If your physician suggests an anti-depressant for your mild depression, addiction and MAJOR ANXIETY and she even tells you that it might make you more nervous, you might want to question that decision. Because you wouldn’t want to spend the next 48 hours FREAKING RIGHT THE FUCK OUT having panic attacks at Taste of India when there is delicious palak paneer and daal fry to be had. (Mmmm, and mint chutney.) You wouldn’t want to spend a perfectly beautiful Saturday or Sunday night balled up in the floor trying to breathe normally and not fly right out of the skin you’d rather claw off than exist within. You wouldn’t want to feel like running yet be totally incapable of getting off the couch.
You know you wouldn’t want that. You’ve been warned.
35 comments ↓
Something similar happened to a friend of mine. Mild depression seems WAY better than that option.
I hate that feeling. One day it just started happening to me on a regular basis. It took me about 2 weeks to discover that it was an allergy to caffeine that I suddenly developed. I used to be able to drink coffee at anytime. Now a coke will drive me up the wall. My heart will like skip a beat then go turbo and I feel like ripping off all my clothes and running away from whatever I’m doing. It totally sucks. HurraY for Decaf Latte’s.
My experience with Wellbutrin was freaking awful. The doctor prescribed it to me to help me quit smoking and it turned me into an absolute jerk. I had fights with my wife (and we NEVER fight) and had several anxiety attacks, like you mentioned.
Worse part was I went back to smoking two months after I quit. All that work for nuthin’.
On the flip side, our Jay has successfully cut back to one cigarette a week (down from a pack a day) and is feeling more productive, largely due to the Wellbutrin, so, you know, different strokes, all that.
I’ve had an extremely positive and side-effect-free experience with Wellbutrin. In fact, it’s managed to eliminate some of the more…er…frustrating side-effects that accompany SSRIs.
Yay for Jay!
I know that it works for lots of people and I think that is so great, but the post wouldn’t have been as good if I was all diplomatic about it and shit.
Oh ya! Wellbutrin is definately the worst anti-depressant I have tried! I was like a psycho person on that stuff. Honestly, I think almost all of the anti-depressants out there suck. They help at first, but then (in my experience) just make you worse in the long run. The best medicine I think it to just try to learn how to control your subconscious. Of course this is much easier said than done. Clonazepam is a good one for just straight anxiety though.
I noticed you have a goooogle ad for Welbutrin on the side. You sell-out!
your live journal looks really pretty
Yeah, it’s working pretty well for me. Plus it just makes me feel goooooood besides. Not “high” good, just “ahhhhhh” good. I’ll be sad after this refill runs out.
Yeah, it’s working pretty well for me. Plus it just makes me feel goooooood besides. Not “high” good, just “ahhhhhh” good. I’ll be sad after this refill runs out.
I hate IE5 for OS9.
a friend of mine went through the same thing when he started on Wellbutrin. Turns out he had to cut caffeine out of his diet.
My physician tried putting me on Wellbutrin a couple of years ago, but I was on Zoloft at the time, which did little but make me extremely edgy. The Wellbutrin helped sharpen my thinking, but it also amplified that edginess, so we dropped it after a few months.
I have since switched to fluoxetine (Prozac), which has worked much, much better than the Zoloft. It’s cheaper, too, since the patent has expired and it’s now available generically.
I ran out a few weeks ago, and–being a once-fearless intrepid tripper–I decided to use my leftover stock of Wellbutrin to tide me over until my prescription was refilled. (I can just hear all the physicians and pharmacists groaning in horror!) Taken by itself, without the Zoloft, it seemed to have a much more beneficial effect. I suddenly felt more energy and enthusiasm than I’ve felt in years. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), it was a short-lived experiment. Just as I used the last of my Wellbutrin, I got my 90-day refill of generic Prozac.
The moral of the story is that psychopharmacology is extremely hard to predict, due to the complexity of brain chemistry. That difference obviously exists between individual patients, but it even exists within the individual. What works today may not work as well, or at all, tomorrow. Please report your experiences to you physician and see if a reduced dose may be in order, especially as you become acclimated to it. Or perhaps another medication would be more effective. Don’t give up.
What Scott said…this stuff varies wildly. Like jpoulos, I had a pretty good experience with Wellbutrin. My doc started me on it, and the only real side effect was slightly more pronounced insomnia than I already had, for which she prescribed as-needed Sonata.
Then she added Celexa to the Wellbutrin, and the resulting combination did wonders for me. (And Zoloft, seligiline, and Prozac never did anything.)
Wellbutrin made me an absolute giddy mess for a few weeks.
I damned near miss it.
Wellbutrin is from The Devil. For real. I had to be taken off of it because I was seeing demons. Can you believe that? I was dealing with minor depression and they gave me a drug that made me see demons!
Now, I just stick with weed.
I was taking wellbutrin for the smoking thing and holy cow talk about sexual side effects. I could have been a hole in the mattress for as much as I got out of it. Hell, I didn’t even want to have sex with myself and that has never happened since the onset of puberty.
That’s why I take speed instead. A lot less variables to work out.
I’ve been on wellbutrin for a half year now and can’t tell a difference. I don’t even notice I’m on in.
Doc: is it helping? hurting?
Me: I have no idea.
Doc: Here’s some more prescriptions
Something else to keep in mind: once you find the medication(s) that work for you, ask your doc for 90-day prescriptions. Most medical plans offer deep, deep discounts when you order a three-month supply through their mail order pharmacy. Most doctors are blissfully unaware of this, so they write a 30-day script with two refills.
The savings can be tremendous–I pay about $.30 per generic Prozac on the 90-day plan, vs. about $2.00 a pill when I get a 30-day supply. It may not make a difference to the doctor, but it sure as hell matters to me!
Wellbutrin is Like Speed But Not Fun
People have all kinds of reactions to a given drug. Here are some comments from people who have tried Wellbutrin….
I need to get off the weed and my Dr. prescribed Wellbutrin. The weed calms me down after a long day of work and it puts my head on straight for dealing with cooking dinner, helping with homework and other fatherly duties. Will it pick up the slack for me after the weed is gone?? I’m still not convinced I want to try it.
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http://216.69.190.233/wwwboard/messages/3328.html deflatedfifthgrumps
I have full confidence over my family physician.
10-15-2005
Well, I’ve just begun the “noble experiment”, going boldly to Planet Welllbutrin. I was so frustrated with the sexual side-effects of the other antidepressants - and, believe me - I need to take antidepressants. So, we’ll see what will happen. I’m a 1960’s survivor, so I’m sure that I’m not gonna try to fly or anything else like that.
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ha ha ha… I’ve been there! Fucking wellbutrin. I couldn’t eat dessert for a month.
After taking Wellbutrin, my breathing rode a thin line between purposful and calculated. I was afraid to stop thinking about breathing for fear of what might happen. I may forget to breath. PLEASE if you have felt this way, POST! My aol address is gobertsm.
I came across your journal entry on Google. I had a similar experience when I first started on Wellbutrin for depression. The strongest panic attack was when I first started, after that the anxiety decreased. Then I had less and less cravings for cigarettes, my libido was back, and I was the happiest I’d been in a long time. Antidepressants do work. Of course, if the side effects are worse than the disease then other alternatives should be sought out.
I started on Wellbutrin a week ago. I can say that I honestly hate it..I have extreme hypersensitivity, and edgey…plus, not sleeping much at all, then everything hurts…I want my zoloft back…
I’ve been on Wellbutrin SR for a week now. I have lost a lot of weight and look pretty good. Unfortuantely, I feel like I’m coming down off of cheap speed, all day long, and cannot sleep. For my money, I’d rather just go with the cocaine. There aren’t too many dancers that want to hang out because of my sweet Wellbutrin connections. This is really f*cking depressing. I’m calling my Dr this morning to discuss it. I need some damn Xanax just to get some sleep.
I saw my doc and casually mentioned that I had been down the last few days, but that there was a history of depression in my family. He casually mentioned Wellbutrin, explaining a low indicidence of side effects which I had with Prozac years ago. He was a general practioner. I said “sure” and started 150mg of XL for 4 days then up to 300mgs on the 5th and thereafter. During the first 4 days I thought it was great. i was giddy, friendly and outgoing. It definitely felt like speed but I liked it and thought that it could help me self-actualize a bit. When I started at 300mg I turned into a neurotic frantic emotionally unstable mess! I tried to hang on for 8 days. I was SOOO miserable. I got off it and asked to go on 150mg dosages. I feel great now (day 2 at 150mg again). But getting to sleep could be hard. Very little appetite. Have lossed weight which is good. Will have to stop all coffee. Taking Sominex to sleep. But I think this is great. This will really help me open up and carry myself with the self-esteem I have lacked for 44 years! Keep the dose low people!!!!
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