• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

Mental Health Wellbutrin (Bupropion) Withdrawal

purplepassion

purplepassion

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
13
Location
Wilkes-Barre, PA
I think i weaned myself off Wellbutrin to quickly and I have not had any since Feb 25th but I am going through hell. I was seeing dark shadows of a cat 2 days running around, crying, very depressed, face is twitching and I can't seem to crawl out of this. Any advise? I was going to take a Xanax but I am afraid.
 
Please see your doctor about this. Bupropion withdrawal is not normally that bad. You might have to go back on a low dose and do a proper taper. See what your doctor says. In the meantime, taking a normal/low dose of Xanax should be fine, but you don't want to make a habit of that.
 
Yes, I would consult with your prescribing doctor.

If you were getting visual disturbances from that dose of bupriopon (or were they appearing after you stopped?) there's something else at play here.
 
Thanks for answering these questions guys. Purplepassion is my mom and I really have no advice on wellbutrin to give her so I directed her here. Doctors have been no help and in my opinion are causing her harm at this point so I recommended she ask advice from people who actually have experience with the drug..not a doctor who's never taken or experienced it's withdrawals. She tapered in a week (recommended by him) which IMO was too fast and provided no support or knowledge on what to do to do a proper taper/substitute for helping taper.

Yesterday he prescribed her diazepam and seroquel. She has been on Wellbutrin and Celexa for the past 6 months I believe (I may be wrong she has no idea how to work BL so she'll find the post eventually and respond with exact lengths of time). Celexa and Seroquel apparently have reactions when taken together so the guy is an idiot. He has hinted about admitting her to the hospital because she calls him for advice while explaining her symptoms and he thinks she is unstable. She is in no way unstable. Just withdrawing and having a very hard time with it.

She needs to know a taper plan (if anyone has one) if anyone can give advice and time frames. She needs to post her current doses on all medications she was taking. I'm not sure what will cure the hallucinations other than a slower taper but maybe someone has some advice.

If this is more suited for TDS since it is more than a simple question it can be moved there.

<3
 
Last edited:
I was not so sure what I could take.

Thanks to my daughter and son #2 and all of you for helping. I was not sure what dose of xanax to take or what I should take. I was on only 100mg of wellbutrin 2x a day and 30mg of Celexa. I have extreme panic attacks and agoraphobia along with depression. I have also pdss. I was on the Celexa for my problems but I wanted to sleep 16 hours a day so he said he would put me on Wellbutrin to keep me awake and it will also help for depression. I went off of it on the 25th of feb and I was crying and all messed up. I even seen shadows that would scurry across the ground like a black cat. I went back to him and he said don't go back on the Wellbutrin, take diazepam 2mg 2x a day and I think it is 25mg of seroquel. After hearing the horror stories of seroquel I did not take it. I called the doctor today and he never returned my call :(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It sounds to me like a new doctor might be in order. That said, contact the pharmacist from where you are getting your medications filled. They are often more well informed than the doctors writing for them.

If a taper is advised, and you can't get in with a new doctor an emergency room should be able to provide the help to get things regulated until you can find someone more in tune to caring about what you're going through.

I'd just urge you to consider, stopping different medications effects individuals in unique and sometimes nasty ways. Don't go around thinking it's some flaw in yourself, it's just your body reacting to a readjusting brain chemistry. Stay positive, take an active role in receiving the care you deserve, and keep us updated on how you are doing. <3
 
Wait, so you're experiencing hallucinations upon stopping bupropion and instead of starting bupropion again you're taking a benzo and an ap?

Firstly, bupropion is known for being a great ad for people with bi-polar in that it largely stops manic episodes too, and since mania oftentimes has psychotic symptoms (and that both mania and schizophrenia act through the same or very similar pathways) its not unreasonable to suggest that bupropion has some kind of ap effect, shown through your withdrawal symptoms. Secondly, your doctor will probably be making you more depressed by giving you two drugs which in their own right are known for causing depression. Just a few thoughts.
 
^ Very probable. I was also thinking that dopamine receptor hyperactivity may possibly be implicated as well, as in the case of psychosis induced by amphetamine withdrawal, since both are dopaminergic substances. I've scoured around with little luck in finding psychosis as a side-effect in any case report of bupropion withdrawal. It may help to use a substance which mimics bupropion with noradrenergic and dopaminergic properties such as mirtazapine to use as a step down drug along with a benzodiazepine.

purplepassion I hope your doing well, and please post here to inform us of your progress. I'm going to move your thread over to The Dark Side, as you're weening off an anti-depressant, and it would be good to hear some advice on how to cope with the withdrawal, and to manage the symptoms the medication was treating on your own.

BDD---->TDS
 
A quick search yielded nothing for me in regards to psychosis and bupropion withdrawal, too. Oh yes its certainly dopamine hyper-activity. Whatever you do please don't take a stimulant, though. I noticed stimulants affecting me much more (even coffee) after I stopped taking bupropion, as an anecdote.
 
horror stories about seroquel are when people are prescribed 300mg+ as an anti-psychotic

25-50mg is actually a very useful sleep aid and mild anxiolytic
 
Thank you for your help. I heard from the dr. today and he has given me trazadone for night time and citralopram in the am. I hope it is ok to take these together.
 
Yes it's not a problem to take them together.

Hope you're doing alright.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top