I was taken off of 300 mg a day of Effexor cold turkey and put on Pristiq, my doctor said that since it was a metabolized version of Effexor, it would cut down on the side effects...uh NO, it didnt! I spent the weekend and a week day either screaming and crying, dizzy, headaches and feeling like I am in an odd dream that I cant quite come out of! I just started working again after vegetating on disability for 5 years just so this could happen. Has anyone ever gone off this c**p to be put on Pristiq? If it is just as bad, I am scared!