Wellbutrin fatigue?

[Guest MoodSwingin']

After no luck with SSRIs and other pills, I went on bupropion about 5 years ago. It changed my life. I felt normal. Lost weight. Got motivated. Had a sex drive again. (I also take Pristiq to get over the menstrual hump.)

Slowly but surely, though, the depression seems to be coming back. It's been so gradual that it's been hard to tell. But I'm having more and more weekends in bed; I'm starting to burst into tears for no reason; and the bad thoughts about myself are coming back. I feel like I have no friends, no hope, no reason to exist.

I guess I need to revisit my meds (and my therapist). I can't go any higher in mg. But what else is like wellbutrin? Nothing else has worked for me.

[olga]

I agree that you need to see the therapist---this could be something to work out in therapy.

However, if bupropion is losing its effectiveness, there are other antidepressants that could be tried. You need to see a psychiatrist and learn about the alternatives. There have been some changes in the past 5 years and there might be a new AD that works for you.

If you are on a generic bupropion, particularly the Teva version, that might be the source of your problem. You could ask you doctor to write you a prescription for another one of the generics.

olga

[Catnapper]

About a year and a half ago I was also having low-level depression symptoms that wouldn't go away, so the pdoc started me on Lamictal, a mood stabilizer. It's been great for me, see my signature below.

When I was dx'ed with major depressive disorder, recurrent, I had the atypical symptoms of eating and sleeping too much. That combined with five episodes of major depression is what made the pdoc switch my dx from MDD to BP II, even though I've never been manic or even hypomanic. I don't care what he calls it, but his decision to start me Lamictal was a great idea.

I was on 450 mg of Wellbutrin when I started the Lamictal, and had nightmares for the first few nights so the pdoc reduced the WB down to 300 mg and I haven't had a nightmare since.

I also had no luck with SSRIs, which is the first class of ADs I tried. The WB worked great for me, too, and has since been augmented a few different times as I've gotten depressed while on it and needed something extra to get me back to normal. The WB/Lamictal combo has been the best yet. I hope you find something that works for you.

(edited for typos)

[etkearne]

Some pdocs will augment Buproprion therapy with a low dose of Methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta). My therapy went in this direction. What my pdoc did was took me off of Bupropion, put me onto a moderate dose of Effexor XR (225mg), then added 18mg Concerta (the lowest dose). It helped a bit. Eventually, this vein of treatment expanded, and I was put on a low dose of Adderall, which, for me, helps my depression more evenly without crashes. These are addictive drugs, but at low doses, they can be used as augmentation.