Hey all,

I started Wellbutrin about 3 weeks ago, started feeling the benefits after 2 weeks. I felt good. Too good. I knew I was on a high of some sort, even though it only lasted a few days. Then yesterday, I crashed. I SIed, had many suicidal thoughts and bawled my eyes out.

This is unusual for me. When I feel "high" it lasts much longer than a few days. And today, I don't feel nearly as suicidal as yesterday. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster of emotions!

I just read online that anti-depressants can cause rapid cycling. I've had ADs make me manic, and ADs make me suicidal, but never both. I don't have a psych appointment until late April.

Is this possible? To have become rapid-cycling due to an anti-depressant? Has anyone else experienced this?

[vjdragonfly]

Hey Melissa!
No I personally haven't been through the rapid cycling thing, but I know it can happen. I've been on wellbuterin for a little over a month and a half now and it has really seemed to help. My pdoc upped the dosage, I just haven't had the new prescription filled yet. Kinda scared to be upped, afraid it is going to send me overboard.

I now you don't have an appointment till later this month, but can't you call your pdoc and let them know what is going on? Remember if things get too bad, you can always go to the hospital. Please take care of yourself and be safe.

[ladyjrnlist]

I did when I was on Wellbutrin and Cymbalta without and mania meds. Not saying this is what is happening with you though. Can you get in to see the doctor any sooner?

[crzyladee]

I've read that being BP, you will need a mood stabilizer while on any kind of AD. For us (BP1) it can cause a horrible tailspin, I only assume it will be the same with BP2.

I'm guessing it will make you rapid cycle. Hope you get this figured out.

[dragonfly2]

Hi Melissa,

Sorry to hear that you're having a rough time right now. I am also on Wellbutrin and it has not triggered mania or cycling. I have had awful manic/cycling reactions to SSRI and tricyclic antidepressants. Paxil, Zoloft, citalopram, Lexapro, etc, really send me spinning. Amitryptiline really ramped me up as well. But not the Wellbutrin.

You didn't mention what other meds, if any, you are taking. I have never taken Wellbutrin without a mood stabilizer, so I cannot attest as to whether or not it would trigger cycling without one. SSRIs, on the other hand, will send me off even with a mood stabilizer on board.

It's a delicate balance.

I would certainly let your pdoc know what's going on as soon as you can. The most important thing is your safety. Try to be gentle with yourself while you're going through all this.

[PT52]

Hi Melissa, hope things level out soon! It could be you're still adjusting to the Wellbutrin, but you definitely want to talk to your pdoc. It could be the Wellbutrin or it could be caused by something else all together. Lots of hugs

[Tsunamisurfer]

Hi Melissa. Hold on tight.
Yes, antidepressants can be extremely destabilising for some bipolar people. I'm one of them. Prozac had me in manic agitation in under 6 hours of starting it, and I experienced severe mood swings within a week. By 2 weeks I was in a full blown mixed episode with wild excitement and intense despair I can't explain to anyone who hasn't been there. My pdoc took me off Prozac after 3 weeks. Now 9 months later, I have been on mood stabilizers (valproate and lithium) and I have mostly discrete moods of hypomania to mania with hallucinations, to depression. I am now only occasionally suicidal, but my moods are frequently mixed. The cycles have slowed down from several switches a day to a peak every 3 weeks.
Be very careful with antidepressants if you feel anything is suspiciously unstable. The after effects can continue for a very long time.

[dragonfly2]

Tsunamisurfer wrote:
Be very careful with antidepressants if you feel anything is suspiciously unstable. The after effects can continue for a very long time.[/QUOTE]

I have to agree with this - before I was diagnosed as bipolar, I had a miscarriage and was put on Paxil (Seroxat) and it sent me into some serious rapid cycling. After finally figuring out what was happening, I also found out I was pregnant again. I stopped the medicine and, due to the pregnancy, could not begin any of the mood stabilizers. I continued to rapid cycle throughout the entire pregnancy - it was awful.

So, yes...be very careful.

[sugahorse1]

Wellbutrin stopped the depression in its tracks for me.
I now go through episodes of feeling 'numb' when usually I'd be depressed.
I did go hypomanic at first, but I was on Lamictin at the time, so it was not as pronounced.
Just please be careful; if you haven't been on an AD, and just stable on a mood-stabiliser, the SSRI being added may mean that your mood-stabiliser needs to be upped

Originally Posted by melissa.recovering

I... started Wellbutrin about 3 weeks ago, started feeling the benefits after 2 weeks. I felt good. Too good. I knew I was on a high of some sort, even though it only lasted a few days. Then yesterday, I crashed. ...This is unusual for me. When I feel "high" it lasts much longer than a few days. ...I've had ADs make me manic, and ADs make me suicidal, but never both. ...Is this possible? To have become rapid-cycling due to an anti-depressant? Has anyone else experienced this?

Oh yes. When I was misdiagnosed as MDD (by a GP out of her depth) and given only ADs (various ones, combos and dosages), I was a mess. The first one (Lexapro) had me up -too up- by day 2. Let the rapid cycling begin. Like you, my cycling had previously been very much longer lasting--on both ends. Citalopram (for me) was the worst. It made me even more suicidal than ever, which hardly seemed possible. Wellbutrin was not very problematic (for me), but everyone is different of course!

Originally Posted by crzyladee

I've read that being BP, you will need a mood stabilizer while on any kind of AD. For us (BP1) it can cause a horrible tailspin, I only assume it will be the same with BP2....

Yup. BPII here, and that was definitely my experience. Tailspins and ups really got out of hand. It'd been bad before, but it really got...yikes.

Hope you can get it sorted soon, melissa. Even if you don't have an appointment till late April, is it possible to make a call? Perhaps if you describe the basics of what is happening, maybe they wouldn't be adverse to letting you taper down (or off) before the appt., due to the severity of your symptoms, and that the timing of introducing the med coincides with them. (In a similar situation, I was able to adjust dosage and timing this way - via phone, so it's sometimes possible. When she heard how bad the effects were, she totally agreed an adjustment would be ok to try.) They well may not go for it, but they might -- of course with the clear understanding that you would contact them if this was not helping.