Switching from Effexor to Wellbutrin...Am Hurting

05-20-2009, 04:25 PM

Hi, all. How awful of me to introduce myself with a post like this. OTOH, sometimes that's what improperly treated depression does to a person. Not that my doctor isn't trying...he is...but let me go on...

I have been on various ADs since the early 90s. Prozac worked for a good while, then not as well after years of off-and-on. Zoloft did work fairly consistently well but flattened my emotions and made me exhausted. Now just last year, it was Effexor and it did seem to completely take away every shred of anger I could possibly have, and felt like it was a gift from God dropped directly into my lap, but it made me so so exhausted I literally felt like I was dying some days.

So just recently my doctor suggested Wellbutrin. For three weeks it was Effexor 75mg (down from 150mg) along with Wellbutrin 150mg; then as of Friday, it was just the Wellbutrin...no Effexor.

God help me but I am falling apart. I am so angry I'm ready to kill someone. I won't go into details. Now I'm just sitting here sobbing, because I'm thinking...Jesus H (sorry), if nothing has really worked in THIRTY YEARS (I've been depressed since I was about 12), what the flark ever will? And honestly, what on earth am I fighting for???? To get my life "back"? Having had this crap the majority of my life I never had that good life to begin with. To be "happy"? *** is happy? It seems like the only "happy" for someone as chemically blarked up as me is in a state of emotionless, weight-gain hell.

So...what am I fighting for?

I don't know...but I just called my doc and left a message...I'm wondering if he'll add something else in? Like maybe the Prozac again? Maybe the combo...? To keep me non-depressed but ALSO have me able to stay awake for more than a few hours at a time? I may just beg him...This is hell. I just can't believe how bad I feel, really. Has anybody else gone through this? Or can just offer some advice? Or anything at all...I would be so grateful you have no idea...any words would be great.

Thanks so much.

05-20-2009, 06:54 PM

Well, it's 6:50PM and my doctor didn't call me back and obviously isn't going to; not today.

I mean heck. It can wait, right? I wonder what he would do if this were a greenstick fracture or the beginnings of a diabetic coma. "Well, I feel like going home, so...I'll just call her in a few days about that."

I just took half an Effexor. I am dying. I'm sitting here sobbing uncontrollably. My autistic 6-year-old, who doesn't talk very much/very well nor fully understand emotions, is watching me, going, "Ooh hoo hoo! Eee cyee-eye-ing." ("Oh boo hoo hoo! She's crying.") My littlest, who is almost three, is at my knee screaming, "No!" and smacking at me each time I let out a sob.

W T F am I doing here? What is it all for? What good is this cr ap, anyway? I mean I'm here on earth helping...who? Nobody, it seems. Nor does anybody seem to want to help me.

So I took half an Effexor in case it's the withrdawal causing this. I have to. Because I am going crazy. Absolutely, literally, bat sh *t crazy.

God help me, God, won't you please help me...how can You let me suffer like this...you and my P-doc.

I don't know who I am right now. I am like nobody I even remotely recognize. If I saw someone like me on the street, I would literally run away to protect myself out of fear.

05-20-2009, 08:38 PM

I am so so sorry for what you are going through and truly understand and feel your pain. IMO you are coming off way too hard and way too fast. I know I've been there...I was to the point where I was dividing the grains of a 37.5 to ward off w/d and did so skipping days til the w/d returned and did so til I no longer felt bad. As anxious as I was to get off them the more I respect the time it takes to deplete the drug from your body...What's the hurry so to speak? But I did it and you will too. Given your circumstances(kids and all...with issues), you need to get a grip on this before it blows all to....He double hockey sticks.

I can only try once again to reassure you this WILL pass, it just takes time, patience, and proper care!!!

Let this small note help release the negative energy within you and replace it with positive, soothing, calming and hopeful thoughts.

someone who cares...
tup

05-21-2009, 09:51 AM

I had the same feeling, even saying things like "I wouldn't want a person like me walking around"
It will get better, it takes a little while.

First things first, if I were in a situation where I had severe depression and young kids, especially, I would have to get some family support and help take care of them. I know what you have to be dealing with and I don't think it's your fault, you should get some help to help yourself.

I hope you have much better times ahead

05-22-2009, 11:21 AM

Thank you so much, ((Matt)) Getting teary over here. I am actually going to buckle down and start "trading off" child watching with a friend of mine. I watch her children a lot, but so far haven't had reason for her to watch mine very much. She's always offering but I feel guilty. My kids have special needs and I always feel like I should be there with them, prompting them with speech, etc., 24/7. But maybe that has to change.

I do love my little guys so, so much.

Thanks again.

05-23-2009, 12:21 PM

I had similar issues when trying to stop Effexor. It is a bear to get off of. Take your time and do it gradually. It will pass, but not as quickly as you would like.

Randy

05-24-2009, 09:10 AM

I am sooo sorry that you are feeling that way. That is the most heart breaking feeling a person can go though. I Know because I have felt that way in the past. Remember there are people who do care about you. Although it seems like it will never get better and these feelings of hopelessness will never end but they will. Believe me when I say God does care, he really does care (read 1 Peter 5:6-8). I was a single mother and was raising 4 children and had to take antidresspant off and on for several years. But I knew God was there for me. I don't want to preach to you but you sound so distraught and you sound like you are reaching out for God's help. He is here for you and doesn't want any to suffer (read James 1:13) I am here for you if you need to talk. Someone who cares very much about you because I have been there.

05-24-2009, 09:10 PM

I'm sorry you are struggling. That is way to fast to come off of Effexor. Some doctors think that if you are switching to another antidepressant you don't have to taper down slowly, but that is not correct.

Talk to your doctor about slowing your Effexor taper way down.

Take care.

SOE

05-25-2009, 05:43 AM

Wellbutrin, controversialy known as Zyban in UK/Ireland could well be the cause.

Have you considered this?

There's so much controversy about Zyban that I would not ever take it.

It's use here has been as a drug which helps with coming off cigarettes.

My sister was prescribed them and her mental state derailed. She awoke in the night terrified, detached and suicidal, in a bad way full stop. She stopped them and gave up by other means.

A friend of mine also took them to stop smoking and he told me that they made him very depressed, a trait not normal for him.

A UK Air Stewardess died from a sudden death/seizure like symptom whilst taking them and her family have been campaigning for a ban.

They don't seem prescribed much of late here, however in countries such as the U.S. it's a common prescription.

More info is out there if you do a search 'the truth about Zyban'

Switching from Effexor to Wellbutrin...Am Hurting

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