Wellbutrin XL?

[mannymoonie3121]

Just got put on Wellbutrin XL and I was wondering about some of your experiences with it. How were the side effects??? Did it help you any??? What didn't you like about it????

[Sophia]

I took it for four or five years; it really helped. The only side effect that bothered me was that I had trouble swallowing sometimes. Otherwise, I had good luck. Good luck with it.

Sophia

[chinacat]

I've taken XL and XR-can't remember which I am on now--but have taken them for almost 5 years. They do well for me. My only weird thing was that when I decided with my pdoc to maybe see if I could titrate down and get off them (maybe I didn't need them--I take a pile of meds)--I had horrible nausea from my Adderall when the Wellbutrin got below a certain point.

But then, I am pharmaceutically interesting.

Supposedly they are a good AD with less "kill all libido" side effects, and I do remember getting a bit of a boost from them initially. But the libido is dead and gone--no hope for that, I guess.

Good luck--

china

[mannymoonie3121]

I have been taking Wellbutrin XL for about three months now. It took me so long to go back for my follow-up visit that I just went up from 150 to 300 mg two days ago. I have noticed an increase in my ability to tough out difficult situations with Wellbutrin. I have also stopped self-medicating with alcohol and other bad substances and behaviors.

One thing that blindsided me was a gradual increase in my anxiety until I realized last weekend that I was getting a "kill or be killed" sort of outlook on the world. Therapy was keeping my nostrils above the waterline, but I was on my tippytoes in the pool.

I went to my GP yesterday to cry uncle, and he bumped me up to 300 mg XL and added 15 mg Buspar to be taken in halves twice a day. There were days when I swore that 150 mg of XL was doing great for me, so it must be true. I tend to forget in five minutes that things are better than they were because I want more improvement right now.

I'll try to drop by and update you after several days with the new dosage and the Buspar.

Thanks so much for all the replies...I hope it doesn't make my anxiety worse...its bad enough as it is. Did Wellbutrin make your energy level go up any???

[olga]

Dummyround, if you are taking 2 150s, you might want to switch to the 300 XL and take it in the morning. That's what I take, and by evening I'm sleepy as all get-out.

Manny, just keep an eye on the anxiety. WB is an excellent antidepressant, but I have heard from some of the BPD folks that it can send their anxiety up a few notches.

olga

[wake me when i'm dead]

i liked wellbutrin ... took care of some of the depression and allowed me to take less dexedrine. unfortunately, i'm one of those kids whose body doesn't like wellbutrin all that much and after a little more than a year *bam* started seizing like a neglected automobile engine.

i wish i could take it, but alas, my body says no. i had to take it in the morning (like so many people) to avoid compounding the insomnia that sometimes keeps me awake for days. i was on 150 mgs of the xl, then 300, then 450 toward the end. in retrospect, the high dosage is probably what pushed me over the seizure edge, but all the same ... it kicked my depression's ass.

[N2Psych4Now]

Just got put on Wellbutrin XL and I was wondering about some of your experiences with it. How were the side effects??? Did it help you any??? What didn't you like about it????

I started on 150XL and within a month my depression had mostly lifted and I felt like I had a second wind. When the doc ran out of samples I had to buy the generic regular formula (75 2x day) and that nearly killed me. I crumbled like a cookie. Everything came flooding back. Now I'm taking 300XL and I think it put a dent in things, but I'm not as good as when I first started WB. It was kind of like going off my meds and going back on them and they didn't work as good as they did before I went off...if that makes any sense. One good side effect I have is that I have less "monthly misery"...down side is anxiety/panic disorder times 10! Whoa momma! The doc is trying to augment that with Ativan, but I suspect a secondary antidepressant is in order. We talked about Effexor or Cymbalta early on...but I'm kind of scared. It's getting to the point where I panic just trying to get out the door in the morning, etc. So I may not have a choice anymore.

Although I'm in a slump now, I still think WB is a really good antidepressant, especially if you're like me and SSRI's never worked. Best wishes

[Rhy]

Just got put on Wellbutrin XL and I was wondering about some of your experiences with it. How were the side effects??? Did it help you any??? What didn't you like about it????

I've been taking 300mg Wellbutrin XL for about 2 years now. It's helped some with the depression. I haven't had problems with anxiety or decreases in libido or anything, it did improve my mood and energy levels. But I can't take it without taking something to get me to sleep (Seroquel) because otherwise I just don't sleep, and well, there's my biggest trigger for hypo. The one thing I hate about it is that it has turned my brain to mush and my memory to seive - but that seems to be true of any AD, and it's the only AD I've really been able to take. For a while over the summer while I was on it I was depressed as fuck and thought it wasn't working, so without consulting my Dr. I just stopped taking it - well I learned one thing, I sure as hell wasn't at rock bottom like I thought, cause it got a whole lot worse, so obviously it had still been doing something, but alone wasn't enough (and that's where Lamotrigine/Lamictal came in and saved my life.) But really everyone is different, it may or may not help, and if it does, the degree to which it does may vary. I'm not going to quit taking it again, 'cause I've realized that even if it's not sufficient, it's still helping.

[lysergia]

300mgs of XL for the last few years (year or so? dunno).

it's the LAST med i'd let anyone take away

it helped with some motivation, energy, and it actually lessened my anxiety, paradoxically (but it happens!). i don't find it does anything to catch the horrid thought processes that go with depression - i need another AD for that. but no AD ever helped with the "can't get out of bed" thing until Wellbutrin... yay! even in a bad mood, i usually want to get up in the morning. and that's a start that was hard to get before.

hope you do well, too.

[Voddy]

Just got put on Wellbutrin XL and I was wondering about some of your experiences with it. How were the side effects??? Did it help you any??? What didn't you like about it????

I pretty much like everything about it, weight loss, normal libido and lifting. It as some people have stated paradoxically helped my anxiety especially non drug induced akathisia unlike SSRIS. I sleep better with it. It makes booze not as pleasant, tastes weird and not relaxing, seems to amplify the nasty stimulant part of booze for me. Altho I must admit I have 'learnt' to drink on it. Not good, I know, and I find it doesn't work on booze. I really need to ditch the booze forever like most BPs. I haven't had memory problems on WB XL, in fact it has made me more focused and energetic, exercise is fun and addictive rather than the dull BP must do chore. I think I have adult ADHD as well and it helps there. I am thinking of upping dose, but am aware of seizures being dose related, especially if binge drinking or in withdrawal. When I came off it I really noticed difference it made so had to go back on. I am BP II. I wont get the generic SR by the way, I noticed a difference, not as good.

[nomi]

The first time I took WB was when I saw a GP, who prescribed a low (100mg, I think) dose of WB SR. While it did bring me out of a deep depression, I was constantly angry and just as anxious as ever, if not moreso. Since I knew little about ADs then, I assumed the anger was just what had been underlying my depression and all I really cared about was that I wasn't depressed anymore. In hindsight, I shouldn't have been taking WB by itself, but after all, I was only seeing a GP, not a pdoc. I didn't believe there was anything wrong with me back then, so after six months, I took myself off it and was off it for over a year. At that point, I had another episode (in hindsight, I can see that it was a mixed episode), so I went to a crisis centre. They assigned me a pdoc and I was put on WB XL. That second time, when my then-pdoc increased my dose, I became an insomniac, my heart raced, and I was on the verge of panic most of the time, so he lowered it to my starting dose (150mg) and added Lexapro. It wasn't really good enough. I should've been on a mood stabilizer, but that's another story.

There are two good things I can say for WB: I had motivation to leave the house and do things again, and it boosted my libido.

[mejeba]

i just got on it too, 4 wks exactly, at 150 mg. It was prescribed FOR my anxiety, lesser for the depression. I was told that many ppl with an anxiety disorder will have anxiety symptoms for the first while and attribute them to the drug, but the symptoms are often psychological and will pass. reverse placebo maybe. but it sounds like anxiety and panic caused by this med continue for many of you over months or years. yes?

for myself, i felt buzzy and energized right from the first day, which, being so immediate, i thought must be a placebo effect cause i'm getting desperate. but that lasted for almost a week, then back to the old shit. still, i really liked that energy (possitive for a change) and would gladly increase the doseage to have it. i think.

4 wks is probably a little early to assume anything i suppose. one thing i know is that i have no side effects at all from it.