I started Wellbutrin XL three days ago?...?!

I started Wellbutrin XL three days ago?...?

I am on 150mg and will be increased to 300mg in a week. Has anyone out there had a good experience with this drug? How long does it take to kick in? I am depressed to the point of not wanting to do anything right now. Will things gradually get better?

Since they are moving you up in dosage next week, it will probably be about three weeks before you notice a marked difference--that's one week on the lower dosage, and then two weeks on what you doctor has decided is your optimal dosage. You may start feeling a bit better before that, but once you hit the 300 mg/day, that's when your blood levels will stabilize, and the drug will begin acting on your brain most effectively.

I started taking Wellbutrin the month it went on the market here in the US, and I took it for a very long time. I have taken just about every drug out there for depression, and Wellbutrin is, in my opinion, one of the best. I no longer take it, because my symptoms have changed, and something else works better for me now, but all in all, I was on Wellbutrin alone for about five years, and then I took it in combination with something else for another two, and it worked very well.

If you are supposed to take it in the morning, be sure to take it then, as it can cause excitability once it reaches therapeutic dosage in your blood and brain. (That's why I cannot take it anymore.) I have really bad insomnia, and can only sleep with the aid of medication, and I know from experience that if I took my Wellbutrin any later than about 11:00 a.m., I could kiss sleeping goodbye, even with the drugs I take to make me sleep.

Please believe me when I say that things will get better. Just as the decline into depression is usually a gradual one, the process of getting back to normal is gradual, as well. Back when I started taking it the very first time, since it was a brand spanking new drug, the company that manufactures it asked that patients keep a daily mood journal so they could help track the effectiveness in a controlled setting. I had to record when I took it, and also had to record my mood at three times during the day, which was basically every six hours, starting an hour after taking it. About a year ago, I found that journal, and the thing that jumped out immediately was that by the time I had been on it a couple of months, I was feeling really, really good and stable.

As a bonus, I stopped smoking back then, the first time I took it. Doctors and researchers didn't know back then that it could be used to help people stop smoking, but I remember talking to the pharmacist about it, and he told me there was a lot of anecdotal information going around suggesting it was making people simply not care to smoke. If you currently smoke, but would like to stop, take advantage of the drug to help you out. It is believed that it somehow either blocks or occupies the receptors in the brain which respond to nicotine, making it unnecessary to smoke. I have smoked on and off for the last 20 years, and the longest period in there that I didn't smoke was 4 years, and that was while I was on the Wellbutrin.

Wellbutrin is also good because your libido generally doesn't take the massive hit it does from other drugs. When I started taking it, the medicine I had been on previously had caused my libido to disappear, and as the Wellbutrin built up in my system, my libido came back from wherever it had been while on vacation.

I am sorry to hear that you are really down right now--believe me when I say that I can relate. I hope you start feeling the effects of the medication soon, and that you start feeling better and more interested in life.

Be well.