[SubliminalThoughts]

Has anyone purposely drank caffeine to help with depression? Before taking wellbutrin I would drink about two or three cups of coffee and then I would get super happy. This would only last about 30 minutes then I would be back to where I was at. Now since im taking wellbutrin, I will sometimes drink something with caffeine if im feeling sad, but now this happiness lasts for about three hours and this isn't like feeling normal happiness, this is a euphoric feeling. I gotta say I love it, but the bad part about this is that when the happiness dies down I feel worse than before I drank it. Anyone have similar experiences?

[Lexi232]

Yup.
Have they ever tried you on any stimulants? like for adhd? at one time all i was on was a stimulant med, and it fixed my depression. Then when they threw in an antidepressant, it started making me manic. so maybe theres a medium that works somewhere between the uppers and the downers?

[Altered Moment]

Wellbutrin is activating so with caffeine that may explain it. You are just having a caffeine crash. All stimulants have a crash. Wellbutrin is not the same though, and anyway it has a constant level in your system. I drink strong coffee in the morning and it does motivate me. I don't really get a crash though. I am weird that way. Maybe just drink decaf.

[SubliminalThoughts]

Originally Posted by Lexi232

Yup.
Have they ever tried you on any stimulants? like for adhd? at one time all i was on was a stimulant med, and it fixed my depression. Then when they threw in an antidepressant, it started making me manic. so maybe theres a medium that works somewhere between the uppers and the downers?

No I never tried any stimulants. Wellbutrin itself acts like a low grade stimulant. The strange thing is that there is no known interaction between wellbutrin and caffeine.

[Altered Moment]

I think it is very rare that they will give an amphetamine for depression. Only for ADHD. Sometimes for very treatment resistant depression but rare.

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[Flee23]

I take Adderall (among other things) for treatment-resistant depression. It doesn't help much but it seems to be better than nothing.

[regretful]

When I was not medicated, and not depressed, I could drink coffee all day long. Now that I'm on medication, even one small cup of coffee gets me jittery. I don't think it mixes well with Viibryd.

[Hellion]

I don't really self medicate depression with caffeine, except maybe the lack of energy and lethargy, but I also don't get enough sleep much of the time so I more self medicate lack of sleep with it.

[lonely-and-sad]

I have been prescribed ritalin as an augmentation for ssnri meds. It helps with the fatigue aspect and lack of drive and all the other things associated with dopamine. Having suffered with very severe depression for decades now it is as Flee said better than nothing - better than not having it. I drink several strong cups of coffee a day. I have given it up before and it makes no real difference to my depression. But I do seem to like caffeine and the energy kick I get from it.

[Skanzi]

I would not recommend caffeine as medication. You may feel happier for a moment, but that will backlash later. I wouldn't even recommend any medication at all, but that is for other discussion.

You have to get to the core of the problem. don't waste time fighting the symptoms.

[Mrs. Mania]

Yep, been there, coffee and meds= time to get **** done!

[Crazy Hitch]

I've found, at times, when I'm depressed, and I over do the caffeine, unfortunately it triggers my anxiety to kick start in and I start pacing.

I must admit when I am slow paced due to depression I do up the caffeine levels to get me going.

[BonnieNotClyde]

Oh, yes. Coffee is the only thing that has kept me going. I have at least 6 cups during a regular school day. It's more like switching a problem for another however. I get too fidgety and distracted to get anything done after drinking coffee (or crunching caffeine pills). Though I suppose I'm no better getting things done while not on caffeine either. Also, as Hooligan said, anxiety either during or after my caffiene highs.

[Anxious Minds]

I haven't had caffeine since July. I decided over the summer that I was going to get my eating habits in order because I had gained a lot of weight and was starting to have some chest pains. So, I completely cut out caffeine and haven't had anything to drink other than water since July.

And the results have been utterly amazing. I have had so much more energy and have my moods have been improved tenfold.

So, I would say that caffeine is a major contributor to these issues. It may not be the cause, but it's definitely not helping.