Good Bye, Wellbutrin.....hello ??

[littlejmb]

Hi Roz (and Kinsey)

Roz, the thread Kinsey is referring to is "treating menopause issues the natural way" on the menopause board. Come over there and I will share all the things I have learned and what has helped me and others with this whole mess!

[needtoescape]

I had a positive experience with Effexor. I was like you - very very reluctant to try it because of the horror stories I read. But - I was also very depressed and had been through several other ADs that didn't work for me. So I reluctantly tried Effexor. It worked great for me. It was almost like I was in a "parallel universe" where I was happy. The only reason I got off of it was because my blood pressure had slowly crept up over the time frame I was on it (can't remember; over a year I'm sure). I weaned off very slowly and had no problems with withdrawal. Remember that people are more likely to post the negative experiences than the positive - and there are a lot of people out there taking these meds with no problems.

I've been off of any AD since July - but am having difficulty so I'm probably going to have to go back on something. Out of all the meds I tried (Zoloft, Serzone, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Prozac, and Cymbalta), I did the best with Effexor. Some of them didn't work at all for me (Zoloft). Some worked some, but had intolerable side effects (Serzone gave me weird vision problems). Several raised either my blood pressure or pulse. I didn't want to take a blood pressure medicine to counteract a side effect, but I am going to consider it if I end up deciding I need to go back on an AD. I am considering getting back on Effexor and just take a blood pressure med also.

Good luck with finding the right meds for you. It really is a trial and error situation.

[kinsey61]

Hi
Jackie, if you come back here- let me know how you are doing with the WB wean. I also wanted to ask you- is there a natural pill that would say, increase my progesterone? Rremember they wanted me to take that with the patch but I said no because I had taken it in the past, and it made me crazy (er, I guess)

Also, Roz, if you come back I really want to know how it goes with the nutritionist ( or whatever the natural remedy person your are seeing is called) I have wanted to look into a holistic doctor, but I really couldn't find any in my area, and I wonder if I am even looking under the prper name ( s ) for them.

If not, I guess I will search you both out!

-Kinsey

[roz5]

Hi Kinsey,
Well, so much has changed for me this past week! I have been in frequent contact with my gyn and she wants to try adjusting the hormones before trying another anti-depressant. We've been through 3 "plans" for hormones within the past 4 days! I'm so confused (and I imagine I have her confused also!). She is a fabulous gyn and is so willing to work with me to find the right balance (and she LISTENS to me and wants to know what my thoughts are on the meds!). We started out with "plan A", which was to continue with the Femring .05 and add Estratest (the higher dosage of combined estrogen & testosterone) and add Prometrium 200mg. This plan would have basically tripled my estrogen intake and added testosterone, which I haven't had yet. Her thought was to increase the estrogen, which would help to decrease the anxiety.

Well, I've done my research and the presented a "plan B" to her: reduce the Estrotest to half strength (too much estrogen and the added testosterone frightened me!), add the Prometrium and continue with the Femring .05.

Well, after many e-mails back & forth today and one phone conversation, we came up with plan "c": NOT use the Estratest; boost the Femring to 0.1 dosage and use the Prometrium 200mg. This plan basically doubles the estrogen I am currently taking. The first plan would've tripled it right away (almost too much at once).

What a confusing jungle!! Talk about information overload!
The good news......I'm weaned off of the Wellbutrin and managed to have nothing more than a headache! I'm hoping that when I finally achieve hormonal balance, I won't be needing to take any anti-depressants. One can only hope!

Tomorrow, I have my appointment with the Global Nutritionist. She is very excited about helping me on my quest for better health!
You can find one in your area by doing a yahoo search for: Holistic Network.
There is a place where you can enter your state/zip and see if there is one in your area.
I'll let you know how I make out tomorrow!

[kinsey61]

Roz,
Hey glad you found me. Yes Your plan c confused the heck out of me, but if it works it will be great. Just to add 2 cents, if your anxiety is a large factor, remember also that there are medications you can take as needed, like ativan. In low doses they really don't have nay terrible side efects, you jsut don't want ot depend on them.[ And they aren't like the old anti-anxiet stuff, they don't make you a zombie, jsut kind of calm you physically, and they are actually out of you r system in 4 or 5 hours ( So my doc says anyway! I have had a prescription for years, I don't alwyas take it, but I think the fact that I know it's there helps me to be calmer. ( You know- I guess it gives me the POWER to stop the anxiety, albeit pharmaceutically! )

Anyway thanks for looking for me, and yes, please let me know how tomorrrow goes. I'll be thinking of you-
Kinsey