Wellbutrin - questions about dose, side effects, IR vs ER

[Furry mouth]

<Mod note: moved from an old thread that was bumped>

I haven't posted here in a while.
Started on wellbrutin back in November and initially it helped lift me out of my chronic depression (BPD).
I was prescribed 300 mg extended release tablets but could only manage 150mg as I am fighting hypomania and major anxiety every day for about 8 hours. I have to take Xanax to bring me down and reduce my speech and prevent me from going into full blown panic attacks. I've had to increase all my other meds to counteract the side effects of not being able to sleep, driving too fast and crying uncontrollably because of terrible anxiety.

Two questions are there non slow release tabs and Are they better or worse than slow release I.e. would you get a full rushnof the drug at once?

Has anyone found lower doses effective I.e. 75mg?

Thx
FM

 

[Jabberwocky]

this is like a 2-3 year old thread. make a new one if you wan't to post about wellbutrin

from what you've said though, why are you still taking it? if the side effects are so awful that you have to effectively double up all your other meds to counter it you're putting yourself in a really hairy situation.

you're on benzos (xanax) and upping the dose of that continually is not a good idea to start with. secondly, its causing you to behave erratically and could put yours or other people's lives at risk with it. have you considered switching to another med?

 

[Furry mouth]

Didn't want the head chopped off me if I started another thread about Wellbutrin as there were ones already there and I didn't fancy risking the wrath of a mod ..looks like I got it wrong anyway.....ah well shit happens.

I've gone through some major crap since October and it's coming to a head this week so I don't want to risk changing drugs this week and ending up lapsing into depression and dealing with withdrawal too. I need to be strong for it.

I think my last option now is small dose of Prozac. I have atrial fibrillation and wellbutrin is kicking that off too.

I will get in contact with shrink as soon as coming week is over and ask to be switched to Prozac.

You are right though I have had to increase my benzos during day and at night to large doses and it scares me. Wellbutrin is not for me. I am very disappointed i wanted it to work so badly and now I have no other drugs left to try if Prozac fails.

I'm actually in reasonable to good form now, it's just the crushing anxiety during morning / days and panic attacks /insomnia at night that aree hard to deal with.
Tx anyway
:D
Fm

 

[lifeisflyingaway]

Only thing it did for me, was take away cigarette cravings.

 

[Furry mouth]

They way they make feel, I kinda want take up ciggies and I am a militant non smoker who is a rare social smoker (if that's possible???)

 

[Jabberwocky]

Ah I see.. Have you been on Prozac before? Maybe you could try other drugs if you really need them. The benzos shouldn't be too hard to bring back down to a normal level and I think you should focus on getting that done as safely and as quickly as possible. How long have you been on the Wellbutrin for?

Are there no other SSRIS availiable to use where you are? Maybe you don't need one...? Estitalopram is meant to be a good one - it produces the least side effects in most people I've seen using it and is quite helpful for some. For me all were a no no.

Don't worry - you'll be fine. But if its causing you such problems I really think you should get off it ASAP.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Didn't want the head chopped off me if I started another thread about Wellbutrin as there were ones already there and I didn't fancy risking the wrath of a mod ..looks like I got it wrong anyway.....ah well shit happens.

No one will chop your head off unless there are a lot of threads that already answer your exact question, we do prefer people do a search before posting to see if their question has already been answered (even then we definitely wouldn't "chop your head off", we are a pretty friendly bunch here in BDD and we get a lot of people new to the forum ). But Basic Drug Discussion is a fast-moving forum, so unless there is a recent/active thread on your topic it's best to start a new one. When you bump an old thread it can cause problems because people just see it at the top of the forum and think it's a new thread, and often just respond to the first post instead of reading through the whole thread/your post. I'm going to make your post and those replying to it into a new thread, so you will get more views/replies that way. You can let me know if you want the title changed

 

[Furry mouth]

No one will chop your head off unless there are a lot of threads that already answer your exact question, we do prefer people do a search before posting to see if their question has already been answered (even then we definitely wouldn't "chop your head off", we are a pretty friendly bunch here in BDD and we get a lot of people new to the forum

Hi swimming dancer, tx for info. My comment was meant as tongue in cheek
I had read rules of posting but still wasn't sure about Whether or not I should start a new one so thanks for advice. Much appreciated.

 

[iliketoast]

I find it interesting that you were prescribed wellbutrin before prozac, (unless you have been prescribed it before..?) especially with the way your anxiety seems to manifest. Wellbutrin acts as a stimulant, which to me seems like a disastrous combination. And I agree with synthetix - lowering your benzo dose should be a priority. While they've helped me with anxiety before, I usually just avoid them because they make my depression worse.

After not responding well to SSRIs (prozac and citalopram/celexa) I've been on wellbutrin SR 100 mg/2x day for a couple years now. I've stopped taking them a few times, and while it wasn't fun, I've had worse. Best of luck.

 

[Furry mouth]

Ah I see.. Have you been on Prozac before? Maybe you could try other drugs if you really need them. The benzos shouldn't be too hard to bring back down to a normal level and I think you should focus on getting that done as safely and as quickly as possible. How long have you been on the Wellbutrin for?

Are there no other SSRIS availiable to use where you are? Maybe you don't need one...? Estitalopram is meant to be a good one - it produces the least side effects in most people I've seen using it and is quite helpful for some. For me all were a no no.

Don't worry - you'll be fine. But if its causing you such problems I really think you should get off it ASAP.

Grr I had a response done up and it disappeared.

I was on prozac when I was pregnant and it was fine.
Been on Wellbutrin for 2 months now.
I will work on getting the benzos down ASAP
I have to take a variety of drugs because I suffer from very bad bouts of depression and have been on Estitalopram already
I have tried all ssris new and old but none worked for various reasons including sending me into mixed episodes except for prozac but that was only when i was pregnant.
Other drugs had more serious side effects, i showed symptoms of Steven Johnson syndrome, i collapsed due to sudden drop in blood pressure, i had auditory and visual hallucinations. I'm not whining here just listing my predicament.
I've just re-read through side effects of Wellbutrin online and they say to get off it ASAP if you have any problems with your heart so I think my question has been answered as I don't want to end up in hospital this week.
Next step is asking my shrink for Prozac again.
Thanks a lot
FM

 

[Furry mouth]

I find it interesting that you were prescribed wellbutrin before prozac, (unless you have been prescribed it before..?) especially with the way your anxiety seems to manifest. Wellbutrin acts as a stimulant, which to me seems like a disastrous combination. And I agree with synthetix - lowering your benzo dose should be a priority. While they've helped me with anxiety before, I usually just avoid them because they make my depression. Best of luck.

Sorry I missed this post.
No I have been on Ssris for years up until my BPD diagnosis but the depression was still awful. Epilim controlled the mania to a degree but the anxiety and depression has been crippling.
I never knew benzos make depression worse?!? OMG
Last ssri I was on was cymbalta and That's what nearly killed me.
My shrink did warn me to keep an eye on my mania when on wellbutrin (it had to be pointed out to me that I was hyper and erratic by family members).
I feel trapped in a viscious circle. Depression to anxiety to paranoia to mania and back again so when I started to feel happy on Wellbutrin it was such a relief but when the terrible side effects didn't go away I was very disappointed.

Anyway, onwards and upwards!

Thanks to moderator, and all who took time to help me out.

X
FM

 

[ro4eva]

<Mod note: moved from an old thread that was bumped>

I haven't posted here in a while.
Started on wellbrutin back in November and initially it helped lift me out of my chronic depression (BPD).
I was prescribed 300 mg extended release tablets but could only manage 150mg as I am fighting hypomania and major anxiety every day for about 8 hours. I have to take Xanax to bring me down and reduce my speech and prevent me from going into full blown panic attacks. I've had to increase all my other meds to counteract the side effects of not being able to sleep, driving too fast and crying uncontrollably because of terrible anxiety.

Two questions are there non slow release tabs and Are they better or worse than slow release I.e. would you get a full rushnof the drug at once?

Has anyone found lower doses effective I.e. 75mg?

Thx
FM

Hi there, I just wanted to say that I'm also taking Xanax and Wellbutrin XL together (going on 7 and 1/2 years now).

To answer your question - Yeah it's more of a noticeable up and down (at least IME) as the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream, crosses the blood-brain barrier, and is then eliminated from the body. I liked it more than the Wellbutrin XL I'm on because of this. However, I also found that, the mood swings I get from the drug (mostly irritability) was far more pronounced and unpredictable than the extended release version. Lastly, shortly before it would be time for the next dose of the day, I'd feel like I'm crashing. And that's not a good thing when I'm supposed to be taking the stuff to feel better in the long term and to stabilize my mood. Too much of this roller coaster-type shit made me decide to switch back to XL. That and I couldn't believe how much of an asshole I was during certain times of the day to those I love. Not worth it.

 

[Furry mouth]

I couldn't believe how much of an asshole I was during certain times of the day to those I love. Not worth it.

Hi ro4eva,
Well I agree totally. It's not worth it. There’ always a trade off with drugs, I found the agitation terrible and was taking it out on my family. So while I wasn’t deeply depressed, the xanax and clonazepam were to help me sleep to get rid of agitation and help with heart palpitations. Anyway, shrink told me to wean myself off them safely and asap……………so next step Prozac. For the first time in my life I ended up taking anti-arrhythmia and beta blockers something which I have never had to do outside of hospital and for crying out loud, I’m not ancient by any stretch of the imagination.
ttfn
FM