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203342 tn?1328737207

Someone told me to go to the Anxiety forum and talk to Ryan? They said he knows a lot about medications. I have a question about Welbutrin.

Hi. I hope my title wasn't too long! Someone told me to come to the anxiety forum and talk to Ryan. They said he knows a lot about medications. I looked though and didn't see him. Is he still around? Does anyone know? I'd like to talk to someone who is knowledgable about Welbutrin. I have some questions and concerns and I don't know what's normal or not.
About 6 weeks ago my 15 year old daughter was put on Zoloft for severe depression. When we recently saw the child psychiatrist my daughter told him that she felt tired a lot so he suggested trying Welbutrin along with the Zoloft to give her a little more energy. He said it would work well with the Zoloft for depression. She agreed to try it.

I gave her the first dosage Sunday morning (100mg) along with the Zoloft (also 100mg). About an hour or so later she asked to stay home from church because she said she didn't feel good. She felt dizzy and real tired and went to lay down. I had wondered if it was the Welbutrin but she thought it was because she didn't get enough sleep the night before so we left it at that. The next day I gave her both medications again and sent her off to school. Later I found out that she passed out briefly in her first period class. I asked her what happened. She said she went up to ask her teacher something but all of a sudden felt sick and like she was going to pass out so she went and sat back down. She said she felt real thirsty too. She said people were talking but she all of a sudden couldn't hear them and everything went black. She broke out in a cold sweat and laid her head down on her desk. Her teacher brought her a cup of cold water and she drank it and said she felt better. The rest of the day she felt ok.
What in the world happened? Is this normal? I was afraid to give it to her the next day so I stopped the Welbutrin. I finally was able to get ahold of the psychiatrist who prescribed it and he said that wasn't a normal reaction. He said he wouldn't expect anyone to pass out after taking Welbutrin. If it's not the medication, what could it be? I almost thought it sounded like low blood sugar but she ate breakfast that morning. I made sure of it. There have been times she's felt like that after not eating for a long time but not to that extrreme. I'm afraid to let her try it again. The doctor said it was my call. We wondered about trying again maybe in the Summer when I can watch her better and she doesn't have to be in school.

I guess I'm wondering if this can indeed be a reaction to the Welbutrin or if I should be concerned that there's a medical issue going on with her that she should be seen for? I guess all I can do is watch and see.
I heard such great things about Welbutrin and Zoloft. Are these good anti-depressants for teens to be taking? Is there something that would be better? I just want her to feel better, be happier and not be too tired or drugged up from the medications so that she can funtion in school and such.
Thanks for listening. Any thoughts on all of this would be great.
13 Responses
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432009 tn?1304749841
April,

I am so sorry that you are suffering so much, and I just wanted to reinforce that you've come to the right place. It sounds like there a couple of things you want to watch - besides everything else that you watch. Her meals - not skipping them, making sure that her blood sugar level is normal and steady - whether it is a hyper.hypo issue.
My son suffers from low blood sugar and his entire personality changes when he eats the wrong combination of foods or goes too long without a high protein type of snack between his meals.

Also, it will be helpful to get her involved in some type of sport or music/art/dance. The physical activity will be good for her - maybe swimming, tennis, something that yu can do outside of her school...whatever her interest is. The creativity will be a great outlet for her with participation in the arts.

I wish the very best for her, and I hope she begins to feel better soon.

Best,
-xan-
Helpful - 0
203342 tn?1328737207
By pretty healthy I meant she's healthy. There's no underlying problems that we know of. We do get her blood sugar tested each year just because of all the diabetes in our family. It's pretty prevalent on my side of the family. So far she's been fine.

What I was talking about when I said she had felt faint before was two times in her life. Both times was when she had skipped a meal or gone too long without eating. I've felt that way myself. If I skip a meal or go too long without eating, I'll feel sick too. I thought most people feel this way? I thought that this is because the blood sugar gets too low.

When I said she's seen the doctor but not a physical what I meant was she's gone in before for ear infections and things like that. She used to play sports so she always had to get a sports physical every year. This is the first year she didn't play any sports because the new school we put her in doesn't offer sports since they're a charter school.
Wow, you're right. a lot gets lost when it's written down like this!

There's no acne (she actually has beautiful skin), no obestity - she's normal weight, no stretch marks, no excess hair growth, no abnormal periods.
She's a pretty normal kid. The only thing she's ever struggled with was school and her grades. She passes her classes but she has always been an average or even below average in her classes. I've even had her tested for that and they said they saw that she struggled with some of her classes but that she was not bad enough to need special ed. We did get her hearing tested and they said she has Auditory Processing Disorder so she does have trouble blocking out noises to concentrate on things. She also has trouble with verbal instructions, doing better with written instructions. But she's learned to compensate for a lot of that and for the most part does ok in school.

Ryan, I'm not sure I understand all that you're trying to say. What do you mean there's something missing? And why did you think this is more physical than mental? Is it because I didn't explain her history before?  I really don't understand. I guess stuff really does get lost when you can't talk to the person. I'm just not sure I understand everything. Is there something you suspect or are you just trying to rule out things?
Do you think it's ok to put a teen on an anti-depressant? I heard Zoloft and Welbutrin were supposed to be pretty good. I haven't given her the Welbutrin since her reaction. Right now we're just sticking with the Zoloft. I'm not sure the tiredness is because of the medications or not. I'm not sure she's getting enough sleep. I try to make sure she's in bed before 10pm but she takes awhile to go to sleep, I guess.

I do appreciate all the help and advice. I'm sorry if I got too sensitive. I do tend to get sensitive when it comes to my kids. Just an ol' Mama bear, I guess! :)
Thanks everyone.
Happy2girls, thanks for being so kind. I will keep in touch. God bless.
April
Helpful - 0
198506 tn?1251156915
This is such a terrible situation you are in and I feel so deeply for you.  I hope Jay comes back and clarifies his post.  I really don't think he meant to be judgemental.  People have different styles and it's hard to read someone's intent sometimes in postings because you don't get the inflection that you do when you speak to someone.  I think sometimes these posts can be too easily misinterpreted.  April, please continue to reach out and by all means keep us informed about your daughter's progress.  I am sure no one here doubts your devotion and love.  Take care.      
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203342 tn?1328737207
I AM taking this seriously. I have centered my whole life around my daughter so much these last two years that I have felt guilty that I have not given enough attention to my other two kids.
I am doing everything I can to help my daughter! I have done everything the therapist, the child psychiatrist and the doctors have said to do. I have gone through her room and made her show me her arms, etc. periodically. I have read books and tried talking to others to better educate myself on cutting and depression. I have moved her to a new school when I realized how much she was being bullied. I have had to admit my daughter into a mental health care facility. Do you know how hard that was to leave her there? Do you have any idea the hell I've gone through the last two years? Do you know how many nights I have lost sleep crying and praying for my daughter, afraid to go to sleep in case she hurt herself? I've done everything I can do to help my daughter! How can you sit there and say I need to take this seriously as if I'm just passively sitting by and letting her destroy her life?
She is seeing a child psychiatrist to moniter the medication they started her on and she's seeing a therapist who's trying DBT Therapy with her. I don't know what else you think I'm supposed to do. I already said I will look into getting her a new physical but yet you said that it didn't look like it was that after all. I'm doing everything I can to help my daughter.
She's actually doing a lot better than last year. She's come a long ways and I'm proud of her because I've seen her grow. I've seen us all grow through all of this. She is no longer suicidal. She's only cut herself three times in the last couple of months, which is a big improvement. We're working on her recognizing when her emotions take over and how to better deal with them but she has to be willing to do the homework the therapist gives her. She has to want to do all of this.
I probably should have started her on the anti-depressants a long time ago but I was worried about what I've heard about the effects anti-depressants can have on teenagers. That's why I took so long to agree to the meds, not because I didn't care about her but because I honestly wanted the best for her and wanted to do the right thing.
Don't ever think that for one minute I didn't care or want to help her. You have no idea how exhausting and frightening it is to watch your child hurting herself and you feel so helpless because you are doing the best you can but you don't know how to reach her. I may not be the perfect parent and I'm sure I've made mistakes but rest assured, I love my kids with everything that is within me and would do anything for them. I'd take those scars from her if I could.
I'm sorry but it's very upsetting to me when I see people judging me when they have no idea! If they could be in my shoes for these last two years, would they have done any better? Would they have been able to cope? Do you know how many times I felt like I was about to have a nervous breakdown myself? I had health issues I was trying to deal with this last year too. These last two years have been the worst of my life. You have no idea. I love my daughter. That's why I came here to try and understand more to better help her. I appreciate all the advice but please don't judge me or assume anything when you really don't know us or our situation. I'm doing the best I can.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
you need to take this very seriously. screw school...get her a medical workup. whatever ryan suggested. but i think what you have told us now, kind of points opposite to anything physically being wrong with her. this is definatley an emotional/mental issue. she NEEDS therapy with a qualified psychiatrist. cutting and suicide notes are not something that just sort of goes away when you get some new friends and take zoloft. these are issues that are usually deeply rooted. but can be worked out. it doesn't happen overnight. medication can and will help. you guys just have to find the right combination or right med for her plus therapy. once again. this is NOT something to take lightly. take action NOW!!!

p.s. people who self harm otherwise know as "cutters" are also prone to drugs, which they use to self medicate. i'm not saying your daughter is a drug addict or even on drugs, but it's something to watch out for.

God Bless

Jay
Helpful - 0
203342 tn?1328737207
Hi everyone! Wow, thanks for all the replies! I will try to answer all of them to my best ability.
In answer to one of the question's, yes, she is going to counseling and has been for some time. The drugs were a last resort, really. I guess I need to explain a little bit more about her history. We found out two years ago that she was cutting herself. After going through her room and finding dark, sad pictures she'd drawn and poems and such and then a suicide note, we immediately got her into counseling. I resisted the idea of drugs for two years. I was niave, though, and didn't realize how deep all of this was. I thought we could handle it. And we did try for a long time. When we found out she was being bullied, all through middle school, we switched her to a new high school that she loved and made friends. She was acting better, happier, so we stopped the counseling (we've recently started her up again).
Then she cut herself again. I had told her a long time ago if she did it again we were taking her to the local mental hospital, not as a punishment but to get her the extra help she needed and to hopefully open her eyes to how serious this was and that we were taking this seriously. They kept her for four days and it was there that they started her on the Zoloft and Nuerontin (as a mood stabilizer).
When I took her to the child psychiatrist the next month we decided to take her off the Neurontin because she was getting sleepy in class and this doctor didn't like it anyway to be used as a mood stabilizer. So we were down to just the Zoloft. She's been on it since the middle of February. When we saw the child psychiatrist last week, he suggested trying the Welbutrin along with the Zoloft because she said she was tired. That's when all of this started. I only gave her two days worth and that's when she showed this reaction.
The reason I first thought this could be a blood sugar thing was because she's felt like this before (although not to this extreme) when she went too long without eating. You see, I thought at first she had a reaction to the Zoloft a few weeks ago because the doctor had just upped the dosage and that day she felt sick and I picked her up from school and brought her home. But then I found out that she had skipped breakfast and lunch that day so I figured that's why she felt sick that day. She was fine once she got something to eat.
This day though, I made sure that she ate breakfast before she went to school and then she had that bad reaction in first period.

She hasn't had an official physical (although she's seen the doctor) since probably last year. I do try to do them yearly and I also have them check her blood sugar because we have a lot of diabetes in our family. So far, she's checked out pretty healthy.

Ryan, I'm not sure I understood everything you wrote. I guess I'll have to print it out and show it to a doctor and have him decipher it for me, lol! Are you a doctor or something?
From what I gathered, you were saying that you don't think she has depression?? You think it's something physical? Why would you think that?
She told me she's been depressed since she was around 12. To be honest, that's about the time I started seeing her change. She grew more moody. Her grades dropped. She started hanging out with some kids that weren't a good influence on her. She's easily influenced by her peers. It was the pictures she drew and the poems she wrote that we found that really gave us a clue into what was going on inside her. I didn't understand where all this sadness and anger was coming from. She has a good home. I think a lot of it is how her peers treated her.
Ryan, could you please explain a little better what you meant? I'm just not sure I understand what you're saying.

Again, thank you so much everyone for your input! This has helped tremendously. I've learned and gotten more from coming here than talking to the doctor.
Maybe I'll go ahead and get another physical done this Summer. She's missed so much school already this year, I hate to pull her out. I think she only has 6 or 7 weeks left. I'm not sure where we'll go from there. I guess we'll just take one day at a time. Thanks everyone and God bless!
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Avatar universal
my question would be, was the zoloft working to alleviate her depressive symptoms? or was it just making her tired? i would think a complete workup would have been done prior to the prescription of zoloft, being that she is a 15 year old girl. these doctors!!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
wellbrutin was awful for me,..terrible side affect,..vivid nightmares, and other things i dont want to mention,..ugh
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198506 tn?1251156915
Bumping this up April.  
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Avatar universal
i would suggest therpay, the zoloft and exercise and balanced diet.

adding wellburtrin to the mix is almost certainly the culprit here. no problems except being tired, then add wellburtrin and she passes out??? come on now...i'd rather be tired than ko'd...talk with the dr. immediately about this...wellbutrin is actually zyban, exact same med given to people to help them stop smoking...i would say wellburtrin is NOT the drug she should be on and i'm pretty sure ryan will come along soon and agree with me, he'll probably suggest something else, out of the realm of my knowledge. but i wouldn't give it to her anymore and your should be on the phone right now with your dr. i hope it's a psychiatrist and not an MD also.

therapy is key here also and so is exercise!

God Bless

Jay
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I agree with the above post.  Have your physician give your daughter a physical and do blood work.  Also, I beleve that meds effect everyone differently and it could possibly be the combination of both..Hopefully Ryan will read the post soon and give some more info.
Helpful - 0
404682 tn?1324579818
Zoloft and Wellbutrin both can cause dizziness and weakness as well as low blood pressure. I'm sure Ryan can give you more detailed information but in the meantime I think you are doing the right thing by holding off on the one. It may be her dosages need to be adjusted.

In order to rule out some other medical issues why don't you have your family doctor perform some routine blood tests to make sure everything is okay there and that she isn't anemic or having low blood sugar.

Regards,
Jerz
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242912 tn?1660619837
Hi April,  Ryans screen name is RCA7591.  You'll see his screen name on posts below.  He was on yesterday.  I think he trys to get on here once a day.  It's hard to say when though because it varies.  

Hope this helps
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