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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by exisessentialist on December 18, 2022, at 11:08:01
Hi, all. I have this longstanding habit of dismissing side effects when starting a new medication in hopes that they either will subside or that the positives will outweigh them and then ultimately only recall the profound negatives several months later. As a consequence, I am needing to discontinue wellbutrin Xl 300 mg and I'm wondering how quickly it is safe to do so. I am also on Adderall Xr 30 mg in AM, 15 mg in afternoon, Lamictal 100 mg morning and night, Paxil 60 mg and lorazepam 1 mg four times daily. I decreased my dose of Wellbutrin to 150 mg on Friday and have seen an almost immediate improvement in rigidity within my body and intrusive thoughts. OCD with confounded major depressive disorder and eating disorder not otherwise specified are my diagnoses. I also just started drinking coffee again, one cup spread out over the course of a full day recently, which was the impetus for discontuining wellbutrin as it helps more with energy and intrusive thinking than the wellbutrin ever did. I want to increase my coffee consumption without fear of a seizure due to the interaction between wellbutrin and caffeine, I'm also on a keto diet which affects electrolytes, so that's a concern with the wellbutrin. Thank you all for your time.
Posted by SLS on December 18, 2022, at 13:33:22
In reply to Wellbutrin Discontinuation, posted by exisessentialist on December 18, 2022, at 11:08:01
Hi, exisessentialist.
> Hi, all. I have this longstanding habit of dismissing side effects when starting a new medication in hopes that they either will subside or that the positives will outweigh them and then ultimately only recall the profound negatives several months later. As a consequence, I am needing to discontinue wellbutrin Xl 300 mg and I'm wondering how quickly it is safe to do so. I am also on Adderall Xr 30 mg in AM, 15 mg in afternoon, Lamictal 100 mg morning and night, Paxil 60 mg and lorazepam 1 mg four times daily. I decreased my dose of Wellbutrin to 150 mg on Friday and have seen an almost immediate improvement in rigidity within my body and intrusive thoughts. OCD with confounded major depressive disorder and eating disorder not otherwise specified are my diagnoses. I also just started drinking coffee again, one cup spread out over the course of a full day recently, which was the impetus for discontuining wellbutrin as it helps more with energy and intrusive thinking than the wellbutrin ever did. I want to increase my coffee consumption without fear of a seizure due to the interaction between wellbutrin and caffeine, I'm also on a keto diet which affects electrolytes, so that's a concern with the wellbutrin. Thank you all for your time.
Your posting name is intriguing.
I am delighted to see your/your doctor's treatment approach. Someone knows what they are doing. I haven't yet seen someone describe a withdrawal syndrome when discontinuing Wellbutrin. I think it is one of the antidepressants least apt to produce one. I was placed on 900 mg/day of Wellbutrin in 1983. I don't remember using a taper to discontinue it, though. I'm pretty sure I didn't.
Dont use me as a definitive source. I would suggest using *both* Google and PubMed:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Unfortunately, I dont think you will receive any more responses. As weird as it seems, people stopped posting when I suggested that the majority of the membership had developed extremely counterproductive self-treatment behaviors. As an example, one of the brightest members with a posting history of over 20 years is now using Effexor for a few days at a time every so often as a PRN. Perhaps he has found as palliative use for Effexor, but he pretty much guarantees himself that he will never get well. This bad habit is infectious and malignant.
Strong language, I know. So, you can blame me for the posting boycott. There arent more than a handful of people posting regularly, so I dont know that you are missing much. The only thing is, I dont know any alternative sites. Early in the history of Psycho-Babble, the New York Times published an article about the website and its founder, Robert Hsiung, MD.
One suggestion I have for you is to review the posts that exist and choose a member who you would like feedback from using the Psycho-Babble Babblemail function. It is totally anonymous. You type your letter in a message box and send it, much like posting. Your letter first goes to the websites server, whereupon it is forwarded to the person you wish to contact. You must open a post of theirs, and then find the link to their name at the top of the page.
Example:
------------------------------------------------------
Wellbutrin Discontinuation
Posted by *exisessentialist* on December 18, 2022, at 11:08:01
------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to correspond with me, you can use Babblemail.
I am posting a revision of my Consider the source very soon. It expands on the first version and shouldnt have so many dumb errors. Proofreading often eludes me.
Try this:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=bupropion+withdrawal&sort=date&sort_order=asc&size=100
Good luck.
- Scott
Posted by exisessentialist on December 18, 2022, at 14:08:36
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation, posted by SLS on December 18, 2022, at 13:33:22
Thank you so much. Regardless of whether anyone else adds to this, I greatly appreciate it. Do you have any thoughts on the caffeine consumption as I taper off or drop it entirely? I haven't seen much in terms of interactions between the two but I imagine it's related in part to a diuretic effect of coffee. Without the stimulating, and anxiety-provoking, aspect of wellbutrin, I'm concerned about physical energy levels although I feel better mentally and emotionally in the past three days.
Posted by SLS on December 18, 2022, at 15:11:20
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation, posted by exisessentialist on December 18, 2022, at 14:08:36
> Thank you so much. Regardless of whether anyone else adds to this, I greatly appreciate it. Do you have any thoughts on the caffeine consumption as I taper off or drop it entirely? I haven't seen much in terms of interactions between the two but I imagine it's related in part to a diuretic effect of coffee. Without the stimulating, and anxiety-provoking, aspect of wellbutrin, I'm concerned about physical energy levels although I feel better mentally and emotionally in the past three days.
That's great news. Before I found a treatment that worked, caffeine was the only substance / drug that I could rely upon to give me an increase in mental energy. I couldn't read / skim without it. Caffeine stimulated me whereas amphetamine did not.
I'm not exactly sure what your question is.
FYI - Wellbutrin is a strange bird. In the early 1980s, scientists ascribed dopamine reuptake inhibition as its mechanism of action. Then, they said that the mechanisms of action were elusive, but that they did not include reuptake inhibition. Wellbutrin does do that, but to a minimal degree. Now, we are back to the 1980s explanation again. In addition, norepinephrine reuptake inhibition was added. I tend to think that we should be looking at the ability of Wellbutrin to produce an increase in nitric oxide, which is now considered a neurotransmitter.
Perhaps you can rephrase your questions?
- Scott
Posted by exisessentialist on December 18, 2022, at 15:23:13
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation » exisessentialist, posted by SLS on December 18, 2022, at 15:11:20
> Perhaps you can rephrase your questions?
>
>
> - Scott
>
>
>
>
Our experiences with caffeine are actually quite similar. And that's interesting about the nitric oxide component.
I guess my question is if I should be concerned about increasing my caffeine consumption as I'm tapering off of the wellbutrin with respect to any potential negative interaction between the two. It's three days at 150 mg xl now and I'm at one cup a day, which is what I had been drinking for maybe a week before I decided to taper off the wellbutrin. I used to drink an absurd amount of coffee and while I don't ever want to feel the need to return to that, I'm hoping that I can augment my sense of physical energy with perhaps 2-3 cups of coffee a day rather than my current 1. I just don't know if I should wait to start increasing my consumption until I've been off of the wellbutrin entirely for 5 half-lives or if I can begin increasing my coffee intake sooner, somewhat evenly spread throughout the day.
Thank you.
Posted by undopaminergic on December 25, 2022, at 14:10:03
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation, posted by SLS on December 18, 2022, at 13:33:22
> Hi, exisessentialist.
>
>
> Your posting name is intriguing.
>It is to me too.
> As weird as it seems, people stopped posting when I suggested that the majority of the membership had developed extremely counterproductive self-treatment behaviors.
>I asked elsewhere (in another reply to you), but this may provide the answer.
So you *do* think that the Psychobabble regulars have stopped posting because of something you did?
I can think of less polite things to say about that, but I'll leave it at this: correlation does not equal causation.
>
> Strong language, I know. So, you can blame me for the posting boycott.
>Certainly not as far as I'm concerned.
You have, however, made it much more time-consuming for me to catch up with Psychobabble. But, of course, I don't expect you to go out of your way to make my life easy.
-undopaminergic
Posted by SLS on January 5, 2023, at 7:30:10
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation » SLS, posted by undopaminergic on December 25, 2022, at 14:10:03
>
> You have, however, made it much more time-consuming for me to catch up with Psychobabble. But, of course, I don't expect you to go out of your way to make my life easy.
>
> -undopaminergic
You don't know that.
- Scott
>
Posted by undopaminergic on January 5, 2023, at 8:43:38
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation » undopaminergic, posted by SLS on January 5, 2023, at 7:30:10
>
> >
> > You have, however, made it much more time-consuming for me to catch up with Psychobabble. But, of course, I don't expect you to go out of your way to make my life easy.
> >
> > -undopaminergic
>
>
> You don't know that.
>I don't, so I said what I "expect".
-undopaminergic
Posted by SLS on January 5, 2023, at 9:14:04
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin Discontinuation » SLS, posted by undopaminergic on January 5, 2023, at 8:43:38
> > > You have, however, made it much more time-consuming for me to catch up with Psychobabble. But, of course, I don't expect you to go out of your way to make my life easy.
> > >
> > > -undopaminergic> > You don't know that.
> I don't, so I said what I "expect".
Maybe you should. :)
- Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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