I called Hain’s office and found out that he feels I could better tolerate wellbutrin than some of the others. He thinks I may have depression I guess. I am definitely depressed to an extent because I am so damn anxious. My symptoms are: Extremely fidgety, restless, I always rock in the recliner, shake my foot, I cannot stand still, I am waking up shaking, nauseated with dry heaving, loss of appetite, my legs feel like jello, I refuse to really go anywhere, nervous surges, jumping out of my skin feeling. I am uninterested in a lot of stuff and tired. Did I mention dizzy at times?
So, that being said, after reading some of the responses…can wellbutrin help anxiety as well as depression? How did I get here, I am usually calm and happy. This plain old sucks.
Hi Nance,
Usually benzos such as valium or clonazepam are started concurrently with SSRI’s (still the first choice for anxiety) and sometimes also with patients who have an anxious depression (since that is what you are being treated now for as Hain clarified) as it can take 4-6 weeks on these meds to get the therapeutic benefit. Now that Hain is treating your psych issue, did he recommend the use of valium to lessen your symptoms until the wellbutrin can help with your depression? I suppose since you have had bad experiences with the serotonin drugs he wants to see if by treating your depression this will help your MAV? What did he say about your dizziness? Does he now consider wellbutrin a potential therapeutic for MAV?
Good luck my friend,
lisa
I have an email into Hain to see if this a drug for mav. His website states that they have not had much success with it but in a small study it helped migraine, clusters, etc. I asked if I could take valium and they never called me back. I tried going for a walk tonight. I was not dizzy at all last night, and tonight it is really bad. I guess I am starting out at 75mg of wellbutrin per day. My mom just went to pick it up. I am really nervous sbout starting it. I don’t want it to make me more anxious or more dizzy. I cannot handle that right now. Jerry’s friend is on Wellbutrin and loves it. She said she felt calmer within a week. I read a lot of good and a lot of bad about it. What is your thoughts on side effects?
Hi Nance
There is a lot of feedback from people on Welbutrin that their anxiety increases. It hits dopamine, and much of the time is used in conjunction with SSRI’s to help combat sexual issues and some energy issues.
If you are having anxiety, it is most likely a GABA deficiency, or serotonin deficiency. There are supplements that can help your body produce both of these neurotransmitters. Whether or not you choose to use a prescription drug, it is my belief that we can help our bodies organically with good food, rest, excerize and vitamins and supplements. I truly think it all comes down to neurotransmission issues for all of us, except maybe some migraineurs that have blood flow/vessel issues.
You most likely will need a little help from our good friends in benzo land to get through the initial phase. I am surprised that Hain recommended Welby, as I don’t remember him saying much good about it for migraine, but maybe he is just addressing the anxiety/depression issues. I think they all go hand in hand.
I’m interested to hear of your (hopeful) progress!
I also wanted to say that with anxiety it’s important to calm your nervous system. Drinking chamomile tea during the day, reading relaxing books, taking baths with lavender oil, playing soft relaxing music, going for walks…petting a dog or cat…all help the nervous system. I know nothing works as quickly and effectively as some meds, but layering all this should be helpful, and shouldn’t hurt.
I wish I had a crystal ball Nance. I wish I did for everyone here…for me too In my experience, patients tend to tolerate all these meds fairly well at much higher dosages but I did not treat MAV patients. I guess the only way to know is to try. 75 mg is a very small dose to start keep that in mind. Plus you are not going to be dealing with serotonin and it seems you had a bad reaction the last few times to that, right? I always viewed wellbutrin as a weaker anti-depressant and did not use it as first line treatment. Usually I used it to augment a patient that was already on an SSRI that was having sexual side effects or was only partially responding at maximum dosage. If you trust Dr. Hain and his judgment, then the only way to find out if this med will help is to try. I still encourage the use of valium to keep you calm until the wellbutrin works.
Really sorry about all your suffering. Please keep us posted.
All the best,
lisa
Welby is certainly an interesting choice by Hain. There’s nothing much in the literature about this in terms of migraine control but I suspect Hain is targeting your nerves with this one and then hoping Verapamil will pick up where it left off. It’s worth a shot and whether or not it makes you feel more nervous is impossible to know unless you try it. I’m very keen to know how you go with it. 75 mg sounds like a lot to start on for someone with migraine. Maybe you should halve it at least? I would but then granules of these meds can set me off so not a good role model.
I remember feeling a lot like that when this first hit me; I was not having panic attacks, but I was certainly feeling panic.
I do think anything that can help ur nerves A BIT (even if it doesnt directly help ur mav) will also help you get back to the wonderful place you were before. So keep having faifth, and you will get back there eventually.
I know thats not very helpful, as I can’t really believe that myself whenever I get worse (as I recently did, but am now pretty much back to were I was again). All I can really say is I know how horrible you feel, and I hope you get some relief and peace of mind soon.
In my experience, patients tend to tolerate all these meds fairly well at much higher dosages but I did not treat MAV patients. I guess the only way to know is to try. 75 mg is a very small dose to start keep that in mind. Plus you are not going to be dealing with serotonin and it seems you had a bad reaction the last few times to that, right? I always viewed wellbutrin as a weaker anti-depressant and did not use it as first line treatment. Usually I used it to augment a patient that was already on an SSRI that was having sexual side effects or was only partially responding at maximum dosage. If you trust Dr. Hain and his judgment, then the only way to find out if this med will help is to try. I still encourage the use of valium to keep you calm until the wellbutrin works.