Dropping Anti-Depressants Cold T(of)urky...

[vggiegirl]

So I was on Wellbutrin XR, 300mg for about two months. I stopped taking it two weeks ago...I haven't noticed anything which leads me to beleive that A) I didn't need them or B) They didn't work.
I have noticed strange fits of laughter here and there...kinda slapphappy. But that's all....


Discuss.

[Vegankat]

I quit Paxil cold turkey almost a year ago, and didn't notice anything wrong for abuot 6 months. I think the "wrongness" would have happened anyway, because it was due to external factors. I did try to kill myself, though (half-assedly, of course, because I don't think I was suicidal. I definitely differentiate between "suicidal" and having "suicidal tendencies". But I digress).

I came of Xanax cold turkey when I was younger, though, and it made me insane. Taking the Xanax made me insane, too, for that matter, but in a different way.

Just be careful, and if you notice any adverse reactions or a severe feeling of depression or anxiety, notify your doctor immediately. It's not good to come off things like that cold turkey, but eh, I did it, and I'm okay now. Just surround yourself with people who care about you and know you're coming off (or off already, I should say!) your meds.

[Gracie]

What were you taking the Wellbutrin for? Did you have symptoms of depression?

[vggiegirl]

What were you taking the Wellbutrin for? Did you have symptoms of depression?

Yes...I've been miserable for the past 2-3 years. It's a cycle of depression and weight gain, then weight gain because of depression. A few weeks ago I had an epiphany of **** it and just dumped the meds. I'm no worse off than I was was before, but no happier really so I think I may have just been wasting my money. Maybe I'm just an unhappy person by nature :)

[Autumn Leaves]

You may not be feel it's "full effect" of being gone. it normaly takes a while to pass through your body. :hi:

[MollyGoat]

Nope, not Wellbutrin. Wellbutrin has a really, really short half-life--it's not like other antidepressants. After a day or two of not taking it, it's gone.

[vggiegirl]

Yay :) Thanks MollyGoat!

[organicorange]

I heard that the only difference between Wellbutrin and other anti depressents is that it does not diminish your sex drive (because anti depressents tend to do that). In my psychology class we are now discussing anti depressents, and I believe that Wellbutrin is am MAO inhibitor? We JUST touched on the topic today and I am so lazy I never read. Anyway, it DOES in fact take a minimum of 2 weeks for the medication to completely leave your system. I'll learn more about it as my prof talks more about it. I know there are cyclic anti depressents too, and when switching between cyclics and MAO Inhibitors you must wait at least 2 weeks because one inhibits the reuptake and the other just prevents the seratonin and nephrine from even reacting with your brain cells! Lol - you wouldn't want to be stuck with NO seratonin..... I guess that would make you the opposite of a schizophrenic.... if you did that, I guess. I don't know.... but I promise to study more and not procrastinate and validate any authenticity I claim herein this post..... heh (so perhaps take it with a grain of salt or research it further....)

[Mskedi]

Hmm... every once in a while my mom goes off her meds so that she can have a good day. This is always followed by a whole heck of a lot of bad days regardless of when she resumes her medicine.

But then... she wasn't functional when they put her on the meds. If you weren't so bad off as her, there's a possibility that you no longer need them. That'd be great. :) Good luck to you. Have you spoken with your doctor about your decision?

[Gracie]

Not sure how long it takes to get it out of your system, but Wellbutrin is definitely NOT an MAO inhibitor.

[MollyGoat]

Wellbutrin is not one of the "normal" anti-depressants, i.e., it is not a tricyclic, SSRI, or MAOI. It affects your body and brain differently (one of the reasons it has a low risk of sexual side effects.) It is true that MAOIs take some time to get out of your system, but this is not true of Wellbutrin.

[Thalia]

Wellbutrin is a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. I have never had any side effects from not taking it like you get with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (Paxil, Lexapro, Prozac, Effexor, Zoloft and others). Those can be very hard to stop taking they can make you very ill, dizzy, and give your horrible headaches. I've heard the worst things about giving up Effexor. You definitely want to taper SSRI's.

Antidepressant effects of reuptake inhibitors take a while to take effect not because the drug takes a long time to build up, but because they initiate a long sequence of biochemical events which are not full understood. So the half-life (wellbutrin leaves the body in 8 days) is only part of it. You also have to wait for the biochemical changes to unfold back into their natural state which may take as long as it took to form (4-8 weeks).

[MollyGoat]

*shudder* I went off Paxil cold turkey several years ago. Talk about headaches...that was not fun.