Posted by Larry Hoover on April 19, 2009, at 8:30:04
In reply to Has Pristiq proven to be clinically useful?, posted by bearfan on April 19, 2009, at 5:06:45
> Now out for over a year, what is the generally consensus of Pristiq? I've heard/read mixed results from it. Is it truly an advance or just a 'Me too' Effexor?
Just like any antidepressant, individual differences determine whether there will be a benefit, or not. It's no more nor no less effective than any other antidepressant in general use.
I wish the idea that this is a patent extender would go away. Desvenlafaxine is a specific active metabolite of venlafaxine. It's believed to be responsible for the bulk of the antidepressant effect of venlafaxine. The side effects are mostly produced by other metabolites. In simplified terms.
Desvenlafaxine is produced by the liver enzyme 2D6. Many people have impaired activity at that enzyme. Some have none at all. The last time I checked, 118 genetic variants of that enzyme had been identified, with the majority of those leading to poor or no activity.
So, for those individuals, Pristiq offers an opportunity for treatment success that could not have been provided by Effexor. And, the theory is that it will be easier to withdraw from than Effexor, which is notorious for being difficult in that regard.
Time will tell. We don't have a lot of experiential data yet.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:891545
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090416/msgs/891557.html