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Going OFF Wellbutrin and other meds

Posted by Tony P on November 16, 2001, at 2:02:31

I've been taking Wellbutrin for 2 or 3 months now, and have tried both 150 mg SR /day and 300 mg/day. I have also been taking, in varying quantities, and together or at different times:
clonazepam, trazodone (Desyrel) and Zopiclone (Imovane) to help with nervousness, tremor and insomnia;
Buspar (which seems to be the one reliable med in the lot for me),
and OTC Robaxin and Kava (also to help with the hyper side effects of the Wellbutrin).

The WB worked well for a while but then I started needing more and more of the others to cope with stressful situations, the euphoria mostly wore off, I felt angry as much as I felt energized, and my family started telling me I was behaving crazily.

By the way, I must be the only person in the world who hasn't lost weight on Wellbutrin - I've gained back at least 15 lb. of the 35 I lost the year before as my depression worsened.

I've reached the point where I'm fed up and just want to stop taking all these different things to compensate for one other. This is very unusual coming from me - mostly I just love to take anything that will make me feel "better".

I've discussed it with my Dr., and he agrees it's worth the experiment. I intend to taper the Wellbutrin quite quickly - he suggested 2 weeks, but I suspect I can manage it faster than that. I'll taper the clonazepam from 1.5-2 mg /day down to zero over several weeks. The Trazodone I intend to taper from 50 to 25 mg immediately for a few days, then only use it if I really need it to sleep - same for the Zopiclone. He has given me a small dose of Ativan to ease the transition and help with situations where I have been feeling really compelled to use the Robaxin in high doses (singing and performing on stage).

The kava will have to go too, eventually, or at least be be seriously moderated, but I'm not as worried about that - it's pretty benign and seems to have no withdrawal effects.

Buspar I will continue, at least for the immediate future - moderately useful for me and little or no side effects.

If I succeed in this much, I'll at least have a cleaner system to work with. My ultimate goal is to be med-free at least until I know how it feels - I've been on A/Ds & other meds for 7 years now. If my depression returns, we can start looking at other possible medications and non-medical treaments from a much clearer starting point.

I'm mostly writing this to affirm my plan for my own benefit, but I'd be happy to hear other people's experience, comments and even advice!

Tony


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poster:Tony P thread:84383
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84383.html