another med change....

[curiousone]

Hi sweetest1,
I have been having a hell of a time with switching to Wellbutrin. I was alright with taking a small dose in the morning along with my full dose of celexa, but once the celexa dose was being decreased I became a complete emotional train wreck again. I have been on the Wellbutrin only, at an increased dose since the beginning of April. I have been extremely dizzy/nauseas. I am afraid to drive because if I even turn my head or shift my gaze my world spins. My Dr. has reduced the dose temporarily to help reduce side effects, and my mood is still in the toilet.
I hope your transition is going better than mine.

[Sweetest1]

It is, actually. I had been dizzy all the time at first, but that has tapered off to occasional dizzy spells, which I can manage. Since I don't drive they aren't much of a big deal.
Since going off the cipralex I've been more emotional, but I'm glad of that because it means I don't have that flat, dead inside, feeling anymore.
The Anorgasmia going away didn't hurt my mood either.
I'm still adjusting to the Welly, but so far I quite like it. My mood isn't much better than it was before, but maybe a little. I've only been at my 300mg dose for 2 weeks, so I'm hoping my mood will continue to improve. Also I have more energy now than I did before, and I know my family really appreciates that a lot.
If I've been crying more since the switch, I've been laughing more to, so I'll take that for now, and hope for the best.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having such a difficult time with it. Let me know if it settles down for you or not.

[jennisk]

At curiousone, that sounds rough. Dizzyness is a tough side effect to manage. Why did your doctor want to make the switch?
At Rebecca, your news is really positive. I think your mood will continue to improve, I was actually shocked that the crying was part of improvement when it happened to me. You are right though, it is better than the numbness.

[Aurora]

I have been doing the Wellbutrin thing for 4yrs now, that's what the pdoc said at last visit anyway. Doesn't feel like that long to me, guess it's likely it doesn't seem to give me much side effects. Did have the dizziness & nausea for about 1 1/2 - 2 mths then nothing so I can deal with that.Mind you the Wellbutrin is not by far all i'm on,this being were the problem lies. Also good to know I am not the only person who has those dam brain zaps- I thought I was losing it. Never even told my pdoc, was scared he would lock me up.Hope the Wellbutrin works as good for you as it has been for me.

[curiousone]

Hello again,
My doctor and I agreed to make the switch as I had been on the max dose of celexa and was still having great difficulty with lack of motivation, energy and concentration (not to the level of functioning I need to be to go back to work). We introduced a small dose of wellbutrin in the mornings, hoping it would help. I still was having a fair bit of difficulty with the day to day so we decided to try something else, which brings me to the wellbutrin only.
Still dizzy but hopeful after some of the positive feedback I've heard. Part of the problem may be that we tried to change too rapidly as I wanted to be more aggressive with my treatment. I didn't have these side effects with the celexa, so I wasn't quite prepared. I would really like it to improve quickly though as now the side effects are adding to my inability to do just about anything. This does not help the guilt of depression or the tension in the household at all. Plus with my mood being worse I become quite irritable and hostile. Really not a good place to be. My family is trying to be patient and understanding, but patience is wearing thin.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences, it's nice to know I'm not alone in this.

[Sweetest1]

Whenever I have a med change my husband says "hold on to your hats, folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride" And it usually is, with withdrawal and new SE's happening at the same time. But once you get through that initial time period and things start to settle down, then it's all good again.

I hope things settle down for you quickly

[nightowl69]

I hope your side effects go away soon - its awful to have to deal with SE's and the illness itself. I have been fortunate that my SE's have been minor (extremely dry mouth and horrible dreams from the wellbutrin) and tolerable.
As much as we want to get better, sometimes "aggressive" treatment isn't always the best way to go. It can make it more difficult to decipher which meds are causing what SE's and which SE's are from withdrawl. Good luck.

[paul m]

Hello Curiousone. I am sorry to hear about your problems and the following post may not be the best news either.

Any anti depressant has only a 50% chance of working for any one person. Take another anti depressant and you still only have a 50-50 chance that it will work. So there is a good chance that wellbutrin may not work for you Wellbutrin can also be tough for some people to adjust to. Also all of your symptoms could be linked to discontinuing the celxa. That's the bad news.

The good news is that if wellbutrin is going to work for you, than it does so quickly usually within 4-6 wks of reaching an optimal dose. While 4-6 wks seems like a long time, it is quicker than a lot of them. Also wellbutrins initial side effects do tend to go for most people. Finally, if you do have to quit taking it, it is relatively easy to ween yourself off of. Take Care. paul m

Hello Crystal. You may know this by now, but others may not. Brain zaps and other unpleasant things often occur when people try to quit taking certain classes of meds(like celxa, cipralex, effexor ). It can take some people months to totally get over these effects. Anyone wanting to know more just has to google ssri discountinuation syndrome. I have listed a site that has a good primary on this subject, although they are wrong on how long the effects may last. Take Care. paul m P.S. Unfortunately there are stills docs who know nothing about this problem.

http://bipolar.about.com/cs/antidep/a/0207_ssridisc1.htm

[nightowl69]

This isn't quite related to this thread but it's close. Earlier today, on a lawyer commercial, they were asking anyone that took SSRI's during pregnancy and the infant had certain problems to call them for possible litigation.
Being skeptical about lawyers and there ambulance chasing ways, I decided to look it up and i was surprised. There was several reputable sites giving out warnings about possible negative effects on unborn babies if the mom is taking SSRI's.
Just a FYI kinda post since I am not sure whether it applies to anyone on here.

[paul m]

Hello Nightowl69. An excellent point, thank you for bringing it up. Anybody who is taking any sort of medication should always talk to both their pharmacists and doctor if they are thinking of getting or have discovered that they are pregnant.

In addition to possible birth defects, some meds like SSRI's are passed on to the infant through the mother. Now if an adult, who suddenly discontinues an SSRI medication can suffer months of agony trying to withdraw from medication, then we can only imagine what might happen to a new born if they were not monitored for discontinuation syndrome. (which can take a week or more to develop)

Other meds like lithium can be passed on through breast feeding and if a lithium medication is to be continued while breast feeding then the infants lithium levels must be monitored as well.

Mother Risk (Sick Kids Hospital) has a fairly good webpage on this. Take Care. paul m

http://www.motherisk.org/women/updatesDetail.jsp?content_id=730

[curiousone]

hello once more,
Thanks for the info on SSRI discontinuation syndrome. I really think that explains quite a bit of what I have been going through. My doctor still thinks that my SE's are from the wellbutrin, but even with lowering the dose to the amount I tolerated while taking celexa hasn't helped. I went back to my Dr as I couldn't handle how I was feeling and we're making yet another switch. This time to cymbalta. I'm hopeful that because it's an SNRI it will be an easier transition. I really hate feeling this way. The mood swings are the worst. I hate to do anything because I never know how I'll handle it. I wish I could just hibernate in my bed until I feel some sense of control again.

[A.E.V.]

I really hope the change helps curiousone! you could sure use some relief.

[paul m]

Hello Curiousone. Good Luck with the med change. Take Care. paul m

[curiousone]

Hello once more,
It's too soon to tell if the cymbalta is going to work any better/different for me than the celexa, but it is working much better than the wellbutrin on it own was! No more dizziness, no more wanting to smash everything in sight, no more wanting to kill myself every other hour of the day! I may not feel like getting of the couch or leaving my house, but I'll take that over how I was feeling. At least now I feel like I could get out and do something, if I wanted to, which is better than feeling like I can't. I may not be doing anything, but at least I'm content not doing anything. Who knows, maybe eventually I will actually feel well enough to do the spring cleaning my house desperately needs.

[A.E.V.]

glad to hear you're starting to feel better! every little bit counts...