Anyone have any experience with Wellbutrin?
 

It’s an anti depressant. Starting to feel better since quitting drinking, but my dr wants to help boost my moods for 3-4 months. I don’t do well with any medication as far as side effects. If there’s a side effect I usually have it.

I’ve not been on an anti-d for years.

My wife was on it for an extended period of time.. did wonders for her mentally... can not remember if it was this or another tho that killed her sex drive tho. Even on her current medication, her libido is down from that nypho level... now I am finally able to get some sleep.... :lmao

It increased my anxiety and reduced my appetite. I wasn't a fan It felt more like a stimulant as it also acts on dopamine receptors. Still have bottles of it sitting in my cabinet. pure SSRI worked better for me.

Spence - I’m recently divorced and single so the libido thing is fine for now loll!!

Stride - which ones have worked better for you? I could drink a lot of vodka but am a wuss when it comes to medication. Lol

I was on it for a couple of months and it helped me, but I don't like to be on meds either so I decided to stop. My husband was on it for about 4 months and it really helped him too. I believe that if you need it, you should try it.

lol. Lexapro worked best for me. A lot of people like WB tho. everyone reacts differently. Might have to do a little trial and error.

My Dr prescribed it to me as an aide to quit smoking, it made me really hyper, also had a really tough time sleeping no matter when I took it and I was on a low dose

Do you know the dose JScatt?? I took 100 mg for a month and didn’t notice anything. He wrote me an rx for 300 extended release and I’m really nervous to take that much. He also said DO NOT drink on it and DO NOT cut it in 1/2.

100mg once a day of the(sustained release) SR. I just told him I didn't like it and reduced the dose for a week and stopped taking it.
Like I mentioned, for me it was prescribed for a quit smoking aide.
If you are uncomfortable taking it talk with your Dr

This is borderline medical advice.
One SSRI killed the sex life for me.
Wellbutrin has one side effect that is scary - I experienced it.

The most important thing is to discuss potential side effects with the doctor, and monitor your reactions to the meds being sure to keep the doctor in the loop. 10 people can take something and you might get 10 different results or opinions of it.
Please keep that in mind.

They've been around for a long time and are still being prescribed.

It sounds like your doc wants to make sure you have solid mental footing, at least in the early stages of recovery which is a good thing. Everyone responds differently to meds so I'd give it a go and if things aren't working out, they can always switch you to something else.

I was on it years ago and it made me hyper and agitated. My daughter, however, is on it and it works well for her.

I think it's important to remember we can share all the experience in the world here and still might not be relevant to your circumstances Behappy.

If you trust your Dr, then all is well...if not maybe you need a new doctor?

D

I don't like taking meds either but I am considering it.

Does this one cause weight gain? I really don't want a lower sex drive, not that it matters.

I think drinking on this is a major no no... I think I had a few friends that did so and it didn't end well at all. Increased suicidal thoughts.

Seems to me that he doc is just trying to mke life a little easier for you, and for an alcoholic of my type, that could be a mistake.

Life is painful at times. I had a particularly painful experience in early sobriety, back in the days when doctors almost never gave alcoholics pills.

The experience manifested in weeks of anger, resentment, fear and self pity (self pity is sometimes confused with depression). I know form recent experience that my doctor would instantly diagnose clinical depression and prescribe some of his special non addictive pills. The pills may be non addictive to him, but then again so is alcohol.

The problem with the pills is, according to other experts, you cannot selectively numb emotions. You get the happy with the sad, the motivation with the pain. When, as one wise man said, pain is the touchstone of all spiritual growth, wipe out the pain, and the growth is gone too. No pain, no gain as is sometimes said.

So back to my drama. The only avenue open to me was spiritual in nature and through persistance I found a solution and learned some really valuable lessons in the process. There was a huge amount of growth in me, and a whole new insight into the spiritual way of life. That experience has helped me many times since then.

I can't help but feel that my doctor's current solution to the same problem would rob me of all that.

Depression is not "getting sad," and antidepressants don't "make you happy." If used properly, shouldn't numb you out, but rather mitigate the very real physical and psychological symptoms of depression. I really don't understand the "pharmacological Catholicism" idea that you can "think" or "work" your way through depression and other mental illnesses. Can you "think" or "work" your way through diabetes, a low thyroid, or a tumor? They are also not addictive. You can become dependent in that you can have withdrawal symptoms if you stop them abruptly, but they are not a source of a regular or a dependable high, so people don't seek them out. Nobody turns tricks or steals from their mother to get Prozac.

I have encountered this attitude from some old-timers in AA, among other places. That psych meds are somehow "cheating," and keeping someone from experiencing their "bottom." That psych meds should even set your sober clock back to zero. I cry BS on that one, for myself anyway. I'll take whatever tool I can use to help with addiction, thank you very much.

Depression is a sticky wicket. You don't just take a pill and be cured, it usually takes some other strategies, like cognitive therapy to help change your thinking or psychodynamic therapy to work through some underlying trauma, which can help the depression from spiraling out of control. Even then, people might need medication at a later date if it gets past what control and resilience they may have developed.

I have bipolar disorder. This is clearly biological in nature and responds primarily to medication. Take it and I'm OK. Don't take it and would probably end up in jail, a hospital, or dead. Therapy doesn't do anything to lessen or stop it, more that it helps you work through the damage caused by what did when I was untreated. Sound familiar? Probably why a marker for bipolar disorder is substance abuse, it's an attempt to self-medicate, and was very much a part of my drinking and drug use.

Antidepressants don't keep you from feeling emotions, they help to keep them from taking over. They can help with recovery in that it'll give some a firmer base to look at their issues for using and coming up with alternative strategies for dealing with life issues than drinking or drugs.

SSRI antidepressants have sexual side effects like decreased libido, impotence and anorgasmia, as well as causing weight gain. Wellbutrin is more likely to increase sex drive and has little to no effect on orgasm or weight. What people complain about on Wellbutrin is that it is activating and energizing, and can trigger a lot of anxiety for some. YMMV, of course, I find it more motivating than anything else.

Wellbutrin is not supposed to cause you to gain weight; in fact, one of the potential side effects is reduced appetite.

Unfortunately, I didn’t experience that; my appetite didn’t change a bit yea or nay.

Overall I like it and am glad that I switched to it.

I have been on it for years, 300xr once a day. I really like it, and I feel like it really cuts down my anxiety.