Two Weeks On Bupropion (zyban/u.s. Wellbutrin) Plus Pristiq

[Flossy]

@joeylittle , I am taking it in the morning. I notice the itching about midday on for about 2 or 3 hours.

I take it in the morning because I figure levels of Dopamine would be higher in the morning naturally.

My vet said he doses according to when the body would naturally have high levels of a hormone. My dog is on steroids and he said high levels of steroids are natural mid-morning so my dog has his pills AM.

I am also cutting my pill in half and dipping the cut half in beeswax to save the slow release effect. There is a possibility this could come lose early in the gut.

I guess I am fretting over the feedback that it exacerbates anxiety. Of course I reacted by getting anxious about it and watching out for symtpoms.

I do believe it is helping me to cope with challenges so much better. Every day I notice more and more healthy balanced thinking styles, without trying. Though I am still trying to be more balanced and always will.

I am so grateful you guys are here to bounce things off and get thoughts from. It's like having a team. I always give feedback to my doc and I am sure this spreads from him to other patients of his.

 

[joeylittle]

Gotcha. Morning is best with this one, mostly because of the 'upper' effect. I think it is billed as exacerbating anxiety because it can hit some people like caffeine. It's sometimes used as an adjunct to counteract the sedative, calming, or libido-reducing effects of other drugs.

It just is a shame you can't get it other than as zyban. I take the immediate release formula twice a day, because on the XL I would basically have a kind of very strange zooming head rush that I'm pretty sure was its second wave, and it always hit in the afternoon, around five hours after my initial dose. It was really uncomfortable for about 2 hours. On the immediate-release, that just doesn't happen. I get a slightly 'zoom-y' feeling for around 20 minutes approx. 2 hours after each dose.

I don't know a lot about how XL release in general for tablets is affected by what's in your gut - so if you aren't consistent about how much food you've got in you when you take it, you could try playing around with that. And cutting down caffeine, if you consume it. Those things might help.

 

[Flossy]

@joeylittle

I think I might have a chat to my doctor about writing me a prescription for Wellbutrin and do some searching to see if I can buy it from an overseas pharmacy with an Australian prescription. It might be possible.

Your description of the time you get the strange zooming head rush fits in with the timing of when I am taking mine. I take it around 7am and get the itching around midday - 1PM. So that is five hours later.

Would you tell me what time you take your two doses please?

I agree on playing around with whether I take it with food or not. I need to record that.

 

[Flossy]

@joeylittle Also to clarify so I can pass all info to my doc, is the IM immediate release a branded form of Wellbutrin or a generic?

He will have to state it on a script I imagine. Though here in Australia we can buy generic even if the doctor writes up for branded.

 

[joeylittle]

I discovered the right timing for me is 11-noon, and then again between 4-5pm. My usual day varies in terms of its start, but my bedtime is generally between 11 and midnight. I am nearly always better in the mornings, mental-health wise, so I'm taking them about as late as I can to help me with everything after 2pm, which is when things will start to decline. I take a total of 400mg a day, and I take it in conjunction with effexor -but before that it was with cymbalta, and I have not noticed a change in how it interacted with either of those. Some other meds I've taken really dampened the buproprion, and when I went way down on it for a time I definitely missed it and also did not have the zoomies.

It also sounds like I'm the opposite of you, though, in that I'm kind of the definition of not-sensitive-to-medication...the only things I've ever had a really bad reaction to were SSRIs, and I only tried 2.

ETA: You can also get SR (I think it's for short-release) in a generic. There was a major problem in the US with a number of generic buproprions, and so I made a decision a while back to just take brand. It's more expensive, but it's more consistent, and I really depend on this one. If you can get brand for this drug, I really do believe its better.

 

[Flossy]

That is exactly the timing I go downhill. 2PM onwards. Thank you so much for sharing these details. It will help me to consider taking it later.

I also feel fine in the mornings, but I assumed I "should" take it early.

 

[Flossy]

PS I take mine along with Pristiq 100mg. If I drop the Pristiq I become sad, hopeless and teary. Pristiq is similar to Effexor but slow release. I love Pristiq. I believe it saved my life. I have never had a side effect from it.

 

[Flossy]

I always take brand as well. So SR if for short release and XR is for extended release. I was thinking SR was for Slow Release. That makes much more sense.

 

[Flossy]

Ten weeks on Buproprion now. I am still on the Zyban brand. I put the dose up to 150mg a day AM. The Depression Monster left within 24 hours.

I have no problems now with nausea, burping or face itch. I go to the loo (BM) first thing every morning, have dreams which are normal dreams and have no suicidal ideation.

I am very happy that I feel normal now. When I was depressed I wanted desperately to feel happy, I am happy with feeling normal. I love feeling normal.

Buproprion 150mg AM
Pristiq 100mg AM

 

[Flossy]

Read my last post here and just cant believe how things change. I got severely triggered by ex-family and went downhill. Went to see the leading Trauma EMDR therapist in my city and she mentioned an inhouse treatment she had in US for her trauma. There is one here based on the same treatment - South Pacific Private.

She said she cried for 3 weeks straight and it was the best thing she ever did. I told her I cant cry on Pristiq and she encourage me to come off it. As my new GP did not want me on Pristiq and Zyban I thought I "should" do it.

So I have spent three weeks going down the shit shute and blamed the downfall on the therapy but I think it is coming off Pristiq. I could not stop crying and felt hopeless and very suicidal.

Now I am trying to get my levels back up.

I am considering the residential treatment but scared the Authorities will insist on changing meds again.

I seem to cave when authority figures think something is a good idea. I dont know if the medical model of pTSD treatment is for me. Life coaching seemed to work better. Any ideas?

 

[Flossy]

@joeylittle I have got my levels back up and am a bit jittery in the afternoons. I know I have to start walking again to get all my serotonin etc. back up. I don't know when is the best time to exercise. Morning or afternoon. I am taking 150mg Zyban AM. Plus 100mg Pristiq.

Have you noticed any difference in your wellbeing with differences in "walking/exercise" times.?

 

[Flossy]

I think I am better to break the dose up again into approx. 9AM with food + approx. 3PM. I will adjust the times and record how I feel with the jitteryness. This is the same time I used to feel the itchy face when I first started it.

When I cut my Slow Release pills I dip the cut edge in beeswax to preserve the slow release.