![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by BearFan on February 24, 2008, at 15:32:40
Anyone familiar or know when Pristiq will be released? I heard it is due to come out very shortly and could be an interesting medicine if it has a lot less side effects than the original Effexor
Thanks
Posted by Phillipa on February 24, 2008, at 16:08:55
In reply to New version of Effexor- Pristiq, posted by BearFan on February 24, 2008, at 15:32:40
Do you know how they are changing the med to produce less side effects? Thanks Phillipa
Posted by BearFan on February 24, 2008, at 18:48:56
In reply to Re: New version of Effexor- Pristiq » BearFan, posted by Phillipa on February 24, 2008, at 16:08:55
They isolated an active metabolite, desvenlafaxine, from the parent compound, which is responsible for the therapeutic effects, from the portion not desirable. This was done much in the same way they did with Celexa when they created Lexapro.
Posted by Phillipa on February 24, 2008, at 19:11:32
In reply to Re: New version of Effexor- Pristiq, posted by BearFan on February 24, 2008, at 18:48:56
So that makes it stronger? Remember when trileptal came out one oxygen molecule less than tegretol. Love Phillipa
Posted by Dopamine123 on February 27, 2008, at 13:44:23
In reply to Re: New version of Effexor- Pristiq » BearFan, posted by Phillipa on February 24, 2008, at 19:11:32
I would expect that this drug would have practically identical side effects and antidepressant efficacy when compared to effexor except the effective dose is probably different. The only reason that they have this new drug is so they can get a longer patent and make more money. Both drugs do exactly the same thing, increase serotonin/norepinephrine by exactly the same method.
Posted by AMY II on February 28, 2008, at 0:19:11
In reply to Re: New version of Effexor- Pristiq, posted by Dopamine123 on February 27, 2008, at 13:44:23
I have heard my Pdoc say the same thing, not about this drug but about others. They put something out there with a different name and say it is better when in fact it is the exact same thing.
I took Effexor 150mg a day and I had good results. Not 100% but better than any other med. THEN about 6 months down the road I got severe hypertension, irregular heartbeat, even irregular ekg. My Pdoc thinks it was the norephenephrine that did it. Would the new drug get rid of that but be as beneficial?
Posted by Dopamine123 on February 28, 2008, at 15:28:58
In reply to Re: New version of Effexor- Pristiq » Dopamine123, posted by AMY II on February 28, 2008, at 0:19:11
"Would the new drug get rid of that but be as beneficial?"
Both drugs increase serotonin at lower doses with the norepinephrine increase kicking in at higher doses. So if you want fewer of those side effects, you should just take a lower dose of effexor or switch to an SSRI. Try slowly going down on the Effexor to 100mg or 75. Then you would get mostly the serotonin increase and less of the norepinephrine increase. If you want to totally get rid of norepinephrine, just take an SSRI instead (paxil, zoloft etc). Effexor at a low dose mostly increases serotonin. Higher doses increase both serotonin and norepinephrine. Pristiq should have the same mechanism of action as Effexor, so I wouldn't expect the side effects to be any different.
Posted by AMY II on February 28, 2008, at 15:46:08
In reply to Re: AMY II, posted by Dopamine123 on February 28, 2008, at 15:28:58
Well, my pdoc was thinking the reason why effexor was working so well for me was because it was an SNRI instead of an SSRI. So that is no help. :(
I was taking 150mg of effexor daily. Haven't taken anything except zanax since September. Effexor gave me horrible heart side effects. Irregular heart beat, irregular ekg, etc. It was nasty and very scary.
Posted by Dr. Bob on March 3, 2008, at 3:03:18
In reply to Re: New version of Effexor- Pristiq, posted by Dopamine123 on February 27, 2008, at 13:44:23
> The only reason that they have this new drug is so they can get a longer patent and make more money.
I might consider the above an exaggeration or overgeneralization:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#civil
but I'd like to try something a little different and invite posters to take a larger role in maintaining the educational nature of this site. If you think the above is an issue, too, could you use the "notify administrators" button to let us know? As usual, we'll keep to ourselves who if anyone notifies us. And further discussion should be redirected to Psycho-Babble Administration. Thanks,
Bob
Posted by AMY II on March 3, 2008, at 14:20:02
In reply to Re: invitation to help set the tone here, posted by Dr. Bob on March 3, 2008, at 3:03:18
Doctor Bob,
Since I am desperate I have no problem asking you to look into my situation and find every doctor in the book that could help me. Every doctor I have seen say I am a unique case and they are stumped with alot of things that are going on with me.
Any direction you could give me or help in finding the right docs etc. would be awesome.
I don't know if you do this kind of thing or not. I just know that I write on here in the desperate attempt at finding out things that my other doctors have overlooked. Trying new things to help my quality of life. The way it stands now is so horrific mentally, I just can't imagine people suffering like this for the rest of their life.
Posted by Dopamine123 on March 3, 2008, at 15:34:09
In reply to Re: invitation to help set the tone here, posted by Dr. Bob on March 3, 2008, at 3:03:18
> The only reason that they have this new drug is so they can get a longer patent and make more money.
"I might consider the above an exaggeration or overgeneralization"
I'm not sure what you mean when you say thats an exaggeration. Perhaps "only" was a poor choice of words, as I don't want to sound like I'm disparaging the free market. However, the main reason that pharmaceutical companies market any new drug is to make a profit. I'm not specifically against pharmaceutical companies making profits, but I don't need to pretend that Wyeth is creating a drug that offers a substantial difference over the existing Effexor. I actually think that new drugs such as Pristiq are good because they lead to more competition and more choice. Pristiq, though, is Wyeth's attempt at extending the patent of Effexor. So in response to AMYII's specific question, I wouldn't expect the side effect profile of Pristiq to be any different than that of Effexor.
http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2008/03/03/wyeth-gets-a-couple-of-fda-wins.aspx
> The new version of Effexor, named Pristiq, is Wyeth's attempt at extending the sales lifecycle of its Effexor franchise, which begins to face patent expirations this year."
> "Getting second-generation drugs approved to replace their hit predecessor drugs is a mainstay of extending the sales life of many big pharma drugs."
I haven't seen anything to indicate that this drug is any better than soon to be off-patent and thus cheaper, Effexor. Pristiq is only worthwhile as an alternative to Effexor.
Top 5 reasons to forget about pristiq.
http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2008/03/top-5-reasons-to-forget-about-pristiq.html
Posted by Dr. Bob on March 26, 2008, at 12:56:45
In reply to Dr. Bob, posted by Dopamine123 on March 3, 2008, at 15:34:09
> > > The only reason that they have this new drug is so they can get a longer patent and make more money.
> >
> > I might consider the above an exaggeration or overgeneralization
>
> I'm not sure what you mean when you say thats an exaggeration. Perhaps "only" was a poor choice of words, as I don't want to sound like I'm disparaging the free market. However, the main reason that pharmaceutical companies market any new drug is to make a profit.That's what I was thinking, I'd prefer "main" instead of "only". Thanks for replying,
Bob
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.