Antidepressants- feel worse before better?

Hi everyone! Anybody experience feeling worse at first when starting an antidepressant? I started Wellbutrin 150xl last Friday. For the last 2 days I've felt MORE depressed and agitated. I don't want to stop taking it before giving it a fair chance, but its pretty scary and discouraging to actually be feeling worse. I'm also taking Seroquel 300mg and klonipin as needed. Weaning off Lexapro (taking 5mg down from 10). Any advice or experience with this is much appreciated.

Are you sure the lexapro reduction isn't to blame? When my pdoc reduced my lexapro dosage from 10mg to 5mg, I became very depressed. Then when I tried to go off it altogether, I felt even more depressed.

At 5mg, it didn't get rid of my depression, but things certainly got worse when I went off it. So just because it may not appear to have helped with depression, it doesn't mean it isn't helping at all. It may be helping despite that.

Just my 2 cents.

I’ve considered that possibly withdrawing from the Lexapro could be the problem. I didn’t think about the fact it could have been helping a little, I just figured it could be a withdrawal symptom. I have high hopes for Wellbutrin, but at the moment I just feel blah! That’s why I was wondering if some people feel worse on it at first before it (hopefully) starts working.

It takes a few weeks for it to start working and 150 is a low dose I think. I'm on 450 and have been there for 7 weeks now after taking a couple of months to get there.

Unfortunately it's not working out for me. It's only partially working.

It's good that you're giving it a chance and your patience will help determine whether it works for you.

Hang in there.

I've been on 300 of Wellbutrin for years and it definitely helps. But it did take a few weeks to kick in. Try to practice patience and hang in there while it gets to work. I've found it to be pretty helpful.

@Scooter9 I'm sorry it's not working out for you. I sincerely hope you find something that works very soon. All this trial and error with meds can wear a person out. I know how discouraging it can be for sure.

I recently started Lexapro 16 days ago and it made me feel horribly flu like, and worsened my anxiety and depression to the point of not being able to function for several days. I was determined to tough it out. After about 11 days it started to improve. I woke up today feeling great! I feel more like myself than I have in years. It was a rough ride but certainly worth it. Hang in there! You are not alone.

Yep! It’s pretty common to feel worse on antidepressants before feeling better. That happened to me when starting Zoloft- I felt soooo anxious and agitated for like 3 weeks... but now it’s totally helping my depression and anxiety. Let your pdoc know about how you’re doing, as they might be able to give a short-term med to help with your symptoms or do a dose adjustment. Hang in there, hope you start feeling better soon!

Update: I'm so glad I stuck it out! On my 5th week of Wellbutrin and I've been feeling SO much better for about the last 2 weeks. I've still been tearful and highly sensitive, but not as much as I was for the last few months. In the last 2 days I've gone from 150mg to 300mg, and I'm already noticing even more energy and motivation, Downside so far: some nightmares, and difficulty sleeping(anxiety, repeatedly waking up) in the few hours before it's time to wake up. I'm hoping these side effects go away soon, but even if they don't, it's SOOOO much better than the soul crushing depression I was feeling all summer long. My only fear is a switch to mania. Anyone know at what point anti-depressant induced mania shows up once you've started a new antidepressant? My NP seems to think it would have happened by now, but I'm skeptical and still worried about it.

I ALWAYS feel worse before feeling better on generally any new medication. I do believe it could be from coming down from something else. But I’m glad you stuck it out! Hopefully it continues working for you (: