Wellbutrin and Anxiety/GAD worsening?

[Wonderful.Cheese]

I've been in panic mode all day and this has been going on for a bit now. The anxiety has been severe. 

I am starting to suspect that the Wellbutrin I've been taking is making my GAD about a billion times worse. I literally am so worried and panicked over everything and nothing all at once. 

I can't go on like this. I'll become house bound again. Not driving or functioning at all. 

Yet I fear if I don't continue with Wellbutrin then I'll be stuck depressed forever. I need something for the depression. But honestly my anxiety is now just as bad as the depression almost. 

What do I do????!!??

[Wonderful.Cheese]

I called my nurse and said I think I need to stop the Wellbutrin.

So I guess I'll be less anxious but still bad off depression wise.

pdoc won't do anything (IF he does anything), til I see him mid February. I can't wait that long.

Another thing to panic about. 

[saintalto]

I swear I replied to this.

I'll do it again. I was taken off Wellbutrin after around 9-10 years of being on it. It was great until it wasn't. Caused me anxiety/psychosis and I had to stop.

Call the office and badger them. Over and over. You shouldn't have to wait until February, especially if its causing symptoms. 

[San]

When I was on wellbutrin, my anxiety skyrocketed. I was checking over and over again. Worrying. Panic attacks. Could hardly leave the house after a few months. Panic attacks while driving. Lowered the dose, got better, completely went off, and it was gone. It took a few months for the compulsions and anxiety to kick in (I was on 450mg) but it got bad. 

[Velvet Elvis]

It works great for me, but I can't take it without at least an SSRI to counter the increased anxiety.

 

[melissaw72]

My DR lowered the wellbutrin dose recently because something was keeping me awake.  Went down to 2-  200mg IR pills/day and it worked.  I sleep a lot more now.  So I can see how it could effect anxiety.  At 2 a day the med works really well for me.

[Wonderful.Cheese]

Thanks. Well I haven't heard back of course from my nurse. So whatever. I just stopped taking it today. I was only on a tiny dose anyway. 

Today I was a little less anxious but still miserable.

[melissaw72]

2 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said:

Thanks. Well I haven't heard back of course from my nurse. So whatever. I just stopped taking it today. I was only on a tiny dose anyway. 

Today I was a little less anxious but still miserable.

I would try calling your nurse back again tomorrow.  Even though you are on a small dose of the wellbutrin, if the nurse says you can go off of it, I would taper it down.

[heilmania]

3 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said:

Thanks. Well I haven't heard back of course from my nurse. So whatever. I just stopped taking it today. I was only on a tiny dose anyway. 

Today I was a little less anxious but still miserable.

Oof. I was on Wellbutrin for a short time as a teenager. It caused full-on hallucinations and anxiety like woah. Everyone reacts differently to different meds, but that stuff was terrible for me. Sorry you're going through this. :/

Edited January 14, 2016 by heilmania

[Wonderful.Cheese]

Thanks guys. I took it today. I don't want to seem non compliant for meds.

Husband also pushed me. We don't want to see me going back to daily monitored meds. That would suck.

So I guess I have to put up with this til mid February. I will try calling my nurse again today but I doubt she will get back to me. 

[Rabbit37]

Good luck, Cheese. I tried WB for a few weeks, I was crawling out of my skin the whole time, and pretty much became a raging bitch. It might be great for some, but definitely not me. 

[heilmania]

21 minutes ago, Wonderful.Cheese said:

Thanks guys. I took it today. I don't want to seem non compliant for meds.

Husband also pushed me. We don't want to see me going back to daily monitored meds. That would suck.

So I guess I have to put up with this til mid February. I will try calling my nurse again today but I doubt she will get back to me. 

I'd call and harass that nurse until she helps (but hey, I'm pushy). A month is a long time to suffer through negative side effects. :/

I hope she calls you back.

[melissaw72]

9 minutes ago, heilmania said:

I'd call and harass that nurse until she helps (but hey, I'm pushy). A month is a long time to suffer through negative side effects. :/

I hope she calls you back.

I would also bother that nurse until she gets back to you. I"m pushy too, and hate when people do not get back to me within a reasonable time frame.

Cheese, sorry if I missed this ... but did you leave an urgent message when you called your nurse yesterday?

[Wonderful.Cheese]

Thanks again guys. 

I did not call yesterday. I know I should be more pushy. I know they don't take me seriously. And I'm worried that if I am pushy they will just gossip about me more, like I'm being a drama queen or something. That pisses me off.

I just called now and said I can't wait a month and something needs to be done. 

I will try to call again today like maybe 2 hours from now I think?

[dancesintherain]

I definitely agree with the being pushy until you get a response. You shouldn't have to be. One call should be all that it takes to get them to respond to you. But if it's not enough, then more calls it is.

You could think about whether you want to say something like that when you call back--for example, something like "I recognize this is the third time I've called you in the past three days, but I still haven't heard back and I really need something to change. I can't keep handling these side effects and I obviously can't make any changes on my own. So please, please either talk to me about options or tell me what I need to do." You know the person better than I do, so you know whether that might be helpful or might make it worse.

It frustrates the living daylights out of me how much you have to pester them to get them willing to interact with you--I literally call and leave one message and by the end of the day at worst (sometimes within a few hours) have a call back, a conversation (the length of which depends on how complicated the issue is and whether he's proposing different options or just telling me what to do), and then a script gets called in if needed.  I don't know if there's anyone you can complain to about their lack of responsiveness (someone in charge of the organization who's higher up who would care about customer satisfaction?), but it might be worth doing some time.

[Wonderful.Cheese]

6 minutes ago, dancesintherain said:

I definitely agree with the being pushy until you get a response. You shouldn't have to be. One call should be all that it takes to get them to respond to you. But if it's not enough, then more calls it is.

You could think about whether you want to say something like that when you call back--for example, something like "I recognize this is the third time I've called you in the past three days, but I still haven't heard back and I really need something to change. I can't keep handling these side effects and I obviously can't make any changes on my own. So please, please either talk to me about options or tell me what I need to do." You know the person better than I do, so you know whether that might be helpful or might make it worse.

It frustrates the living daylights out of me how much you have to pester them to get them willing to interact with you--I literally call and leave one message and by the end of the day at worst (sometimes within a few hours) have a call back, a conversation (the length of which depends on how complicated the issue is and whether he's proposing different options or just telling me what to do), and then a script gets called in if needed.  I don't know if there's anyone you can complain to about their lack of responsiveness (someone in charge of the organization who's higher up who would care about customer satisfaction?), but it might be worth doing some time.

Thanks so much for the ideas of what to say! I get phone anxiety and go blank when trying to leave a message. 

I have complained to my tdoc before about them not getting back to me for 8 days and then it's just to tell me that I have to wait til my next appointment (which could be up to 3-4 months away). 

Tdoc just said I have to consider that the nurse or pdoc might be out of the office for a few days and that I shouldn't get mad at them. It's hard not to get upset though especially when I see them at the clinic and they have not called back in over a week.

I have complained about my pdoc this past year for giving me incorrect med advice. To no avail because I'm just another crazy person I guess. 

 

[dancesintherain]

You're welcome. That's definitely a frustrating tdoc response. Depending on how comfortable you are with making noise...maybe not the best thing to do if there aren't a lot of options, but at least something to consider...there's usually someone above all the clinical staff.  In my neck of the woods, they usually have the title of Clinical Director, but there are probably other options/names out there.  I don't know--it just seemed to me like it might be a situation where escalating the problem (in general, rather than the specific one) wouldn't hurt.

[Wonderful.Cheese]

I just talked to nurse. She actually picked up the phone.

She basically made it seem like I'm under "stress" and I need to work on my DBT skills. Excuse me? What stress is new? I've been driving again for a few years now and husband had cancer several years ago! Why all of a sudden would this stress me out just out of the blue? 

And I'm offended that they think I just need to work harder in therapy. I do every fucking thing they tell me to do! I tried all the alternative routes of mega doses of therapy (weekly) and group therapy (3 times a week) and tried the stupid light box, etc. What the fuck do I need to do to try harder? 

Why do they make it seem like I'm just out to "score" some psych meds (um....huh?)? My old pdoc's at the clinic never made me feel like that. In fact, my last message to the stupid nurse was to ask to get off a med (the Wellbutrin). So wtf? 

I'm exasperated. She reluctantly said she would contact pdoc again. Though I doubt I'd get a different answer than WAIT A MONTH UNTIL I SEE YOU! And the clinic closes in 40 minutes. I'm panicked that they are going to make me suffer forever! 

And I'm going to run out of Wellbutrin in 2 days now. The mail order pharmacy has somehow screwed up my order. "Oh well!"

[Wonderful.Cheese]

So I called at 10 mins to clinic closing time and left a panicked/crying message basically saying the following.......

 

 

You know it really offends me that u guys think I just need to try harder at DBT/therapy

I see Todc every week and do group therapy 3 times a week and fill out the diary cards and do everything you guys suggest

Even tried the stupid light box and still use it

Nothing is working

i am miserable and depressed and anxious and hearing voices

you need to tell me what I need to do because I'm trying my hardest here and not being taken seriously when in crisis like I am right now

You need to call me and tell me WHAT DO I NEED TO DO????? What am I doing wrong here????

[Wonderful.Cheese]

Nothing gets better does it?!?!!

That's the joke iv of all. I guess. 

[melissaw72]

1 hour ago, Wonderful.Cheese said:

So I called at 10 mins to clinic closing time and left a panicked/crying message basically saying the following.......

 

 

You know it really offends me that u guys think I just need to try harder at DBT/therapy

I see Todc every week and do group therapy 3 times a week and fill out the diary cards and do everything you guys suggest

Even tried the stupid light box and still use it

Nothing is working

i am miserable and depressed and anxious and hearing voices

you need to tell me what I need to do because I'm trying my hardest here and not being taken seriously when in crisis like I am right now

You need to call me and tell me WHAT DO I NEED TO DO????? What am I doing wrong here????

That sucks, Cheese.  I hope someone at the clinic responds to you about the message you left.  If you need to call again, try first thing in the morning, and then try calling every hour until you get a call back.  You shouldn't have to wait all day to not get a call.

PLUS, it is a 3-day weekend so you might not be able to get a person to answer the phone until next Tuesday.

Edited January 15, 2016 by melissaw72

[heilmania]

 

2 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said:

So I called at 10 mins to clinic closing time and left a panicked/crying message basically saying the following.......

 

 

You know it really offends me that u guys think I just need to try harder at DBT/therapy

I see Todc every week and do group therapy 3 times a week and fill out the diary cards and do everything you guys suggest

Even tried the stupid light box and still use it

Nothing is working

i am miserable and depressed and anxious and hearing voices

you need to tell me what I need to do because I'm trying my hardest here and not being taken seriously when in crisis like I am right now

You need to call me and tell me WHAT DO I NEED TO DO????? What am I doing wrong here????

That's infuriating. I'm glad you left that message. They need to take their patients seriously. I'm sorry, Cheese. 

[Velvet Elvis]

I'd drop the WB.  They know damn well it has the potential to increase anxiety.  It's one of the most common side effects.  Pdocs like to use it with BP folks because it doesn't mess with serotonin.  Mixing it with Provigil could increase the anxiety risk.  Dropping that and keeping the WB could be an option, but don't do it on your own.  

Pretty much the only reason I take an AP at all is to keep meds like Wellbutrin from making my anxiety/OCD worse.  

 

[melissaw72]

Quote

 Mixing it with Provigil could increase the anxiety risk.

I totally agree with this.

[water]

Provigil makes me manic. totally. I only took it when I was sleeping all day after my brother died.

You are taking 50mg. of Wellbutrin? That must be the immediate release. The IR Wellbutrin mades me so stressed and panicked. Only the release pills (the SR and the XL) worked.
My pdoc did tell me that if I ever wanted to stop the wellbutrin I could just stop. It is not like Lexapro which leaves the body immediately. Wellbutrin must take time to leave the system so you can stop cold turkey.

Curious - are you taking a brand or the generic?

There are many many people here who cannot tolerate wellbutrin. Seems like you gave this med a good 'college try'. If you go off it does NOT automatically mean your depression will come storming back. One day at a time.

Great message you left the tdoc.  This is your life, your meds, your docs. They are there for you.  It is awful and very disheartening to feel that your doctors don't understand, don't care. But that is THEIR issue, nothing to do with you. For all you know if you were calm and easy, they would still be arrogant and misunderstand.  It is so important in all areas of our health, that we lead the doctors to the truth. Only YOU know what is working and what is not working. Do not feel ashamed or guilty for calling them. It takes forever for the right meds sometimes and I trust that eventually your cocktail will appear. In the meantime, stick to your guns, let them know the truth. As they say, don't let the bastards get you down.