Posted by Mildred on February 19, 2005, at 19:12:58
In reply to Wellbutrin XL and vomiting, posted by ShimmerMD on February 19, 2005, at 13:55:32
I am currently on 300 mg of Wellbutrin XL and 5 mg of Lexapro. I had been taking Lexapro (20 mg) by itself for a year or so. When I started experiencing fatigue every day, my pdoc added the Wellbutrin and I had no noticeable side effects. Last month I discontinued the Lexapro after verrrrrry gradually weaning off of it. I got down to 5 mg for 6 weeks and never had a problem as I went down. However, when I discontinued the Lexapro, I developed severe nausea, headaches, chills, etc. - the same symptoms that you are experiencing. I assumed it was a withdrawal reaction from the Lexapro. After 2 weeks of this, the pdoc increased the Wellbutrin from 300 mg to 450 mg, thinking that my symptoms were possibly symptoms of my depression, and that an increased dosage of Wellbutrin might be necessary without the Lexapro. I continued to feel ill. After 2 more awful weeks, I succombed to taking the 5 mg of Lexapro again. I noticed an improvement immediately. Within 3 days, I was feeling great again. Two days later, the symptoms returned with a vengeance. The only thing my pdoc and I were able to guess is that the increased dosage of the Wellbutrin had finally started to take effect, and perhaps my symptoms were SE's of the Wellbutrin and NOT due to the discontinuation of the Lexapro. Apparently, the Lexapro somehow manages to keep the Wellbutrin SE's in check at the dosages I had been on. Seems strange . . . So I lowered the dose of the Wellbutrin back down to the 300 mgs. I immediately felt better. So now I am back to exactly where I was when I started this whole mess. That would be fine, except I am now feeling that these medications are not really effective anymore. I have low motivation, some social anxiety, some minor depression, and frequent headaches. However, I am petrified to mess with the medications again after that experience.
Oh well - sorry for the rambling. Just wanted to let you know that I experienced the same symptoms as you did on the Wellbutrin and that the addition of the Lexapro seemed to keep those symptoms in check.
Good luck -
I have been taking Wellbutrin XL 150 mg for the past week with no noticeable side effects. Yesterday I stepped it up to 300 mg in the morning and I spent the rest of the day with a headache, chills and vomiting. Did anyone else have a reaction like this, and how long did it persist? I'm afraid to take 300 mg again because I was so miserable yesterday.
>
> I took Lexapro for a year before starting the
> Wellbutrin and I tolerated it well.
poster:Mildred
thread:460390
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050217/msgs/460534.html