Wellbutrin and vistaril

I've been preparing for my new pdoc apointment next month (arleady!), and researching meds to replace my seroquel and clonazepam with. I want meds that are weight neutral.

I was wondering what experiences people have had on wellbutrin. I know it's an AD, and normally avoid those, but I read it's not an SSRI, and that it potentially helps with concentration and can help you quit smoking (I'd really like to quit). If you're on it has it helped at all with your depression or concentration or anxiety, and if you've been on it in the past did it make you manic?

I was also wondering if vistaril/atarax has helped you with your anxiety as a PRN if you've ever been on that (propranolol seems to do nothing for me and buspar made made me really sick).

Thanks!

When I took 400mg of Wellbutrin a day I had more energy and and did loose some weight and it was easier to maintain the weight with Wellbutrin. I did cut back on my cigs just having 4 a day.

Because I was experiencing hair loss I decided to lower the medication to just 100mg, but I have gained some weight back and have less energy. I also reduced my lamotrigine from 150 mg to 75 mg because I also taught this was making me have hairloss.

I am in the process of rising the Wellbutrin after a long enough period of 3 months from 25mg to 50mg and will record the effects of hair loss, maybe it was just stressed as I do like some of the effects of Wellbutrin, more energy and loss of weight but i was not in joy of loosing hair so I reduced it for awhile.

So basically I am unsure if Lamictal or Wellbutrin or simply stress was causing the shedding of my hair. It could have also been a period of shedding.

Good luck to you.

Sylvie

I'm on hydroxyzine (Vistaril/Atarax) It helps a little, not as much as Klonopin but it's better for long term use

Hi, BPII sufferer here and was taking Wellbutrin SR 300mg a day for a week. Hands down the [best] drug I have ever taken before. Unfortunately, I lost weight on Wellbutrin, which isn't good if you're already underweight. Also my concentration increased on Wellbutrin, and I felt clear from foggy thoughts. Didn't seem to interfere w/ my mood swings, but I felt pleasant all the time, and not a hypomanic feeling.

Never been on hydroxyzine, so I can't help you there. Sorry. Hope I was of some help!

wellbutrin did nothing for me, but propranlol works great for me. What works for one person doesn't always work for someone else.

I was given Vistaril IP once .....gave me wicked urinary retention for 12 freaking hours Never again.

Wellbutrin? I haven't taken that in a couple decades.. I can't remember than long ago

I'm on Wellburtin 150 mg and it has really helped me a lot. I have more energy to do things and combined with the mood stabilizer I take, I really think it is effective. It also has helped me lose some weight which is nice! So far (i have been on it for around 3 months) it hasn't made me hypomanic at all. Good luck at your appointment

I used hydroxyzine (with klonopin) a good bit for a few years. During one period my pdoc and therapist agreed that it was time to control my anxiety with meds and work on it heavily and so I was on hydroxyzine 3 times during the day plus more at night. It worked pretty well as a supplement. I was on it without benzos as part of a post-hospital safety plan a few years ago and that didn't go as well. But I've been on benzos forever and was extremely anxious at that time as I was realizing that I was done working and needed SSDI and everything in the world felt broken.

It's great that you're preparing and doing the research for next month

I have used Vistaril/hydroxyzine as an "add-on" anxiety med and also to help with anxiety when I was tapering down an antidepressant.

I took a fairly low dose (25-50 mg/day.) It helped more with anxiety than I expected. I took it every day for a few months last year and when I was taking it regularly, the side effects lessened (headache in the morning, dry eyes & mouth, drowsiness.)

It's on the list of meds that was published recently that are supposed to increase the risk of dementia if you take it for years. So is clonazepam, though.

I didn't drive while I was taking it. I'm not sure how it might affect those skills.

It worked better than I expected for a PRN-type anxiety medication. I think it would probably take a high dose to work for very severe anxiety, but I'd find that 25 or 50 mg would work for my withdrawal anxiety.

I wish I knew what would get rid of the headache that I got from it, though. It's a very common side effect, and none of the OTC headache meds I tried ever helped it at all.

I've been taking Wellbutrin for awhile now and it was the only thing that helped depression without causing mania for me. I think it's keeping me afloat now that I've had such a major trauma. Without it I have no doubt I'd be stuck in bed crying all day every day. Good stuff.

I didn't lose or gain weight on it. It didn't help smoking but I don't smoke a whole lot to begin with (half a pack a day). And I didn't make a concentrated effort to quit.

Wellbutrin caused me to grind my teeth etc. very edgy. That's me though

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Definitely going to ask new pdoc about wellbutrin.

Since she wants me off the nazzies, I feel like I'm kind of in a tough spot regarding something for my severe anxiety because AD's make me manic and I know those are the ones that help with severe anxiety, and I want off seroquel. I'm sure she'll have some suggestions though obviously.

I am going to be so prepared for this appointment. Maybe overly prepared.

Thanks for the replies!

Not so sure about this vistaril stuff, but who knows. I have a feeling it would probably make me sick.

Honestly, with buspar, after my first dose kicked in, I was on the floor moaning and wanting to puke. lol

A 150 dose helps my energy but makes me irritable, and a 300 dose makes me borderline between hypomanic and manic. That's even with the presence of another AD that has a sedative effect on me.

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Vistaril is a cousin of Benadryl. How do you do with Benadryl?

Benadryl just makes me sleepy.

Wait, lol, this pdoc could potentially replace my clonazepam with something that is like benadryl? Seriously. I can't sleep right now and that's making me geek out.

Wellbutrin was the only med that ever made me hypomanic.

I found vistaril to be very weak. Nothing at all like a benzo.

Good luck!

It's a little different; I find it more relaxing than benadryl and it also seems to be more calming than knock-you-out sedating. But if benadryl makes you sleepy you probably won't get sick on hydroxyzine. It's also used as a nausea treatment in fact.

My new Psych (who is an Angel I swear) said anyone with Bi-Polar should never be on an anti-depressant, at all. And he is part time practice and part time in the Psychology field so I would trust his judgement because I know he is reading peer-reviewed studies.

I would look into Latuda (my miracle drug). As far as Klonopin, I found that is the only one (I've tried Xanax, Valium, etc) and it was the only one that actually took the anxiety away and didn't make me want to pass out tired. But everyones bodies is different. You could be the opposite with Xanax or Valium.

But def' look into Latuda. Its considered "New" and most doctors have ample amount of samples. I'd try it and see.

I don't think you can have a solid rule about EVERYONE with bipolar. It is too variable. ADs alone and the first 2 with lithium (SSRIs which are cruel to me) were horrible and I was promised no more ADs by a world famous expert in bipolar who conducted a clinical trial I did. But Lamictal didn't work so well for me and while I was off ADs for years I did eventually go back on them with adequate mood stabilization. And while I think I tried being off them one other time just because we weren't finding one that worked without causing high blood pressure I didn't do well. And when I had to go completely off my AD to go on an MAOI I got a pretty good luck at what it is like for me to not be on an AD and it was not pretty.

My pdoc uses them with caution and we do things like backing off to nearly nothing or in this recent case taking several days completely off the AD when manic because MAOIs are really stimulating. On the other hand the stimulating effect allows me to tolerate enough APs and mood stabilizers to be able to function with the doses I need.

But it really kind of annoys me when any dr. proclaims that "this is the way for everyone with bipolar/PTSD/GAD/OCD/etc" because everyone is different. I did a PTSD treatment once that was very intense. The creators say it is a 12 week once a week treatment. It took me 5 months twice a week because it was so hard that each step took me longer and I had to back off a few times because I was getting too upset. It worked but the "this treats PTSD in 12 weeks" thing was a joke for me. Fortunately my pdoc never really expected 12 sessions would do it and we just kept going until we were done but individual differences matter in all things mental illness I think.

To be honest, I would prefer NOT to be on an AP.

Wellbutrin was horrible for me. Im good with sticking out med side effects but I just felt awful and completely insane from 3rd or 4th day I started taking it. I quit cigarettes the first weekend but I dont think it had much to do with the drug as much as being told I would get very sick if I continued to smoke on it. I only smoke occasionally anyway. All I can see looking back on those few weeks is anger and misery. I was suicidal by the end of the second week. Thats when I decided to give up on looking for a new antidepressant.