question about Paxil and Wellbutrin
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 873
question about Paxil and Wellbutrin
I know it's verboten to dispense medical advice; I'm just asking for people's experience and whether anyone is going through the same things.
I've been sober for 5 months, on Paxil for 4 of those months, increasing dosages from 10mg to 40mg today. What I'm wondering is if anyone else on it has felt...just flat. I have no motivation to work, no motivation to do much of anything. I don't feel bad or depressed. I can easily sleep for 12 hours a day too. I also have a buzzing in my forehead that I thought would have gone away by now.
My psychiatrist (a new guy, only met once) says that in about one of ten people this happens and that if it persists we can switch to a mix of Wellbutrin/Paxil. Anyone been on this type of mix? Anyone have experience taking Paxil vs. Wellbutrin?
Thanks
I've been sober for 5 months, on Paxil for 4 of those months, increasing dosages from 10mg to 40mg today. What I'm wondering is if anyone else on it has felt...just flat. I have no motivation to work, no motivation to do much of anything. I don't feel bad or depressed. I can easily sleep for 12 hours a day too. I also have a buzzing in my forehead that I thought would have gone away by now.
My psychiatrist (a new guy, only met once) says that in about one of ten people this happens and that if it persists we can switch to a mix of Wellbutrin/Paxil. Anyone been on this type of mix? Anyone have experience taking Paxil vs. Wellbutrin?
Thanks
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Posts: 7,061
I have not had welbutrin mixed with Paxil but have had it added to other anti-depressants that I was on at the time. It did help to some degree as the wellbutrin affects different receptors than many anti-depressants. It gave me more energy and helped me to get up in the mornings. I did not stay on it long because my doctor switched my meds and took me off the anti-depressant due to my bipolar.
Many mental health drugs will cause a flat affect. I have felt that way on several medications. They made me feel like a zombie, alive but not living. When that has happened I have let my doctor know and we have changed up medications
Many mental health drugs will cause a flat affect. I have felt that way on several medications. They made me feel like a zombie, alive but not living. When that has happened I have let my doctor know and we have changed up medications
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 525
Thanks for your post. I just started taking Paxil today, 20mg/day.
I was reading about both Paxil and Wellbutrin on Wikipedia.org
It said:
"Bupropion (Wellbutrin) is more effective than SSRIs (Paxil) at improving symptoms of hypersomnia and fatigue in depressed patients. In a comparative meta-analysis, there appeared to be a modest advantage for the SSRIs compared to bupropion in the treatment of depression with high anxiety, while these medications were equivalent for the depression with moderate or low anxiety.
According to several surveys, the augmentation of a prescribed SSRI with bupropion is the preferred strategy among clinicians when the patient does not respond to the SSRI. For example, the combination of bupropion and citalopram (Celexa) was observed to be more effective than switching to another antidepressant. The addition of bupropion to an SSRI (primarily fluoxetine or sertraline) resulted in a significant improvement in 70–80% of patients who had an incomplete response to the first-line antidepressant.Bupropion improved ratings of "energy", which had decreased under the influence of the SSRI; also noted were improvements of mood and motivation, and some improvement of cognitive and sexual functions."
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So, i'm thinking of switching to Wellbutrin.
I sleep a lot, about 10 hours a day. Part of that is sheer boredom; i don't know what to do with myself. I work out a lot too, read, have conversations, pay bills. But i still have time to sleep 10hours a day. Last night i fell asleep at 7pm, woke up at 5am.
I think about going for more university education, but i don't have faith it will result in anything, and i'll be out $50,000. I only want the educational certificate to improve earnings and/or be in an 'interesting' job. On paper, my current job looks good and i know i'd be interested in it if i read about it on a job board. But even my 'interesting' job (which i like in theory, but don't seem to enjoy hour by hour) isn't making me happy. But I put in lots of effort at the job, cuz i don't want to lose it and create more problems.
I was taking Tramadol last year for back pain. But i noticed how much energy and pep i had on it. I started thinking tramadol & tea was a perfect combo. And it was, for about 5 months. Then i started to itch all the time, and i started to sweat when i didn't take it for 36 hours, and i started to realize i was addicted. I decreased as much as possible, but i'd be so unmotivated without tramadol, and energetic with it. But the energy would last about 4 hours, then i'd wind down.
Anyway, it's been about 2 weeks since i've taken any Tramadol, and i tapered off it for 6 weeks before that, getting down to about 20mg/day. Amazingly, that sounds like nothing compared to others i've read here. Other people seem to taper down to 200mg vicodin or hydros, and then go through 5 days of terror, and then they report they are much better. But that didn't happen to me. I've been very slow, unengaged and irritable for the last 3 months.
I'm hoping to get some energy/motivation/happiness back from Paxil. But now that i've got the prescription filled, i learn this info about Wellbutrin. I'll probably switch when my prescription is empty.
I was reading about both Paxil and Wellbutrin on Wikipedia.org
It said:
"Bupropion (Wellbutrin) is more effective than SSRIs (Paxil) at improving symptoms of hypersomnia and fatigue in depressed patients. In a comparative meta-analysis, there appeared to be a modest advantage for the SSRIs compared to bupropion in the treatment of depression with high anxiety, while these medications were equivalent for the depression with moderate or low anxiety.
According to several surveys, the augmentation of a prescribed SSRI with bupropion is the preferred strategy among clinicians when the patient does not respond to the SSRI. For example, the combination of bupropion and citalopram (Celexa) was observed to be more effective than switching to another antidepressant. The addition of bupropion to an SSRI (primarily fluoxetine or sertraline) resulted in a significant improvement in 70–80% of patients who had an incomplete response to the first-line antidepressant.Bupropion improved ratings of "energy", which had decreased under the influence of the SSRI; also noted were improvements of mood and motivation, and some improvement of cognitive and sexual functions."
-
So, i'm thinking of switching to Wellbutrin.
I sleep a lot, about 10 hours a day. Part of that is sheer boredom; i don't know what to do with myself. I work out a lot too, read, have conversations, pay bills. But i still have time to sleep 10hours a day. Last night i fell asleep at 7pm, woke up at 5am.
I think about going for more university education, but i don't have faith it will result in anything, and i'll be out $50,000. I only want the educational certificate to improve earnings and/or be in an 'interesting' job. On paper, my current job looks good and i know i'd be interested in it if i read about it on a job board. But even my 'interesting' job (which i like in theory, but don't seem to enjoy hour by hour) isn't making me happy. But I put in lots of effort at the job, cuz i don't want to lose it and create more problems.
I was taking Tramadol last year for back pain. But i noticed how much energy and pep i had on it. I started thinking tramadol & tea was a perfect combo. And it was, for about 5 months. Then i started to itch all the time, and i started to sweat when i didn't take it for 36 hours, and i started to realize i was addicted. I decreased as much as possible, but i'd be so unmotivated without tramadol, and energetic with it. But the energy would last about 4 hours, then i'd wind down.
Anyway, it's been about 2 weeks since i've taken any Tramadol, and i tapered off it for 6 weeks before that, getting down to about 20mg/day. Amazingly, that sounds like nothing compared to others i've read here. Other people seem to taper down to 200mg vicodin or hydros, and then go through 5 days of terror, and then they report they are much better. But that didn't happen to me. I've been very slow, unengaged and irritable for the last 3 months.
I'm hoping to get some energy/motivation/happiness back from Paxil. But now that i've got the prescription filled, i learn this info about Wellbutrin. I'll probably switch when my prescription is empty.
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 873
Interesting. My new psychiatrist switched me to a buproprion/celexa mix. I've been finishing my paxil and mixing it with the buproprion and it seems to be working (though I hear it takes a couple of weeks for the buproprion to kick in). Guess I'll just drop the paxil and start with the celexa right away.
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Join Date: May 2022
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Paxil and Wellbutrin Combo
I was prescribed 450mg of Wellbutrin with 40mg of Paxil it was the best combination for myself. I was struggling with low energy, depression, and anxiety. The combination really gave me energy, took away my depression, and on the plus side I quit smoking cigs! Wish you the best on your Journey.
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Recovery Round #2 40days
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Join Date: Nov 2022
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Paxil helps me along with other meds but my energy is dead. I may try Wellbutrin again, though it has stimulating affects that can increase anxiety. But as I'm on a rather large dosage of Klonopin , I doubt it will increase any anxiety.
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Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 383
My psychiatrist put my on Ritalin because of Anhedonia. Ritalin is a controlled substance in the US, and many physicians are hesitant to prescribe it. Not only that, there is a major shortage of Ritalin and Aderall right now. It took 2 weeks for my last prescription to be filled. The important thing is to be forthcoming with your provider.
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