[franz kafka]

I'm in one of the deepest depressions I've had in years. I'm considering asking pdoc for some kind of antidepressant. In general Wellbutrin doesn't cause manic switches, right? What are your experiences with Wellbutrin and bipolar depression? Or other drugs that you found helpful?

[FallDuskTrain]

Wellbutrin caused manic episodes for me.

[SorryShaped]

Wellbutrin gave me the permanent shakes. It ok most days but there are some times it's pretty bad. It did make me fully manic.

[franz kafka]

What do you mean permanent shakes? Even after stopping?

[cool09]

Mirapex is working for me. Paxil also worked. No response to wellbutrin.

[wildflowerchild25]

Wellbutrin worked for awhile for me but stopped for me. Maybe six months. Emsam was the best AD I’ve ever used, though it is an MAOI so many drs don’t prescribe it. My pnurse at the time would just do whatever I told her to do so that’s how I got it. No mania except I was on invega also and I think that kept the mania away for both wellbitrin and emsam.

[franz kafka]

I'm taking lithium, zyprexa and trileptal. Maybe that will protect me from mania?

[Wild Coyote]

I have found Wellbutrin helpful for BP depression in the past. After several years of using it, it started to give me dystonia.

I think it's often one of the more helpful antidepressant meds, at least in my case.

I hope you feel better soon!

WC

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by franz kafka

What do you mean permanent shakes? Even after stopping?

Decades after still going, and though much better, not nearly as bad as it once was. I credit partly to yoga and exercise. I'm the side effect king though. I've gotten the black box checked off on most meds so far. Doctors know this before I allow them to give me anything and I make them go over everything with me. Most are really happy to do so. I have only a couple meds left for infections and I'm on the last of the mood stabilizers that are anti-siezure drugs. Pain meds don't work in my body and I've got some food allergies too.

[SparkySmart]

I did well enough on Wellbutrin (together with Geodon and Lamictal). No problems here. It's nice that the meds I take are weight-neutral. I did have a problem with dry mouth but wasn't sure which drug (or combination) caused it. I had to keep a bottle of water on my bedside table because of parching thirst throughout the night.

[Blueberrybook]

Wellbutrin helped with the depression (I was misdiagnosed with major depression for quite some time), but it turned me manic and also gave me tremors and shakiness, which was bad because I worked in a science lab, running PCR and electrophorsis and such and needed a steady hand. The tremors stopped once I stopped taking it.

[tecomsin]

Wellbutrin has helped a bit with my depression but not helped with irritability. I also take rexulti 2 mg and lyrica 50 mg. So far no mania. My sleep is pretty good.

[pirilin]

It lifted my depression a little. But got me jittery. I stopped cold turkey. Not recommended.
Lithium made manic. Go figure.
Taking Paxil (10mg) now. I feel great.

[DeFyYing]

I'm actually thinking of trying it again.. I tried it at the hospital and I had panic attacks, but I think I was at a higher dosage. I took the genesight test and it said I'm very sensitive to wellbutrin since I had a high serum level, so idk I'll bring it up to my pdoc. But yeah it's very stimulating

I noticed you're on Zyprexa, one combination that might be possible is Symbyax (prozac+zyprexa). That's the other thing I'm looking at if wellbutrin doesn't work. I'm having either the starting signs of a depressive episode or negative symptoms from the schizoaffective (apathy, bad hygiene, anhedonia, poor concentration), it's hard to really tell.

[Unrigged64072835]

When I took Wellbutrin, it took care of the depression but made me more anxious.

I'm on Viibryd now, which works great but is horribly expensive for just about everybody.

[*Laurie*]

I've tried Wellbutrin twice; it didn't do anything to me or for me either time.

Latuda helped pull me out of a very severe depression once.

[gina_re]

Wellbutrin worked for me for about a year or so before I started having bad anxiety that I attributed to it. And I just stopped taking it. Not sure why, but I felt like it was doing more harm than good at the time.

[Guiness187055]

I take wellbutrin because it does not make me manic. It worked well in the beginning but I think it's pooping out.

[AspiringAuthor]

FK, I do not try Wellbutrin because of the risk of mania, and otherwise I would try it for weight loss.

Listen, you take Lithium and Zyprexa together and that alone might depress you - you might be taking too high of a dose of this antimanic combo. Instead of increasing polypharmacy even further, why not reduce the dose of, say, Lithium and see if you reduce the depression?

Clozapine at 50 mg and above, Risperdal, and the combo Tegretol (lowest dose) + Zyprexa made me depressed, but Tegretol alone did not. Also, the combo of Lithium and Depakote made me sedated and depressed, but taken separately these drugs did not do that.

[Jester's Rags]

I took Wellbutrin for a week and it sent me manic. I was seeing things and acting erratic. I was also on Lithium at the time which I had expected to keep that kind of thing in check.