Trying A New Cocktail

[ufcfan]

I just spoke to my doctor about starting Zoloft and I'm so freaked out that I think I'm going to lose my mind! First off I went through the horror of the Paxil withdrawals and I hear that Zoloft is also very hard to get off of. I seem to have issues with anxiety and depression and my doctor seems to think that this will help with both of the issues as Paxil seemed to. Here's the catch though, when I was taking Paxil it totally killed my sex drive and made me very tired. I've tried Wellbutrin for a while and it seems to make me very irritable and doesn't help with my depression but when I took it with Paxil it did seem to keep my energy levels up. I keep hearing that Zoloft will make me tired and cause me to gain weight. I also hear that it seems to have the same sexual side effects that Paxil did even though it's not as strong an SSRI as Paxil. I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who has ever tried the combination of Zoloft and Wellbutrin. I'm really not in a good place in my life and I feel like I just don't have time to keep trying medications that will put me to sleep. Will the Wellbutrin help with that? Right now I'm taking Clonezepam for my anxiety and it totally puts me down for the count. I just seem to be very sensitive to all of the medications that I've tried and if I can't seem to get the combination right then I'll just have to try to work through these issues on my own without any help of antidepressants. So if there's anyone out there who has ever been on the combination of Zoloft and Wellbutrin then please let me know how it worked and especially if they felt tired when they were on Zoloft by itself. I really feel like i'm at the end of my rope. I was doing well for a while and then things everything just seemed to wear off and I feel like I'm back at square one. Horrible anxiety and suicidal thoughts seem to be creeping back into my life and now that I've got a taste of what it was like to feel a little better I feel even worse than I did before by comparison. Is Zoloft another dead end?  

[MKnobbs]

I have been taken zoloft 100 mg and welbutrin 300 XL for about a year. Prior to that I was with another doctor at that time he was changing my antidepressant  because i was in such a depression and i had been on Zoloft for years and we wanted to see if Wellbutrin would help me. I had asked that Dr. If I could take both of them 2gether and he told me no. That they did not mix well 2gether. Anyway.  I left that Dr. and I've been seeing another. Who put me on both. Anyway,  long story short.  Recently I have stopped taking the Zoloft because after some time I found that I have become very depressed again and I have not been able to get out of bed. Now that im only taking Wellbutrin I seem to be out of that deep depression and moving with more energy. So I guess it all depends on the person if the two mix well together. Oh, and I finally have my sex dive back. Thank God!

[starr363]

I am currently on a combo of 100mg of  wellbutrin, 75 of zoloft
and 5mg of abilify and it is working great for me.  I do
get tired in the afternoon if I dont have something to keep
me busy but nothing really bothersome.  This combo
is the best I have ever been on - I take the zoloft and
wellbutrin in the am and the abilify at night.  I hope
you find something that works for you.

best wishes,
starr363

[ufcfan]

Thanks for the advise. I know that the only way that I'll find out is to try all of this out for myself. I'm hoping that this will be the last go around for a while with these medication issues and I can start to get some normality back in my life. I never thought that it would be this hard. I thought that I would just get a pill and things would just suddenly get better. I was obviously very wrong about that! My doctor has been so patient and I hope  she knows how much I appreciate all of her help. I do hear a lot less complaints about the general side effects of Zoloft than I hear from other medications so that makes me feel a little optimistic. If I feel dead tired or totally lose my sex drive then I may have to try it alone without the help of SSRIs or NDRIs and really utilize the help of the amazing counselor that I'm fortunate to have. I'll just have to wait and see. Thanks again for the input.  

[M4Y0U]

Wellbutrin, in theory, is supposed to counter the sexual side-effects of Zoloft since Zoloft is a soft SSRI and Wellburtrin a relatively strong NDRI at 300mg. Zoloft is also different than some antidepressant by providing better communications in different parts of your brain which might contribute to it's antidepressant effect.

Anyway please be aware that when it comes to drugs, one drug does not fit all. Like one size of pants won't fit all.

M4