WELLBUTRIN

[Kfred]

I feel like I don't deserve to be here.  I just can't shake the VIC addiction...  For the past two year since my dad died, about the longest I've been clean is 6 weeks.  WELLBUTRIN seemed to help with the cravings, anyone else notice this?

[mjax024]

wellbutrin seems to depress the "craving center"...i was able to cut back on smoking while i was on it....i'm not sure about long term effects, i ended up with a skin rash...turns out it was a morphine reaction...(mildly allergic to what i'm addicted to, hahaha), the doctor thought it was from the wellbutrin and d/c it. it's an antidepressant...and it can be addicting too. if you have a doctor you may want to involve them to help you kick the vics....you'll probably wanna do a taper...how many are you taking...were they written from a doctor? but you deserve to be here....drug addiction is a good enough reason to stop in here.
                             -mjax024

[Kfred]

My failures in cleaning up has 'upset' both my family doc and psychaitrist.. maybe frustrusted is the better word.  I'm from a very conservative, midwestern city.  When I call there it's almost like, "ohh... it's Kevin again..."   Even for ligit sickness or injuries... I broke my hand and didn't even get pain meds (think I'm on a watchlist or something)  With enough money and drive it's amazing/sad the the RX drugs you can get, especially in these economic times...

Anyway, do I like the buzz?  yea, I do.... BUT I am sick and tired of being a pillhead..  I've been using to fight depression.  I work in the auto industry and, well, you know the rest...

[Kfred]

you said those Wellbutrin can be addictive??   how so?

[mjax024]

maybe dependent is a better word...lots of doctors don't recognize this addiction yet...but wellbutrin works a little different than most antidepressants,  it depresses the pleasure center (mainly norepinephrine and dopamine) so that certain activities (usually self destructive) don't give you the same payoff it used to, thats why it and zyban are sometimes used to help with smoking cessation. but since alot of doctors write it to help a patient with one problem...it sometimes causes dependecy to the antidepressant. just saying...noone wants to trade one pill for the next.
                     -mjax024

[Kova]

Hi.  i have been taking wellbutrin for about 2 years now and it has helped my depression a lot but i still smoke and i was still taking pills up until a few months ago.  wellbutrin is not addictiive in the sense that you crave the drug, but i assume that there are withdrawal symptoms if you stop using them suddenly.  i've been on a few different anti depressants, though, and have never experienced anything too bad when stopping cold turkey, but that is just me.  i think if you are using wellbutrin for a short amount of time then you proabaly won't experience anything too extreme.  i have no intention of stopping using them for myself.  they saved my life.

love and light,
Kova

[Kfred]

thanks so much to you both for the replies... question... if they depress the pleasure center how does one get happiness/joy?  thanks again!

[mjax024]

i think we're only supposed to take enough to slow down the receptors...not shut them off.  oddly enough though...i just read that some patients on wellbutrin, report depression as a side effect....go figure.

[Kova]

if the anti depressant is one that is not suited for you then it can make you more depressed.  also, i don't think wellbutri "shuts down" or even slows down your pleasure center, but rather corrects the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.  i was told that it does bind to nicotine receptors, so maybe it binds to opiate receptors as well?  in any case, it did little to help with my addictions, but absolutely took away my depression.  my doctor feels that i most likely have an imbalance of dopamine rather than serotonin, and that is why the wellbutrin has helped me much more than the SSRI's (like Lexapro) which work only on serontonin levels.

hope that helps,
Kova

[mjax024]

lexapro was the one that seemed to work on me...the only thing the wellbutrin did was make me cut back on smoking...but i didn't know i was addicted to anything else at the time. not sure if it made me more depressed, it was a weird time. i was scared to take the ssri too long...but had no problem refilling the morphine.  now i'm thinking i shoulda re-started the lexapro before the detox....

[Kova]

if you need a med for depression and you know lexapro helps you, then go for it.  if the wellbutrin is not really doing much for you then there is no reason to be taking it.  it didn't help with my cravings at all.  and if you cut back on smoking then you didn't really quit so what's the point in taking the wellbutrin?
btw, i was on lexapro for about a year and a half and i quit cold turkey and felt nothing, well, maybe a little dizziness, but that's all.  perhaps it is different for others, but the withdrawal from it was nothing compared to the wd hell from opiates.

Kova

[tramaddi]

wellbutrin has helped me TREMENDOUSLY get off tramadol which before was agaonizing.  I just tapered down and started the well butrin and gradual increase the dosgae until I was at the prescribed level and I feel soo much better. I did not experience the w/d too much either just a little depression but I honestly don't see any other way that I would have comfortabley gotten off tram!!