Posted by Dkscully on February 2, 2005, at 22:08:54
Hi all! I'm a newbie, and I'm very glad I found this place. It's helped me realize that I'm not the only one who goes through this stuff, which is really incredibly comforting. I sort of posted about this in an already-existing thread, but I wanted to get some Wellbutrin-users' insights in here too, so I thought it might be best to start a new thread.
For about 9 months, I was on Effexor XL--75 ml, then up to 150. It wasn't doing anything for me other than make me feel "numb," both sexually and emotionally, so my doctor thought it would be a good idea to stop it and try Wellbutrin. I've learned here that he took me off it waaaaay too quickly--for one week, I took 150 mg of Wellbutrin daily, and 150 mg of Effexor every other day to "wean off it." The next week, I was up to 300 mg of Wellbutrin and no effexor.
To make a long story short, I've been Effexor-free and on 300 mg of Wellbutrin for 5 weeks. The all-day emotional breakdowns I had during the first couple weeks have ended, and the brain zaps are almost gone (they still pop up every now and then). My psychiatrist said Effexor withdrawal (especially when stopped as quickly as my previous doctor took me off it) can last up to a couple months...
But does anyone have any experience with still feeling bad withdrawal symptoms after FIVE WEEKS? I guess the specific symptoms I'm asking about are headaches/nausea/dizziness starting in the late afternoon or early evening, and some crazy mood swings. By 4 or so, I'm usually useless at work...
I read that because Wellbutrin doesn't effect seratonin levels, when you switch to it from Effexor, withdrawal symptoms are worse than if you switched to an SSRI. I'm just trying to figure out if what I'm feeling is typical effexor withdrawal or if Wellbutrin is a problem for me. My psychiatrist (who I trust more than my doctor, at least...) says we should give it more time.
The Wellbutrin is definitely giving me more energy, and I do feel less depressed... until I have these horrible mood swings, usually late in the day. Those are slowly improving too, I think, but the headache/nausea/dizziness continues daily (Claritin didn't help).
Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated... Thanks so much in advance!
poster:Dkscully
thread:452064
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050202/msgs/452064.html