sandbourne: Pristiq - switching to Venlafaxine XR

[sandbourne]

Hello, 

 

I moved to the US from the UK in June 2022. 

 

My US psychiatrist proposed that as the sertraline (150mg) and mirtazapine (30mg) I was taking was not working for my anxiety symptoms (which manifest very physically - with chest pains, shooting pains in my feet, burning sensations in my lower back etc), I move onto Pristiq (50mg) - i tapered off sertraline and remained on 30mg of Mirtazapine. 

 

I have since returned to the UK as I wasn't coping in the US and wanted to be closer to home. 

 

My UK psychiatrist has said that he believes Pristiq is the wrong drug for me to be on, that I should never have been prescribed it and that I need to come off it.

 

As Pristiq is not prescribed in the UK, he has moved me onto 75 mg of Effexor XR with the aim of then tapering me off Effexor completely.

 

It's now day 2 and I feel DREADFUL - dizziness like I've never felt plus some feelings of dissociation and panic like I've never experienced. 

 

I understand why my UK psych needs to move me onto Effexor XR given last of availability of Pristiq in the UK but any advice on how to handle this effectively, I'd be grateful for - not least because Pristiq is a drug that my UK psych is unfamiliar with.

 

Thanks

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @sandbourne

 

How are you feeling now? Have you spoken to your psychiatrist about your symptoms?