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What has been your experience with Wellbutrin

CookieN
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HydroCat

HydroCat

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20 hours ago, CookieN said:

What has been your experience with Wellbutrin? Pros and cons? What does make Wellbutrin different from other antidepressants? Does it stop working after a while?

I am on Wellbutrin for the second time now. Working exactly the same on the same dosage.

It is good for mood and gives an energy boost. This is nice if you have the low-energy/stay-in-bed/don't-leave-the-house type of depression.

It is not supposed to be this good if you have high anxiety levels as it does act like a mild stimulant... not “supposed” to, YMMV.

It is different from SSRIs and SNRIs, which most antidepressants are, by not touching the Serotonin system at all. As such it has a different side-effect profile (weight neutral and no sexual dysfunction for the most). On the other hand, if your depression is caused by an imbalance in the Serotonin system it will not be effective.

Personally I like it.

 

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saintalto

saintalto

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I’ve been on it since I was 19 (I’m 36 now) with a short stint without it a few years back. I do much better with it than without. I have not had any depression issues since I started taking it and as soon as I was taken off it, the depression came right back. It never seems to lose its effect. The side effects have been zero to none for me. I don’t get energized by it like some people do, and I haven’t lost my appetite. It’s been fantastic for me. 

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Unstrung Harp

Unstrung Harp

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I think you're going to get different answers from different people here, so take that with a grain of salt because drugs tend to affect us differently. Wellbutrin was not a good fit for me. Gave me panic attacks the first time I took it, and total agitated crazies the second time I took it. in retrospect that may have been a mixed episode, though that was before my bipolar diagnosis, so nobody was saying that at the time. It is activating, and that might not work if you tend towards agitation or panic at baseline. But some people here swear by it.

Edited by Unstrung Harp
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argh

argh

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Works well. Sort of mildly made me lose my shit in the summer at 300mg xl. I have seasonal issues. 300mg is mostly fine in the winter save for some insomnia.

Maybe the generic maker sucks with the XL formulation.

I'm now on the IR version 2x a day at 100. Feels perfect

Edited by argh
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confused

confused

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I take both lexapro and wellbutrin. Wellbutrin is more stimulating and has more of an anti-depressant effect for me. Lexapro is more calming and helps reduce anxiety more than works on my depression.

When I first took it I felt really weird, speedy, but that went away quickly.

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CrazyRedhead

CrazyRedhead

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4 hours ago, confused said:

 When I first took it I felt really weird, speedy, but that went away quickly.

Same here.....For me, the stimulating effects of WB went away fairly quickly......I'm still taking it, and I don't feel like it's doing anything now, but pdoc keeps me on it.

(Looking for a different pdoc, but that's another story.....**SIGH**)

Edited by CrazyRedhead
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Sync

Sync

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It's been amazing for my depression, at least in concert with sertraline. I've never taken it by itself.

Pros:

- Able to feel joy

- Not in constant psychological agony

- Have energy and motivation

- Anxiety is (paradoxically) better

- Sexual side effects and emotional blunting from the sertraline are gone

- Sleeping better

- Exercise, hygiene, all aspects of general functioning improved

Cons:

- Sweat a lot, constantly, at the drop of a hat

- Can't drink alcohol

- Some OCD symptoms worse, but others better

- Some hypervigilance symptoms worse

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Gearhead

Gearhead

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On 9/8/2019 at 2:16 PM, HydroCat said:

It is different from SSRIs and SNRIs, which most antidepressants are, by not touching the Serotonin system at all. As such it has a different side-effect profile (weight neutral and no sexual dysfunction for the most). On the other hand, if your depression is caused by an imbalance in the Serotonin system it will not be effective.

Personally I like it.

This has been my experience as well. It turns out the serotonin isn’t my issue.

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Blahblah

Blahblah

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Trialed it twice (by itself) It didn't seem to do anything for my mood sadly.

It did give me Tinnitus, sweating, motor activation (restless foot shaking). I keep wanting to trial it again because people always rave about it. And I respond well to dopamine, ritalin is helping more noticeably.

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argh

argh

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13 minutes ago, Blahblah said:

Trialed it twice (by itself) It didn't seem to do anything for my mood sadly.

It did give me Tinnitus, sweating, motor activation (restless foot shaking). I keep wanting to trial it again because people always rave about it. And I respond well to dopamine, ritalin is helping more noticeably.

Did you try IR or SR?

i find the ir version to be more effective with less jittery weirdness than 300mg  Xl.

to be fair however, im on the lowest dose. 100mg 2x a day IR

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Blahblah

Blahblah

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1 hour ago, argh said:

Did you try IR or SR?

i find the ir version to be more effective with less jittery weirdness than 300mg  Xl.

to be fair however, im on the lowest dose. 100mg 2x a day IR

I'm not sure the first trial (maybe SR?) and the 2nd was called Aplenzin (extended release, only formulation available where I was living). Both trials up to 300mg. When did you notice a positive mood affect? I didn't feel noticeably different.

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argh

argh

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15 minutes ago, Blahblah said:

I'm not sure the first trial (maybe SR?) and the 2nd was called Aplenzin (extended release, only formulation available where I was living). Both trials up to 300mg. When did you notice a positive mood affect? I didn't feel noticeably different.

First go around was 4 weeks for the xl version.

going from xl to ir took about 2 to 3 days roughly.

i think @Sync was another person who rode the ir and xl train recently. 

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Cerberus

Cerberus

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When I originally took Wellbutrin solo, it made me so wiggy I had to stop. Now, taking it as an adjunct to Effexor (as an on-again-off-again alternative to Adderall) it kinda-sorta does the job. Except right now, not so much and it's making me clench my jaw like a nutcracker. So, Idunnomaybe.

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argh

argh

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36 minutes ago, Cerberus said:

When I originally took Wellbutrin solo, it made me so wiggy I had to stop. Now, taking it as an adjunct to Effexor (as an on-again-off-again alternative to Adderall) it kinda-sorta does the job. Except right now, not so much and it's making me clench my jaw like a nutcracker. So, Idunnomaybe.

I had the jaw clenching too. For me i had to lower the dose and add gabapentin to make it stop

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Geek

Geek

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Definitely stimulating, but not in a way that helped my ADHD. It just confirmed my need for a sleep aid (and increased dose of that).

At 300mg, I started getting daily headaches bordering on migraines. I only managed that for about a week.

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argh

argh

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6 minutes ago, mcjimjam said:

First time I took it, it gave me heaps of energy and helped with mood but I had bad headaches and was only sleeping 4 hours a night. Second time I took it it didn’t seem to do anything.

Was it monotherapy?

I got the 4hrs a night and wasn't tired when I was only taking it.

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Sync

Sync

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6 hours ago, argh said:

First go around was 4 weeks for the xl version.

going from xl to ir took about 2 to 3 days roughly.

i think @Sync was another person who rode the ir and xl train recently. 

I never noticed any real differences in mood effects between IR and XL, personally. On IR I got extra jittery in the middle of the day and then crashed HARD energywise around 7 or 8 pm. On XL it's a much smoother all-the-time energy and less jitters. The fundamental mood effects are the same for me tho.

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