Paxil/Wellbutrin question

[traceann]

I was recently put on Paxil CR (just started a week ago today), and I am already noticing I am having troubles with the "sexual side-effects" aspect of it. Not at all happy about that. I was thinking of giving it it's month trial as my doc recommended, but does this particular side effect "resolve" like the initial "tiredness" effect?

If not, I was then thinking of trying Wellbutrin (doc even mentioned adding it to my regimen, to combat the sexual side-effect issue along with the Paxil). But, when I was first put on Ditropan (it was the only med I was taking at the time) last fall, I decided it was time to quit smoking, and Zyban had worked like a charm in the past for me, so my doc gave an Rx for it. It reacted horribly with my Ditro, my eyes wouldn't focus up close, it was awful. Couldn't read, could hardly eat food off my dinner plate because I couldn't see it! So, I tried at that time to skip the Ditro and just get through the 3 motnhs of Zyban to quit, but I didn't even make it one day. So the Zyban got tossed. So, now I was wondering if anyone uses Ditropan on an "as needed" type basis, like just when the spasms are acting up. I have been on it almost a year now, and would like to wean myself off of it, to where I am just on Elmiron and Vistaril. I am liking the way the Paxil is helping me to feel, so I wish to continue on some form of antidepressent med, but without the sexual side-effects!!

Any thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hugs,
Tracey :)

[SrMaggie]

I use Ditropan every day. One in the morning and one at night. It has helped with urgency and frequency. Zyban and WEllbutrin have the same 'stuff' in them. It might be good to go with Wellbutrin and it might kill two birds with one stone. But I'm wondering why you would take Paxil and Wellbutrin at the same time. I wouldn't think that Wellbutrin would be used to counteract the Paxil side effects. I took paxil once and it only enhanced my anxiety. I shook like a leaf every time I was in a tense situation. I was leading a meeting and my hands were shaking so bad, I know the people thought I was terribly out of control. I'm no where near a medical person, doctor or nurse, so I'm only speaking out of my limited knowledge, and experience.

[traceann]

Thanks for the thoughts! :)

Yes, I was kind of surprised when my doc mentioned that the Wellbutrin could be taken in addition to the Paxil, as she said she's they've had good results in nixing the side effect just by adding in the Wellbutrin. Hmmm. I then told her about the Zyban troubles and she pretty much said, "well, that won't work" lol. Um, yeah no kidding!! ha ha ha! ;)

Right now I have myself taking 2 Ditropans a day, vs the 3 I used to take daily. I have been doing ok with that too. Today I am experimenting on just taking one at bedtime, so, so far I have not had any today, yikes. Figured it works pretty fast on me, so if I get into trouble, I can always take them. That's why I was curious on a "as needed" basis, that way I could take the Wellbutrin (not the Paxil too) and be ok with no visual side effects. And if I need to take the Ditro, I won't have to deal with it too much. Maybe stick with a bedtime dose of Ditro and sleep through the offensive eyeball effects! LOL :) Decisons decisons....

Hugs and many thanks!
Tracey :)

[SrMaggie]

I'm glad not to have had the visual side effects. Though there was one med I took awhile ago that I thought was doing the same thing. I couldn't read, which was terrible. Do you have frequency and urgency? Is the Ditropan helping that? Today was such a good day. I concentrated on one thing for several hours and think I was having 2 h ours in between bathroom runs.
Meds are so complicated. I'm going to have to get off these threads real soon, as I took my evening meds and I don't remember what I'm doing. My sister said I wrote something really off the wall the last time I took meds and was IMing her.
Good luck. I hope you find the right combination. If the Ditropan is working for you, why do you want to wean yourself of it? Once I get relief, I do not like to give it up.

[traceann]

I have been on the Ditropan for almost a year now. It was the very first med I started taking, yeesh. Now look at me, a regular walking pharmacy, ;) My doc gave it to me for the urethral spasms I having that were becoming not only when I went to the bathroom, but were creeping over into non-potty times too. OUCH! Felt like I was peeing broken glass, just awful.

When I first started the Elmiron too (that came about a month or so later after the Ditropan) I bet I was up to being in the bathroom 20-30+ times a day and 4-5 times a night, the Ditropan alone wasn't helping the urgency and frequency. When I still complained about the frequency, my doc was surprised, I think he said to me "you mean the Ditropan hasn't slowed that down?" Um, nope. That's when he started to think more seriously on the IC diagnosis, and gave me the Elmiron along with.

Now, I have things a bit more under control, after almost 9 months on the Elmiron and 8 on the Vistaril also at night, I am probably down to 10-12 times a day, and none at night. And lately the spasms only seem to happen when I cheat on the diet, ;) It would be nice to have one less pill to take a day, and I think I would benefit more from the Wellbutrin in the long run (my spasms are also anxiety induced, I get upset and here comes the bladder to remind me it's there, ugh). Would be nice to be able to use it just when I need it. Plus I am curious to see just how well the Elmiron/Vistaril combo is working, hee hee.

So that's my crazy story and my reasons for wanting to try to wean away from it. Oh I hear ya on the med thing too, starting this Paxil (plus I am on 20mg of Prednisone for a month for a colitis-type affliction) I am all over the map these days! Yikes, I'll be doing one thing, and I get distracted and next thing you know, I am off onto another project, driving my husband crazy to say the least....he says that now that we have everything else medicated we need to do something about my new ADD affliction, :)

Hugs and thanks again!!
Tracey

[Cricketmk3]

I took Paxil and quickly weaned myself off. I gained weight almost immediately and had no desire for sex what-so-ever. I recently started taking Wellbutrin and so far so good. I really don't feel much of a difference but I'm on a low dose. I've read that Wellbutrin may one day be prescribed for weight loss.

[traceann]

Hmm, that's interesting to know! ;) I was just talking to my husband about the Wellbutrin last night, told him the sexual side-effects of the Paxil were just no good, wasn't going to deal with that if I could help it.

I seemed to do ok on one Ditro yesterday, just taken at bedtime, so that might greatly decrease my chance for the visual probs that the Wellbutrin (Zyban) caused when I tried it last fall (in combo with my Ditro), and I hope it would kill two birds with one stone, help me feel better AND help me quit smoking again!!!

Thanks for the input and sharing your experinece, you have no idea how much it helps me!!

Hugs,
Tracey :)

[periwinklelover]

Hello Tracean,
My experience with Paxil was interesting. I was on it for depression for about a year and a half and my sexual desire pretty much went down the toilet and I definitely gained weight. I did start to feel better being on it in conjunction with counselling, but near the end, just before I weened off of it I started to get what I call tweaks in my brain. Like a dizziness that lasts only minutes, but can go on for days. It was absolutely horrible. And the actual weening off of them was awful too. I tweaked all the time. It's a feeling like your brain is flickering. I don't know how else to describe it. Anyway, I also think it did keep my IC at bay, because as soon as I got off of it I had immediate symtoms so that was one positive thing. I don't know, I'd have to say my overall experience with Paxil wasn't all that positive. I would never go on it again. But everyone is different and it also depends on the dose. My mom is a psychiatric nurse and says that there is a lot cleaner anti-depressants out there that work just as well. :) Best of luck with it all.

[traceann]

Thank you so much for your experience periwinklelover! It definitely helps me to get all the input I can, new to the antidepressant game, lol. I decided to give it it's month trial, but it's not looking all that positive -- side effect wise. I keep hoping that the sexual side effects even out, like the sleepiness did, but so far, not happening.

I have been doing ok on one Ditro a day, now that I am into my "experiment" a few days, so hoping that I can maybe switch to Wellbutrin. Although, don't know if I want the weight-loss thing, lol, after trying to fight my way back from a bout of this "colitis" thing I was diagnosed with -- I was at one point down to a scary 112lbs. The doc was hoping it would help with the IBS they think I might have also, yeesh, if it's not one thing it's another!! LOL

Thanks and hugs,
Tracey :)

[SrMaggie]

I don't know that WEllbutrin is prescribed 'for' weight loss. One of the side effects could be weight loss - although I haven't had that experience, yet. One of the warnings is that no one should take it if they have an eating disorder. Weight loss is one of the possible side effects. I say possible because it wasn't on my possible list. Diet and exercise. Yuck.

[traceann]

LOL, gosh I hate diet and exercise!! But, my girlfriend and I are starting Curves today. I figured I gotta get this body moving again, and maybe build some muscle tone back, from all the up and down in the weight dept!

But from the sounds of it, I may just be asking for Wellbutrin when I go back on the 26th.....

Hugs,
Tracey :)

[Kira2]

Hi tracy, I started taking paxil a couple years ago for bad anxiety, it helped great for my anxiety but the sexual side effects were terrible. I was going to switch when my doctor recommened adding welbutrin for the sexual side effects. It worked great for that. I think the 2 pills together work really well. If you are taking medication for anxiety I don't know if I would switch to Welbutrin alone, in my experience Welbutrin alone does nothing for my anxiety. Hope this helps, Cara

[traceann]

Thank you Cara! How many mg of Paxil do you take? I take the 25mg Paxil Cr once a day. When the Wellbutrin was added in, how much of that did they give you? I am very curious about that, because I agree with you, I think the Paxil will help, when it ever kicks in, lol and would like to keep taking it.

Thanks for your help!!!
Hugs,
Tracey:)

[Kira2]

Right now I am taking generic paxil and it is 10 mg's. When I was taking CR I think it was 12.5 mg's. I am not positive though. When welbutrin was added in it was 150. I take 300 now but the 150 worked just as well. When I first started taking Paxil I had alot of weird side effects and it my anxiety was worse at first but I hung in there and it works great now. If you ever do want to get off paxil though it is horrible. I had to quit cold turkey cause I was pregnant and I was literally dizzy for a week straight. I also sweat horribly at night which I am pretty sure is because of the paxil. But for me the good out weighs the bad. Good luck in whatever you decide. Cara

[traceann]

Oh thank you soooo much for the info Cara!!! I am hoping that also by adding in the Wellbutrin that it will help me quit smoking too, as it did once before when I took the Zyban, and I think that was the same mg amt of Zyban I was given. That's great to know that it helped with the side-effects!! Yahoo, maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel! And also, thank you for sharing your Paxil experience, I thought maybe it just wasn't working or helping, cause some days the anxiousness threatens to take over, lol. ;) I will keep at it then, as I have heard nothing but good things about it working.

And also, thanks for the tip on the sweating, lol. I never used to sweat very much, at all - even in hot weather, but lately, I have noticed that when the temp climbs up, I am dripping in sweat! That's never happened before!!! LOL (and thanks for the tip on coming off it too, yikes. That is good to know!!! :) And it seems I want the air conditioner on every night now a days!!

Thank you once again for sharing your experience, it helps me make a more informed decision to keep plugging away at it!!

Hugs,
Tracey :)

[cuchd]

Hello, i have been on paxil for about 2 years, i got off it over the last summer butfound that i needed to go back on it, the side effect really took control this time around, and i was not feeling as good as i knew i should so the Dr put me on wellbutrin (150mg) and says that its the same thing really, but from my looking around online it seems paxil and wellbutrin work on two differnt chemicals inside the brain, AND he said that the shocks i am getting have NOTHING to do with removing paxil from my system. He made me simply stop paxil cold turkey and start up wellbutrin the next day. I knew from missing a day or two of paxil that the shocks would come but he said the new stuff will take care of it, I called him again today asking if i could take half a paxil to help, he said that it will mess up my system, and that the shocks( the ones i already talked to him about) was just a headache and nothing to due with paxil---I think its time for a 2nd opinion

[Kira2]

Let me just say your doctor is nuts!!!!! That is one of the reason you HAVE to taper off of paxil. I got off of it once when I was only taking it for 3 or 4 months and I was dizzy for a week straight. I had to quit cold turkey at that time. I have heard many of storys of people getting "brain zaps" when they quit taking paxil. I didn't but from what I have heard it is quite common. I can't believe your doctor had u quit like that. I would definitly talk to another doctor. Not to mention the fact that you can take welbutrin and paxil together. I do.
Good luck,
Cara

[traceann]

Oh my gosh, no kidding - weaning is definitely the way to go! I had been taking my Wellbutrin with the Paxil for quite awhile and I still had to wean off! I must say it took forever, I was on the Paxil CR and had to decrease the dose by one day a week. For example, the first week I took one a day for 6 days, none on the 7th, and so on. It took about 7 weeks, lol, but am glad I did it that way, even doing that I noticed some unpleasantness sometimes, but most likely not as bad as going cold turkey. I agree with you and Cara, time for a new doc!! I now am just on Wellbutrin, started at 150 mg a day to now 300 mg a day. And doing just fine. I had some horrible motion-sick side-effects when I was on the Wellbutrin XL (I think it's that name, I was on the extended release) I asked my doc to switch me to the SR variation and have had no troubles. ;)

Good luck and I would look for another opinion, as Cara said, you can take both at the same time, thanks to her ( ;) ) I found that out!!

Hugs!

[tigger_gal]

traceann,
I take welbutrin xl and have no problems with it.. good luck ;)

[traceann]

It was weird, I had been taking it fine for awhile, and then wham! I was getting so nauseated and felt sea-sick, it was so bad I had to take Dramamine to control it...then I went back to the SR version and I was fine...I still take ginger tabs just in case....LMAO!

[SusieQ045]

my doctor put me on wellbutrin but it made me feel worse then i did before i started taking it. everyones body reacts differently to medication. but thankfully i found something that works.....ZOLOFT...lol

[traceann]

Oh I hear ya! My Mom-in-law loves Paxil, works great for her, I had horrible side effects from it, no sex drive, sweats and I never got past the super tireds, ugh, it was awful...

:)

[Baba Yaga]

I love Paxil! I have always gone back to it.

What do i need sex right now for?

Ideally i would taper down and be on a low does and try wellbutrin at the same time. But that's a dream in the future.

[traceann]

LOL, I took 25 mg of the Paxil CR, the "tireds" were unbelievable for me, I think one time I blinked too long at work and fell asleep, lol. I remember having to wiggle, keep something moving, like my leg or something to keep me awake -- I kept thinking this can not be good, I have to drive home! LMAO! It's too bad my body didn't care for it, it worked great for the brain, but the side-effects were just too much. Finally bladder under control, could enjoy a fairly normal sex life again -- but no "sensations", I was a bit aggrivated to say the least, ;)

Hugs!

[mom_in_ma]

I'm on Paxil and it's doing wonders for me. I love it. Although, between IC and Paxil I have NO sex drive. Nada...not even a tiny ounce. And, I don't care one bit. But I feel bad for my husband. I think I may have to talk to my doctor about this... Hmmm.

[Kira2]

Yah with welbutrin combined with paxil I may be able to enjoy sex somewhat but I still have absolutley no desire for it. I also feel kinda bad for my boyfriend but after 6 years of this I think he is kinda use to it now.
I also know what it is like to feel tired all of the time because of paxil. I may not have anxiety anymore but I really didn't have any energy to do much else either.
Just recently I finally got my self to start running. My energy level is up alot more now. Thank god. It got really bad there for awhile. But This last week I brought myself down to .5 mg of of paxil and I am doing quite well anxiety wise surprisingly. I think it has alot to do with me exercising. Hopefully here soon I will be able to ween myself off of paxil.
I am hoping exercising is the key for me. Although meds have done wonders for me I am sick of the side effects.
Cara

[domaincat]

I hated Paxil, I hated Seroquel, as well as some other psych meds that all they did was cause major side effects and made me like a zombie, couldn't work well enough so lost my job for several health reasons that may have not happened, if I wasn't on such heavy medications. The Paxil takes away the emotions such as crying and couldn't even read, had no desire to do anything, couldn't even do gardening that year no desire to do it, not healthy enough anyways. Seroquel made me like a zombie. Stay away from all of that crap they are far too risky. One can get diabetes from Seroquel and when I found that out, I went off of it right away and I won't go back on any of those two.

[traceann]

Hey Kira2, glad to hear about the exercise thing working out for you, and it gives me a kick in the behind!! LOL I have been dragging my feet about getting back into my regular "Curves" sessions 3x's a week, but that may be the ticket. Even without the Paxil now a days, I have been just "blah" and think it's the weather. And now that I think about it when I was faithfully exercising 3 days a week - I was much peppier, getting up earlier (not wanting to sleep as long as possible...lol), it was nice!!! Thanks for the reminder! ;)

Hugs!

[melanie626]

Hi-
I have horrible sleep disturance, anyone have OK luck with wellbutrin- I want an AD as an adjunct for pain management, not depression and I won't trial elavil due to weight gain. THoughts? I was on prozac for depression a few years ago and did OK but had some sexual sideefects...

[traceann]

Hey Melanie, I do really well on the Wellbutrin, doesn't hurt my sex drive one bit, even kind of boosts it....lol. My poor hubby..... Bladder seems to like it too, no troubles there either. I do take 150mg of Wellbutrin SR 2x's a day (morning and night). I think Tiggergal does well on Wellbutrin too....