Extreme Brain Fog caused by Desvenlafaxine?

[LiveAboveIt]

I've been on 50mg of Desvenlafaxine/Pristiq for about 7-8 months now and I have serious issues with memory and mental cognition. I notice that about an hour or so after I take my dose of Pristiq, I feel incredibly foggy headed and have a difficult time thinking clearly. Just feels like my head and thoughts are jumbled and I have a hard time focusing on anything else, which causes me to panic a little bit about the way that I feel.

Does anyone have these issues on either Effexor or Pristiq?

[panic_down_under]

I've been on 50mg of Desvenlafaxine/Pristiq for about 7-8 months now and I have serious issues with memory and mental cognition.

It might be the Pristiq, but it could also be anxiety and/or depression. Chronic stress causes atrophy of parts of the two hippocampal regions of the brain which, among other things, mediates conversion of short-term memory to long-term.

I notice that about an hour or so after I take my dose of Pristiq, I feel incredibly foggy headed and have a difficult time thinking clearly.

Which suggests that it isn't the med. Pristiq comes in a slow-release tablets so the chemical only trickles into the blood stream. Plus, when taken daily the amount of the chemical in blood plasma stabilizes to a steady-state which doesn't change much across 24 hours. There is not much more of the drug in your system an hour after you take it than there was when you swallowed it, or in the hour before, however, having made a link your stress levels may be rising in anticipation.

Just feels like my head and thoughts are jumbled and I have a hard time focusing on anything else, which causes me to panic a little bit about the way that I feel.

In both anxiety and depression parts of the non conscious threat detecting areas of the brain are in overdrive. They flood the higher brain centres which evaluate threats with bogus alarms which have to be checked and either dismissed, or acted on. Imagine trying to think clearly while someone shouts into an ear, "RUN, RUN, THE SKY IS FALLING," over and over. In essence this is what is going on below conscious awareness inside your head.

I suggest you discuss what is happening with the prescribing physician. A dose increase is probably required.