but the doctor that was treating me for depression retired (health center), and he kept trying to push wellbutrin on me over the other ones.. i was against it, but i'm having a paranoid/anxiety ridden week and I want to change my medication. I'm not liking how i feel on prozac, and i want to take his advice to switch to wellbutrin. how do i broach the subject with the new doc? i've been on 3 diff SSRIs, and after reading up on Wellbutrin, i think it might be what is right for me...

help... i am sitting here feeling panicky, paranoid, and jittery.... i don't want ot be alone tonight, but i don't want to worry my b/f and ask him to come here.... :(

but the doctor that was treating me for depression retired (health center), and he kept trying to push wellbutrin on me over the other ones.. i was against it, but i'm having a paranoid/anxiety ridden week and I want to change my medication. I'm not liking how i feel on prozac, and i want to take his advice to switch to wellbutrin. how do i broach the subject with the new doc? i've been on 3 diff SSRIs, and after reading up on Wellbutrin, i think it might be what is right for me...

help... i am sitting here feeling panicky, paranoid, and jittery.... i don't want ot be alone tonight, but i don't want to worry my b/f and ask him to come here.... :(

If you deal with anykind of panic/anxiety disorder, wellbutrin will not be good. It does not treat that kind of thing, and can make anxiety worse. I would tell the doc everything and pour out you heart to him. I am sure he will find the right one for you. I know how you feel.. It took me a few SSRIS, to find the right one. hang in there.

it's not panic/anxiety disorder, the panic is because of how my prozac has me feeling and is unrelated to anything else. he'd been wanting to try wellbutrin for a while because i have dysthymic disorder wiht paranoid episodes...

I would tell your new doctor about your situation (I really hope she specializes in psychiatric medicine...general practitioners usually aren't very knowledgeable about these things), and see if you can make a switch of some sort. While it is rather clear that SSRIs aren't working for you, it is unclear whether wellbutrin will be effective or any better.

ebola

You might want to check out this website also: http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/23/antidepressant_drugs.htm

You might want to check out this website also: http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/23/antidepressant_drugs.htm

I disagree. obviously, you may have never needed a med. I do not believe in diet alone can cure everything. Especially if it is a chemical imbalance. I have watched my mom all her life go in and out of hospitals, and now that meds are in the full, she has a life now. She is a healthy mom, with a life.

I deal with anxiety/panic, if it was not for these drugs, I would not have much of a life. I understand that the pharmasutical(sp) are out for money, trust me, I worked with them, but they do save lives. These are in extreme cases. My whole family deals with depression and anxiety. The meds work for them, and if it were not for them, than maybe they would be suicidle. It is the other way around. I like Dr. Mercola, but can not agree on everything he says, only by experience.

Just a word of advice, please be careful with the Wellbutrin. I am a eeg tech(brain waves) and I have seen MANY people who have seizures while taking Wellbutrin. For that reason, I would think twice. I can't believe doctors are still prescribing it. There must be a safer medication out there.

My vote for Effexor-xr. Does great and mighty things, for some folk's.

Just a word of advice, please be careful with the Wellbutrin. I am a eeg tech(brain waves) and I have seen MANY people who have seizures while taking Wellbutrin. For that reason, I would think twice. I can't believe doctors are still prescribing it. There must be a safer medication out there.


Ya, you are proabally right. As in all ssri's can cause that. Wellbutrin, was a bad drug of choice. But, I know it can help some. Wellbutrin was horrible for me! Luckely I only took it for 3 weeks or so.

Can you tell me some other expereince about other meds? Like if there is one safer than another. I am on Effexor, it has helped so much, no side effects, just good ones. Lexapro, worked for a little bit, and then did not work at all for me.

Thanks.

I can't tell you about any other kind of medication except the Wellbutrin. All I know is that when a patient says the words, "antidepressant" and "seizure" in one sentence, I know the next word is going to be,"Wellbutrin." If the Effexor is working for you with no side effects, Great!! :)

I can't tell you about any other kind of medication except the Wellbutrin. All I know is that when a patient says the words, "antidepressant" and "seizure" in one sentence, I know the next word is going to be,"Wellbutrin." If the Effexor is working for you with no side effects, Great!! :)

Okay, thank you for replying. I guess I thought Wellbutrin has helped some people.

Thank you again! I just thought that maybe you could tell me some other things about ssri's. I mean the risk and all. Thank you for being honest.

You might be the person I pm some day. lol;

I was just wondering, what makes wellbutrin, worse than all of the other drugs? Can you expain why? I thought this was a "new" good drug, etc.

Thanks.

I second Gnome's comment on this one - regular docs usually do.not.have.a.clue. about psych meds, and they'll just prescribe them willy-nilly. Psychiatrists should know better what pills you should try.

A LOT of people taking psych meds have to try many different ones, in many different combinations, to find the right 'cocktail' of medications. So don't be afraid of asking your doc to try something else.

And while *some* people can 'cure' their psych problems by eating certain herbs or things like that, there are other people who absolutely must have medication to help them out. (If you don't agree with that statement, please visit a psych ward for several hours before making any further comments.)

So, yes, talk to the doc about trying Wellbutrin, and explain why your not happy with your current meds.

PirateBean

http://www.depressionforums.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi
I recommed the above website for finding out about other people's experiences with these drugs. I found wellbutrin to be wonderful--never did well on ssri's alone.
And I third, only get these drugs from a psychiatrist.

Hi-I have been under a doctors care (psychiatrist) for 6 years now. I have tried many many meds for major depression, including Lithium. I can not manage this disease with diet or exercise (tried and tried). I am currently taking 10mg of Lexapro and 300mg of Welbutrin daily. I have not had any seizure and I do not have sexual dysfunction. The combination works well for me. The biggest things is to take any new meds for at least a month (as long as you can deal with the side effects) to see how it's working. Some of the lesser side effects actually went away after 3 months. I can not skip taking them-then I spiral down SO FAST....you may need to wean yourself off prozac before or while starting any new meds. This is tough because its hard to tell the withdrawal symptoms of the old drug from the side effects of the new drug. Just don't give up. It has made a HUGE difference for me. I don't want to kill myself anymore.

my dr and i changed my dosage and dosing sched, if that doesn't fix things, we're gonna change my meds, so far, i have really bad insomnia/night sweats.... but i'm feeling more.. normal..

my diagnosis was dysthymia and OCD... we've tried going meds-free once and i became suicidal within a week, so we're not sure if i'll ever be able to go without.. :/

>>I was just wondering, what makes wellbutrin, worse than all of the other drugs? Can you expain why? I thought this was a "new" good drug, etc.>>

My (largely naive ) guess is that it is becuase Wellbutrin has a greater effect on dopamine and norepinephrine than the SSRIs, and lowers the seizure threshold, much as do classical stimulants.

There's another psychoactive drug, Tramadol (aka ultram), which is an atypical opiod that also blocks reuptake of norepinerphrine and serotonin that also has heavy issues with seizures.

ebola

You didn't read the article all the way he said you can use diet and exercise and he had other things that you can take besides hard drugs. A person who has psych problems is not the same as someone who has anxiety.

>>You didn't read the article all the way he said you can use diet and exercise and he had other things that you can take besides hard drugs.>>

y'know, sometimes diet, excercise, supplementation, and therapy don't do it. And I'm not exactly sure what connotations you're attempting to draw by calling psychiatric medications "hard drugs".

>>A person who has psych problems is not the same as someone who has anxiety.>>

clearly, although they are often comorbid and the medication regimens are often similar.

ebola

Happy Smile: i CAN'T go meds-free. i do, i want to die. itry to make it happen...

Mod warning: no more posts debating psychiatric drugs. Feel free to start a new thread in the compost heap.

my dr and i changed my dosage and dosing sched, if that doesn't fix things, we're gonna change my meds, so far, i have really bad insomnia/night sweats.... but i'm feeling more.. normal..

FWIW, I have that problem, too. I've been off any sort of psych drug for more than a year, after about 5 years of being on different drugs (mostly Paxil) for anxiety and OCD, and I still have the insomnia and night sweats, so it may not be related to the medication (perhaps the illness itself?).

Also, Wellbutrin is not an SSRI, and using it with SSRIs still in your system can be hazardous and can increase the risk of seizure. I don't know how comfortable you are with taking "time off" between medications if you do start Wellbutrin, but that was suggested to me by the counselor I saw when I was last prescribed Paxil (opted not to take Wellbutrin, though).

acutally, due to paranoid episodes, my doc thinks that wellbutrin might be the best choice for me... i'm still researching, and i don't know how comfortable i am taking time off between meds, not unless i'm under constant supervision. seriously, we tried taking time off prozac to see if i could go without permanently and i plummeted mentally/emotionally in a week...

i didn't have the night sweats and insomnia until i went onto the meds, prior to going onto medication, i was sleeping 19 hours a day, and waking up feeling unrested... but i will look more into that.. i foudn that when i went off of the prozac, while my mental health diminished, my quality of sleep was amazing - ie: the insomnia and night sweats went away...

I'm suprised your doc would prescribe Wellbutrin if you are prone to paranoid tendencies.
Wellbutrin inhibits dopamine reuptake, & surplus dopamine creates psychotic phemomena, including paranoia.
I found Effexor beautifully effective but it caused me to gain 45 lbs in 5 months, despite eating as I always have since going vegan.
I do not reccomend it, for that reason.
I am currently only taking Geodon (antipsychotic) but trying since last week to conquer extreme anxiety with natural supplements.
I am finding an adrenal support formula & l-theanine helpful so far.
I would also like to add that your depression/anxiety may never go away if they are circumstantial & you do not change the circumstances.

>>I'm suprised your doc would prescribe Wellbutrin if you are prone to paranoid tendencies.
Wellbutrin inhibits dopamine reuptake, & surplus dopamine creates psychotic phemomena, including paranoia.>>

I'd say something, but I got modded.

ebola

I have friends for whom welbutrin has been wonderful. I have one friend who is rather obese and has been able to control both her depression and her eating on wellbutrin and is (very slowly) losing weight.

If you have have ED issues I am quite sure they wouldnt prescribe it. I know a lot of people who have lost weight on it, and my brother lost so much he had to stop taking it and switch to another med.