Posted by Gabriel14 on March 10, 2021, at 23:26:53
In reply to Re: Guidance on blood tests results for bupropion?, posted by Christ_empowered on March 9, 2021, at 23:37:31
> not at all an expert, but...here goes (it is The Internet, after all...)
>
> what effects are you looking for from wellbutrin treatment, treatment in general? Wellbutrin is basically a mild stimulant. chemically, if I recall correctly, it's closely related to Tenuate, one of the milder, less addictive, less euphoric diet pills.
> If you need help with energy, focus, attention, etc., then my wild guess would be to either work with a doctor to transition from wellbutrin to something else (uppers are still used in some forms of low mood/depression, with or without a diagnosis of add/adhd), or perhaps...
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> consider 'augmentation strategies' (adding pharmaceuticals, supplements, etc. to hopefully get better results, more in line with what you need).
>
> my concern with relying on a blood test that I think is not cleared for use in clinical practice by the fda (could be wrong...) is that the obvious "solution" in your situation would be to increase the dosage. problem there, of course, is that ramping up wellbutrin dosage can result in seizures, or at least...
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> wellbutrin is more likely to induce seizures at the high(er) end of the dosage range than many other pharmaceutical options available.:-(
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> rambling... ideally, treatment should focus on the individual's needs/'symptoms,' not so much on official diagnoses, with an eye to safety and overall quality of life.
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> in terms of augmentation strategies...with Wellbutrin, adding remeron seems somewhat popular. Remeron tends to be sedating, more so at lower doses. I forget the dosage at which it becomes less sedating for many people...maybe 30mgs? 45? it is not an ssri or ssnri, it is often used for night time sedation, and some people find it effective against low mood with anxiety, ruminations, weight loss, etc.
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> an ssri..maybe? it seems far more common to add wellbutrin when an ssri drug helps some problems, but causes apathy. if one has obsessive stuff going on, I could see a carefully selected ssri being helpful. my current psych claims that she uses prozac with wellbutrin and finds that 'they play well together.' clearly, im just repeating 2nd hand information to show that one has options, i'm not recommending anything.
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> not to push 'alternative mental health' on you (or anyone), but I have found that some supplements help me, personally, and others on this board and elsewhere have, also.
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> i hope this helps. if it wasn't for the seizure risk (and the availability of other drugs), then working with a psych to max out the wellbutrin dosage might be the easiest, quickest option. --not an expert-- or anything, but...i personally think other options might be worth pursuing, depending on what you want/need out of drug treatment.
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> :-)
Thanks, Christ. My main goal with Wellbutrin, which I've been on for over a decade, has been to treat my depression. I'm not really looking for help with anxiety, ADHD, or other stuff along the lines of what you mentioned. It's really primarily depression.I've had multiple doctors bring up the possibility of introducing an SSRI or something similar to the mix, to be paired with the Wellbutrin. I haven't taken this step yet, though. Maybe I should be more open-minded about it if other folks have found that it makes a significant difference?
poster:Gabriel14
thread:1114047
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20210120/msgs/1114057.html