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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 20 of 20. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 17:57:29
Just started wellbutrin, by itself, this morning and im curious what the general side effects profile is for the first couple weeks. So far, only noticed some mild anxiety.
Thanks in advance.
Posted by theo on February 15, 2004, at 18:07:53
In reply to Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 17:57:29
What dosage and version; XL, SR, REGULAR?
Posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 18:16:49
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks » Althea8869, posted by theo on February 15, 2004, at 18:07:53
Sorry - should have thought to include that.
Its wellbutrin XL 150mg.
Thanks
Posted by Edgefield on February 15, 2004, at 18:42:12
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 18:16:49
I've been on Wellbutrin XL since Oct. 2003 an I can not recall any side effects. I did have quite a few with the SR (dry mouth, tinnitus, muscle pains, sweating, sweating, sweating..).
I was taking 300mg. of XL, but decreased to 150 because of elevated blood pressure. My pressure is much better at this lower dosage, but I'm also taking Microzide for my bp.
Edgefield
> Sorry - should have thought to include that.
> Its wellbutrin XL 150mg.
> Thanks
Posted by theo on February 15, 2004, at 19:52:53
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Edgefield on February 15, 2004, at 18:42:12
I was on 150mg XL for several months and was curious to see what 300mg would do. I took 300mg for about a month and would feel depressed late afternoon and kind of foggy. I went back down to 150mg and think I'll stay at this dose. I guess more is not always better.
Posted by Edgefield on February 15, 2004, at 21:02:31
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by theo on February 15, 2004, at 19:52:53
Theo, what do you mean by feeling foggy? I'm asking because I always feel sorta spacey, dizzy, it's hard to put into words. This feeling was worst when I was having panic attacks, but praise the Lord I haven't had a pa in almost a year, but I'm still feeling weird.
The Wellbutrin has definitely helped with my pa and depression triggered by the pa, but I don't like this spacey feeling. I'm wondering if I'll get better results by lowering my dosage to 75mg of the SR...???? If that doesn't help with this feeling I'm thinking about switching to a Tricyclic AD.
Any suggestions...anyone???
Thanks!
Edgefield
> I was on 150mg XL for several months and was curious to see what 300mg would do. I took 300mg for about a month and would feel depressed late afternoon and kind of foggy. I went back down to 150mg and think I'll stay at this dose. I guess more is not always better.
Posted by Sebastian on February 15, 2004, at 22:26:26
In reply to Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 17:57:29
Jitteryness and energy which feels like anxiety.
Posted by Sebastian on February 15, 2004, at 22:29:47
In reply to Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 17:57:29
I forgot to mention: in the begining you can get changes in blood pressure which make you dizzy when standing up. This may be more likly to happen if you take a lot of other meds also. But I never had that problem till I just started Wellbutrin. Its not as bad now though.
Posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 22:39:25
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Sebastian on February 15, 2004, at 22:29:47
Thanks for the posts Sebastian.
The anxiety is definitely there, dry mouth - also, and this is kind of weird, ive had a fairly constant pain in or around the area of my kideys. Doubt its related - but i thought id post it in case anyone else has.
Posted by theo on February 15, 2004, at 22:45:30
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks » theo, posted by Edgefield on February 15, 2004, at 21:02:31
Awake but not very upbeat, kind of alert but robotic. Dropping back to 150mg from 300mg helped that go away. I also had this "twitching" between my eyebrows on 300mg that stopped when I dropped back to 150mg. The twitch between my eyebrows was one of those irratating twitches you get sometime in your eyelid, etc.
Posted by Mr. Scott on February 16, 2004, at 8:39:41
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks » Edgefield, posted by theo on February 15, 2004, at 22:45:30
Does the Anxiety/Agitation which can be pronounced and truly horrible (for me anyways) ever go away? I've never stuck it out long enough to find out...
Posted by Althea8869 on February 16, 2004, at 11:34:30
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - First few weeks - Question, posted by Mr. Scott on February 16, 2004, at 8:39:41
Ok - fell asleep at 4 last night with the help of some klonopin. Anxiety is noticeably less than yesterday. Dont really feel energized or activated.
Better take a nap...
Posted by SandyWeb on February 16, 2004, at 21:19:46
In reply to Wellbutrin - Day two, posted by Althea8869 on February 16, 2004, at 11:34:30
I'm finishing up my 4th day on Wellbutrin SR 150mg. I can't really say that I can feel it. People talk about energy, loss of appetite, anxiety, etc. I'm not having any of that happen. It may be because I also take Neurontin, and I find that it energizes me! I couldn't get through the day without it!
I'll probably go about 3 weeks at 150mg, and then probably increase to 300mg. Maybe I'll feel something then!
Sandy
Posted by PsychoSage on February 18, 2004, at 4:18:02
In reply to Wellbutrin - Day two, posted by Althea8869 on February 16, 2004, at 11:34:30
> Ok - fell asleep at 4 last night with the help of some klonopin. Anxiety is noticeably less than yesterday. Dont really feel energized or activated.
> Better take a nap...activation only abruptly happens when you start taking it or increase in my opinion. Then it just recedes into the background, and i think it may be agitating too. After 9 months or so and being on 300 for a little over 3, I had some nice stimuant feelings at certain times of the day which was unexpected. That was in January.
Posted by Chairman_MAO on February 18, 2004, at 7:23:06
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - Day two, posted by PsychoSage on February 18, 2004, at 4:18:02
I have been on 150mg for nine days. The agitation has been subtly increasing since I started it, and it's starting to get rather uncomfortable. Oddly, I cannot tell whether I was more uncomfortable with the lack of energy I had before taking it or with this anxiety now. It just might be now.
Does this agitation go away AT ALL? I feel a constant knot in my stomach, and it has increased nail-biting, skin-picking, etc. I started taking this primarily for ADD, and I know that if it will work at all for this I'll have to get up to at least 300mg/day. If this agitation stays this way, or gets worse, I will probably have to dump it. Yay! My FOURTH antidepressant trial since January, down the drain! I have to say, Wellbutrin is the crappiest stimulant in the world. I think Sudafed is more comfortable. No wonder it has no "abuse potential"; it just induces dysphoria! It's antidepressants like these that make me want to go back to pot and speed ...
Perhaps someday a psychiatrist will prescribe me an MAOI so I do not feel like I'm being tortured by my meds ... where is that coveted selegiline patch?!?
Posted by Mr. Scott on February 18, 2004, at 8:39:36
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - Day two » PsychoSage, posted by Chairman_MAO on February 18, 2004, at 7:23:06
Unfortunately...My experience and desires mirror yours in virtually all aspects. The sad part is that I have been at this for a whole lot longer than January. Like try over a decade.
Posted by Tony P on February 19, 2004, at 2:56:27
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin - Day two » PsychoSage, posted by Chairman_MAO on February 18, 2004, at 7:23:06
When I tried Wellbutrin (about 2 years ago) and posted a similar question, several people said the anxiety and insomnia did go away for them after a month or so.
Not so for me. I couldn't tolerate it without benzos and sleeping pills and tended to self-medicate with OTC as well, so not a good drug for me.
But YMMV, and only time will tell. Ask about taking clonazepam/klonopin as well in the meantime - it's pretty safe for most people and helps the anxiety/agitation quite a lot.
BTW, despite the "usual" dose being 300 mg/day, I got substantial benefit from as little as 75-100 mg day, with much less agitation. It's getting harder to get the lower single doses - all the pills are XR where I live, but **so long as you are not seizure-prone** you can cut the XR pills into halves or quarters with a good pillcutter.
Tony P
Posted by Eddie Sylvano on February 19, 2004, at 16:36:22
In reply to Day 4 For Me, posted by SandyWeb on February 16, 2004, at 21:19:46
> I'm finishing up my 4th day on Wellbutrin SR 150mg. I can't really say that I can feel it. People talk about energy, loss of appetite, anxiety, etc. I'm not having any of that happen.
------------From what my doctor told me, Wellbutrin is the type of drug that (assuming you're taking it for ADD, anyway) is used for it's immediate stimulant effects. If you've been on it for several days and haven't noticed any such benefit, you might up the dose. I started out at 150, and ramped up to 450 over 5 months. I can feel it's brain buzzing effect right now as I type this. For me, the peak effect occurs about 7 or 8 hours after taking it. There are 2 psychotropic drug peaks with Wellbutrin, the initial bupropion peak (~1.5 hours) and the bupropion metabolite (hydroxybupropion) peak (~6.5 hours). Hydroxybupropion is as active as bupropion, but occurs at 10 times the peak plasma levels as the parent drug, hence the pronounced 7 hour peak I'm now experiencing. Steady state levels are reached in 6 and 8 days, respectively, with hydroxybupropion reaching 17 times the level of bupropion. It seems silly that I take this drug to focus at work, but it peaks an hour before I leave.
Posted by NG on February 20, 2004, at 4:20:05
In reply to Wellbutrin - First few weeks, posted by Althea8869 on February 15, 2004, at 17:57:29
Hi, I started taking Wellbutrin a few weeks ago. I'm Bipolar II or Cyclothymic. I'm taking lamictal as a mood stablizer and 150mg of Wellbutrin XL for depression.
I've been really happy with it in some ways. I really think it is helping the depression I was having. Reading some of the other posts, I am starting to think that a bit of the anxiety I've been feeling is related, although it isn't out of line with what I felt before.
Anyway, the thing that is really bugging me is what's happening to my stomach. A couple of weeks after I started taking Wellbutrin, I was nauseous--to the point that I was eating a fair amount less. Not pleasant. A week and a half ago, the symptoms became intermittent stomach pain. I only realized that it might be the Wellbutrin a couple of days ago.
I'm very curious if anyone else has had experience with this. Nausea is known to occur with Wellbutrin and did make some of the test subjects stop taking the medication. But I'd like to stick with it if I can. Any feedback? Might it get better? Is there anything to do to mitigate the effects? I'm trying to take it with food now.
Cheers,
NG
Posted by PsychoSage on February 20, 2004, at 11:09:59
In reply to Wellbutrin, Nausea, Stomach Ache, posted by NG on February 20, 2004, at 4:20:05
> Hi, I started taking Wellbutrin a few weeks ago. I'm Bipolar II or Cyclothymic. I'm taking lamictal as a mood stablizer and 150mg of Wellbutrin XL for depression.
>
> I've been really happy with it in some ways. I really think it is helping the depression I was having. Reading some of the other posts, I am starting to think that a bit of the anxiety I've been feeling is related, although it isn't out of line with what I felt before.
>
> Anyway, the thing that is really bugging me is what's happening to my stomach. A couple of weeks after I started taking Wellbutrin, I was nauseous--to the point that I was eating a fair amount less. Not pleasant. A week and a half ago, the symptoms became intermittent stomach pain. I only realized that it might be the Wellbutrin a couple of days ago.
>
> I'm very curious if anyone else has had experience with this. Nausea is known to occur with Wellbutrin and did make some of the test subjects stop taking the medication. But I'd like to stick with it if I can. Any feedback? Might it get better? Is there anything to do to mitigate the effects? I'm trying to take it with food now.
>
> Cheers,
>
> NG
>Not for me. I am wondering if I want to continue on 300. I don't think it makes me happy. I know it is stimulating, but i am not sure if that translate into fluid energy. It does make me irritable I feel because it must bs stimulating me when I am not really in the mood to be stimulated if that makes sense. I don't want it to ruin the provigil I am starting because I see more potential in that drug than wellbutrin.
I don't think there are too manyother symptoms with wellbutrin that I can think of.
Dysphoric stimulation I guess this could be called. I guess it depends where you are at with things.
I take 1200mg of Trileptal too which should dampen things.
I guess I should exercise more, so my body is in sync with the wellbutrin.
But, again, wellbutrin is not a stomach problem for me. I take zantac occasionally now, and I was prescribed tagamet in high school for stomach acid from emotional stress due to being an unhappy overachiever. I am sensitive to stomach issues.
Trileptal and zoloft definitely caused nausea for me.
This is the end of the thread.
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