I've been on 10mg of lexapro for many years now and been taking wellbutrin XL 150mg for about a week now. There was a big difference from the very first day of taking wellbutrin. I am very happy with the results wellbutrin has given me. I was hesitant to take it at first because i suffer from moderate SA and wellbutrin has known to increase anxiety in anxious people but i gave it a try and it surprisingly improved my SA. To all SAers out there, it doesn't hurt to try it out, everyone is wired differently and you'll never know what a medication will do for you until you try it. You can always stop taking it if it causes negative effects. I'll break down my wellbutrin results with a pros and cons list.
Pros: :yes
Feel much more motivated
My mind feels sharper due to the stimulating effects
More overall energy
Increase in sex drive (just a little)
More social confidence
Less afraid to make eye contact during conversation
Less afraid to speak my mind
Less analytical
Less negative thoughts
Laugh a lot more
Overall attitude towards life is much more positive
Cons: :mum
Major loss of appetite
Insomnia (until i pop a lexapro before bed)
Decrease in alcohol tolerance (btw alcohol increases the risk of seizures while on wellbutrin so i shouldn't be drinking at all but i do anyway)
Occasional restlessness
Tendency to be blunt (i guess this could be a good thing to some people because its associated with increase in confidence)
I had a friend who took welbutrin for depression. IT "killed" him as my friend and i started hanging out with the welbutrin version of the guy, which i hated and was boring and in a 24/7 zombie state.
Made me so agitated and aggressive I actually yelled at people and punched a wall. I didn't stay on it for more than a few weeks. Did make me start smoking less so I'll give it credit for that aspect.
I liked Wellbutrin until it made me snap at everything. I get so angry at everything. I am going off of it soon. I liked how it made me loss my appetite and raised my sex drive but I can't handle the madness it makes me feel.
It's reading success stories like some of these that makes me want to keep trying it. It made me angry also, but I just wonder if that would go away with time or get worse.... :stu I guess I could make myself try it for a couple of weeks straight and see what happens. I have a friend who takes it and she says it actually makes her calm. Wish it would do that for me. I need the energy, just not the agitation.
Give it a try.......I have heard a lot of people who have had great results with Wellbutrin and it really has helped me all except the anger part. I wanted to stay on it but I get so mad at my family for stupid things so I do need to get off of it. I am not an angry person. You may have success with it. Don't let anyone change your mind. It won't hurt to try it. Take care.......
I've taken Wellbutrim XL 300 mg and it actually helped me. I had more energy and I was actually happier while on it and was slowly helping me come out of my SA shell. I wish I had better insurance to be able to afford it again.
I'm quitting Wellbutrin, it just doesn't do anything for me anymore. At first it really woke me up and I felt in a overall better mood. Now it doesn't do any of that. I even took 450 mg today and felt tired the whole day. It might of been 550 mg. Not a good idea.
Re: re: Wellbutrin skeptics, give Wellbutrin a try
AprilEthereal said:
I'm quitting Wellbutrin, it just doesn't do anything for me anymore. At first it really woke me up and I felt in a overall better mood. Now it doesn't do any of that. I even took 450 mg today and felt tired the whole day. It might of been 550 mg. Not a good idea.
okay, so it's been two weeks since i started taking wellbutrin and there are some things that have changed. The simulation effect is slowly going away and so is the loss of appetite. Everything else seems to be the same. I'm disappointed by the loss of stimulation. Taking wellbutrin in the morning was like taking a caffeine pill. No matter how tired i was i'd take my morning pill and i'd be energized to take on the day no matter how little sleep i got the night before. Although the simulation effect is what causes an increase in anxiety in people with SA, so it's good in some ways and bad in other ways.
God, i wish there was a pill that would fix everything...
That happened to me also. I started feeling tired again. Also starting eating all day long. So now the weight it help me lose along with exersing is back plus some. Today is my last day on it. Tomorrow I start my prozac. I hope you have better luck with it.
I'm replying in regards to my original post. It's been 2 months since i upped my Wellubutrin XL dosage from 150MG to 300MG. At first it felt like i was benefiting from the dosage increase because i felt much more motivative and active. Right around the ending of the first month while taking 300mg, i noticed that I had a difficult time speaking. I'd stumble on words when i spoke or was unable to speak in complete sentences. It's hard to explain, there's was some sort of mental blockage. I think it's because of the simulating effects of the medication. I was also experiencing unpleasant shakiness. I just dropped back down to 150 mg. Hopefully it'll take away the shakiness but keep the motivational attitude.
I also wanted to mention that wellbutrin 300 mg is great with alcohol. Man, I would talk for hours. I'm like a completely different person. The mixture of the alcohol and dopamine receptors turn me to the life of the party. Just wanted to share that.
Important fact: comsuming alcohol while on Wellbutrin increases the risk of seizures.
I've been taking 200mg of Wellbutrin SR for almost the past year and a half. It did nothing for the social anxiety; I take it for depression. It works pretty good; I'll probably stay on that for life. I also take Prozac for the social anxiety.
Id seriously give it another try in conjunction with maybe an SSRI but it failed as a mono therapy for me. I tried it a few years back and although its probably hell of a depression med, it did little for my SA. It was by far the most positively received drugs ive tried (aside from benzos) but since I dont have depression, it was just a very expensive cup of coffee that didnt directly treat the problem.
From what I've read, dopamine (the neurotransmitter that Wellbutrin works on) increases extroversion - which can benefit us s.a. sufferers. It can give us the "energy" to be more social.
Everyone is different, but it may be helpful for many shy people - directly or indirectly.
My psych., who was alarmed by my dismal condition and basically told me that I needed to be on some med STAT - prescribed this for me just last week. I'm now on a starter dose and am gradually working my way up. I'm on the generic version (it's not SR or XR, either - it's the "basic" version). I'm hoping that it increases extroversion (I'm much too introverted for my own good), increases my dismal "mental energy", improves my cognitive difficulites, improves my "spaciness", and increases my horrible concentration. Supposedly, it has the potential to do all of these things.
I've been on wellbutrin for a while, it's helped a lot with concentration, and a lot with depression..but not enough. I take 300mg in the morning and 150mg at night, I don't really wanna stop this medication because the other things it treats are awesome.
Pros
Way more motivated
Helped depression
Does something to nicotine receptors and I have no desire to smoke but do it to relax.. it just makes me more relieved it will be easier to quit when I want to
Way more focused, it's similar to Ritalin but not meth.. which makes me happy
Pro & Con
REDUCES APPETITE BY 9000, I used to work out so I know basic nutritional needs, so I force myself to eat. It's really not a BAD thing since I overeat and now I eat normally. But it's very annoying to make myself eat.. I could go all day without eating if I didn't pay attention.
Con
Doesn't help depression as much as I'd like it to
I get real sick sometimes when I take it
I have not noticed any anger problems, I'm a really mellow person and have never yelled or anything in a very long time. I guess if you had underlying tendencies it may boost them, but I feel fine. And no one else has mentioned anything.
I've been on a generic form of Wellbutrin (Bupropion) for about 8 months now and it's done wonders for my depression. It's also helped my anxiety but to a much lesser degree. When I first started on it--150 mg at the time--it made my anxiety so much worse. I felt really wound-up and angry and had trouble thinking and speaking clearly--I experienced that "mental blockage" Iboy mentioned. The energy it gave me was wasted because I felt so crappy all the t ime. I was so ready to give it up but it eventually got much better. Your body has to build up a tolerance for it. I'm up to 300 mg daily now. It's a real mood lifter, I don't suffer from bouts of depression anymore (I used to cry a lot for no reason, almost never cry anymore!) and it also helped me to quit smoking which was so hard for me.
It does give me energy but it's kind of a nervous energy. However since I'm in a better mood in general I don't tend to worry about the things I used to. I have more confidence now. Best side effect? I lost 10 pounds without even trying! It has lessened my appetite a lot but not to the point where I don't feel like eating anymore. I just eat a lot less. It's neither lessened nor improved my concentration. When I forget to take the Bupropion I don't go into withdrawal like I tended to do with Paxil so that's another good thing. i also take 150 mg of Trazodone every night, which is also a moood lifter and helps me sleep.
I'd definitely recommend it especially if you're depressed. For my anxiety I take Xanax--but even that I take occasionally, maybe once or twice a week if that. I've suffered from panic attacks and have a bad problem with road rage. Wellbutin hasn't helped that unfortunately. It's not a magic pill or anything but the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks.
I just upped from 200mg SR to 300mg XL generic of course which still cost me 30 bucks! and I don't feel a damn thing. I took it this morning and 2 hours later im still tired and depressed. This stuffs supposed to kick in within about an hour, not build up like SSRI's and what not. I'm pretty pissed. Could it be that I drink on the weekends that the drug isn't working? Not to mention that I also got 10mg generic Ambien (only 15 pills) and it cost 50 bucks! WTF???
I have spent years researching meds. I absolutely agree that after sometime wellbutrin can cause foggy headiness and concentration difficulties although at first it seems it improves these things. The reason for this is because it blocks cholinergic nicotine receptors in the brain responsible for memory and concentration. It takes time to build this effect which is why so many of you report these problems after a duration of use. This is also why it is prescribed to help people quit smoking, which in that aspect it was a godsend for me. If the medication is helping for what it was prescribed to you for, but your are experiencing cognitive difficulties, I would suggest buying some piracetam or aniracetam to cancel out these effects. I know my meds, herbs, chemicals, and nootropics, so believe me it works. You can find compounds like aniracetam(best I think), piracetam, oxiracetam, etc. on online supplement stores at very good prices. Hopes this helps those of you who may be having difficulties.
P.S.... Stay away from the generic budeprion as it is undergoing many lawsuits. Go with bupropion(the actual generic) or simply wellbutrin.
:b This is a benefit of the med. I don't drink anymore and i love that.
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