Side Effects of Wellbutrin(generic)????

[Liss908]

I stopped taking Paxil 40mg about two weeks ago ... cold turkey and started taking Wellbutrin (generic) 300 mg  morn.  150 mg  evening.  I had no withdrawal symptoms for the first week.  Now al of a sudden I am crying at the drop of the hat.. I get really angry over nothing and I am really dizzy.  Is that alot for me to take of wellbutrin to start of .. Is it the paxil wiithdrawls?? Is it the welbutrin??   Help!!

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

You have already received a very sophisticated analysis of your situation from Paxiled..I agree with his recommendations in general, and would only add that once you are in this situation it is almost impossible to say for sure what is withdrawal, and what is the new medication, and I say this focusing on the dizziness in particular...You might try lowering the dose of wellbutrin( talk to your doctor) before you decide to go back, and then wean yourself from paxil.

[Paxiled]

What are you treating?  If it's anxiety, wellbutrin will just cause more.  If it's just depression, wellbutrin can be helpful, but not right after stopping Paxil.  You should never stop Paxil cold turkey.  You're in Paxil withdrawal and, because you started another drug at the same time that has a completely different mechanism of action, you have the side effects of starting another drug that may not even be an appropriate substitute for Paxil.  What you should do is, if you just started  the wellbutrin, stop it, go back on the Paxil, and taper off slowly, as slowly as it takes because you aren't anyone else.  What you have are classic Paxil withdrawal symptoms.

[Liss908]

Thanks!  Yeah I am treating depression anxiety  and ADHD  thats why my doc put me on this. Why does it cause anxiety?  Is that dosage really high to start off of.  

[Paxiled]

I'm not an expert on wellbutrin dosage, but it does sound high -- every med should be gone on somewhat slowly just to see how a person will react.  The reason it's not recommended for people who suffer from anxiety, generally, not universally, is that it's very stumulating, which a depressed person benefits from, particular the neurotransmitter norepinephrine.  For an anxious person, that can just add to the anxiety by creating an even greater adrenaline response and a feeling of greater agitation, which can trigger anxiety.  Now, if you haveADHD and anxiety and depression, that's going to be tough to treat, because ADHD requires stimulation, but anxiety requires relaxation.  On the other hand, ADHD is one of the most over-diagnosed conditions out there, so there's a good chance you don't even have it.  You might, but you might not.  If I were you, if your psychiatrist recommended this course of action, meaning cold turkey on Paxil and then the high dosage of wellbutrin, I would probably look for another one.  This one clearly doesn't do his homework.  If you want the doctor to answer this second question, you'll have to put up another thread to him, he generally doesn't answer the same one twice.

[Liss908]

Yeah I didn't really like my doc too much  but he didn't tell me to stop cold turkey that  was my doing he told me wean myself  off of it for about a week.  I weaned my self for about two days .  I was diagnosed when I was in 5th grade that I have adhd.  Well I have cut my dose in half and Ill see how it goes  Thanks for the help.  

[Paxiled]

A week is way too short.  Six weeks is safer, but really, the time needed is up to how you react -- for some its easy and quick, for others long and difficult.  Good luck, and again, see about that adhd.  It's really become quite a fad to diagnose that, so it's not a bad idea when you get a new psychiatrist to check again.

[Liss908]

THANKS YOU ARE A AWESOME HELP!!!