I was on wellbutrin sr for 2 years up until I began having bad reactions to it (auditory hallucinations and a grand mal seizure). I stopped taking it and fell back into a deep depression for about a year... finally got better, but I definitely feel myself going back into that dark hole again.
I loved the wellbutrin... I was finally HAPPY... it gave me the energy I needed to make it through everyday life.

Do you think I should talk to a psychiatrist again and try the wellbutrin once more? The seizure happened 4 years ago, it was also a mixture of no sleep the night before and not eating that morning.

I miss my happiness.

Thanks.

(edit: wellbutrin sr, not xl)

There is several other choices out there, maybe you would
like one of them even more.
Wellbutrin is known for this possable side effect and as far as I am
concerned it is too much of a risk.

No you should not ever go on Wellbutrin again. That is one of the risks of it and especially if you have already had one from it it'll happen again. It's way too risky what if it happened while you were driving or something. It would put you and others in danger. I don't think the doctor would prescribe it anyway since you had a seizure from it.

There are many other anti-depressants out there. If Wellbutrin worked for you then for sure another one will. Wellbutrin is for mild depression and other things like Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro and others are for major depression. I am sure you'll find the one that works for you but obviously it's not Wellbutrin since seizures are very dangerous. My sister has epilepsy and has had many seizures and they take her drivers license away for about a year when she has one. It's just not something to mess with.

Okay, now you have scared me. I am taking Wellbutrin SR and have been on it for about five months. I am calling my doc today. Unfortunately I have to leave tomorrow on a one week vaca to visit my family so I don't think I'll have enough time for her to get back to me and/or discuss a plan while I am away.

Can you give any other info? Have you had anything in the past that might be seizure-related?

I have a history of migraine headaches which seem to be hormone-related and have been controlled by HRT. I know this because I tried to quit the hormones and the migraines returned.

I realize that all meds have a risk but do you know if there a % of patients in which seizures occurred?

I agree, don't go back on it.

Glamazon,

The Wellbutrin was great for about a year or 2, but towards the end about a week before the seizure I did have warning signs. I had a terrible headache that would not go away for about a week. It was such a bad headache that I was not going to class that week. The night before the concert, I didn't sleep because my head was still hurting, and the last thing I remember at the concert was a big muscle in my left leg twitching for about 5 minutes.

Halfway through taking the wellbutrin (after about 6 months I guess) things got weird. I was seeing strange colors and all my thoughts were cloudy. One night I remember hearing the words "brain damage" over and over in my head.

I talked to my psychiatrist and got off the drug for about a month, but went back on when I realized I was going into a depressive state again.

So yes, thankfully there are warning signs.... I should have never gotten back on it.

If you have never had bad effects of it, I wouldn't worry about it. Different antidepressants work differently for different people.

Good luck

I didn't mean to scare you. It is at the higher doses when the risk increases. I take 150mg a day myself and am not worried about having a seizure since I have never had one. I just never plan on increasing my dose above 300 to lower the risk.

My Wellbutrin came with a package insert that talks about all of the side effects and risks. It says that approximately .4% (ie., 13 of 3200 patients) had seizures while taking Wellbutrin. That this may exceed some other marketed antidepressants. It says that sezure incidence increases almost tenfold between 450 and 600mg/day.

I didn't mean to scare you either... like I said, I had no sleep the night before, and had not eaten anything all day except for a coke that I drank around 10 am. It was at an all day concert... so there wasn't much food around.
Something else that's interesting... I took a melatonin (natural sleep aid) around 3 or 4 in the morning even though I had to get up early 3 hours later. Also, I think I ended up taking my wellbutrin late that night before and early the next morning, so it might have been almost considered a double dose.

I know that Wellbutrin is in a class of it's own, but are there medications out there that aren't likely to cause weight gain and lower sex drive?

I feel like I am losing my mind lately. I don't want to do anything, go anywhere, or see anyone: including my boyfriend who I love dearly.
I flip out at the littlest things... A girl who's a friend of his called his cell last night out of no where, and ever since, I've had this tightening in my chest everytime I think about it. I have been overly jealous when it comes to him to the point where I get so mad I dont even want to talk to him.

I dont know what is going on, this has gotten worse over the past 5 or 6 months though.

So I'd be willing to take the risk of side effects once again if it meant happiness and freeing myself from all these thoughts of self hate. It's just that Im not willing to risk having a seizure again.