Issues with Wellbutrin XL?

diva · August 16, 2006

Sandy keep posting. This is one of the most awesome group of people on the net. It will get better with your meds and if you keep seeing a good therapist. You aren't in this alone and you should feel comfortable with your therapist. The wellbutrin worked really well for me, zoloft did not but everyone is different.

Don' forget never cut or crush this pill since it is time released (XL). Check with your surgeon for a tiny unfill if you are still too tight-may be the band and not the meds. Can't hurt to ask.

You go girl-we are behind you 100%!

sleepyjean · August 16, 2006

SleepyJean,
If you don't mind can you tell me how many mg. you take? I take 300 and I still feel some depression and I am wondering if that is not enough for me. I did have a hysterectomy in March of o5 and I have only lost 15 pounds since my surgery in 6/05 the worst part is that I take Meridia 15mg. too and exercise. I'm really taking the regimen very seriously and have really been paying attention to real hunger pains. I just have to keep trying and never give up at least I'm 15 down and none up but I would love to be at least 50lbs like all my friend in even less time than me. Don't feel bad just keep me going thanks for your informations.

Sunflower-someday I'll be one!

Hi Sunflower,

I take 300mg as well, but I don't take it alone - I'm also on effexor and prozac. (which scares me a little bit to say out loud. 3 meds, I must be reeeealllly crazy!). Please don't feel discouraged. Every med doesn't work for every person. Sometimes you have to try different meds, different dosages, or different combinations to hit the right medication for you. I tried Lexapro, Provigil, and Strattera and none of them did a thing for me. It was a hard time, because you have to gradually start taking the new stuff and stop taking the old stuff and then you have to wait and see if it works. It's a long process, and it's hard to stick with it when you're depressed and feeling hopeless.

Please don't do what I did - when I first started taking meds a few years ago, it was prozac alone. It helped a little bit, but it didn't really do the trick. I figured that I was beyond help and gave up taking it altogether for about five months. I avoided my doctor and convinced myself that I was somehow defective and nothing would ever work for me. I fell further into depression. It finally got so bad that desperation drove me back to the doctor, who put me back on prozac. Unfortunately, the prozac no longer did anything for me. I've since discovered that if I stop taking my meds for more than a couple of weeks, I can't go back to them. For whatever reason, they no longer work for me and I have to try something else. It's frustrating. I've done that three times, and it finally sunk in that when I find something that works, I have to stick with it no matter what or else I'll lose another 6 months or a year to depression. It took about year for my doctor to hit on the right cocktail of stuff for me and now I take it religiously.

The best thing you can do is give yourself a month or so, to see if it's really working and then if it still isn't, scrap it and move on. In my experience, if I have to ask myself if it's working, then it's NOT working. Or not working well enough anyway - and it's not your fault. So if the Wellbutrin still isn't working well, ask your doctor if you can try something else. Don't settle for feeling just "a little bit better" than you did before. The goal isn't LESS depressed, the goal is NOT depressed.

Sorry for going on and on, but I've totally been where you are - several times - and I understand how hard it is. Don't give up. Depression meds are just like the band. So many of us go into this, afraid that the band won't work for us. But after you're banded, you discover that if you get stubborn about it and hang in there, you will reach your goal.

Hang in there. And please feel free to PM me if you ever need to let it all out to someone who can relate.

((((hugs))))

roxie · August 16, 2006

Paula,

What kind of diet pills do you take? Is it OK to take diet pills with the band?

gentlespirit · August 18, 2006

I take Wellbutrin XL but I take it as 2 150 mg pills. I take them at the same time but they are smaller than the 300 mg. pill. I also take Lexapro. I know that many times a single antidepressant won't work and they find a combination that will work. Everyone is so different, and sometimes it takes a while to find the right med or combination of meds. Give it a month or so and then see if you're feeling better. If not, go back and ask the doc to try something else or combine it with another med...there's nothing that's right for everyone.

I hope you find something that works for you...I feel like I got myself back with this combination.

Emily