![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by MarkVa on April 3, 2006, at 11:29:28
In the fall I was put on Wellbutrin XL for depression. My wife convinced me, and I realized I had basically just 'let everything go' over the past year or so.
It made me nauseas, so, in January I was put on Wellbutrin SR. It too made me nausea, but, I could take the full dosage every two days and off one day with no nausea. I had finally worked myself up to the full dosage with no nausea.
Two weeks later, I was sitting at my desk and started to feel nausea. As an hour passed, nervousness was added to the nausea. I thought maybe it was my cup of coffee, or that I was hungry.
I go to the gym daily during lunch, so, went to the gym. There I found that I was breathless and couldn't jog. I knew something wasn't right. So, back on the hungry issue, I went to get something to eat.
An hour later, that hadn't worked. I felt flush, nervous, out of breath. I had a meeting to attend. During that meeting my symptoms advanced to dizziness and that I needed to 'get away'. I left the meeting early and returned to my desk. Then my hands and face started tingling.
I went to my primary care phys, who took me right in without an appt!
He thought it might be an anxiety attack with hyperventalation. So, he instructed me to take slow deep breaths. That helped! He then hooked me to the EKG and said it was abnormal. He called ahead to the ER and told them I was coming and he ordered an Echo and 24hr holter.
The next day I didn't do anything much while wearing the holter. I did go to the grocery store and my heart felt as if it was racing away. This later showed on the 24 hour holter as 140BPM.
They did identify RBBB, which as I understand, a lot of people have and don't even know as it has little to no effects.
For the few weeks that followed, I've noticed that exercise seems to bring on these 'feelings'. I have also noticed chest pain.
So, now I'm scheduled for a cardiolite stress test. The cardiologist doesn't think its heart related. He thinks it was a anxiety attack, as, in his words, I'm the picture of good health.
After this, I only took 150mg of Wellbutrin SR per day for 3 weeks. Now I’m off of it. Could Wellbutrin SR have messed me up so much as to cause this??
Posted by bassman on April 3, 2006, at 15:02:51
In reply to Wellbutrin SR - caused anxiety attack, posted by MarkVa on April 3, 2006, at 11:29:28
I felt very panicky when I'd jog while taking 300 mg Wellbutrin-to the point my balance felt impaired and I was having fearful thoughts. But I'm an old hand at panic disorder, so I was convinced I knew what it was, I just didn't like it. I'm taking 150 mg Wellbutrin and those feelings have gone away while I exercise. When I first started to have very severe panic disorder, it was with me 24 hours a day. Good luck-I know how scary tests like that can be; but they may say to you what they said to me after testing, "what are YOU doing here?" Probably.
Posted by fairywings on April 3, 2006, at 15:44:47
In reply to Wellbutrin SR - caused anxiety attack, posted by MarkVa on April 3, 2006, at 11:29:28
Hi Mark,
WB helped my depression, but made me very anxious, my chest hurt, and my blood pressure went up. I got to the point where I had almost agoraphobia and had to cut back on the WB, but the blood pressure was still high. I also run and didn't feel any worse when I was running - I run on a treadmill, but felt esp. panicky whenever I went out of the house.
I hope it's not your heart. Good luck,
fw
Posted by Phillipa on April 3, 2006, at 19:31:54
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin SR - caused anxiety attack » MarkVa, posted by fairywings on April 3, 2006, at 15:44:47
Wellbutrin make me almost hypomanic I don't thinke its your heart sounds like a nasty panic attack. Love Phillipa
Posted by JaclinHyde on April 5, 2006, at 10:51:13
In reply to Wellbutrin SR - caused anxiety attack, posted by MarkVa on April 3, 2006, at 11:29:28
Wellbutrin actually ruined everythiing for me. I came off Marplan (maoi) because I was dx'd as being mildly Bipolar and switched to Wellbutrin because it isn't supposed to cause mania. Well let me tell you it turned my life into hell. I had not had a panic attack or any form of my old friend hypochondria is 25 years (that is how long I was on MAOI's) up until I took this drug from hell. I stopped it quick and went on Parnate (another maoi that is not supposed to induce mania) and I am fine now. But I'll tell ya, never again will I go near that drug.
Just my opinion, ymmv.
JH
Posted by MarkVa on April 6, 2006, at 10:42:50
In reply to Wellbutrin SR - caused anxiety attack, posted by MarkVa on April 3, 2006, at 11:29:28
Well, stress test was OK. Funny they call that a 'stress' test, as it wasn't more than a few minutes on the treadmill. Ha...
Anyway, he said that Wellbutrin SR can cause anxiety attacks and that must be it. So, I stopped taking Wellbutrin and he put me on Lexapro. Took my second 10mg dose last night. We'll see....
Posted by Caedmon on April 6, 2006, at 18:58:00
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin SR - caused anxiety attack, posted by MarkVa on April 6, 2006, at 10:42:50
Wellbutrin ironically helps my social phobia, but that is probably because I find it an effective antidepressant. I have definitely heard of people feeling much more anxious on it, however.
BTW as far as I know, MAOIs are not supposed to cause mania any more than Wellbutrin. I could be wrong.
- C
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.