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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Wellbutrin XL canceling out hydrocodone? Plus introduction

ladyzep

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 20, 2012
Messages
4
Hi all,

I'm new here, let me introduce myself. I'll try to fast forward quickly. I'm a 26 year old female, and have been struggling with nerve pain issues since I was 18 (interstitial cystitis to be specific.) I had never tried anything before for it. I stubbornly wanted to be drug-free. Well, at 24, I got pregnant, and had been on Cymbalta for a year and a half (finally had given in due to its use for chronic pain and also for depression, which I had.) Well, getting off was pure torture, and I vowed to never go on an SNRI again.

Post pregnancy, I am stricken with mysterious fibromyalgia, according to the docs. Like, everywhere hurts. And, i just dont ever. want. to. do. anything. I've been given Norco 10s for the past 8 months or so, and I became obsessed with them, in a way. It was like what my brain was missing all my life. I still neeeded an antidepressant, tried a few...i'll give details if it helps. zoloft was the first; after 25mgs (the lowest dose,) i was bouncing off the walls high as hell. what...? my psych was shocked. she said thats a very unusual reaction to zoloft. then we tried lexapro. after only two doses, i became extremely apathetic and depressed. i couldnt make it to the two week mark, even on the 10mgs. finally, tried prozac. just didnt seem impressed with it. SORT OF took the edge off, but just didnt seem to really be doing much for me.

Been self-medicating with Xanax and my Norcos (all prescribed), and that is the only time I feel good. Decided to ask the doctor for Wellbutrin XL, since i've heard so many great things about it -- it gives you tons of energy, motivation, focus, lose weight, no sexual side effects -- sounds like a miracle pill! Except...I'm on my second day of Wellbutrin 300mgs, and I feel foggy-headed, kind of lethargic, lazy -- and WORST OF ALL -- it seems to have made the Norco INEFFECTIVE?! I used to be able to wake up, pop about four 7.5mgs Norcos, and feel great for a few hours. Now I feel nothing from them. I asked the doctor if theres some type of contradiction, and she said no. Well, I think she meant it wont kill me. But i googled it, and didnt find toooo much similar info, but enough to make me see that it can in fact kill the opiate "buzz" you get. This is upsetting me. Of course I dont want to stay on the Norco forever, but I have horrible pain (treating with several doctors and physical therapists and naturopaths, so it's not like i'm not trying,) and basically my only reason to wake up was for my initial morning Norco buzz. It gave me energy, let me play with my 6 month old daughter, get out of bed, be social, talkative, funny. I was in love with it. I'm going to have to stop taking the Wellbutrin if this is true. It could be a coincidence; after all, i've only been on the wellbutrin for 2 days now. But something tells me it's not =/ I'm not abusing Norco per se, fibromyalgia is terribly painful....i have terrible muscle and joint pain all over my body that mysteriously arrived my third trimester of pregnancy, and the doctors thought it would go away,and it hasnt. but i'm also very depressed, and that hydrocodone buzz was the best antidepressant out there for me it seemed.

If wellbutrin is going to ruin my hydrocodone buzz, or is not going to work on me, then I have only one choice left -- Effexor, Cymbalta's slightly less evil cousin.

to sum it up, i need energy, motivation, less fatigue, less aches and pains, and a mood lift I'd go back on Cymbalta if it wasn't so horribly addictive and pesronality-changing. Plus, I could never get past the 40mg dosage. Never could handle 60. Bad insomnia. But wow, that drug was effective. Helped with pain and made my sex drive go through the roof, surprisingly. So obviously I respond to norepinephrine. From what I understand, wellbutrin will increase norepinephrine AND dopamine. i read the dopamine could be canceling out my hydro. i NEED the hydro for a while longer until we find a holistic way to treat my pain condition, and until i can find a suitable antidepressant. i live with my 6 month old daughter and a friend, in a large house, and no energy is not acceptable. i almost want to just go out and try to get Adderall from a psych.

Experiences? Opinions?

Any help is appreciated.
Thank you.
 
Hi lazyzep :) Welcome to Bluelight.

I know you're not going to want to hear this, but opioids are a terrible idea for fibromyalgia. You get some temporary relief, but in the long-run they actually worsen fibromyalgia. Imagine having to take high doses of strong opioids just in order to feel how you currently feel when you don't take any meds. And if you think Cymbalta withdrawal was torture, you will literally want to kill yourself if you ever have to stop using opioids after becoming physiologically dependent (I have experienced withdrawals from both). I would seriously consider stopping the hydrocodone and giving the Wellbutrin a try. You say you don't want to stay on Norco forever, but the way you are speaking about it is indicative that you will develop problems with opioids and will not be content to just take a weak opioid for a short period of time: "I was in love with it", "I NEED the hydro", "my only reason to wake up was for my initial morning Norco buzz". What will you do when the Norcos don't work for you anymore (you may already be developing a tolerance btw) and your doctor refuses to prescribe you more? Please please stop the opioids while it's still relatively easy. You are heading down a bad path, after long-term use of opioids my fibromyalgia is at least 100 times worse, I'm not exaggerating. The honeymoon period of relief was certainly not worth this.

I am not just some unusual case. A 2004 review of fibromyalgia treatment studies determined opioids "should be considered only after all other medicinal and nonmedicinal therapies have been exhausted." The use of opioids in fibromyalgia is not recommended because their long-term use can worsen pain, mood, such as depression, and they have high addiction and dependence potential, as well as have a significant adverse effect profile. On the other hand, there are other treatments for which an evidence base of effectiveness and long-term efficacy exists.

Please let me know if you would like some alternative suggestions as to things to try for your fibromyalgia (many of the best options do not actually involve prescription drugs). I know it's so easy and tempting to just take an opioid for fast relief, but that relief does not last and is not worth the consequences.

*EDIT: Also let me know if you want some tips on supplements for your interstitial cystitis, I have that too :)
 
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