Comments on: Third time’s a charm?

By: glambertz

glambertz — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:14:31 +0000

LOVE LOVE Wellbutrin. Took Zoloft and I could not have an orgasm if my life depended on it. THAT made me very depressed because well…figure that one out.

Anyway, Wellbutrin is everything that is great about Prozac, but has nothing of the bad. Going back on it actually, I was on Zoloft for post partum depression.

By: deborah

deborah — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:46:32 +0000

I’ve never taken Zoloft, but I have taken Effexor and Paxil and did NOT like the effects of either. Talk about mood swings! I could hear them, literally! If I missed a dose, within an hour, I could hear blips and buzzes, when I would turn my head, and get anxiety attacks. That stuff was terrible.

I now take Cymbalta, which seems to work well. My husband takes Celexa and it works great for ;him.

good luck to yoy

By: savia

savia — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:04:10 +0000

I’m not going to give up, that’s for sure. Thanks so much for your thoughts and encouragement. My biggest hope is that the Wellbutrin will bring me up enough that I’ll have the energy and motivation to start exercising, because I know that can make such a big difference, both physically and mentally.

By: Snafu Suz

Snafu Suz — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 04:17:34 +0000

My magic formula is Wellbutrin, Lexapro, and Lamictal. It’s different for everyone though. My magic formula quite likely will not be your magic formula. I haven’t had any trouble at all with Wellbutrin and have been on it for several years. Hang in there and keep trying! Once you find your own perfect cocktail you’ll be SO glad you didn’t give up.

By: k

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:20:32 +0000

Courtney- Maybe THAT’S why I am so sensitive to light! I never realized there may be a connection between my Wellbutrin and light sensitivity. Thanks for saying that.
I have been on a Lexapro/Wellbutrin combo for a few years. I’ve been feeling like they aren’t working as well lately and am afraid to switch. The Wellbutrin usually helps with my energy level and keeps me from falling aslepe and inappropriate times. It also helps me control my appetite which is a bonus. I don’t feel it helps much with the depression- I need the Lexapro for that- but helps with my physical side effects from depression.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:26:03 +0000

I had a long, sordid affair with various meds, too. My entire life since age 12 was medicated, with a short self-induced break from age 22-24. My rap sheet includes Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Serzone, Lexapro, Depakote, Lithium, Topamax (I had a quack diagnose me with Bipolar Disorder; THAT was fun!). While on Topamax, I developed metabolic acidosis, lost 50 pounds (I weighed 90 pounds at one point; I’m 5’6″), and had heart palpitations. My hair started to fall out and I had bulbous acne on my chin. Everything about that particular drug screamed TOXIC to me, so I quit everything, “fired” my shrink, and vowed to stay away from mind-altering chemicals forever!

Flash forward a couple of years: I finished my MA at age 24, started my career, and sunk into a horrible depression. At the encouragement of my boyfriend, I talked to my GP about finding a therapist. She recommended a few, and I set up an appointment with the first one who called me back. I had been seeing my therapist (she’s wonderful; never pushed drugs on me) for over a year before she even suggested that a medication might be worth a try. She’s a psychologist, not psychiatrist, but she has plenty of experience with meds. She suggested Wellbutrin. I resisted.

After several months of not getting anywhere just talking, I went to my GP and told her about my discussion with my therapist. I was put on Wellbutrin XL and have taken 300mg for the past year. It helps, it really does. It’s not a cure-all, but the depression isn’t quite as dark, and it doesn’t come around as often. I had some headaches at first, and some night sweats, but they went away within a week. Now, a year into things, the only side effect I notice is an increased sensitivity to light; the headlights of oncoming traffic are GLARING. Every now and then I feel like a bit of a failure for “having” to take meds, but I look at this as the disease it is. If I were diabetic I wouldn’t deny myself insulin…

Good luck!

By: CJ

CJ — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:53:28 +0000

If the anti-depressants aren’t working, I would definitely consider bipolar disorder. If you’ve taken that many different ones, I’m surprised your p-doc hasn’t considered it yet. Really, I only tried 3 anti-depressants before my doctor tried bipolar meds. And anti-depressants on their own do not always help if you are bipolar as they can make you manic.

Also, meds affect everyone differently, so just because something worked for me doesn’t mean it will work for you, too. I took Paxil and it made me hugely fat. I took Effexor and it made me more depressed than I was before I took it, but Zoloft works great for the anxiety. But I still have to take the mood stabilizer and anti-psychotic to control the other bipolar symptoms. But, again, that’s me. Some of the symptoms you described do sound like bipolar, but I’m not a doctor, so I hope you will find another doctor if this guy you’re seeing now isn’t going to help you. This is about you, not him, so you deserve to find a doctor who will work with you if this guy won’t.

By: Beca

Beca — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:01:36 +0000

Wellbutrin made me very very angry all the time. I am doing really well on Cymbalta

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:33:22 +0000

I personally love Wellbutrin. I’ve been on it for about 2 or 3 years, and sometimes I might French kiss the bottle, maybe, I’m not saying for sure. But every brain reacts so differently, there’s really no telling. Hope you find something that works well.

By: nyjlm

nyjlm — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:34:44 +0000

I remember when I was first getting my rx from the p-doc. I was nursing and preferred something that more info was known about (I forget what she originally wanted to prescribe me) . Zoloft had the most info on it and nurslings at that time, but she felt it would make me a little too ‘edgy’ (I was like, yeah, I’m already edgy. not a good plan). She felt paxil was a better fit for me.
I wasn’t getting enough relief from the paxil for most of this year. My therapist thought I should ask about wellbutrin. The pdoc preferred to up the paxil again and that seems to have done the trip.
I hope the wellbutrin will help you get through the next few months.