Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Anxiety, Depression & Wellbutrin
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Anxiety, Depression & Wellbutrin
by Chris__0__0, Mar 03, 1999 12:00AM
Dear Doctor,
Back in August, My doctor prescribed Wellbutrin to treat my anxiety
and depression. I have been taking 150mg twice a day since then,
along with 50mg of Serzone at bedtime to help me sleep.
My concern is:
Does Wellbutrin have any long term side effects that you know about?
I feel a bit concerned because this drugs does effect the brain.
I have had great improvement on these medications.
How long (on average) does a person remain taking these types of
medications?
Doctor's Answer
by HFHS M.D.-HG, Mar 03, 1999 12:00AM
_
Dear Chris
I am glad that you noticed great improvement on Wellbutrin and Serzone. Wellbutrin has been shown to be as effective as other anti-depressants and has been proved to be safe and well tolerated. It may cause dizziness, headache, tremulousness and disturbed sleep. Wellbutrin is contraindicated in patients with history of seizure or who are at risk for seizures. As far as I am aware of, there are no known long term side effects from this medication.
Major depression, the most common type of depression, is recurrent in most people. The average duration that a person needs to be on medication for depression depends on the number of episodes, the length of episodes
and also on the severity of the symptoms. Usually, the first episode of depression should be treated for atleast six to twelve months. Patients with more than three episodes of depressions or patients with two or more episodes with risk factors (family history of mood disorders) are often given life long treatment.
Feel free to discuss with your psychiatrist about your current treatment plan. If you wish to seek a mental health professional at Henry Ford Hospital Behavioral Services clinic, you can call 313-874-6680. I hope this information is helpful to you. This information is provided for general medical educational purposes only and should not be replaced by evaluation with a physician.
Key words: Wellbutrin, Depression
