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Posted 6/26/2009 4:51 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there! I had a quick question about medication. I've had fibro since i was about 15 (now 21) and the only time I've ever taken anything for it was when I was 16. My doctor prescribed amitriptyline and it had -horrible- side effects. I lost my short term memory and could barely function, needless to say I stopped taking it after a week. I always seem to get the worse side effects for any medication that I take (ie prescribed pain medications ect). It's the reason I don't take medications, that and I grow tolerant of them in a short period of time. Recently I spoke with my doctor and he said he wanted to put me on Wellbutrin; he said that there were few to no side effects except for losing weight and gaining energy. I did my own research and I couldn't find a lot of information about Wellbutrin and its use with Fibromyalgia, but I -did- find that there were side effects (I hate when doctors lie lol). Has anyone here ever taken it? If you have, did you have any side effects? I'm terrified of taking these stupid medications and I'd like to get some other perspectives.

Thanks in advance for any replies and encouragement.
Posted 6/26/2009 5:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Selkie!

And welcome to our Fibro Family. I hope you stay and join us. Having others who truly understand what we are living with makes fibro much easier to bear.

I did some searching on Wellbutrin and found a few things. You may have already found them but I'll post them just in case...and also for others who may want to know. The NIH (National Institute of Health) website has some good information. This is an anti-depressant which is very common for fibro folks. By raising the serotonin levels in the brain we can get some relief of pain. It works for some, not for others...just like all medications. But from what I read it does have less side effects.

I would guess that your doctor is asking you to try this because anti-depressants are a common treatment for fibro. Please keep us posted on how you do.

Hugs,
Chutzie

Here's a bit from the web site...

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=514842

"bupropion (Wellbutrin) acts via dual inhibition of norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake and is devoid of clinically significant serotonergic effects or direct effects on postsynaptic receptors. Dual norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibition is associated with a unique clinical profile. Bupropion has demonstrated efficacy comparable to that of other antidepressants. However, because bupropion is a selective norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor with no serotonergic activity, common antidepressant-associated side effects, such as sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and sedation, are not associated with bupropion therapy."
Posted 6/26/2009 5:41 AM (GMT 0)
:-) Hi Selkie and welcome! Just a quick post on Welbutrin -- I have been taking it for a while and have no major side effects with it. I, too, am very sensitive to most medications. smhair I have noticed some minor, intermittent pain lessening and better mood control. While not major improvements with it, I have seen some and feel it is worth taking.
Hope you post again -- this is a very caring and supportive forum. smilewinkgrin
(((hugs)))
Shash
Posted 6/26/2009 6:23 AM (GMT 0)
I took Wellbutrin for several months last year unrelated to fibro. I noticed I had emotions very close to the surface, and I burst into tears a few times, and got very snappy a few times. I was happier off it than on it. I'm happier unemotional. :)
Posted 6/26/2009 12:02 PM (GMT 0)
My husband takes Welbutrin along with Cymbalta for depression. I take two meds also, for my depression, but not Welbutrin. I did take Welbutrin at one time, while I was finding a medication to switch to, since my antidepressant at the time was not working. At any rate, I had terrible headaches with it and had to stop it after three weeks time.

Maybe it will work for you though. It does for my husband.

Good luck,

Lindaloo
Posted 6/26/2009 1:11 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Selkie and welcome. I have a rx laying on the kitchen counter for Welbutrin. smilewinkgrin I was going to try it but then I started taking vit D and it seemed to help with the depression and gave me motivation so I will probably never get it filled. I have had no side effects from amitriptyline so I stick with it. Well I can't say no side effects it dries me out more and makes me crave sweets. I totally understand about not taking meds cause of the side effects.

 

Many of us have low vit D so you might want to have your doc check your's. I had to ask to have mine checked.

 

I'm glad you joined us and hope you will stay around cause this is a great forum with many great people to help you.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

 

 

Posted 6/26/2009 1:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hi! Yea we can all sympathize with the sensitivity to medications, that is for sure! I always tell my Doctors that I am that 2% of the population on the label that they warn about getting the severe reactions! lol
However I have been on Wellbutrin for a few months and really like it--especially compared to the prior depression meds that I have taken that did have all the typical side effects Chutz mentioned above. This one has none that I have noticed. It feels really mild.
If you are worried, you can do what I do and start out taking a half dose and slowly work up to the real dose--it gives your body time to get used to the med and is less shock to the system and if you do have a bad reaction it is easier to get off it.
I used to worry and hate to take the medication my doctors prescribed, until one of my doctors explained that they have weighed the pros and cons of the side effects and feel that the good out weighs the possible bad of not taking the drug. I know, easy for them to say when they arent the one who is dizzy and throwing up! But if you stick through it, alot of times the side effects will go away. It just depends on how important it is to you to take the medication.
Posted 6/26/2009 2:17 PM (GMT 0)

I have been taking welbutrin for years with no side effects.  It does nothing for pain however.  I guess I must be really depressed cuz I also take lexapro.  For depression, lexapro is the 1st one that really works for me, and I think by now I have tried them all.

I think you should go for it.  The good may out weigh the bad, if there is any bad for you.  I think you will like this fibro friendly family wink    Stick around.  Good luck.  Let us know how it goes.

Posted 6/26/2009 2:33 PM (GMT 0)
http://www.drugs.com/wellbutrin.html

Here is a site that tells you more about Wellbutrin. I know that it is an anti-depressant, and some anti-depressants are used to help Fibro because they can increase certain chemicals in the brain that help with pain. I hope this site helps.

Posted 6/28/2009 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your replies! I'm still slightly iffy about taking the medication, but I think I'll have the doctor give me a prescription for it anyways. Maybe if the bottle stares at me for long enough I'll break down and start using it lol. This is such a great group; I've tried other groups and the people there weren't nearly as nice. In fact some of them were outright nasty! *hugs to all!*

I guess for a small happy update: these past few days, by some miracle, I have felt wonderful... Well, as wonderful as one can feel. Its one of those very rare (half) weeks where almost nothing hurts. I'm still tired, but I don't feel like all I'm able to do is curl up in bed and cry. I'm definitely going to go out and do something enjoyable while I can, normally when this happens I get kicked in the butt later.

I hope that all of you are doing well and that you get some relief too. Thanks again!

Selkie
Posted 6/28/2009 9:00 PM (GMT 0)
Selkie,
If you don't have any great relief from the Wellbutrin after about a month you can ask your doctor for some samples of a different SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) that may work better for you. I started on prozac and didn't like the sexual side effects (absolutely NO libido!) eyes which were not so good for my marriage. I switched to zoloft which worked very well for many years but when we lost our insurance I couldn't afford it any longer. I'm back to generic prozac (Fluoxotine HCl) but I'm a bit older now (ahem!) and the libido thing isn't as much of a big deal. It helps with my depression, mood swings, pain and it costs me about $10 every 3 months at Sams Club.

There are several different SSRI's on the market and my foggy brain can't remember all of them but I do remember that two of them worked about as good as sugar pills on my pain and depression. Doctor told me that this was entirely normal with this class of meds and that we had to keep trying new ones till we got a good "fit". Hope this helps.
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