Medication for anxiety; does Welbutrin work?

[enaj]

I was diagnosed many years ago with panic disorder and depression and have been on tofranil. It works, but I have gained massive amounts of weight. My doctor wants me to taper off the tofranil and go on welbutrin. I also take xanex very occasionally. I can't find info abotu welbutrin for panic disorder. Do you think it will work?

[Aruba417]

I took Welbutrin for Anxiety/Panic Disorder for about 7 months. I felt the greatest I had felt in a long time (I had been on Paxil for about a year, but it made me very tired and I had also gained weight. But all of a sudden my panic attacks came back and my MD finally sent me to a Psychiatrist. The Psych said that the MD should have ADDED the Welbutrin to the Paxil, not switch. But now I'm on Effexor XR which can have an appetite suppressant effect. I was also very concerned about my weight. The Effexor has worked pretty effectively, and I also take small doeses of Xanax ONLY when I need it...very rarely now. Good luck!

[enaj]

I've had my thyroid checked and also have had cognitive therapy. I'm doing well controlling my panic attacks and my anxiety, but I am a firm believer in the need for drugs as I feel my problems are biological and genetic (both my father and my sister have severe depression/anxiety problems as well as innumerable other relatives). Therapy can only do so much. When you're "wired" for depression/anxiety, drugs are the biggest help!

My Dr. said no to klonapin because he said it was addictive and would make me spacy. My sister takes it and it works for her.

[NoAspartame]

CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) has been shown to be very effective in combination with medication for dealing with depression and anxiety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_therapy

[star queen]

Why do you have anxiety?  Does it accompany panic? Often when these two are together it is a symptom of Thyroid disorder.  You can have a blood test done.  If it is normal, check your diet.  How much iodine do you eat? Generally it will be eaten in cold water fish (not fish sticks or canned tuna), or iodized salt (not salt in salty snack foods) added to food at about 1 teaspoon per day.  If you don't eat these, take a kelp tablet of about 220mcg each day.  If this is your problem, you will see a remarkable difference in just a few days of "feeding" your Thyroid. If you find that you "crave" salt or sweet and nothing will help, then check your dietary Magnesium.

[lilsavage]

I have had an anxiety disorder for about 15 yrs. Ive tried all the anti-depressants they could throw at me. Finally a dr. prescribed klonopin, its in the same class of drugs as xanax, but it works much more effectively and for the most part I only have to take one every couple of days, really bad mornings, I take two. Drs kept trying to treat my anxiety disorder like depression and only made things worse, once they treated the anxiety and stopped dumping other medications on me for depression, things started to get better. I still have my moments in walmart where it gets to feeling a little crowded, but its been a long time since I had to leave the grocery cart full in the middle of the aisle and walk out to my car.