[BreakFree]

Hello!
First off, I'm being treated for depression and anxiety. I'm currently taking 300mg wellbutrin (increased from 150 a week ago) and 10 mg buspar 2x daily. My psychiatrist added the buspar due to increased anxiety and panic caused by the wellbutrin. The buspar helped especially with my phsyical anxiety symptoms during the first couple weeks, but not so much since then. I've also been having trouble falling and staying asleep since about 1 month in to the 150mg of wellbutrin. I saw my psychiatrist last week and she prescribed 2mg ativan to take every night as well as increasing my wellbutrin to 300mg. I had already been taking ativan sporadically during this period as I had been prescribed it before and still had pills left. Now that I've been taking it every night it doesn't seem to do much anymore. So I'm still left with sleeping issues as well as increased anxiety as a result of the wellbutrin increase.

I'm wondering what medications could possibly be used in conjunction with wellbutrin to help with the anxiety and the sleep issues. Wellbutrin has been the only medication that has significantly helped my depression, so I worry about completely dumping it and trying something new. I've never been one to just blatantly suggest medications to my psychiatrist but I'm beginning to consider it.
I've heard trazodone helps with sleeping problems. And of course other benzos are sedating but aren't good for long-term use. No sleeping pills are actually really good for long term use- which is why my mother suggested just starting over and trying a new antidepressant. I don't know, I've tried multiple meds within the past year and a half and there's always something wrong, either an annoying side effect or the med just doesn't help me. It just makes me doubtful of ever finding a medication that will fully benefit me without side effects. I feel like there aren't a lot of very effective anxiety medications available that aren't sedating like benzos. The SSRIs I've taken in the past have helped with the anxiety but I always had bad side effects or it didn't help my mood. Maybe the wellbutrin with a different SSRI would help counteract the anxiety and sleep issues? I don't know.
Any comments are welcome! (sorry about this post being so lengthy)

[ChangingMyMind]

Hmm that's hard. I'm kind of in a similar situation as I've come to realize a lot of my symptoms are actually anxiety and not depression. I've been trying to treat depression when now I think it's been anxiety. I say that because benzos make me feel absolutely fine... Normal. That being said I will not take benzos long term and really I have side effects to them so I can't. So I'm finding there are not many other options for anxiety. I used to take Celexa and it helped my anxiety immensely. Granted its an SSRI and I know you said you have side effects to them but it really did help me for a long time. I can't take it anymore due to side effects so I am now trying alternative treatments like mindfullness, meditation, chamomile tea, kava tea, green tea in the morning because of the l-theanine and caffeine but maybe you could take the l-theanine alone since Wellbutrin is stimulating. There are other alternatives as well like GABA, valarian root, lemon balm... Over in the other treatments thread they have more information on alternative remedies.

[cindy.walsh]

Look into trazodone for sleep. I take wellbutrin for depression and haven't had a problem sleeping since I started taking trazodone.

[hellboy]

Originally Posted by cindy.walsh

Look into trazodone for sleep. I take wellbutrin for depression and haven't had a problem sleeping since I started taking trazodone.

I agree. Trazodone is excellent and you can find a dose that will help you and it is very safe. Try to stay away from the benzos, they are not good for the long term.

[Sinking Feeling]

I pretty much take wellbutrin just because I like it. It re leaves some fatigue from other meds, and it is a mild stimulant. It's never done much for my depression and absolutely nothing for anxiety. It can intensify your anxiety. I stay away from extended release and stick with the instant release, they wear off faster. I had trouble falling asleep with it even with sleep meds at first but now I can take wellbutrin any time.

As for the anxiety, buspar doesn't work very well for most people, but some say it works great. I happen to read clinical studies and was not surprised to learn that buspar barely beat the placebo lol. That should tell you some thing

Don't let any one fool you, nothing works better for serious anxiety then benzo's! I get really bad anxiety and panic attacks and have tried every darn thing under the sun. Benzo's hands down and I don't care if they are addicting or not. The next best I came across for anxiety when pdocs want to be jerks is zoloft. It easily beats buspar but if your extreme like me you will still need benzos as needed, but much less!

For sleep, low doses of serquel is better then trazadone. The best is ambien plus seroquel, thats what I take. I still only get about 4 to 8 hours of sleep but wake up a lot. Yes I have a serious sleep disorder too. Try instant release seroquel verses trazadone, or better yet ask your pdoc if he can give you samples of each and see which works best for u!
You will get use to the wellbutrin, give it time

[Azalysa]

Hi BreakFree and everyone! I haven't posted in quite awhile but wanted to join this discussion.

Brief background - I was dx with Major Depression Recurrent, Rapid Cycling over 20 years ago. Major anxiety popped up about 10 years ago but looking back over my life I see a pattern of anxiety and obsessive thinking. I was fortunate to work with the same psychiatrist for all these years. Finding the right med and/or med combo in the right dose to address the illness but not have horrible side effects took some work. The last combo that I was stable on for years was Wellbutrin XL 150 + Zoloft 50 mg + 1 mg day (taken in two dosages) of Klonopin for the anxiety.

After so many years on medications I wanted to try not taking any so I first went off the Wellbutrin & Zoloft, then sloooowwwlly tapered off the Klonopin. I was doing this on my own as I had moved out of the area from my psychiatrist and had not found a new Dr.

Klonopin is EXTREMELY addictive and going off of it was very difficult. I researched all I could about how to safely wean off. Finally I was off all meds - the Wellbutrin/Zoloft for over a year and the Klonopin for about four months and....CRASHED!!!! Anxiety worse than I'd ever had, to the point of pacing the floor with two obsessive thoughts looping constantly through my mind. I didn't realize the depression had returned but a family member said I looked so sad and I realized I felt dead inside. Something had to be done!!

We contacted my former psychiatrist, even though the drive to see him was a distance but I wasn't in any shape to try to talk to a brand new Dr. My psych. is in the process of retiring so I was scheduled with his P.A. instead. At least she had all my records and my former psych. met with her prior to my first visit.

The visit went well - the P.A.'s main objective was to get the anxiety under control so she prescribed 50 mg Zoloft for the first week to increase to 100 mg the second week and following. She said that was one of the "go to" SSRI's for anxiety. 1 mg of Klonopin was added - 0.5 am and 0.5 pm. To help with sleep she prescribed 15 mg Restoril. I asked about Wellbutrin and she said she did not want to add it right now but wanted to see me in a week.

The following week (this past Tuesday) I reported that I was no longer pacing the floor but still had the fear/anxiety thoughts but also felt like a "zombie" and was very fatigued. She cut the Klonopin to 0.25 mg for the am and to only take the second dose as needed. Zoloft was left at 100 mg and this time she added the Wellbutrin since I had done well on it before. It is too early to tell how Wellbutrin is working this time but I have hope since I was on this exact "cocktail" (Wellbutrin/Zoloft/Klonopin) for at least 7 years and stayed relatively stable. HOWEVER, we all know that each of us may react differently to medications; just wanted to include my history with Wellbutrin.

Something that Sinking Feeling said bears repeating: "Don't let any one fool you, nothing works better for serious anxiety then benzo's! I get really bad anxiety and panic attacks and have tried every darn thing under the sun. Benzo's hands down and I don't care if they are addicting or not."

The main reason I so wanted off Klonopin is due to their addictive nature and I was concerned about taking it for so long but after stopping them it was a choice of literally going crazy or taking a med that I knew worked for me. Kind of like other meds one would rather not take, but if one needs them the need outweighs possible side effects. However, unlike my former psych., this P.A. said she's not one to keep a person on Klonopin very long so I have a feeling once my anxiety is more under control she will try another option.

Hang in there...the road can seem unbearable at times but, after over 20 years of dealing with this illness plus being on umpteen different meds, I KNOW there is hope!!! *HUGS*

*I take the generic versions of all meds listed

[BreakFree]

Thanks for all your comments!
Had an awful week last week depression-wise. Lots of crying spells and staying in bed, not wanting to get up and go to class (I'm in college). So I went home on thursday and got an earlier appointment with my psychiatrist on Friday. She took me back down to 150mg Wellbutrin, increased my buspar to 10mg morning, 20mg at night, and increased ativan to 3mg at night and 1mg prn. I haven't had nearly as many sleep issues now, considering the increased ativan and the buspar makes me sleepy as well. My anxiety seems to be okay at the moment. I think the WB increase caused a depression flare-up so I'm kind of dealing with the remnants of that. So I'm fairly stable med-wise for now, hopefully it'll keep getting better!

[Sinking Feeling]

To be perfectly honest, ask your pdoc if you can try zoloft. It really works better then buspar and won't make you feel like a zombie.

Zoloft is the only thing that can pull me out of deep depression and works wonders for anxiety too! Still stay on wellbutrin if your pdoc lets you, It will give u some more energy.

If you get panic attacks, your gonna need some kind of benzo prm. I was taking xanax which was my favorite Got swithed to klonopin and may get switched to ativan next. I've had them all. Klonopin and valium are actually the least addictive because they stay in your system longer which lengthens tolerance. Xanax is the fastest acting but also wears off faster too, that's what makes it more addicting.

I just want to feel better. The stuff they have given me to replace benzo's never even came close to putting a dent to my anxiety except zoloft. I do not feel buzzed or impaired on benzo's. In fact they hit me differently. Instead of getting sedated I get motivated. Buspar and antihistamines do nothing except make me feel impaired lol.

BTW, Abilify is pretty darn good too! Can't wait until it goes generic next year!

Wellbutrin plus zoloft is also known as Well-Off

[lilypup]

I just ask my pdoc when stuff like this happens. He knows my history. Having said that...there are lots of people on here that like trazodone for sleep.

[BreakFree]

Originally Posted by Sinking Feeling

To be perfectly honest, ask your pdoc if you can try zoloft. It really works better then buspar and won't make you feel like a zombie.

Zoloft is the only thing that can pull me out of deep depression and works wonders for anxiety too! Still stay on wellbutrin if your pdoc lets you, It will give u some more energy.

If you get panic attacks, your gonna need some kind of benzo prm. I was taking xanax which was my favorite Got swithed to klonopin and may get switched to ativan next. I've had them all. Klonopin and valium are actually the least addictive because they stay in your system longer which lengthens tolerance. Xanax is the fastest acting but also wears off faster too, that's what makes it more addicting.

I just want to feel better. The stuff they have given me to replace benzo's never even came close to putting a dent to my anxiety except zoloft. I do not feel buzzed or impaired on benzo's. In fact they hit me differently. Instead of getting sedated I get motivated. Buspar and antihistamines do nothing except make me feel impaired lol.

BTW, Abilify is pretty darn good too! Can't wait until it goes generic next year!

Wellbutrin plus zoloft is also known as Well-Off

I've tried Zoloft and Abilify together, and it was NOT good at all. Then I tried just zoloft and it helped but I gained 40 pounds and i was really jittery all the time so I got off of it.

[Sinking Feeling]

I'm sorry to hear that. Yes meds effect us all differently. It took a long time for me to find the right meds that sort of works, there is nothing perfect out there. I hope you find your right combo soon!