Wellbutrin XL Makes me feel woozy/lightheaded?

I'm going to try and keep this short and quick, I have been on prozac for little over a year I have been steadily gaining weight from it and having other side effects that are progressively getting worse. So I asked my doctor if I could try Wellbutrin XL for the weight issue and increase in energy. Because prozac makes me extremely tired. I was at 10 mg of prozac daily when taking Wellbutrin I have since dropped down to 5 mg.

Anyways so i filled the prescription and tried Wellbutrin XL for about 12 days, 150 mg once daily in the morning. I had to stop because I felt so woozy and lightheaded that I was afraid I was going to hurt myself at work(I'm in construction) or pass out while driving. I noticed some other side effects like restlessness, jittery, so forth but I could handle them. I also liked the energy increase I received from the Wellbutrin I didn't notice how much of a difference it made until I stopped taking it.

So my question is what should I do? Is this a normal startup side effect that goes away? Should I try it again and tough it out? Or is this a bad sign and should I stay away? Could it be having a bad reaction with the prozac I'm taking? Should I consider alternatives such as Buspar? I'm just looking for any input or experience from somebody with a similar situation. I don't really want to be on anything. But when I have those severe panic attacks to the point that I feel like I'm going to pass out I realize I don't have a choice.

I'm mainly taking this for Anxiety and not really anything else. I have a minor problem with depression but nothing I feel I can't handle.

Please any input thanks.

I have been taking prozac for many years and two months ago told my pdoc that I think the prozac is petering out cause I don't have a lot of energy and gained more weight. She prescribed me wellbutrin and I have not taken it yet, cause I have heard of all these scary side effects and I'm very sensitive to meds. So I don't know what to do either.

You are absolutely correct!

Most of these meds can take about 6-8 weeks to reach therapeutic levels. And yes, it's terribly inconvenient. Especially given that we do have households to run, jobs to attend, lives to live. It's also quite frustrating trying to balance everything at the same time.

I'm not sure I can offer any words of wisdom because I've always had to go through this each time I've been on a med, stopped a med, started a new one, stopped it,....went back on the previous med,...etc., etc.

I've been extremely lucky on this round of Prozac. I have no intentions of stopping it this time, but I had to learn and find the right med/combo that worked for me.

It all takes time. (sigh)












M.