Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 258058

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Wellbutrin: how long?

Posted by Marginal on September 8, 2003, at 11:39:21

Any experiences on Wellbutrin SR here? I'm up to 300 mg, for 8 days. Managed to get through week without rash that prevented me from taking it once before. Still worried about rumored hair loss it may cause.

Any experiences are welcome, esp. how long it takes to work. I've had no therapeutic effect yet.

 

An 8 week user. :-) » Marginal

Posted by Susan J on September 8, 2003, at 12:53:18

In reply to Wellbutrin: how long?, posted by Marginal on September 8, 2003, at 11:39:21

> Any experiences on Wellbutrin SR here? I'm up to 300 mg, for 8 days. Managed to get through week without rash that prevented me from taking it once before. Still worried about rumored hair loss it may cause.
<<Hello. Just been taking it for 8 weeks, same dose as you, although I titrated up to that dose. SOOOOOO much better for me than Paxil, which just about killed me, made me want to sleep all day for months on end, and helped me gain 20 pounds in about 6 months.

Anyway, Wellbutrin. I have much more energy now, it's a great appetite suppresant. It *did* make me feel really angry and crabby for a few weeks, which I didn't like, but that did go away.

I also got swollen ankles, and weird little twinges in my arms and legs that bugged me. Hypochondriac that I am, thought that meant I had a blood clot and it was going to break off, hit my heart or lungs, and kill me. Ummm, that didn't happen. :-)

And those side effects have gone away, too. No hair loss problems at all.

I don't know if it's working for me as well as it should. I've felt horribly depressed for a year and a half. Some days are good. Some aren't. My therapist swears I'd be much worse off if I weren't taking anything. But if I had to say how long it took to feel any improvement, I'd say for me, on both Paxil and Wellbutrin, it took a good 6 weeks.

Good luck. It's been (so far) good for me.

Susan

 

Re: Wellbutrin: how long? » Marginal

Posted by CamW. on September 8, 2003, at 14:06:45

In reply to Wellbutrin: how long?, posted by Marginal on September 8, 2003, at 11:39:21

Marg - I have been taking 300mg of Wellbutrin SR™ (bupropion) to augment my 225mg of Effexor XR™ (venlafaxine) for a couple of years now, and had taken Wellbutrin alone, a few years before that. I have found that the Effexor really worked for me at 300mg and 450mg, it was just that I could never stay awake. I think (although I have no proof, just experience) that the Wellbutrin sorta decreases the "fuzziness" caused by Effexor, rather than the Wellbutrin working by directly stimulating noradrenergic receptors.

I have also followed several people who have taken Wellbutrin (or it's perfect clone, Zyban™) in my work and have to agree with Susan about the couple weeks spontaneous anger. After taking bupropion (either as an antidepressant or for smoking cessation) for 3 to 8 weeks, many people begin to get angry at anything (and I do mean anything) for no reason at all.

About 6 weeks after starting Wellbutrin for the first time I found myself deliberately cutting off people in traffic during rush hour, just so that I could yell at them. Once you do realize that it is the drug causing this misplaced anger, you can remove yourself from whatever situation causes a flare-up and are able to calm yourself down through rationalization. The "easy-to-rile" feeling lasts only a couple of weeks, though. I use this side effect as a sign that the bupropion has begun to work (again, I have not seen this in print, but is just my experience). Knowing that the bupropion can cause (more or less) irrational outbursts and knowing that this side effect only lasts a couple of weeks, a person is less likely to stop the drug because of the anger.

At one place where I worked the second in command was taking Zyban to stop smoking; she lost it one day after taking the drug for about 4 weeks. During lunch hour #2 stormed into the COO's office and started berating her for playing solitaire during work hours. I mean, up one side of her and down the other. It was rather frightfully amusing (or was that amusingly frightening); no one in the office said a word, the three secretaries looked like statues. The COO had sent a memo (ememo?) relating that the playing of computer games would be restricted to before work and at lunch. Well, it was 2 minutes after 12 noon when #2 went ballistic. She then stormed out leaving behind this very silent, but very perplexed, office. The COO stood at her door with her mouth open and just stared at me with a "what just happened" look on her face. I lost it at that point, I couldn't stop laughing. This was the second case of bupropion-induced anger that I was directly involved in; the first being mine, although I had heard psychiatrists talk of it. BTW - #2 stopped taking the Zyban that day. Although she can ordinarily be a beeotch, she did withstand the barrage of non-stop taunting and teasing (some of it uncomfortably truthful) for the next month like a trooper.

Some of my experiences with bupropion. - Cam

 

Re: An 8 week user. :-) }} Susan J

Posted by redscarlet on September 8, 2003, at 18:54:08

In reply to An 8 week user. :-) » Marginal, posted by Susan J on September 8, 2003, at 12:53:18

Can you PLEASE tell me what your schedule for going to 300 mg's of Wellbutrin-SR and when/how do you now take the 300 mg (am/pm, through out the day ? ).... Thank You.

I just was put on this at 100 mg (taken in the morning) on 8/30. I take all my other meds before going to sleep, Topamax 200 mg, Seoquel 150 mg and Ambien 10 mg. I'm just tired all day long ( took four hour nap today after sleeping eight hours last night and still feel tired ! ) and hope the Wellbutrin will help with this. I've had this feeling of being tired for a very long time but have only just in the last few weeks been wanting to sleep during the day. I am having a LOT of stress right now, will be loosing my health insurance at the end of this year. I haven't been able to work due to my illness for over two years and my work benefits end at the end of the year. So I have a lot of big changes that will be happening in my life soon. But I need to feel better so I can handle these problems. I am also all alone and have to take care of these things on my on and I have been very worried that I may end up back in the hospital. Well my point to all this was, I believe the stress is making me sicker and need a lift from the Wellbutrin and hope it will do the trick. Fingers crossed !

 

Re: Wellbutrin: how long? » Marginal

Posted by KimberlyDi on September 9, 2003, at 9:39:02

In reply to Wellbutrin: how long?, posted by Marginal on September 8, 2003, at 11:39:21

Welbutrin, one of my all-time favorites. Zero side effects for me and it worked for several years before my needs changed. I used to compare it to edible gold, it was worth so much to me. (I still have a full head of hair also!)

The problem with folks taking Welbutrin is that the effect is gradual. 4-8 weeks and you're noticing the flowers instead of gray clouds.

Be patient.
KDi in Texas


> Any experiences on Wellbutrin SR here? I'm up to 300 mg, for 8 days. Managed to get through week without rash that prevented me from taking it once before. Still worried about rumored hair loss it may cause.
>
> Any experiences are welcome, esp. how long it takes to work. I've had no therapeutic effect yet.

 

Re: Wellbutrin: how long? » Marginal

Posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 9, 2003, at 16:15:30

In reply to Wellbutrin: how long?, posted by Marginal on September 8, 2003, at 11:39:21

I've been on it (300mg) for two weeks as of today. My observations:
-After a few days of titrating up, it has a bit of a "speedy" effect. I found myself waking up at odd hours in the morning, which is highly unusual for me. Also felt "antsy" while sitting at work. this has worn off already, though.
-Coincidence or no, I've gotten a lot more work done in the past week than I'm accustomed to. I just finished programming a project in a mere 5 days that took me months to do before. Crazy!
-I have an appetite. I never used to. Bupropion is *supposed* to make you lose weight though, so I'm probably an anomaly.

Of course, I also started Remeron a little bit after the bupropion, so maybe that's the culprit. Who knows? Overall, though, I'm impressed. It took a psychiatrist 20 minutes to address problems that 5 other doctors and thousands and thousands of HMO dollars over 4 years time couldn't alleviate. That's efficiency.

 

Re: Wellbutrin: how long?

Posted by Lovely Lisa on September 9, 2003, at 21:21:05

In reply to Re: Wellbutrin: how long? » Marginal, posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 9, 2003, at 16:15:30

Hi all,
I have been taking 50 mg. of Zoloft since June 3, and have noticed a serious decrease in my sex drive and ability to climax, as well as some emotional blunting. I started taking 300 mg. of Wellbutrin to counteract the sexual side effects of Zoloft about 3 weeks ago and I have not noticed a significant improvement. Do you think this is normal? Should I talk to my doctor about weaning off the Zoloft? Also, I have been extremely irritable lately, could this be related to the Wellbutrin?
Thanks for your advice
Lisa


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