Wellbutrin helping emotional flatness?

onionknight · 05:25 PM

For people who have actually taken Wellbutrin, if you were feeling flat, did it help this? Like did it return normal reactions and add nuance to your emotions, thoughts and actions? I'm asking because I have been terribly blunted in motivation, affect, thoughts, reactions, etc from Effexor, and even as I slowly withdraw from Effexor, I am struggling with it.

Or has anyone has experience taking Wellbutrin with Effexor or while decreasing it?

35again · Oct 07, 2013, 03:24 PM

I was on Effexor and was told I was like a zombie, I never realized it. I'm on Wellbutrin (generic) now and unfortunately I do have the flatness, numb sense. I've been on it for several years now, the flatness comes and goes. I'm in one of those comes times and it makes me consider weaning off. When I weaned off Effexor I did it incredibly slowly which helped avoid the terrible withdrawl syndrome.

onionknight · Oct 08, 2013, 09:27 PM

It took me a few months to gain the perspective to notice that Effexor was making me incredibly flat. At first I was semi-enjoying that nothing was really bothering me. When I finally told this to my doctor, she gave me Wellbutrin and said it shouldn't have the same blunted emotions.

Do you think your flatness is a relic from Effexor? I've heard that it can take years to stabilize after getting off it.

IndieVisible · Oct 08, 2013, 09:36 PM

Wellbutrin is unlike most anti-depressants, it is not a SSRI (zombie) pill, it's an actual mild stimulant that works almost like amphetamine only a little different and not addicting. It does release more dopamine which is what other amphetamines do too. The difference is nite and day. You will either feel completely NORMAL which is a good thing, or even more motivated then usual. It will curve your appetite, the first week you will find u forget to eat some times. Unfortunately after a couple of months it looses that effect but by then you could lose 20 pounds

It's great for depression, but will do nothing for anxiety in fact in my case it increases my anxiety so I need to address that with another med as needed. Another really nice thing about it, it will not make u sexually dysfunctional, in fact the opposite

onionknight · Oct 08, 2013, 09:40 PM

Quote:

You will either feel completely NORMAL

That's all I really want. But at this point, I am still tapering off Effexor so Wellbutrin would have to overcome the awfulness withdrawal is causing as well, which I doubt would happen since they work with different mechanisms. My doctor told me I could go right from Effexor to Wellbutrin, but I'm not risking that, knowing what I do about how I react when Eff. is lowered.

onionknight · Oct 14, 2013, 10:06 AM

Meh, I'm at 21mg of Effexor now, but I only have 6 pills left. Rather than go to my doctor again and explain how I'm tapering very slowly, I'm just going to start Welbutrin and stop Effexor when I run out. I have mixed feelings about taking another medication, but I suppose after months of flatness from Effexor and then months of withdrawal symptoms, I might as well see what Wellbutrin can do for me. Right? People have had good results with it so I have reason to be hopeful.

crashnebula · Oct 15, 2013, 08:20 PM

wellbutrin has been good for me but its been increased so now i'm at 450mg
I've really improved, some medication will stop working sometimes its normal.
Changing medication is nothing to be worried about it happens and i'm sure you will be just fine

onionknight · Oct 16, 2013, 09:33 PM

This actually took a bizarre twist that I didn't foresee. I was feeling very, very low over the weekend. I was going to take Wellbutrin to see if I could reverse this; when I went to drop off the prescription, I also got 5-THP (w/e it is) and took that (yes, I was still taking a small dose of Effexor. Two days out, without taking any Wellbutrin, I feel weirdly semi-normal. Since I only have like five Effexor pills left, Im halving the dose every other day.

AFDakota77 · Oct 17, 2013, 07:49 AM

Onion knight, yes 5-HTP is a natural serotonin effector, use thy ER type for the most benefit. It also stabilizes your appetite as well as your mood. You feel human again.
It does not work for everyone but works for most of us, has no or few side effects. I use the Natrol brand from vitacost.com.
I have been using it on advice from my kinesiologist for years. I still have other depression and anxiety issues, but I still have the will to live and fight for whole ness.

AFDakota77 · Oct 17, 2013, 07:56 AM

I am going to try Wellbutrin if my first visit goes well with a psychiatrist Thursday, I really want to avoid all the SSRI type drugs.

I talked to many pharmacists and they all say that their patients all get prescribed SSRI initially, hate the many side effects ( the negative sex issues are one biggie), see the right psychiatrist and get Wellbutrin. Most of the time, nine times out of ten, according to the pharmacists, the patient stays with the Wellbutrin.

I found pharmacists to be a wealth of info on drugs and their effects and their effectiveness.

AFDakota77 · Oct 17, 2013, 07:57 AM

I am going to try Wellbutrin if my first visit goes well with a psychiatrist Thursday, I really want to avoid all the SSRI type drugs.

I talked to many pharmacists and they all say that their patients all get prescribed SSRI initially, hate the many side effects ( the negative sex issues are one biggie), see the right psychiatrist and get Wellbutrin. Most of the time, nine times out of ten, according to the pharmacists, the patient stays with the Wellbutrin.

I found pharmacists to be a wealth of info on drugs and their effects and their effectiveness.

gayleggg · Oct 17, 2013, 08:28 AM

I am med resistant and had to stop all of them cold turkey due to a conflict with a blood thinner I start on. I was off all psych meds about 2 months. Needless to say, I had to go up or down. I went into a deep depression. They have now started adding my psych drugs back one at a time. I had just started Welbutrin when I had stop taking everything. They have just put me back on it and I'm now up to 300 mg. I haven't had any trouble with but can't really tell that is has helped any either. I don't notice any flatness at this point, not much good are reducing appetite that is caused by the Seroquel.

onionknight · Oct 17, 2013, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Onion knight, yes 5-HTP is a natural serotonin effector, use thy ER type for the most benefit. It also stabilizes your appetite as well as your mood. You feel human again.
It does not work for everyone but works for most of us, has no or few side effects. I use the Natrol brand from vitacost.com

I feel human again, that is exactly it! I dont know what it would do if I was experiencing a bad depressive episode, but now I must have been suffering serotonin depletion from Effexor withdrawal since it worked so suddenly. I have natrol, but it isnt extended release.

I have the Wellbutrin, but if I continue to feel normal enough that I can function, Ill hold off on starting it. I just dont want to risk building up a tolerance so that it doesnt help when I need it.

onionknight · Oct 19, 2013, 03:57 PM

So I have two more Effexor capsules; I'm going to do 5mg again tomorrow morning and 2.5mg the day after. Then, I'll be done. I'm sure my mind will be in withdrawal mode for a bit longer, but it will come as a relief. I don't feel as good today as I did earlier in the week, but considering the awful withdrawal symptoms I've had previously, I'm doing fine.

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Wellbutrin helping emotional flatness?

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