Wellbutrin

[BeccaLynn]

Has anyone reading this been prescribed the anti-depressant Wellbutrin? I know it's not typically prescribed for those with ocd, but it is one of the few that isn't associated with a lot of weight gain. I'm supposed to go to my gp tomorrow and I'm going to actually ask to be put on an anti-depressant with a mood stabilizer. A psychiatrist years ago told me I'm also bipolar without the mania (The ocd I believe, but I'm unsure about the bipolar. It is possible though.) He wanted to put me on Zoloft and a mood stabilizer. I told him that when I gain weight, my blood pressure goes up. The people I know who have taken Zoloft gain weight. It may sound petty, but among the other negative side effects, I sure don't want weight gain on top of it all. That's depressing in itself. I seem to be dealing more with depression lately as opposed to the obsessive thinking patterns. Does anyone have any comments about Wellbutrin? They would be much appreciated.

Rebecca

 

[QUannie]

Rebecca,
I used to take welbutrin...in fact I was on it 2 different times when I thought i only had depression, before i knew about OCD.
It seemed to work great for me for usually about 8 months and then i felt like it did not work anymore or that i did not need it and quit taking it...same experience 2 different times. I also would have allot of confusion if I should take medication or not because of my drug addict past, so i was always back and forth in my mind if I should be on meds or should not be on meds......
I did not have side effects with welbutrin.....i have not taken any other anti-depressant or mood-stabilizer that where medicine.
I use amino acids and natural remedies now........
Hope it helps.....

Love,
Q

 

[BeccaLynn]

Thanks QUannie! I act weird on medicines. I don't know why, but it's like I'm very sensitive to them. I tend to get irritable or aggitated, hyper/sleepy, confused/dizzy on just regular over the counter medicines, so I'm very uneasy about taking anything. I tried an herbal treatment that said it was good for ocd sufferers, but I think I actually felt worse on it. I feel like I need something, but am actually afraid to try things because of how easily my moods are affected. I do appreciate your response. I've had bad reactions to other anti-depressants . . . weight gain of 20 pounds on Prozac and I just wanted to sleep A LOT, lost the weight after I went off of it, then gained 25 pounds on Luvox and was very angry a lot while taking it. My blood pressure also went up while on it and dropped after going off of it. I just feel so stuck . . . are the symptoms of depression and ocd worse or the side effects of the meds???? It seems just crazy and I battle over what to do about it. Anyway, I do pray that God just directs what ends up happening.

Thanks Again!
Rebecca

 

[ObsessedButBlessed]

Wellbutrin was the first anti-depressant I tried before I knew I had OCD. It actually made my OCD waaaay worse... one of the side effects is increased anxiety and I was a mess when I took it. My therapist later told me that Wellbutrin won't touch OCD, but it could be different for everyone, like Quannie. I also wanted to take wellbutrin because of the non-weight gain side of it but in the end the anxiety was too much.

That's not to say it won't work for you, though! Lots of people have felt way better on it. For me, I don't think it's just limited to Wellbutrin, but most if not all ADs. I wasn't even on Luvox that long - just enough to get a hold on my OCD so I could work on therapy. Good luck - let us know how it works for you!!

 

[BeccaLynn]

Thanks SAD! The doctor actually prescribed me a low dose of Zoloft and Wellbutrin. I'm skittish though and, after reading about people who had major weight gain on Zoloft, I'm just going to try exercise and healthier eating. I also read that Wellbutrin can increase anxiety and I definitely don't need that!! Maybe staying outside more will help too. I do better when I'm out in the sunshine it seems. I hope you're doing well and thanks again!
Rebecca

 

[gracealone]

Thanks SAD! The doctor actually prescribed me a low dose of Zoloft and Wellbutrin. I'm skittish though and, after reading about people who had major weight gain on Zoloft, I'm just going to try exercise and healthier eating. I also read that Wellbutrin can increase anxiety and I definitely don't need that!! Maybe staying outside more will help too. I do better when I'm out in the sunshine it seems. I hope you're doing well and thanks again!
Rebecca

Hi,
I'm using Buspar. It only addresses the anxiety, but I like it because it doesn't carry with it the side effects of SSRI's. I had some paradoxical anxiety when starting it but that was dealt with by cutting back to tiny dose and increasing it gradually. Takes awhile to start working but I do believe it's helping me. Easy to start and no discontinuation when stopping. Only side effect is occasional mild dizziness about 20 minutes after taking it that only lasts about 10-15 minutes - no big deal.
Mitzi

 

[BeccaLynn]

Thanks gracealone! What does Buspar do? Is it an anti-depressant? I know my aunt took it with another anti-depressant and she wanted to sleep a lot. Maybe it was the combination. Does it just take the edge off? There's not weight gain with it? Sorry, that's a lot of questions. I do appreciate your help.

Rebecca

 

[gracealone]

Thanks gracealone! What does Buspar do? Is it an anti-depressant? I know my aunt took it with another anti-depressant and she wanted to sleep a lot. Maybe it was the combination. Does it just take the edge off? There's not weight gain with it? Sorry, that's a lot of questions. I do appreciate your help.

Rebecca

Hi Becca,
Sorry for the late reply - we just moved so I'm catching up on things.
Buspar doesn't make me even slightly sleepy. I'm starting to lose weight now that I'm down to a micro dose of the Remeron so I know the Buspar wasn't the culprit. Remeron is notorious for big time weight gain. Buspar is specifically an anti-anxiety medication. It's not a "big gun" dru like some of the others but, yes, it just takes the edge off the anxiety. Usually the depression that OCD'ers experience is only a response to the long standing struggle with the anxiety. Once the anxiety is resolved the depression usually lifts also. This has been the case with me.
A couple of other big plus factors about Buspar is that it doesn't have any negative affect on libido. In fact it is sometimes added to an SSRI to address that problem. Also, huge plus factor, is that you don't have to go through discontinuation syndrome when tapering off it.
I think that Prozac might be the only SSRI that doesn't cause many discontinuation symptoms when tapering so I'm keeping that one in mind should I want to try an SSRI again some day.
The most important thing to do when beginning any of these meds. is to start with a tiny dose and work up gradually. Too much too soon can cause paradoxical anxiety for a lot of us.
Hope that answered some of your questions. I really just wanted to give up on trying different meds. at first because I reacted so badly to them but I'm glad I kept trying until I found something that helped.
Praying for you,
Mitzi

 

[wonderwoman]

Has anyone reading this been prescribed the anti-depressant Wellbutrin? I know it's not typically prescribed for those with ocd, but it is one of the few that isn't associated with a lot of weight gain. I'm supposed to go to my gp tomorrow and I'm going to actually ask to be put on an anti-depressant with a mood stabilizer. A psychiatrist years ago told me I'm also bipolar without the mania (The ocd I believe, but I'm unsure about the bipolar. It is possible though.) He wanted to put me on Zoloft and a mood stabilizer. I told him that when I gain weight, my blood pressure goes up. The people I know who have taken Zoloft gain weight. It may sound petty, but among the other negative side effects, I sure don't want weight gain on top of it all. That's depressing in itself. I seem to be dealing more with depression lately as opposed to the obsessive thinking patterns. Does anyone have any comments about Wellbutrin? They would be much appreciated..

Rebecca

i'm confused how that doc. could say you are bipolar without the mania? bipolar by definition is having 2 (bi) extremes of moods: depression and mania. You cannot have bipolar without the symptoms of mania. If you don't have mania, then you are just depressed---uni (1) not bi (2).
Are you sure you understood him correctly? Why would he prescribe a mood stabilizer if he didn't think you were manic? that's what a mood stabilizer is for---to stabilize the 2 extreme moods.

 

[BeccaLynn]

Thanks gracealone! Wonderwoman, I'm unsure how someone can be bipolar minus the mania. The psychologist said that, since I didn't have remarkable highs and lows, I was bipolar without mania. Actually, when I took Luvox for OCD, I experienced a lot of anger. I've heard that it could be that the OCD was being treated, but the bipolar part wasn't. I assume that was the reason for the mood stabilizer. It might be a misdiagnosis also. For example, the psychologist asked me if I had times when I wanted to go out and spend money. I told him I did. My friend said that he meant lots of money, not the kind of amounts I would spend. I know I've not cleared much up for you, but I don't have extreme highs and lows usually.

Rebecca

 

[ObsessedButBlessed]

Rebecca you aren't the first person to possibly be misdiagnosed as bipolar instead of OCD. I have a friend who is VERY clearly OCD and her therapist (someone who didn't specialize in OCD) suggested she might be bipolar instead, and it made her really upset. I think the difficulty is that for a lot of us, OCD is cyclical, so we can go through periods of it not bothering us, and then a very depressive period when OCD IS bugging us a lot. So it appears to the average therapist that this is a mood problem and not an anxiety disorder.

There are actually four types of bipolar:

Bipolar I Disorder — In this type, you have had at least one episode of mania or mixed mood and often experience depression too. In between, your mood may be normal. Sometimes your mood swings happen when the seasons change.

Bipolar II Disorder — In this type, you have had at least one episode of depression and at least one period of hypomania. Hypomania is a milder form of mania. In between, your mood may be normal. Sometimes your mood swings happen when the seasons change.

Cyclothymic Disorder — This is a milder form of bipolar disorder. You may go back and forth between mild depression and a slightly elevated mood. But your mood swings are shorter and less severe. Many people with cyclothymic disorder go on to have a stronger type of bipolar disorder. This doesn’t happen to everyone, though.

Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified — This type of bipolar disorder is when you do not fit into the types mentioned above. The feelings of bipolar disorder vary from person to person.

Though, honestly... in my opinion, every single person on this planet would fit into one of those categories. Sometimes I think therapists can throw around the bipolar diagnosis because they don't know what else fits. Isn't it normal to have mood swings?

 

[BeccaLynn]

Thanks again Sad. Maybe Cyclothmyic Disorder fits me more but, like you said, any one of those could seem to fit most of the population. I actually have had a few "episodes" where I really want to get out and get going, and things seems a lot brighter, but I don't know if it was due to me being bipolar or not.

Rebecca