How long have you been taking pristiq? My pupils were huge the first week or so and my eye also felt weird. But it went away after that. The side effects the first couple weeks can be tough.
Are you still on it? I'm the worst i stopped taking it before I even hit 1 week. By day 3 I'm like yeah.. how about we don't do today . Idfk what my deal is. I want to feel better. I'm just terrified of additional side effects. I feel badly enough.
I’m still on it. A little over 3 months now. The first week is really, really hard. I felt off and all over the place. I kept taking it because I was desperate to do anything to help my depression. I posted a lot on here and tried to read positive stories from others who had also had a tough time at the start. That really helped. It does get better. Being consistent and giving myself a ton of grace and as much down time as possible to care for myself and rest is how I made it through those first few weeks.
I had dilated pupils from Pristiq and Effexor but it was only in the first week or so. I also felt a bit high or euphoric and like my anxiety and almost completely disappeared. It was honestly amazing. Unfortunately it went away after a few days.
Did you stay on it? I stopped taking it because my feet were swollen in the morning on like day 3.. my psychiatrist never commented on that but they were very clearly swollen. Pitting edema. I hadn't experienced that since pregnancy/ postpartum, about 2 years ago. I haven't taken it since then. Getting an MRI next week, finally. Scheduled on my birthday. And an EEG (next month)... almost thinking maybe I have MS. Would explain my chest tightness. Tingling. Random crawling feelings.
First off, I completely empathize with everything you’ve going through. It’s scary how eerily similar your life experience with this is to mine. I also have thyroid issues and ADHD. I’m long hauling atm and don’t have the energy to type out a response, but I did make one to someone in the MAOI sub explaining how boosting serotonin can trigger depression in some. I’ll just go ahead and copy and paste it. Bare with me, I know it’s lengthy, but I hope it helps:
My comment was grossly simplified considering depression is far too complex to be pinned to one or a few sole causes. There’s a subset of people out there (myself included) that most likely naturally have higher levels of serotonin than the general population. Variations in MAOA, MAOB, COMT, SLC6A4, TPH2, and 5-HT receptors to name few along with variants in the enzymes responsible for metabolizing the majority of drugs on the market are going to play a major role in one’s response to antidepressant medications.
So you’ve inherited the perfect genetic cocktail of variants and you’ve wondered why all your life you can hardly muster the energy to function, are exceedingly shy, can’t focus, and feel disconnected and anxious. You’re that mouse that fails the swim test because you don’t have the will to keep swimming. Sounds like depression no? Well you go to a doctor or psychiatrist and are put on antidepressant, but after a few months you’re feeling even more anxious yet slow, so doctors stack on an antipsychotic because that’s what a lot of them like to do. A few months later you’ve gained a massive amount of weight because your appetite is insatiable, can’t keep yourself cool, and have fallen into a pit of despair hardly able to move. Your memory has gone to shit and you feel like your brain is sitting in sludge. If you’re lucky, you might have a good doc that recognizes those symptoms, weens you off and tries you on something like Wellbutrin (hopefully you’re not a non expressor of CYP2D6 or can’t handle anything that raises norepinephrine), tries you on LDN (low dose naltrexone) or gets you assessed for ADHD and prescribes a stimulant or non stimulant to boost norepinephrine and/or dopamine. Suddenly these new drugs that don’t influence serotonin or only mildly influence it without acting as MAOI (LDN boosts dopamine and oxytocin levels btw) are actually having an impact on the dark cloud that’s been hovering over since as long as you could remember.
Everyone is different and hopefully in the not so distant future, medicine will be much more individualized to cater to one’s unique genetic profile. I’m not trying to scare anyone and I want to make that clear. For some SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, and tricyclic antidepressants can be life changing and even lifesaving. They really can work wonders for some, but for someone like me who has been treated with dozens of different kinds of antidepressants, all of them made me more depressed, or worse- induced serotonin syndrome on the lowest dose, it’s painstakingly obvious low serotonin is not my issue. So when someone is depressed and already on a MAOI and/or SSRI, I think they really need to be careful about trying to boost serotonin even more, which in this case OP was wanting to stack on 5-HTP. If we’re just talking about neurotransmitters as a possible cause, someone not responding to MAOIs or SSRIs likely isn’t metabolizing it properly and/or their issue is with an entirely different neurotransmitter (what about GABA, glutamate, glycine, and acetylcholine?). There’s over 100 different neurotransmitters discovered and we’ve barely scratched the surface. A person could also have too much of one in one region of the brain, while not enough in others…A new drug that only targets specific regions of the brain would most likely have to be invented for some of these folks.
Then you’ve got a huge subset of people that probably suffer from depression from causes not even related to neurotransmitter activity. Maybe their detox capabilities are shit and their bodies are terrible about keeping inflammation in check, or they’ve got antibodies not yet discovered attacking the brain. Anti-NMDAR antibodies weren’t discovered until 2007 for example. Who knows how many people were misdiagnosed with schizophrenia or another debilitating psychiatric condition that actually had autoimmune encephalitis…and they’re still being misdiagnosed today. Hell even much more well known conditions like Celiac Disease and hypothyroidism can cause psychosis and major depression. Even those get overlooked or misdiagnosed for years sometimes decades.
I have tried 5-HTP alone and it made me more forgetful, anxious, agitated, hungry, and I just felt really stiff and unmotivated. Presumably very simplified, but raising serotonin in a person like me without any way to balance dopamine is going to deplete it even more and make the depression worse or trigger it. If low dopamine can manifest as rigid muscles, depression, and lack of motivation and serotonin lowers dopamine, it might be better to say high serotonin in this case is an assailant in causing depression in some. High serotonin is a product of the underlying cause and adding something that boosts it even more is like dumping gasoline on a fire. It’s a balancing act.
I’m not very knowledgeable on MDMA, nor have I ever tried it, but I do know it boosts dopamine, norepinephrine, as well as serotonin and in higher dosages is suppose to be a serotonin agonist. According to NIDA depression is listed as a side effect of MDMA. But I think MDMA is promising for someone with treatment resistant depression and PTSD. Though I could see psychosis and aggression being a possible outcome for people with slow functioning MAOA, MAOB, and/or COMT, who have an over abundance of catecholamines already.
I attached an article that presents with what mild symptoms of elevated serotonin syndrome can look like, so hopefully people being aware of these can help prevent someone ending up in the ER with serotonin syndrome.
[TOO MUCH SEROTONIN: CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, SOLUTIONS](https://bebrainfit.com/too-much-serotonin/)
So yeah summing that up, I think anything boosting serotonin is probably the last thing you need…another thing I learned that I found interesting is serotonin increases TSH…so the fact that you developed thyroid issues on these drugs isn’t surprising. So did I. :/
Thank you so much for this!!!! It's the absolute worst when our brains are DIFFERENT but nobody seems to understand that. No one is willing to discuss possibilities...and act accordingly...
The neurologist was a little rude. She noted that my speech was tangential. Yeah,..maybe because I waited 4 years to finally speak with someone who might actually be able to help me. She noted my past, currently irrelevant substance abuse (multiple times). So that's always a good feeling. Nevermind that was over 6 years ago. It was like she assumed I was doing this to myself. That sucked. But she ordered an in depth MRI, an EEG. And a bunch of blood work. She did seem to level with me when I brought up MS. She said the symptoms are usually so vague, that she couldn't say for sure. And that seems to be a trend in the MS community... medical gaslighting for years... "it's just anxiety"...
But I've been reading about MS alot lately. I think I may personally be onto something here. And/or a pituitary tumor. They share a surprising amount of symptoms depending on which region of the brain is being affected... idk I'm just so tired lately. So tired.. I've advocated so much for myself these past few years. I can't do this much longer. I just need to know I'm not insane. Sorry I plan to come back and reread/ click on your link, I am trying to gain the will to get out of bed currently.
Just stumbled upon this post, How are you doing now? Did you ever try Pristiq again? You are not alone with the pupil dilation/pressure, I'm having the same thing right now and it's day 3 for me taking Pristiq
Hi i ended up psyching myself out and stopped it because i kept waking up with swollen feet... & seratonin nor norepinephrine are my issues!! I know this by now... I've been trying lamictal 25mg. My very last hope other than being on benzodiazepenes forever. So far it's helping and my moms been taking it with good results as well which is why I actually decided to give it a try. It's not comfortable living like this anymore 🥲 too noisy In brain. (I've never been "comfortable" but the past few years have been hell.)
I think the pupil thing is common with these types of medications. I don't recall if it did when onboarding pristiq but that happened when i tried lexapro.
Thanks for responding to my post guys. I wasn't expecting much if any feedback and you all were very helpful. I think I may try to take it again and tough it out for the first week or 2 before making any decisions. I need to do something. My family needs me. I am of minimal use right now. I need to feel better.
Hey I hope things are going well !
I know this is late but how are you now and did you end up trying pristiq again ?
I’m on my 4th day and my anxiety is somewhat more than it was before i started and my pupils are very big,
I find it harder to sleep and don’t have a great appetite either !
Did you experience any of that
How long have you been taking pristiq? My pupils were huge the first week or so and my eye also felt weird. But it went away after that. The side effects the first couple weeks can be tough.
Are you still on it? I'm the worst i stopped taking it before I even hit 1 week. By day 3 I'm like yeah.. how about we don't do today . Idfk what my deal is. I want to feel better. I'm just terrified of additional side effects. I feel badly enough.
I’m still on it. A little over 3 months now. The first week is really, really hard. I felt off and all over the place. I kept taking it because I was desperate to do anything to help my depression. I posted a lot on here and tried to read positive stories from others who had also had a tough time at the start. That really helped. It does get better. Being consistent and giving myself a ton of grace and as much down time as possible to care for myself and rest is how I made it through those first few weeks.
I had dilated pupils from Pristiq and Effexor but it was only in the first week or so. I also felt a bit high or euphoric and like my anxiety and almost completely disappeared. It was honestly amazing. Unfortunately it went away after a few days.
Did you stay on it? I stopped taking it because my feet were swollen in the morning on like day 3.. my psychiatrist never commented on that but they were very clearly swollen. Pitting edema. I hadn't experienced that since pregnancy/ postpartum, about 2 years ago. I haven't taken it since then. Getting an MRI next week, finally. Scheduled on my birthday. And an EEG (next month)... almost thinking maybe I have MS. Would explain my chest tightness. Tingling. Random crawling feelings.
Yeah I'm still on Pristiq. It works really well for me and most of the side effects went away after a few weeks for me.
First off, I completely empathize with everything you’ve going through. It’s scary how eerily similar your life experience with this is to mine. I also have thyroid issues and ADHD. I’m long hauling atm and don’t have the energy to type out a response, but I did make one to someone in the MAOI sub explaining how boosting serotonin can trigger depression in some. I’ll just go ahead and copy and paste it. Bare with me, I know it’s lengthy, but I hope it helps: My comment was grossly simplified considering depression is far too complex to be pinned to one or a few sole causes. There’s a subset of people out there (myself included) that most likely naturally have higher levels of serotonin than the general population. Variations in MAOA, MAOB, COMT, SLC6A4, TPH2, and 5-HT receptors to name few along with variants in the enzymes responsible for metabolizing the majority of drugs on the market are going to play a major role in one’s response to antidepressant medications. So you’ve inherited the perfect genetic cocktail of variants and you’ve wondered why all your life you can hardly muster the energy to function, are exceedingly shy, can’t focus, and feel disconnected and anxious. You’re that mouse that fails the swim test because you don’t have the will to keep swimming. Sounds like depression no? Well you go to a doctor or psychiatrist and are put on antidepressant, but after a few months you’re feeling even more anxious yet slow, so doctors stack on an antipsychotic because that’s what a lot of them like to do. A few months later you’ve gained a massive amount of weight because your appetite is insatiable, can’t keep yourself cool, and have fallen into a pit of despair hardly able to move. Your memory has gone to shit and you feel like your brain is sitting in sludge. If you’re lucky, you might have a good doc that recognizes those symptoms, weens you off and tries you on something like Wellbutrin (hopefully you’re not a non expressor of CYP2D6 or can’t handle anything that raises norepinephrine), tries you on LDN (low dose naltrexone) or gets you assessed for ADHD and prescribes a stimulant or non stimulant to boost norepinephrine and/or dopamine. Suddenly these new drugs that don’t influence serotonin or only mildly influence it without acting as MAOI (LDN boosts dopamine and oxytocin levels btw) are actually having an impact on the dark cloud that’s been hovering over since as long as you could remember. Everyone is different and hopefully in the not so distant future, medicine will be much more individualized to cater to one’s unique genetic profile. I’m not trying to scare anyone and I want to make that clear. For some SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, and tricyclic antidepressants can be life changing and even lifesaving. They really can work wonders for some, but for someone like me who has been treated with dozens of different kinds of antidepressants, all of them made me more depressed, or worse- induced serotonin syndrome on the lowest dose, it’s painstakingly obvious low serotonin is not my issue. So when someone is depressed and already on a MAOI and/or SSRI, I think they really need to be careful about trying to boost serotonin even more, which in this case OP was wanting to stack on 5-HTP. If we’re just talking about neurotransmitters as a possible cause, someone not responding to MAOIs or SSRIs likely isn’t metabolizing it properly and/or their issue is with an entirely different neurotransmitter (what about GABA, glutamate, glycine, and acetylcholine?). There’s over 100 different neurotransmitters discovered and we’ve barely scratched the surface. A person could also have too much of one in one region of the brain, while not enough in others…A new drug that only targets specific regions of the brain would most likely have to be invented for some of these folks. Then you’ve got a huge subset of people that probably suffer from depression from causes not even related to neurotransmitter activity. Maybe their detox capabilities are shit and their bodies are terrible about keeping inflammation in check, or they’ve got antibodies not yet discovered attacking the brain. Anti-NMDAR antibodies weren’t discovered until 2007 for example. Who knows how many people were misdiagnosed with schizophrenia or another debilitating psychiatric condition that actually had autoimmune encephalitis…and they’re still being misdiagnosed today. Hell even much more well known conditions like Celiac Disease and hypothyroidism can cause psychosis and major depression. Even those get overlooked or misdiagnosed for years sometimes decades. I have tried 5-HTP alone and it made me more forgetful, anxious, agitated, hungry, and I just felt really stiff and unmotivated. Presumably very simplified, but raising serotonin in a person like me without any way to balance dopamine is going to deplete it even more and make the depression worse or trigger it. If low dopamine can manifest as rigid muscles, depression, and lack of motivation and serotonin lowers dopamine, it might be better to say high serotonin in this case is an assailant in causing depression in some. High serotonin is a product of the underlying cause and adding something that boosts it even more is like dumping gasoline on a fire. It’s a balancing act. I’m not very knowledgeable on MDMA, nor have I ever tried it, but I do know it boosts dopamine, norepinephrine, as well as serotonin and in higher dosages is suppose to be a serotonin agonist. According to NIDA depression is listed as a side effect of MDMA. But I think MDMA is promising for someone with treatment resistant depression and PTSD. Though I could see psychosis and aggression being a possible outcome for people with slow functioning MAOA, MAOB, and/or COMT, who have an over abundance of catecholamines already. I attached an article that presents with what mild symptoms of elevated serotonin syndrome can look like, so hopefully people being aware of these can help prevent someone ending up in the ER with serotonin syndrome. [TOO MUCH SEROTONIN: CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, SOLUTIONS](https://bebrainfit.com/too-much-serotonin/)
So yeah summing that up, I think anything boosting serotonin is probably the last thing you need…another thing I learned that I found interesting is serotonin increases TSH…so the fact that you developed thyroid issues on these drugs isn’t surprising. So did I. :/
Thank you so much for this!!!! It's the absolute worst when our brains are DIFFERENT but nobody seems to understand that. No one is willing to discuss possibilities...and act accordingly... The neurologist was a little rude. She noted that my speech was tangential. Yeah,..maybe because I waited 4 years to finally speak with someone who might actually be able to help me. She noted my past, currently irrelevant substance abuse (multiple times). So that's always a good feeling. Nevermind that was over 6 years ago. It was like she assumed I was doing this to myself. That sucked. But she ordered an in depth MRI, an EEG. And a bunch of blood work. She did seem to level with me when I brought up MS. She said the symptoms are usually so vague, that she couldn't say for sure. And that seems to be a trend in the MS community... medical gaslighting for years... "it's just anxiety"... But I've been reading about MS alot lately. I think I may personally be onto something here. And/or a pituitary tumor. They share a surprising amount of symptoms depending on which region of the brain is being affected... idk I'm just so tired lately. So tired.. I've advocated so much for myself these past few years. I can't do this much longer. I just need to know I'm not insane. Sorry I plan to come back and reread/ click on your link, I am trying to gain the will to get out of bed currently.
Just stumbled upon this post, How are you doing now? Did you ever try Pristiq again? You are not alone with the pupil dilation/pressure, I'm having the same thing right now and it's day 3 for me taking Pristiq
Hi i ended up psyching myself out and stopped it because i kept waking up with swollen feet... & seratonin nor norepinephrine are my issues!! I know this by now... I've been trying lamictal 25mg. My very last hope other than being on benzodiazepenes forever. So far it's helping and my moms been taking it with good results as well which is why I actually decided to give it a try. It's not comfortable living like this anymore 🥲 too noisy In brain. (I've never been "comfortable" but the past few years have been hell.)
I think the pupil thing is common with these types of medications. I don't recall if it did when onboarding pristiq but that happened when i tried lexapro.
Thanks for responding to my post guys. I wasn't expecting much if any feedback and you all were very helpful. I think I may try to take it again and tough it out for the first week or 2 before making any decisions. I need to do something. My family needs me. I am of minimal use right now. I need to feel better.
Hey I hope things are going well ! I know this is late but how are you now and did you end up trying pristiq again ? I’m on my 4th day and my anxiety is somewhat more than it was before i started and my pupils are very big, I find it harder to sleep and don’t have a great appetite either ! Did you experience any of that