It is, of course a good point (on both sides).

It does seem that merely adding the stereoismer (es or des) to a compound is drug companes' latest tactic for extending patents, and we've seen this in a few different medications now.

I do hope that you are getting qualified therapy with the new antidepressants. They work so much better along with professional help.

Changing title per Admin's post. Now we know the name, let the title reflect that.

LOL Indeed--thx Pillar. I am wondering how per freaking tablet Wyeth NOW charge Effex- ahem, I Pristiq.

So I just started taking Effexor XR, I really like it! I've had no side effects from it. In fact, I have ONE MORE PAXIL to take and then I'M DONE!! yay for me

Now my question is: What happens for me next? Is the doctor going to want to switch me to this Pristiq?

If venlafaxine works for you then you have absolutely no reason to switch to desvenlafaxine, or anything else for that matter. If venlafaxine does work for a while but then stops working, then you may need to change, but what you change to will depend on what you've had in the past.

Oh and Stits, read the 1st sentence of the 6th post on page 1 of this thread. Then you'll see why I was annoyed:

http://www.epharmacywatch.com/freeboard/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/721553/#Post721553

stits - 30 pristiq pills cost $168 here, in Delaware (Rite Aid). Since it's not a preferred medication on my insurance (because it is so new), I had to pay $50 for it, as opposed to the $10 price I pay for preferred scripts. I have nothing good to say about Pristiq, so I'll just say this: didn't work for me at all -same side effects and withdrawal as Effexor.

I'm liking the Pristiq, but side-effects from EffexorXR and Pristiq ARE virtually identical. Luckily, in my case, they are mostly just feeling tired.

I was taking cymbalta. I had the worst reaction from it.
I had serious muscle spasms;
My jaw locked and I almost bit off my tongue. I couldn't open my jaw and I had to push my tongue through my teeth to prevent it from being bitten off. I stopped this drug immediately and still had side effects for days after. My right foot locked up and curled up so much that I had to hop around, and my left arm and hand, the same. I couldn't hold a bag, newspaper, anything. 20 mg of val kind of helped. The doctor said it might be a lack of potassium, but I am not too sure.
It is a very rare side effect of this drug. I was just unfortunate to have experienced it

Well, I just got home with 3 weeks of samples of Pristiq (desvenlafaxine). I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck.

Goodluck. I'm switching back to Effexor XR 75mg/daily. The 50mg Pristiq just isn't as effective, for me. I heard, recently, that 1 in 2 people will experience a worsening of symptoms, when switching from Venlafaxine to Desvenlafaxine and the other person will notice no difference.

Without ins though, I may have to bounce between whatever I have. Right now I have 11 weeks of Desvenlafaxine and 14 weeks of Venlafaxine. So I guess I'll do 1 happy month followed by 1 "blah" month and so forth?

Well, I never have taken Effexor before. I sure hope it helps. I was taking Prozac before.

I just started Pristiq 50mg from Lexapro 20mg. I didn't get much relief from the Lexapro, so hopefully this switch will help.

What are some side effects people have noticed from taking Pristiq?

It's been about a month now, and I must say I'm getting much more relief from Pristiq than Lexapro. I haven't noticed any side effects either, which is certainly a plus.

My psychiatrist said he won't prescribe it because no one has come to his office to talk to him about it! Which really means that a persuasive drug rep hasn't sold it to him. Sigh.

That's weird, my psych had a whole bunch of Pristiq samples. Like boxes of it.

Has anyone found a med that works better than Prozac? If so, how long were you taking the prozac before changing it to another med? I think it's losing its efficacy for me.

I have 12 unopened Pristiq sample packs. I get them from my PCP. He gets the psych meds but goes through fewer, and always has plenty of samples. Try your regular doc stratlan.

BTW I've been off Pristiq for over 1 month, switched to Symbyax and am still really depressed or lazy. All these meds make me emotionless. Now my doc is talking Refractory Depression? Is it treatment resistant or am I?

When you are taken off a mood stabilizing drug to start another regimen you're going to feel very crappy. I believe in the last few months you may have been through three changes that I can recall, if I'm being accurate.

You know I'm not an M.D., and I also remember you work with a psychiatrist. But it seems that he's changing things around too much. It can take as long as two, three months to actually pick up steam from a med that turns out to be very effective. I just agreed to let the doc raise my prozac dose, which I resisted for probably a year. Guess what? I'm not as depressed!

Symbyax sounds like Lilly's attempt and getting more money out of the two drugs it contains. The problem with these combination products is that titration of the individual components is difficult.

If it works then great, but it may work due to one of the ingredients, and one may not know which one. Again, not necessarily a bad thing in severe depression, but I wouldn't want to be taking either of those two drugs unnecessarily.

I suspect you've been tried on fluoxetine before Pillar. Was it any good?

Despite it not helping me (then again, almost nothing helped me), I still agree that receiving proper cognitive behavioral therapy is important.

I think the original poster has already seen the doctor about it. The doctor recommended the new drug. I'm sure the OP was just trying to do his/her own research on the new drug. The doctor can't tell you everything and this is a good place to start researching.

Never took Prozac, straight up before Nephro. So both drugs were new to me. Right now I'm off all A/D. I feel like [censored] on and off them. What's the point in adding a drug if it's doing nothing?

You are correct SoHo, many meds take months to get the full effect. EffexorXR is what I took for over a year and it worked fine, but my shrink kept upping the dose until I started getting aggression. After that I left her practice and have been just seeing my PCP for meds, no therapy. I have a lot of stuff going on that's dragging me down and it's unrealistic, for me, to expect any drug to drag me up by my bootstraps. I'll be moving into a healthier environment soon and that, more then any med, should help me out.

It is nice to be free of A/D. One less drug floating through my system. Now if I could only get off these darn benzo's!?

I have months worth of EffexorXR sitting around that I could give you without the 10,000% markup. Without insurance it was nearly $1000 for 3 months worth.

I am interested in trying this new prestigous sounding anti depressant... Prestiq?
I asked my psych last month when I was in if there were any new anti depressents out since I vaguely recall seeing an ad somewhere for a brand spankin new one thats different from all the rest! He kinda mutered something like "yeah there is one new one, nothing special." I was pretty disappointed since I have been on prozac since age 13 (10.5 years now and counting) I have briefly stopped the prozac here and there and have gotten a taste for basically every other ssri, snri, even the old tricyclics I believe they are called and MAOI... Anyway been thru the mill with trial and error but Prozac has stuck by my side thru thick and thin. It was the first thing ever prescribed for me and its what I take now! Along with a laundry list of other psych meds...but thats another post. I am sooooo anxious for a NEW NEW anti depressant to hit the shelves, one without the, ahem, sexual side effects so many of us deal with that are on ssri meds. Maybe Prestiq is the answer, I see my psych tomorrow and I will ask him about it again. Fingers Crossed.

Your doctor is right; there's nothing revolutionary about Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) at all. It's simply a metabolite of venlafaxine.

For something genuinely new, you'll have to wait for tianeptine to make it to your country.

Seems to be fashionable these days to keep bringing out re-hashed meds from the past and trying to say they are the best things since sliced bread. Its like putting glitter on a turd.

even my new psyc took me off paxil , i was taking paxil and buspar for 4 years and had a change in my insurance so had to find a new doctor , he told me he wanted to ween me off both , and startes me on effexor and .05 xanax ,really feel much better . mike

glad to hear that, mike. That sounds like a much better combo.