take the least amount of meds possible as I seem always get the side effects of the meds I take, sometimes envious of people who claim to not notice any.

[hollywood]

I am trying lexapro now for this anxiety issue.

[JR1973]

Pristiq is somewhat of a scam-drug because everyone that takes Effexor is getting pristiq by default. Pristiq is the metabolized by-product of Effexor.

Cymbalta....haven't tried it. Don't want to either. My wife tried it for a few months and it made her too jumpy and nervous. It works fine for some people though.

Yep on the Lexapro/Celexa relation. Celexa has to be dosed much higher to equal the same effect as Lexapro. I believe you need 40mg of Celexa to equal 10mg of Lexapro. This is because the active isomer of Celexa (which is what Lexapro is) is far more active in the abscense of the inactive form (the other part of Celexa).

I think with my Adderall XR and Provigil I get plenty of dopamine/Norephinephrine activity which is probably why Pristiq put me in overdrive. Lexapro is good and clean. Love it.

[hollywood]

JR-

Holy crap , first day on 2.5mg lexapro and I'm pretty sedated. I can think but it's pronounced. Does this go away? I felt way better on cymbalta, maybe I should have stuck with cymbalta for more than 3 weeks. Testing these antid's can be rough.

[JR1973]

2.5mg of Lexapro? I think Lexapro only comes in 10mg and 20mg doses. You're not taking 25mg are you (20mg + half of a 10mg)?

[hollywood]

no, I think they have a 5mg and I halfed that, I will have to double check on that jr, I honestly have been sick . It turns out that I had major sinus allergy and had to get on an antibiotic and I've been home all day so that may shed some light into it. Now, it's hard to acess just how tired lex made me but I can tell you that I felt pretty bad on it or that could be prior to the antibiotic. I don't know , I'd like to clear this rumination and circular thought pattern, it's due to environment and job but it's also a post tramautic stress symtpom due to my mothers passing just a few years back. I feel better now, but I need to totally step up in life. I am well just trying to eliminate some problem worry areas. Is pristiq that bad? It made me a bit tired the first day but not too , too bad? Cymbalta wasnt that bad either , I think I got to three weeks on cymbalta. Its just been so hard to get past the month or two month marker on these antidepressants as my adhd gets worse while adjusting. Jr, you seem pretty knowledgable. Which one of these meds are the least sedating and have the least interference on cognition?