system
Is wellbutrin a better medication than venlafaxine for depression?
human
Hi,A About 4 years ago i started taking Venlafaxine. It did a good job of addressing my feelings of depression. A friend told me that it s difficult to come off Venlafaxine and that I should talk to my healthcare provider about the idea of introducing Wellbutrin while reducing the venlafaxine. While taking venlafaxine alone I had some pretty typical side effects; I gained weight steadily since starting the venlafaxine and I have very strange dreams. My mood was definitely positively effected with this medication though. I recently stopped taking venlafaxine all together. I have been experiencing typical side effects like blurry vision, buzzing in my brain, and I m now getting pretty agitated. Before I didn t feel irritable, was pretty calm and happy. I m now feeling anxious, ealiy frustrated, irritable etc. I m super frustrated about the weight gain that i have had over the past four years, however, i m wondering if it would make sense for me to go back on venlafaxine if i m going to be grouchy. Also - my healthcare provider did suggest that I increase my wellbutrin from 300 to 450 now that I m off venlafaxine. I haven t increased the amount yet. I m wondering if it is likely that the increase in Wellbutrin will address the issues I m now experiencing. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this situation. thank you, Stephanie
gpt
Hello,Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through.You have not mentioned that how was the venlafaxine withdrawn. Was it abrupt or  gradual? As it was under the supervision of a psychiatrist I assume that it was gradual. Further during the period of withdrawal from venlafaxine you are having predominantly anxiety symptoms and during this period along with increasing bupropion you may add up some benzodiazepines as well which will reduce the anxiety and make the withdrawal process smooth.Hope I am able to answer your concerns.If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy