KeepinOn: tapering buproprion / Wellbutrin - seeking advice

[KeepinOn]

Hello,

 

I have been taking wellbutrin 300xl for 6+ years. It did help me, but my self-care has improved dramatically over the years and I went through a successful round of ketamine treatment recently and have been wanting to reduce or eliminate the wellbutrin. I have begun to realize that I am feeling a bit emotionally numb and have a feeling the medication may be contributing to this. I am under no illusion that I am suddenly cured, but I am certainly a lot healthier and now have regular exercise and meditation to rely upon so I feel compelled to test the waters of reducing or even eliminating the medication.

 

My NP provider, who I like and trust, told me the many patients are 100% fine getting off wellbutrin and there is no need for a long taper compared to SSRI's. I did a benzo taper over 9 months and it was tough, so I was wary but a bit of research did reveal that wellbutrin is one of the easier meds to get off. So, I took his advice which was to drop from 300xl to 150xl, and hold there until it feels stable then take it from there.

 

That was a few days ago, and it's been tougher than I'd hoped. I am only having a few symptoms, thankfully: anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue. Unfortunately, those symptoms are pretty bad.  My mood seems to be stable so far, which is helpful, but of course those symptoms are not helping me to maintain a positive mood!

 

I am looking for any information or support in taking this step. Already I wish I had taken a more conservative approach and tapered more slowly, but wellbutrin is a bit tricky to get from 300 to 150 because of the sustained released, etc. and I thought I'd try to tough it out to 150/day and take it from there.  If I can get to 150 things get easier because I can start cutting pills, etc.  If this initial, acute difficulty lasted a week or two and then I was OK at 150mg, it would certainly be worthwhile and I wouldn't look back. But, who knows?

 

Anyways, here I am hoping for some supportive words and any tips, thanks!!

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, keeping.  Sorry for the delay in responding.

 

The following link contains very helpful information about tapering Wellbutrin.  It should answer many of your questions.

 

Tips for tapering off Wellbutrin, SR, XR, XL (buproprion)

 

We need for you to provide a current drug schedule.  Some of the information we already have, but please provide the following information in one post:

 

Drug(s) you are currently taking and dosage

Do you feel better or worse after taking the drug?

If you feel worse, what are your symptoms? 

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you should post your drug schedule and ask questions.  We're glad you found your way here.

[KeepinOn]

I am only on wellbutrin now, having dropped from 300 to 150. 

 

To my surprise, on the 3rd day the electric feeling of anxiety became less pronounced, and my mood has improved. It's still early, but it's encouraging. Today, I am actually in a very good mood and feeling ok. It's hard to know what will come,  still early days, but what a relief to be having an easy time at this point.

 

Substantial amounts of exercise and meditation are helping, no doubt.

 

If I get to the end of the bottle of 150xl and am doing ok, i'll switch to 100sr + IR tablets and keep tapering. I will make the call when i get within a couple of days of needing a new prescription. But, for now I will just hold and try to concentrate on other things.