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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by comftnumb on November 24, 2002, at 13:19:56
I take 300mg of Wellbutrin a day and I sometimes get this agitated feeling inside. It's not anxiety, because I suffer from anxiety and I know how it feels and its not anxiety. But it is similar. It feels really uncomfortable. It's like my body is screaming inside, "Let me out of here!!!!" It's an internal itch. Anyone else have this, or am I just one of the unlucky ones?
Posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 18:04:14
In reply to Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by comftnumb on November 24, 2002, at 13:19:56
I just had to comment because your post struck a chord with me. (Sorry, I've never taken Wellbutrin.) Anxiety sufferers KNOW the difference between anxiety and jittery or nervous feelings. Doesn't it burn you up when doctors don't believe you? Like when they say "caffeine can cause anxiety and panic attacks." I love caffeine and I know how it makes me feel. It is different than anxiety. Yet no one believes me. I can only guess that those who have never suffered from TRUE anxiety equate the two because they don't know any better.
I took SSRIs in the past and I know a little about what you might be describing. I learned to sleep while on zoloft but it just wasn't really great sleep. My husband said I would lift a leg straight up in the air and let it drop on the bed while I was asleep. Talk about restless legs. I think these meds made me slightly manic, which was seen as alleviation of depression. I don't know if I would be brave enough to try Wellbutrin but I've always wondered about it, if I need an AD someday (I'm on nothing now.) When I'm not anxious I'm way too relaxed and eat like a hog, especially on typical antidepressants. I've heard that Wellbutrin can squelch that problem as well as avoiding those dreaded sexual side effects that none of us like on the SSRIs. But I've heard so much about how Wellbutrin can cause anxiety. So you're saying that for you, there's no real anxiety but just a restless feeling?
Posted by linkadge on November 24, 2002, at 19:15:34
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 18:04:14
You're both right. Caffiene doesn't cause anxiety, and can even improve it at times. The jitteryness that coffee induces is nothing like anxiety.
Your post struck a chord with me as well, it is possible that your reaction is caused by the dopamine enhancing effects of Wellbutrin.Does it feel like things are just really intense, - not really nervousness but kind of like fear - like you've done something drastically wrong, that can't be undone, or that you've tweaked the gods the wrong way. Kind of like a impending sence of doom, like a bomb is going to be dropped on you or something.
I found that all meds that tweaked dopamine in me had a very scary and strange reaction, they made me really paranoid - and afraid to do anything - not anxious at all - very calm - yet not at all at peace. You may need to decrease your dose.
Linkadge
Posted by linkadge on November 24, 2002, at 19:23:12
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 18:04:14
Oh I forgot to mention,
neither me nor my mom have any signs of schitosphrenia, but she responds well to
antipsychotics, she too gets this very
vague and strange sence of doom and
slight paranoia - that in our familys past
has always been atributed to - messages from
God. I would get this very strange feeling -
like when I'd see people partying or having
fun - I'd feel like they don't know what they're
doing - like God's going to get them some day
for living the good life - I always felt that
God wanted us to suffer - and that people having fun were somehow wrong.These feelings have certainly subsided while on Celexa, I think it is in part due to the fact the SSRI's tend to lower dopamine.
this is probably way different than what you're feeling but I just thought I'd share.
Linkadge
Posted by Latinlover on November 24, 2002, at 21:09:53
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by linkadge on November 24, 2002, at 19:23:12
Caffeine or any other stimulant in the world doesn't cause anxiety per se. They just meke their symptomps look worse and in some people, in fact, they calm anxiety. Docs may knoy about medical theory, but if they have not experienced the effects of medication themselves, they don't know what they are talking about. They should have a team of experienced users, pharmacists and other doctors counseling them to take the best decissions possible on how to treat each person.
Posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 21:22:07
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by Latinlover on November 24, 2002, at 21:09:53
I'm glad to hear some agreement from you guys. Normally I feel that no one hears me when I say, "But caffeine does not make me anxious." Truthfully I think that caffeine does wonders for my depression/anxiety. Of course, I've learned that overconsuming it presents other problems (mainly temper problems) but a good jolt of it every day is good for me, personally. I get irked when told, "the first thing you should do is cut out all caffeine..."
Thanks for speaking up and agreeing with me so I know I'm not the only one who clearly knows the difference between stimulation/jitteriness and anxiety. Oh, those who've never suffered anxiety should only know what it feels like. If only it were as simple as "coffee nerves." Ha!
Posted by comftnumb on November 24, 2002, at 22:06:13
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 18:04:14
The Wellbutrin has actually helped my anxiety, not a great deal, but some. It also essentially cured my depression, along with the Effexor I take in combination with it. I basically went from hating every minute of my life and finding nothing satisfying to do with my time to feeling more fulfilled and finding pleasure in things. But I want to go off this Effexor/Wellbutrin mix and start Nardil? Why? Because my greatest problem is social anxiety and from what I understand Nardil is the best. And I feel like I've got nothing to lose trying it out, I can always go back to the old meds. But yeah, back to that nervous feeling. It's almost like a craving for a cigarette, if you've ever been a smoker, but it's not anxiety. It feels like there's some hot spicy food burning my stomach lining. Anxiety is more like tightness in the chest, tingling in the abdomen, and feeling of wanting to get away.
Posted by comftnumb on November 24, 2002, at 22:14:26
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by linkadge on November 24, 2002, at 19:15:34
Well, in terms of dose I will be probably going off the Wellbutrin soon because of wanting to try Nardil, so that jittery feeling should go away for good. It doesn't feel like fear, it feels more like restlessness.
As for your dopamine theory, you certainly make a good point. However, there a some things to consider. Caffeine can also give you the jitters, and as far as I know caffeine has no effect on the dopamine system. Also other drugs like nicotine that do effect dopamine levels have a relaxing effect, although maybe some people get the jitters from smoking. It really does vary from person to person. I take antipsychotic medication (Geodon) which does affect the dopamine system quite a bit, it inhibits the action of the D2 receptors. I don't get the jitters from it. Brain chemistry is very complex, and dopamine represents a whole class of dopamine receptors that all work differently. Some dopamine receptors are involved in motor functions (movement), and of course dopamine is the pleasure neurotransmitter. Maybe the Wellbutrin effect is mediated to a specific dopamine receptor that causes restlessness. I don't know. It's all speculation anyways. But please tell me, what other dopaminergic drugs have you been on? Did they all have that effect?
Posted by comftnumb on November 24, 2002, at 22:21:41
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by linkadge on November 24, 2002, at 19:23:12
Yeah, again antipsychotics lower dopamine levels as opposed to Wellbutrin raising them. So antipsychotics might have the opposite effect of relaxing a person. In fact, when they first came out in the 50s, antipsychotics were considered tranquilizers. About your mom and visions of god, being a schizophrenic I am all to familiar with those feelings. It happened to me while I was driving that I would just drive without direction and let God tell me the way to go. I would burn stop signs, not wear a seatbelt, and follow people around. Miraculously, one day I was in this crazy mode and I was actually "guided" to my therapists office. A firetruck signaled the way to me. Yes, while I was psychotic I was convinced there was a special relationship between me and god. But now I don't believe in god, because if he exists he f***ed me over. So why worship something that caused you pain? It seems equivalent to worshipping the devil, the way I see it, and I certainly would never do that. But I don't want to anger you faithful believers out there, I have nothing against belief in God, except when it denies some of the truths of science, like that we evolved from Apes.
Posted by JenR on November 24, 2002, at 23:03:16
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by bubblegumchewer on November 24, 2002, at 21:22:07
Did you recently start the Wellbutrin? I was very jittery on it in the beginning, but eventually that wore off.
Posted by comftnumb on November 25, 2002, at 0:02:01
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by JenR on November 24, 2002, at 23:03:16
I started Wellbutrin in late August. At first I had sleep disturbance and felt pepped up, but the nervous/jittery feeling didn't develop till a bit later.
Posted by Ritch on November 25, 2002, at 10:05:31
In reply to Wellbutrin and that strange Nervous feeling, posted by comftnumb on November 24, 2002, at 13:19:56
> I take 300mg of Wellbutrin a day and I sometimes get this agitated feeling inside. It's not anxiety, because I suffer from anxiety and I know how it feels and its not anxiety. But it is similar. It feels really uncomfortable. It's like my body is screaming inside, "Let me out of here!!!!" It's an internal itch. Anyone else have this, or am I just one of the unlucky ones?
I can't take it because of similar feelings. I felt this intense impatience with everything. I became uncoordinated because my mind was about three or four steps ahead of my body's ability to follow through with the motor movements. The strangest thing I noticed with it (and never experienced with any other med), was this intense time *dilation*. Time would just crawl very very slowly. I think that probably contributed to my sense of impatience.
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