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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by SLIPAWAY on March 30, 2006, at 9:42:53
HELLO,
I have been on remeron now for 4 days and i feel so groggy and spaced out and depersonalized it's terrible. i know it's too early for any beneficial effects but this feeling i have is awful. i work full time and watch my 2 young children during the day and can't afford to be so out of touch with my normal self!! i notice not many people in here are on remeron, is it because it's an outdated drug and the new ones are better
or what?? ahyone think i should give it its due time(2 weeks) to see how i feel then?
my pdoc has been trying to push wellbutrin on me and i always tell him that me being an anxious/ obsessive/overfocused person that wellbutrin would probably be the weong direction for me,that's the impression i get from posts in here and other type of sites. he responds that it's 50/50 in his experience that some people actually
become less anxious and actual;ly calm down and feel much better on wellbutrin. does anyone have an claim to support this?? is it possible for wellbutrin to be a beneficial med. for anxiety/depression?? i always thought the opposite
any input greatly appreciated!
thanx
Posted by luca1975 on March 30, 2006, at 11:22:37
In reply to remeron or wellbutrin??? confused!, posted by SLIPAWAY on March 30, 2006, at 9:42:53
Felt the same on remeron. I would need to take two weeks of holidays in order to stay on remeron. I need to be alert at work. Wellbutrin works great, does not increse anxiety.
Posted by Declan on March 30, 2006, at 13:33:18
In reply to Re: remeron or wellbutrin??? confused!, posted by luca1975 on March 30, 2006, at 11:22:37
I've never taken Wellbutrin, but Remeron made me feel like that....depersonalised (when I woke up). It was great while I was asleep. I couldn't believe it was good for me, improved sleep or not. And that was at only 7.5mg. I thought that I probably had too much noradrenaline to begin with, so I didn't persist and I'm glad I didn't because my sleep is slowly improving.
Declan
Posted by joslynn on March 30, 2006, at 15:01:21
In reply to remeron or wellbutrin??? confused!, posted by SLIPAWAY on March 30, 2006, at 9:42:53
I take Remeron at night, 15 mg. Then I take Lexapro in the morning.
When I first started taking meds (back then it was celexa and remeron) I was in a hospital for severe depression and couldn't eat or sleep, so that's why they suggested the remeron. I was very tired in the hospital (I was in for a little over a week) but then I starting feeling normal after, hmmm....I think 3 or 4 weeks.
They don't have you taking it in the morning, do they? If I took it in the morning, I would fall asleep driving!
Sometimes I have been off Remeron too, but for me, I think it's a good supplement to the lexapro.
As for Wellbutrin...I have never been on it, but when my pdoc and I were discussing various meds it came up, and he said that for someone like me, who has anxiety mixed in with depression, he wouldn't recommend it. He also said it makes some people's hands shake.
FYI, Remeron does increase appetite, so if you do stay on it, be careful if your weight is a concern.
I have a stressful, deadline-oriented job, and I function well on Remeron, but like I said, I take it at night, around 10 pm. and try to get at least 8 hours sleep, otherwise forget it.
Well, those are just my experiences. Good luck.
Posted by joslynn on March 30, 2006, at 15:19:43
In reply to remeron or wellbutrin??? confused!, posted by SLIPAWAY on March 30, 2006, at 9:42:53
I forgot to answer you about the depersonalization thing.
After being on and off Remeron for about four years (with maybe two years of not being on it at various points) I am now in an "on Remeron" stretch and do not feel depersonalized. I am trying to remember if I felt that way when I was first on it. The depression made me feel depersonalized before meds, that is for sure. I felt like I was dragging my "self" behind me on a thin, tattered string. But after Remeron, I still feel like "me," except not so hypersensitive to rejection/criticism/loss and not so obsessive. Or is that the therapy that helped with that?
I definitely feel like "me" though. I went back on Remeron to supplement the lexapro when I had a moderate episode of depression a little over a year ago (when I was on Lexapro alone). Once I went back on Remeron, I started feeling better quite quickly. But was that because of the Remeron, or would I have felt better anyway? There are not exact answers.
One thing I can surmise, for me, is that when I feel like I may be heading towards a relaspe, if I go back on Remeron, I feel like I get yanked off that edge towards solid ground pretty fast. So eventually I just decided, heck, I am just going to stay on Remeron rather than going on, off, on, off etc just because of a little weight gain.
I only gained about 10 pounds and I have decided that it's worth it. On just Lexapro, there have been times when depression has still managed to break through, but that doesn't happen when I am on both.
Of course, other times I think, maybe I don't need these meds at all and I can just taper off. But I am not going to try that yet.
Well, those are my Remeron experiences. Emotionally and mentally, I feel really good, better than ever in my life, but whether that is because of meds or therapy or life changes or a combo of all those things, I do not know. Ultimately I think it's because of God.
(However, on Remeron, I feel like diving into a warehouse of chocolate-covered donuts on a pretty regular basis, LOL. Through much willpower, I haven't gained too much, but it's hard.)
Posted by blueberry on March 30, 2006, at 17:32:08
In reply to remeron or wellbutrin??? confused!, posted by SLIPAWAY on March 30, 2006, at 9:42:53
The somnolence (druggedness) you are experiencing is a very common early side effect of remeron affecting about 40% of patients in clinical trials. That's huge. The side effect should not be nearly as intense after 3 weeks if you can make it that far. The longer the time goes by, the less it should be.
Wellbutrin does have a common side effect of anxiety, but that is usually early in treatment. There are actually studies now showing it to be good for anxiety disorders, even as good as lexapro. But the catch is that it takes 6 to 8 weeks for that to happen, if you are anxiety prone to begin with.
Remeron. Maybe your doc could suggest something stimulating on a temporary basis to get you over the hump?
Wellbutrin. Start it with low doses of xanax for the first 4 weeks, and then taper off the xanax.
Or combine remeron and wellbutrin.
Posted by Laurie Beth on April 1, 2006, at 19:18:10
In reply to remeron or wellbutrin??? confused!, posted by SLIPAWAY on March 30, 2006, at 9:42:53
"he responds that it's 50/50 in his experience that some people actually
become less anxious and actual;ly calm down and feel much better on wellbutrin. does anyone have an claim to support this?? is it possible for wellbutrin to be a beneficial med. for anxiety/depression?? i always thought the opposite"I tend toward being anxious and perfectionistic, and with post-partum depression, I've had sky-high irritability as well. So I was afraid to go on Wellbutrin. But after first couple of weeks, it seems like it has made me calmer, but less apathetic than Zoloft made me. In any event, I don't think it's made anxiety, perfectionism or (after the first couple of weeks) irritability any worse.
-Laurie
This is the end of the thread.
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