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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
I'm coming up to two weeks on wellbutrin with very little AD affects. I like its activation, though. Today is my third day at 300mg, after being on 200mg almost a week.
Any hope, here?
Shelli
Posted by SalArmy4me on September 5, 2001, at 14:40:38
In reply to WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
You might need 450 mg to feel better.
Posted by mair on September 5, 2001, at 16:36:12
In reply to WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
> Shelli - 450 is the highest recommended dose - I've been on WB for years and I've never gotten that high although clearly 400 mgs was not totally satisfactory in and of itself. I think my experience increasing doses indicated that the increase from say 375 to 400 was so minimal that I probably wasn't going to gain much continuing to increase.
2 weeks would never have been enough for me. It's been so long now for me to remember but I think I gradually got up to 350 and was there a bit before it suddenly dawned on me that I really was feeling better. It wasn't a dramatic change - more gradual in my case. At different times thereafter i incrementally increased it on my own first to 375 and then to 400 during depressive episodes. I've always been pretty slow to respond. Maybe 2 weeks would be enough for someone else, but i wouldn't be discouraged if you haven't noticed a real change. For me anyway, this drug is unlike my experience with serzone where the side effects made waiting for the positive response an excruciating experience. While I'd have some side effects with WB with each increase, they were comparatively mild and short-lived. It's an easy drug for me to tolerate.
Mair
Posted by allisonm on September 5, 2001, at 21:21:30
In reply to WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
Shelli,
It took longer for me to feel good effects. After 2 weeks -- whether it was just starting or raising the dose -- I was usually battling the last of the irritability and the hand tremor. It took me longer to feel the burst of energy -- three or more weeks. From what I have felt and read, it isn't till after the energy burst wears off that it really starts to kick in. So if you lose your energy, don't worry. You're not experiencing poop out. It wasn't till about 6-8 weeks that I really started feeling a difference.
I took up to 400mg WB. I first started it as an augment to Remeron, then eventually flopped the doses at the suggestion of my pdoc so that the Remeron was augmenting the WB. I'm at 300mg of WB now and want to continue taking it whether the Serzone works or not. Serzone appears to be helping, but there have been side effects that could be due to too much Serzone or too little. We have upped the night dose from 150mg to 200 and kept the am dose at 150 to see what happens.
Good luck with the WB. It's the best drug I've had so far. I hope it helps you too.
Allisonm
Posted by allisonm on September 5, 2001, at 21:24:10
In reply to WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
One more observation from my experience. You seem to tolerate it much better than I did starting up. It took me weeks/months to get up to the 300mg dose.
Good luck and take care.Allison
> I'm coming up to two weeks on wellbutrin with very little AD affects. I like its activation, though. Today is my third day at 300mg, after being on 200mg almost a week.
>
> Any hope, here?
>
> Shelli
Posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 22:59:05
In reply to WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
> I'm coming up to two weeks on wellbutrin with very little AD affects. I like its activation, though. Today is my third day at 300mg, after being on 200mg almost a week.
>
> Any hope, here?
>
> ShelliThanks so much; your responses have helped me decide to continue a while longer. And I didn't realize that I could go up higher, Sal and Mair.
Allison, the activation is still there, but my appetite is back. But although I'm a bit sorry that I am getting hungry again (not carb cravings, but real hunger), it is a little more grounding for me to eat meals for the first time in two weeks. I'll have to go back and read your thread on wellbutrin and stomach pangs because this hunger feels different from my normal eat often, but not a lot.Shelli
Posted by Tony P on September 6, 2001, at 3:46:09
In reply to Re: WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin- » shelliR, posted by allisonm on September 5, 2001, at 21:21:30
Wow - how greatly we can differ in our responses! I was a zombie for three days on 150 mg. Wellbutrin SR, then on day 4, pow! It was an overnight change, Jekyll to Hyde < g >. I've taken several different A/D's and never experienced such a sudden change. Mind you I was also doing a fast taper off Serzone and overlapped the last three days with the Wellbutrin startup
The overlap was a bad idea, I think now, it probably made the experience more extreme rather than less uncomfortable as I had supposed. I also have some old liver damage and had liver pains on day 3 or 4.
That 4th day I had so much energy I couldn't focus it, I was shaking and anxious (even with some mild sedatives to help me), I had a LOT of anger that was hard to manage, I felt altogether like I was going to fly apart! But I didn't drop out, partly because I read some other peoples' experiences here which reassured me, and also because somehow even though I was very uncomfortable it felt really GOOD.
After hanging in there for a few more days (13 today and counting) I'm at 300 a day and feeling pretty OK, though still a bit hyper and aggressive and having trouble keeping on task at work. I am both intrigued and encouraged by your experience, alison, as I was already starting to worry about whether the energy would all poop out in the next couple of weeks. What I hear you saying is, the best is yet to come!
Thanks,
Tony P
> Shelli,
>
> It took longer for me to feel good effects. After 2 weeks -- whether it was just starting or raising the dose -- I was usually battling the last of the irritability and the hand tremor. It took me longer to feel the burst of energy -- three or more weeks. From what I have felt and read, it isn't till after the energy burst wears off that it really starts to kick in. So if you lose your energy, don't worry. You're not experiencing poop out. It wasn't till about 6-8 weeks that I really started feeling a difference.
>
> I took up to 400mg WB. I first started it as an augment to Remeron, then eventually flopped the doses at the suggestion of my pdoc so that the Remeron was augmenting the WB. I'm at 300mg of WB now and want to continue taking it whether the Serzone works or not. Serzone appears to be helping, but there have been side effects that could be due to too much Serzone or too little. We have upped the night dose from 150mg to 200 and kept the am dose at 150 to see what happens.
>
> Good luck with the WB. It's the best drug I've had so far. I hope it helps you too.
>
> Allisonm
Posted by JahL on September 6, 2001, at 18:13:13
In reply to Re: WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-, posted by Tony P on September 6, 2001, at 3:46:09
>I had a LOT of anger that was hard to manage.
You too, huh?
I should come with a public health warning right now.J (about 3-v. agitated-weeks).
Posted by akrake on September 8, 2001, at 9:11:52
In reply to WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 14:20:48
> I'm coming up to two weeks on wellbutrin with very little AD affects. I like its activation, though. Today is my third day at 300mg, after being on 200mg almost a week.
>
> Any hope, here?
>
> Shelli,it took me about 8 weeks or so for it to really kick in. i still have a little trouble when my pmdd starts to rage, but the meds are keeping me level otherwise. good luck.
Posted by akrake on September 8, 2001, at 9:15:57
In reply to Re: WELLBUTRIN---how long til it kickedin-allisonm,ALL, posted by shelliR on September 5, 2001, at 22:59:05
my appetite is back. But although I'm a bit sorry that I am getting hungry again (not carb cravings, but real hunger), it is a little more grounding for me to eat meals for the first time in two weeks. I'll have to go back and read your thread on wellbutrin and stomach pangs because this hunger feels different from my normal eat often, but not a lot.
>
> Shelli,i find that after i take my meds that i'm not really hungry....when i wake i have coffee and then all of a sudden it hits me that i'm starving. so i eat, but don't overeat and make wise choices. you're right about the hunger pangs feeling different. i suspect it's because we are ready to eat because we're hungry and not because we're bored or depressed.
akrake
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