Pristiq dosage.

SlothLady · Aug 21, 2017, 09:47 AM

Hi, I'm new here!

I have (treatment resistant) Major Depressive Disorder as well as GAD. I have been on, and generally responded well to a combination of quetiapine (300mg daily, plus 100mg prn) and Pristiq (300mg daily, sorry I don't know the generic name). I've been on this combination for about 4 years now (including during a pregnancy. My baby is now almost 2yo).

However, over the last few months I have been experiencing some breakthrough symptoms, that are getting worse as time goes on. This seems to be the pattern, where I will respond to an antidepressant for a period of time and then it just stops working as well, until it eventually doesn't work at all. Usually it is at this point that I cease the current medication and begin the process of trying another type. Except this time, due to trialling a LOT of the different types of antidepressants before responding to the pristiq, I really don't have a lot of options left medication wise. So it's been decided that I will increase the dose of Pristiq from 300mg to 350mg for a few weeks and then increase again to 400mg (if I haven't responded to the 350mg dosage.). I am really loathe to change medications, simply because of how I was last time when trying to find a medication that worked for me. I've also tried electric-shock therapy. I am participating in talk therapy regularly (weekly) as well as other natural approaches.

I have a few questions:
1. Am I at risk of being more prone to side effects at this higher dose?
2. Can this medication causes problems in perception of reality?
3.i know that the clinical trials only prescribed up to 400mg of Pristiq, but if 400mg does not work, can I go any higher?

Thanks in advance for your help.

SlothLady