![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by oceanbabe on July 28, 2005, at 20:11:44
I have been tapering off of Effexor XL for about 2 months (have been taking it for about 4 years, 150mg). Everything has been going well, although I did notice that when I went to 37.5 my anxiety was a little elevated, but not a big deal. So 6 days ago, my DR decides to switch me to Wellbutrin XL 150mg since I'm starting to feel depressed and anxious again. 2 days later, I'm dizzy and so anxious that I'm close to having panic attacks and I can't sleep. I thought that this was a side effect of Wellbutrin so I call my DR and she switches me to Lexapro 10mg. Now I find this forum and have been reading all about the effexor withdrawal and am wondering if I'm experiencing withdrawals from effexor or side effects from the wellbutrin.
Has anyone had this experience and what did they do? also, does anyone have experience with wellbutrin and/or lexapro? I need to take something but don't want to get into another heavy withdrawal situation. I haven't actually started the lexapro yet, just picked it up today. Any advice/knowledge would be extremely appreciated.
Posted by TrishP on July 28, 2005, at 20:12:21
In reply to Effexor withdrawal or Wellbutrin side effects?, posted by oceanbabe on July 27, 2005, at 20:27:04
I was taking 75mg of Effexor XR and 150XL of Wellbutrin. Everything was great (except the sexual side effects of the Effexor). Effexor is the best thing I've ever taken for anxiety. Due to the side effects I stopped taking it and just stuck with my Wellbutrin. By the time I got down to 37.5 of the Effexor, my anxiety was back.
So, I've tried other things, but Effexor worked the best for anxiety. So, since I couldn't kick the Effexor habit, I upped it back to 75mg and switched to Wellbutrin 200 SR (to see if it will help with sexual side effects).
Good luck. I lot of the med stuff is trial and error.
Posted by Tiggercat on July 28, 2005, at 20:12:21
In reply to Effexor withdrawal or Wellbutrin side effects?, posted by oceanbabe on July 27, 2005, at 20:27:04
I just found a nifty book at the local public library that discusses withdrawal effects *in-depth*: The Antidepressant Solution, A step-by-step guide to safely overcoming antidepressant withdrawal, dependence, and "addiction" (Joseph Glenmullen, MD; 2005). He talks a lot about withdrawal symptoms and how to taper meds/manage them, and how to tell if you're having a withdrawal or med side-effect symptom. Effexor's one of his listed 'worst offenders',and anxiety is one of the many symptoms he lists in a checklist.
The book may have some interesting info for you and your doc. I'm really impressed by its thoroughness and thoughtfulness (and references to sound research, as far as I can tell).
Good luck with this, oceanbabe
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Withdrawal | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.