Starting wellbutrin... Nervous!
 

I have been depressed on and off my whole life but have never really done anything about it... but lately I can't seem to get out of it so I went to my primary doctor. I told him about my recent weight loss and he prescribed me wellbutrin so it wouldn't make me gain weight. At first I was excited to be starting this and looking forward to feeling better, but now I'm nervous! I've been reading about it on the internet and it seems to have some bizarre side effects like mood changes and the like. I am also only 23 years old and drink socially often, I've read this is going to be a problem. I am not a binge drinker and usually only have 2 or 3 beers, but read it greatly effects how drunk you get. I also have minor, what I would consider normal, anxiety and do not want that to get worse.

I guess I am wondering what kind of experience those of you who take Wellbutrin have had? I should mention that I do have the generic budeprion sr and am supposed to working my way up to two 150mg pills twice a day.


Thanks!

Esme

the best thing you can do is NOT look at the internet for side effects! LOL. It will make you crazy!

I was on Wellbutrin for 1.5 years. It was okay, but kinda made me OCD'ish and a little anxious. I lost weight on it, however.

I would suggest if you drink caffeine to cut down on the caffeine with Wellbutrin as it might make you too jittery/anxious.

As for the drinking, yes I did notice that when I drank I would get drunk very quickly, but I still drank. Ironically, now that I'm off everything, I never drink. ha ha.

Anyway, the first two weeks are the biggest for side effects - you will most likely feel very "energetic" and I actually lost 5 lb because I didn't feel like eating a thing. That normalized however. I also lost my urge to eat anything sweet for the entire time.

Good luck!

~Choirgirl~

I don't have any real experience w/ wellbutrin to share (was only on it for 2 days before they decided I was bipolar not depressed lol) - but just wanted to say good for you for doing something to help yourself feel better! And don't let reading about side effects scare you too much, everyone's experience is different. If it doesn't feel right to you, don't be shy about asking the doc to try something else. Hope the first time's the charm though! Good luck. :)

I did good with Wellbutrin...but just remember everyone reacts differently. Try not to stress over the side effects because none could happen to you (but it is good to know).

I think you'll do great :hug:

.

Wellbutrin is the only depression med that works for me. I lost my appetite for few days when first starting the med but quickly regained it. Like you, I was supposed to build up to the 300 mgs daily. I got overly anxious at this dose and cut back to once a day (150mg) and am doing well even at half the suggested dosage.

Wellbutrin was GREAT for me. I've been on it for years and it's made a huge huge difference. I originally started on SR twice a day, but I had major problems falling asleep because I took that second pill later in the day, so they switched me to XL and that made all of the difference in the world.

It strikes me as funny that "mood changes" are listed as a side effect. Depression is a mood disorder, so of course it changes your mood. I'm sure they're talking about other kinds, but still. Anyway, I have like 0 side effects and love it. Good luck.

I liked being on Wellbutrin, or buproprion as I was also taking the generic.
I actually liked the restless feeling it gave me as before I couldn't get off the couch to do ANYTHING. I'd even miss my beloved riding lessons. In the first week I lost 7 lbs. However, after about a week or two the restless/jittery feeling wore off and I didn't feel much different. I eventually stopped taking it.
This semester I started taking my leftover prescription as I was feeling depressed and anxious because of school. I took two 75 mg (non sr) in the morning and felt great, did not take it at night though because i would have trouble sleeping.

I'll admit that I knew from research that Wellbutrin was what I wanted to be on before I even entered the dr's office. Once they confirmed my depression and I told them about my worries of further weight gain and loss of sex drive, that is what they prescribed me. I plan on visiting my school's office once they reopen to see if I can get another prescription.

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

I think I will just dive in and see how it goes. What better time then the first of the year!

Sarby - I actually did the same thing. I have only lost about half the weight i want to so I didn't want to get discouraged, so I did my research and sort of requested it. But I don't think it's a bad thing to do research ahead of time!

I guess I'm mostly nervous that it will make me "crazy." I am already kind of an over-reactor/drama queen and don't want to amplify that! But at the same time, I think it will be worth it to hopefully want to get out of bed in the morning.

Thanks again, I will let you know how it all goes!

xoxo,

Esme

Every medication affects individuals differently, that's the wonder of brain chemistry. I've been on it for a month, and find that it's not touching my depression and my anxiety is getting somewhat worse. So I have an appt. next week to see if I can go back on sertraline (Zoloft generic) at a higher dosage -- it was working great, but when my pharmacy changed their generic brand provider, I noticed a distinct difference in how well it worked (the new generic wasn't as effective -- whether it is a slight difference in active ingredient, or a difference in the additives, I don't know, but figure maybe upping the dosage will counteract the lower effectiveness of each pill).

I agree with other posters on this topic. Don't read stuff on the internet. A friend of mine once pointed out that if someone has a bad experience with something they tell everyone, but if someone had a good experience they are much less likely to tell people. I find that to be very true. After all, when I was pregnant, many women couldn't wait to tell me their "horror stories" about giving birth, but I rarely heard good stories. I try to make a point of telling pregnant women good things.
I have been on every anti depressent there is over the years and none worked. My newest doc finally diagnosed me as bipolar and put me on Lamictal, which is a mood stabilizer. For most bipolars, just taking and AD is horrorible. The Lamictal has worked wonders, but I still need a med for my depression and I also take Wellbutrin. I can only take 150 but it really works well for me. I feel better than I have in years. And the good thing is that it is weight neutral so even if it doesn't help you lose weight, it won't make you gain either.
Don't be afraid. And try to remember that if this one doesn't do the job, there are so many others out there to try. Life is too short to waste it being depressed. You deserve to feel good.

Add me as another VERY satisfied and (mostly!) happy :D and content wellbutrin Xl user!

As a pharmacist, the internet can be your best and worst friend.

It's good because people take more interest in their health care and then bad as they find out a really weird and horrible side effect that happens to only a handful of people.

I'm a huge advocate of speaking with your pharmacist and doctor if you have any questions no matter how silly. It's our job to answer your question and we really like proving we learned something in school other than counting by five ;>