Posted by jane d on January 31, 2003, at 14:22:14
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and tantrums, posted by ricardo on January 30, 2003, at 18:52:17
Ric,
You don't say how long ago you changed to the Wellbutrin. I'm guessing from what you say about the insurance that it was about 2 months ago. That's about the right time frame for your depression to be coming back if the Wellbutrin is not working for you. When I discontinued an SSRI (Prozac in my case instead of Paxil) that's about how long it took for me to get depressed again. I found that the Prozac seemed to work especially well on the kind of rages you describe and my understanding is that all the SSRIs are alike in that way. Sometimes taking an SSRI and Wellbutrin eliminates the sexual side effects of the SSRI. For me the combination is also a better antidepressant than either one alone.
I take 300 mg a day of Wellbutrin but I don't think 150 is that uncommon. Since you weren't going to be around to follow up with her I don't blame your doctor for not wanting to raise the dose. And since it looks like the Wellbutrin is not good for you that was probably a good thing. If you can't wait until next week for any reason, if either your depression or your anger gets completely out of your control, then call back the first doctor. You are still her responsibility until you see the new doctor. And when you do see the new doctor make sure that you can call in between appointments if you need to. One month is too long to wait if you are having problems with a new medication.
A final note. I also found that Wellbutrin made me nervous for the first few weeks of taking it and that this effect wore off. If you haven't been on it that long that could be what you are experiencing but I don't really think the anger and nervousness are connected. At least they weren't for me.
Good luck.
Jane
PS It helps to have an agenda any time you go into see a doctor. That's not always easy to do if you feel awful and I often find I forget about half of what I planned to ask but at least I get answers to the other half. It's not to early to start figuring out exactly what you want to stress with this doctor next week. What you think is wrong, anything you think is important that you think the other doctor didn't focus in on, etc. Then try to figure out what questions you will have about any suggestions the doctor makes. It's a good guess that the pdoc will either switch or add to your meds so you might want to come in with a list of the questions that will be important to you. For example: Does this drug have sexual side effects? Can I stop it suddenly if it makes me feel worse or do I need to stop it slowly? Can I miss doses? Double them? Will it help with anger? What is it supposed to do? What do I do if I have XYZ side effect? Whatever is most important to you.
poster:jane d
thread:138422
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030130/msgs/138563.html