Welcome to the Wellbutrin forum!

Please tell us a little about yourself.

Wow I'm the first one on the new thread. It's like getting a brand new notebook for school -- remember that feeling? Or maybe it's just me, I had so few exciting thing as a child a notebook could count as one!

Anyway just thought I'd say hi and that I've just added 100mg bupropion to my ever growing list of medications. I am hoping that it will give me some more energy and hopefully fix my very delayed orgasim problem.

I'm currenty on:
40mg. celexa (four months)
50mg. seroquel
100mg bupropion
5mg zopliclone as needed.

I asked my doc again today why my insomia wasn't undercontrol yet when my depression seems so much better and I was a little suprised by his answer. He said that my depression isn't undercontrol and perhaps the addition of bupropion will be enough to cause it to right itself. Hum go figure. I will be surprised if it does.

Hi and welcome, Edify Me,
Don't feel bad about your med cocktail, I'm on a big combo, too. Hope WB helps you more with your depression. Give it a chance to work. Your pdoc may gradually increase the dose, so be aware of that also. 100mg is a small dose. I don't know about libido as every med works differently for each one of us.

I have horrible sleep patterns and insomnia as well. I take a sleep aid to correct the problem. You may want to ask your pdoc about the possibility of having a sleep aid that you could take at night.
Sheepwoman

Hello Edify Me!



Your comment about writing for the 1st time in a new notebook brought back happy memories for me. Plus, gave me a chuckle. I loved breaking in new school supplies. Today, I love wearing new socks or underwear. Doing so brightens my whole day. I know, I know...I need a life. lol

Don't worry about taking multiple meds. My little cocktail is comprised of 6 meds in all. The way I look at it, if it works, take it.

As for your sleep issues...I need to take a sleep med. It's the only way for me to beat my insomnia and get some rest. You may want to discuss taking a sleep aid with your doc. I take Halcion - an older med that works well.

WB may improve your depression, which may in turn improve your insomnia, but WB is known for causing restlessness and sleepless nights. It's best to take it as early in the morning as possible.

Please keep us posted.



-Bean

Sorry I should have been clearer. I take the seroquel for sleep not as an antipsycotic, but who's to say that it isn't working that way for me too
Sleep is good on the pills. It's just that the way I figure it I should be able to sleep without medication if it is true that depression causes insomnia. I'm interested to see if as I go up on the wellbutrine if me sleep improves because the depression improves.

Not all forms of insomnia are related to depression. I have had disruptive sleep patterns all my life. The sleep aids I have taken in the past have been to "regulate" how I sleep. They sort of retrained my internal clock to the point I could stop taking them. I usually sleep more when depressed-with or without a sleep aid. Sleeping a lot while depressed is one way to avoid life in general. I have heard Seroquel is an excellent sleep aid. What dose are you on? If you're not sleeping well, your pdoc can increase the dose. WB can affect sleep. If it affects your sleep, try taking the dose in the morning or early afternoon. I had no sleep issues while on it (450mg).
Sheepwoman

Yes see that's my worry, what if my sleep pattern itself is the problem that caused my depression? If I continue to take antidepressants am I really addressing the right issue? Seroquel works wonders for me, I'm at 50 mg now. But if I skip it on nights that I feel really tired, I can fall asleep but I'm right back to waking up as 3 or 4 a.m. The WB hasn't caused any problems so far. I still feel sleepy at bed time and I do take it in the morning. I've only been on it for 4 days and maybe it's because it's such a low dose but I haven't felt anything from it, not boost of energy, nothing.

I've been on Wellburtin since Nov. of 2006. Started out with low dose and every 2 or 3 months the dose has to be raised as it just stops working. I'm at 400mg now so I hope I get relief for at least 2 more months.

Welcome terri111! I hope the 400 mg proves to be enough for you. I'm only at 150mg right now, but I do have some occassional bad days and wonder if I'll have to increase my dose again. I'm so afraid that what you are experiencing will happen to me too. I don't know what happens if we max out the dosage and it wears off again?!

WB usually maxes out, as far as dosages go, at 450mg. Hopefully for you both, you will continue to get benefits at the doses you are on. However, not all meds work the same for everyone and changes may be in order to another med.
Sheepwoman

Terri:

Hello and

Perhaps you should talk to your doc about adding another med in addition to the WB. WB alone wasn't working for me, so we added in Effexor, Risperdal, and Lithium. You may just need something more than one med, a cocktail of sorts.

Please let us know how this 400 mg dose works for you. Let us know if you talk to you doc.



-Bean

This is my first psych drug I'm ever taking and I kind of liked it. I'm grateful that the side effects are only physical( like insomnia). I would say right now that the drug is about 40 to 50% effective, but the doc said the treatment lasts a year so I'm not worried.

After I took a month of drug sample, the doc gave me this prescription and I kind of hesitated in getting the drug. I'm afraid that all these problems are just created by my personalities instead. So, for a few weeks I tried to attack my problems without drugs. But then, my emotions kind of crapped up again. So, I'm on the drug now and I'm doing alright. I still feel like wading through mud but I'm not as overwhelmed.

Cheers

This post has been edited by outrigger: Sep 1 2007, 01:01 AM

Outrigger:

As you well know, WB can cause sleeplessness. It's best to take the med as early in the morning as possible.

I wish you the very best of luck with this med. Adding WB to my med cocktail made a world of difference for me. I really do attribute my success in recovery to this med.

I wish you great success. You'll be in my thoughts. Please keep us posted.



-Bean

Hello. I'm new to the forum and 4 weeks into taking Wellbutrin and feeling extremely miserable. I hope I'm posting in the right place. Here's my story. Please bear with me, it's slightly complicated.

I had wanted WB for a long time as I heard about the lack of sexual side-effects. My only other experience with an AD was Effexor (Venlafaxine) and it messed up my libido. I came off it a few years back but no change in libido. I have been told by the shrinks that my lack of libido may be a combination of my depression with years of heavy drinking (I'm a 39 year-old male). I gave up drinking three and a half months ago and started going to the gym nearly every day. With little positive effect on my depression (or libido).

I live in England where WB is not licensed and therefore unavailable, so I had to wait for a trip to South Africa to get a prescription off our family doctor down there (all my close family live in South Africa).

He gave me a six-month supply of WB (SR) at 150mg which I've brought back to England with me.

I took it for 2 weeks and five days before I felt anything - all negative side-effects. High anxiety and agitation. Increase in depression, aches and pains like a bad cold etc. Almost unbearable.

Then, about the middle of last week (3 and a half weeks in) some of these side-effects began to lift and I even felt at times that an anti-depressant effect was beginning to kick in. Got quite hopeful. However, I think the good feeling was more to do with general relief that the anxiety and pain in my body had gone.

Now, all the side-effects seem to have lifted more or less EXCEPT (and this is the big one) after lunch on the last three days, lasting way into the evening, I have been floored by the most unbearable, heaviest depression ever. Really crushing. Feel like life isn't worth living. That I'm a basket case. Stronger suicidal thoughts than ever (although I stress that I'm not about to actually kill myself. But the thoughts that I might do it one day are stronger than they've ever been).

Absolutely horrible. Depression is listed as a side-effect of WB, but I think only as a rare one. Does anyone else have experience of INCREASED depression after taking the drug?

I'm not sure what to do. My doctors in England (family doctor and psychiatrists) both say they know little about WB and can't really give advice. The doc in South Africa is just a family doctor anyway, so not really a mental health expert.

So basically I'm 4 weeks and 1 day in. The side-effects I briefly felt have disappeared BUT I'm getting this crushing depression every day. Do people think this is a side-effect of the drug. Should I stick it out a few more weeks or does it sound like WB is just not the drug for me?

I'm thinking about doubling the dose to 300mg (150mg twice a day) to see if that works but am worried that this will double the horrors of depression. On the other hand, I've been told that this drug at higher doses is LESS likely to have side-effects. Is this true?

My brother has been visiting from South Africa during this period but is going back in a week. Then I will be living all alone and am worried/frightened about this. I do have friends in London I can rely on sometimes to keep an eye on me but no family. It's a bit scary being in this frame of mind with no family around. The reason I went down to South Africa a month ago was because I was on sick leave from work with depression (which I've suffered from for years, but got dramatically worse following the recent end of a relationship and I had something of a mini-breakdown, so went there to recover.)

I'm back at work now but if I keep getting this depression so bad I don't know whether I'll be able to function.

I hope at least some of the above makes sense. I'm desperate for some advice from some of you with your experience of this drug.

Hello Londoner!



Yes, you posted in the right place.

The SEs you mentioned are all very common to WB and usually go away after a few weeks, just like you cited.

The heavy, overbearing feelings of depression shouldn't be happening. This tells me that either WB is not the med for you, or that you need another med in addition to WB.

Having a doc in another country Rx the med for you will cause a problem. I do understand why you went this route, but you are now back in your own country without a doc to monitor your WB use and make further diagnoses.

See your doc in England. Ask what he/she would recommend instead of or in addition to the WB. Something that isn't Effexor, since that didn't work too well for you.

In the meantime, take the WB as early in the morning as possible. Doing so will lessen the chances of the med interrupting sleep, as WB does indeed cause restlessness and jitters.

Take a look around the entire WB room here at DF. I'm sure you'll find some other relevant and very useful info from some of our other members. Fell to to post in any one of these threads.

Please keep us posted.



-Bean

Hi,

I'm a new member. I've been on 10 mg Lexapro for four weeks now, and Wellbutrin (generic SR, 150 mg twice per day) for one week. The Lexapro seemed to be helping my anxiety, but I had absolutely no motivation to do anything, so my doc augmented it with WB. After reading many other posts, it seems to me that 300 mg/day is quite a large dose to start out on--not sure if my doc got that right. Also, like others, I'm having bad insomnia. I take the first dose at 7:00 am, and the second about 2:30 pm. But still I wake up at 2 or 3 am every night, toss and turn, and never really get back to sleep. Then I spend all day yawning (but strangely not sleepy). Hopefully this is temporary!

Best wishes,

spacious

Welcome to DF, spacious,
Usually a step-up program is used for most psych meds to find the right dose; however, different pdocs, different ideas. Are you experiencing any ill side-effects? If so, call your pdoc. For WB (and Lex), it may take up to 8 weeks to receive full benefits. A bit of insomnia at start-up is not unusual.
Did you have insomnia prior to taking medications, or is this something new? Again, you should consult with your pdoc.
Sheepwoman

Yea, he definitly should have started you out on something like 150mgs a day. That seems to be the standard. If I were you I would ask my dr to decrease my dose untill you get used to it and then ramp back up to 300mgs if you need it.

Hi Spacious,

At this point your Wellbutrin dose is pretty much in lines with the PDR, it suggests (note suggests) that 150mg for three days then increase to desired dosage. Since you have been on it for a week now, you are probably taking the right dose for you. But certainly you might ask your doctor why he started you so quickly, but as I read it, you are currently taking the right dose. Your other concerns should relax in a couple of weeks, keep your doctor in the loop. I am a firm believer that we are the most important member of our treatment team. But Wellbutrin does have a lifting effect to it, may be why although you aren't sleeping as much as you think you should, you are still not tired during the day. Personally, I have always thought that the maxim that one needs 8 hours of sleep was arbitrary, 4-6 hours gets me through the day quite well even at my age. It was less when I was younger!!!

BE Peace and BE Love..... wayne

Hey, thanks everyone for the advice--I really appreciate it!

Other than insomnia, the only other side effects I've noticed are a decrease in appetite, and some increased irritability. I still get hungry, but it's like food just doesn't taste very good. Lexapro also seemed to decrease my appetite initially, but I was pretty much over that by the time I started WB.

And actually, now that you mention it, I was having some insomnia before beginning any meds, just from anxiety/depression. Exercise seemed to help that a lot, but I was so down most of the time that I couldn't drag myself to the gym. Since starting WB, I have been able to exercise just about every day, but am still not sleeping well.

So, I guess I'll ride it out for at least a few more weeks on 300 mg/day and see what happens. I'm still somewhat depressed, and the insomnia is annoying, but at least I'm functioning during the day. And that's a big improvement.

Thanks again everyone, and best wishes,

spacious

I started on 150 SR once a day but was still feeling depressed and anxious. I've been taking Wellbutrin XL 300 for around 35-40 days now. I've now started to experience sleep problems, stomach problems, and sadness at times. Today was not a full panic day, just a sad day.

This post has been edited by reklawyad: Sep 7 2007, 03:07 PM

to the Wellbutrin Forum, reklawyad!

I've been on Wellbutrin XL 300 for 6 months now. For me, it didn't fully "smooth out" in my system until the 8 week mark. Most people find the jump from 150 to 300 pretty intense. I wish they had 100, 200, and 300 instead! But hopefully in a couple more weeks those side effects will fade. Keep your doctor informed. I've noticed that Wellbutrin can heighten the emotions, but I think it works wonderfully on depression. Welcome, and please keep us posted.

Isn't "depression" listed as one of the possible side-effects of Wellbutrin? Perhaps it will lift?

I have had a couple of occasions when the anti-depressant effects felt like they were kicking in. Lasted a few hours. Most of the time I don't feel good on WB (5 weeks in now) but these times give me hope and make me want to hang on in there.

An increase in depression is listed as a possible side effect on most antidepressants. This is more likely to happen in the first few weeks, and especially in adolescents. I personally found the first few weeks on WB to be a bit of a rollercoaster. I felt it kick in, then give out, back and forth. The effects slowly built up until it was all smoothed out by 8 weeks. You could hang in there for the full 8 weeks, but be sure to keep your doctor informed about your feelings. S/he may want to supplement the WB with something else, or try something different altogether. Keep us posted.

Thank you very much. I tried to contact my doctor today to let her know that I've been having some problems with the medication. But she's on vacation until Thursday next week. I tried to talk to another associate, but they never called me back. After I came home today I broke down in front of my fiance. Just everything came to a point. We're getting married in Oct and that's adding stress as well I assume. She and I both think that the medication is really starting to not work.

I was originally on Zoloft 50mg's and that seemed to help with everyday things. I got upset when she had to go into surgery. After she initially when into the hospital, I couldn't even go to see her, all I could do was sleep at home and not eat a D*** thing. Three days later she came home from all the tests and she didn't need surgery at that time, but 2 weeks later she did. In that time I started seeing a psychiatrist and she suggest WB instead of Zoloft that the Zoloft had probably worn off it's use.

We talked tonight, and don't remember me having this many problems with Zoloft. I've even starting having worse cases of depression as well as crying at odd times now that I never did before.

I've still got some of the 150's left over and was thinking of taking one of those, or just stopping it all together until she gets back into town. I've got some Lorazapam to help me with the Anxiety. Since I've not been on it for that long, wanted to see what everyone else thought of this.

Also I've heard of some of the withdrawl, but not heard WHAT to expect from it.

To give you a little more of a background, this last week, on Tuesday I didn't go to work cause I cut the grass the previous day and got a lightheaded feeling. The next morning, I slept from around 11:30pm till 2:00pm the next day. Since I missed the time to take my pill, I didn't that day. The next day, Wednesday, I felt good in the morning and pretty good that day, but later that night I started having stomach problems again.

Thursday wasn't too bad, but I didn't sleep well that night. Might just be one of those "Bad" days.

So any suggestions from everyone?

Also forgot to mention, I am also a diabetic and have high cholesterol medicine that I am on as well. Linsoprohil(SP) Gemfibrozol, Actos, Amaryl


Rek



This post has been edited by reklawyad: Sep 7 2007, 11:38 PM

Saturday Morning, slept for a good 8 1/2 hours or so. Don't remember waking up other then at 8 this morning (went to sleep at 12:30 last night). I decided to not take the Wellbutrin this morning. I've got Lorazapam if I have any type of anxiety attack and it does seem to calm me down 15 - 30 mins after I take it. I normally have to take 2 pills of it(which equials 1mg) and the doctor says that's fine and that the next time I need a refill she'll just make it 1mg pills instead.

I've still got around 90 days worth of Zoloft 50mg, so I'm not sure if I should switch back to that without her knowing since she's on vacation till Thursday.

Any suggestions from you?

K

wow,
I have been reading and reading. I have finally found people that can relate to what I am saying. I take a ton of meds. My family thinks it is way too much. . . I have been taking meds since 1996 I have tried many, many, many . . . for right now the winning combination is Zoloft 600 mg, Wellbutrin 150, Seroquel 600 mg, Lamictal 800 mg , Abilify , Lorazepam 1 mg, Topamax plus a few others that are not signifigant for my emotional distresses. . . There are a lot of times I wonder if the meds are truely working. The feelings of despair still come. I have been on this combination for a long while now, but with bipolar even with meds sometimes the highs and lows still peak . just not as much as without.

Each persons success on different med combination and dosages id different. I am a small person but my Dr said I have very emotional, high strung personality and I would never be even keeled with meds. . . they would make me a zombie first and that really is not the goal of psych meds. I would just like to function almost like everyone around me.

I would strongly suggest taking your meds everyday as prescribed and not making any changes without your doctor's approval.

Hi Grandma Betty,

Take a look at our Bipolar Forum here if you haven't already. You'll find lots of people there who know exactly what you're going through.

Hello Nice Grandma!



Good to have you with us!

Your list of meds is that long. Trust me, you are not alone. I take 6 meds in all.

Have a look around the forums and start posting. Looking forward to getting to know you.



-Bean

Hi all

I have just been switched to a combo of WellB and Zoloft after more than a few moths of to'ing and fro'ing between zoloft and prozac. The prozac just didnt work as required and the zoloft on its own made me dopey and slow. I have been searching the forums and have seen that it takes 8 weeks to see the full effects of Wellb but i could feel a difference immediatley. Look forward to seeing you all around ..

- S

stecos date 14 9 2007 14 41 pm
hello just started taking wellbutin sex drive is back i was on citralabram for 8 years on and off no sex drive at all things looking better abit bad tembered tho so see how things go on 300 mg so far is that the max dose buy for now ste

Hi Superman,
It usually takes up to 8 weeks to get benefits from most psychiatric meds. However, a few people like yourself, get some immediate relief right at the start. You may get a small backslide into depression, which is not unual, so don't get discouraged if that should happen.
Sheepwoman

Hi cosste,
Glad to hear your libido is back. 300mg is about an average dose for most everyone here. It can take up to 8 weeks to fully work, so be patient. 450mg is the max dose recommended for Wellbutrin.
Sheepwoman

Hi, my name is Melissa. I was recently diagnosed with depression, but had it for over 2 years. I had panic attacks on the past, but I had been able to control them without medication. I was prescribed with Wellbutrin and it's been about a week now and it's driving me insane.

I have tremors, high and low energy in a matter of minutes, HORRIBLE NIGHTMARES, thirst (which is good because i didnt drank enough water, now I do, by the gallon), dizziness (can't drive), irritability, muscle pain, high libido (awesome!) can't concentrate and increased appetite (im underweight so this is great).

So far so bad. I had read it's normal to have crazy side effects the firsts weeks. They are generally mild but sometimes I feel so out of it, it's like I loose contact with reality. Feels as if Im just floating in life, no purpose, no direction, nothing matters, emptyness. A complete limbo, very surreal. this "limbo" periods last for about 2 minutes, no more. When I snap out of it i dont know if I was just VERY dizzy, light headed, drowsy... I don't know.

Has anyone experienced these side effects? And vivid nightmares?

I have very vivid dreams when I take a dose too close to bedtime and as far as the surreal feeling...I've been stuck in that for about 4 years nonstop even before medication. It's called derealization and the wellbutrin does make it worse sometimes. The rest of your side effects sound pretty common btw.

Welcome to the Wellbutrin room, melitini,

Your side-effects are not uncommon when starting a new medication. They usually go away in a few weeks. However, if the SE's are seriously impairing your ability to function, call your pdoc for advice or feedback.
Sheepwoman

I've been on Welbutrin for about 6 months combined with Celexa (which stopped working after 2.5 years). I have been tapering off the celexa and now after 4 weeks without it my depression has returned. My Dr suggests a taking both meds in combination - I'm nervous of doing this long term - is this a legitimate way to treat?

Thanks

to DF, e60guy!

I'm on the same combination. It's pretty common to combine WB with an SSRI, since they work on different neurotransmitters. The WB increases dopamine and norepinephrine, and an SSRI increases serotonin. If the Celexa conked out on you, you could ask your doctor about trying a different SSRI.

Thanks