Depression Medications - Lexapro + Wellbutrin = extreme fatigue?

Author

Lexapro + Wellbutrin = extreme fatigue?

rudyeb

2005-04-27, 8:51 am

I have been on Lexapro 10 mg and Wellbutrin 150 mg for the past 2 years. I
am always feeling very tired, to the point that I need to take one or two
naps every day to keep going. I had a complete blood study and nothing was
found abnormal. My psy. increased the Lexapro to 20 mg thinking that might
help to no avail. I doubt if anyone here has an answer but I need some
direction on how one goes about getting this problem diagnosed and
straightened out for me. It is really a pain in the a-- to feel this run
down all the time. I was also tested for sleep apnea and that was negative
too. I have been through a divorce last October and the death of my 20 year
old son in Sept. and don't know if all that plus my depression are doing
this. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Lucida

2005-04-27, 8:51 am

Has your thyroid been checked recently? That's the first place I'd look...

Good luck,

Lucida

On 4/27/05 7:12 AM, in article w4qdnYX75ogT7vLfRVn-ow@adelphia.com, "rudyeb"
<rudyeb@adelphia.net> wrote:

> I have been on Lexapro 10 mg and Wellbutrin 150 mg for the past 2 years. I
> am always feeling very tired, to the point that I need to take one or two
> naps every day to keep going. I had a complete blood study and nothing was
> found abnormal. My psy. increased the Lexapro to 20 mg thinking that might
> help to no avail. I doubt if anyone here has an answer but I need some
> direction on how one goes about getting this problem diagnosed and
> straightened out for me. It is really a pain in the a-- to feel this run
> down all the time. I was also tested for sleep apnea and that was negative
> too. I have been through a divorce last October and the death of my 20 year
> old son in Sept. and don't know if all that plus my depression are doing
> this. Any guidance would be appreciated.
>
>

Steve

2005-04-27, 8:51 am

I have been through a divorce last October and the death of my 20 year
> old son in Sept. and don't know if all that plus my depression are doing
> this.

I'd say that a fair assessment. That's a heck of lot of stress to be going
through. I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

--
Steve

If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.
-- Albert Einstein

"Lucida" <lucida13@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:BE95032E.9CBD%lucida13@earthlink.net...
> Has your thyroid been checked recently? That's the first place I'd look...
>
> Good luck,
>
> Lucida
>
>
> On 4/27/05 7:12 AM, in article w4qdnYX75ogT7vLfRVn-ow@adelphia.com,
> "rudyeb"
> <rudyeb@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
>

Squiggles

2005-04-27, 11:48 am

Hello rudyeb,

I am saddened to read your post - you have great losses
and problems with your meds too.

I searched for Lexapro and fatigue, and notice in a number
of sites, this one for example, that fatigue is inceed a
side effect:

http://www.lexapro.com/english/pati...rature/you.aspx

"Does LEXAPRO cause side effects?

LEXAPRO is well tolerated by most people. The most frequent side effects
reported with LEXAPRO are nausea, insomnia, problems with ejaculation,
drowsiness, increased sweating, and fatigue. Most of the side effects
experienced by patients taking LEXAPRO are mild and transient, and they
usually do not cause patients to stop taking LEXAPRO.

People taking LEXAPRO generally do not suffer from agitation,
nervousness, or anxiety any more than people not taking LEXAPRO.
Furthermore, patients who were treated with LEXAPRO experienced no
clinically important weight changes as a result of therapy. Patients
should be sure to talk with their healthcare professional or doctor
promptly if they have any side effects when taking LEXAPRO™
(escitalopram oxalate). A simple adjustment in dose may be all that is
required."

and

this one where others have similar complaints:

http://www.rxlist.com/rxboard/celex...ames;read=1990;

So, perhaps you can write to the above for a reply -- maybe
your Lexapro could be lowered for example.

I wish you the best.

Squiggles

rudyeb

2005-04-27, 5:54 pm

Thyroid was checked and is fine

Patience

2005-04-27, 10:51 pm

I am very sorry to hear of your loss and pain. These things are no
doubt traumatic, and can't help with the fight against depression one
bit.

There are others on this group who are more knowledgeable regarding
meds than I, but I can give you some places to look and things to think
about. Hopefully Nom dePlume will read your post, and respond soon.

It might be helpful if you were to post the effect which each of the
medications you tried had upon you, and how you arrived at the
combination you are currently taking. Also, how effective has the
combination been in treating the depression aspect, aside from the
low-energy problem?

I think you might find the information contained in the following
discussion between Nom dePlume and myself helpful, as he discusses the
action of a lot of different AD's, and his experiences with them in the
thread. It applies because your symptoms are inadequately treated by
your meds (which largely affect seratonin and norepinephrine) but only
mildly affect dopamine. What is particularly interesting about Nom's
experience is that drugs such as the MAOI's, which affect all three of
these neurotransmitters were NOT helpful to him, whereas those which
were selective for dopamine did the trick. Here is the url for that
discussion:

http://tinyurl.com/9g8uh

What has changed for me since the discussion in the link above is that
my doctor and I decided to hold off on adding neurontin and try
provigil. My experience with this medication (five weeks now) in
addition to the prozac has been very positive so far. Works
immediately. More energy. More able to keep depressive feelings at
arm's reach. No nap necessary during the day and sleep fine at
night. Doesn't make me tense, as stimulant medication like ritalin
does.

Provigil acts on dopamine in some way (they don't know exactly how),
but it did not help Nom. At this point, I'm hoping that it just
keeps working.

Also, I would like to mention that I would not be here today if I had
not learned about reactive-hypoglycemia, and learned how to treat it
(with diet) about fourteen years ago. The main symptoms of this
disorder are FATIGUE, anxiety, and irritability. I also found that it
clouded my thinking a bit, and made concentration a little more
difficult. I made two posts on the subject back in '99 or so. Here
are the links to those posts.

http://tinyurl.com/4s5ca (scroll to the top of the posting list)
http://tinyurl.com/3txn4

There are two other med discussion groups which I have heard good
things about. They are:

http://www.crazymeds.org/

http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/

If you need more feedback, you might try posting there also.

Hope this helps.

Take Care,
Patience

Nom dePlume

2005-04-27, 10:51 pm

"Patience" <christopher@ak.net> wrote in message
news:1114653318.694412.287580@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> I am very sorry to hear of your loss and pain. These things are no
> doubt traumatic, and can't help with the fight against depression
one
> bit.
>
> There are others on this group who are more knowledgeable regarding
> meds than I, but I can give you some places to look and things to
think
> about. Hopefully Nom dePlume will read your post, and respond soon.

Hello? Did someone call?

Rudyeb, Patience posted an url that goes into the mechanisms of
numerous antidepressants, the effects they have on the "popular"
neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine), and how
these neurotransmitters affect the way you feel. So I won't repeat the
information here. You can read his link, or look at my Web site, for
more information.

> It might be helpful if you were to post the effect which each of the
> medications you tried had upon you, and how you arrived at the
> combination you are currently taking. Also, how effective has the
> combination been in treating the depression aspect, aside from the
> low-energy problem?

This would be very useful. I can't tell, from your original message,
whether Lexapro, Wellbutrin, or the combination has ever done you any
good, and without knowing the effects your medications have had, it's
hard to say much useful about what you might do. If you'd like to post
this information, we'll see what we can come up with.

--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.

Guide to Medications for Mental Illness:
http://www.geocities.com/nomdeplume1000
=====

nospam@nospam.org

2005-04-27, 10:51 pm

On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 20:38:11 -0700, in alt.support.depression.medication "Nom
dePlume" <nomdeplume1000-at-yahoo.com> wrote:

>This would be very useful. I can't tell, from your original message,
>whether Lexapro, Wellbutrin, or the combination has ever done you any
>good, and without knowing the effects your medications have had, it's
>hard to say much useful about what you might do. If you'd like to post
>this information, we'll see what we can come up with.
>
>--
>Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
>Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.
>
>Guide to Medications for Mental Illness:
>http://www.geocities.com/alt.support.diet.low-carb
>

Shut the XXXX up.. you are not a doctor.

Patience

2005-04-28, 8:52 am

Meet samfroe, rudyeb. She buys usenet names by the gross, and doesn't
want you to treat your depression. She's kind of a regular here.

Christopher

Jake

2005-04-28, 8:52 am

On 27 Apr 2005 23:25:34 -0700, "Patience" <christopher@ak.net> wrote:

>Meet samfroe, rudyeb.

do you often introduce people you know nothing about to each other?

> She buys usenet names by the gross, and doesn't
>want you to treat your depression.

do you often slander and tell lies about other posters?
oh thats right ..youre erics XXXXX arent you?

>She's kind of a regular here.

having been here for more years than you have been minutes..I guess
so..

Steve

2005-04-28, 10:51 pm

"youre erics XXXXX arent you?"

And you say I've changed?

--
Steve

If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.
-- Albert Einstein

"Jake" <invalid@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:jp017190c8rio302eotr6bfl8uiihqi0up@4ax.com...
> On 27 Apr 2005 23:25:34 -0700, "Patience" <christopher@ak.net> wrote:
>
>
> do you often introduce people you know nothing about to each other?
>
>
>
> do you often slander and tell lies about other posters?
> oh thats right ..youre erics XXXXX arent you?
>
>
> having been here for more years than you have been minutes..I guess
> so..
>
>
>

LostBoyinNC

2005-04-29, 8:54 am

rudyeb wrote:
> I have been on Lexapro 10 mg and Wellbutrin 150 mg for the past 2
years. I
> am always feeling very tired, to the point that I need to take one or
two
> naps every day to keep going. I had a complete blood study and
nothing was
> found abnormal. My psy. increased the Lexapro to 20 mg thinking that
might
> help to no avail. I doubt if anyone here has an answer but I need
some
> direction on how one goes about getting this problem diagnosed and
> straightened out for me. It is really a pain in the a-- to feel this
run
> down all the time. I was also tested for sleep apnea and that was
negative
> too. I have been through a divorce last October and the death of my
20 year
> old son in Sept. and don't know if all that plus my depression are
doing
> this. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Im really sorry to hear of your troubles and I can definitely relate.
Firstly I will tell you please ignore the flame wars here between the
regulars...its a "Im for medications versus I hate psychiatry
medications" thing.

As for your depression, you say you have had a "complete blood study."
Im not trying to sound sarcastic or anything but was it *really*
complete? Did they truly test for everything? Iron (anemia), B vitamin
deficiencies, thyroid disease?

The standard bloodwork usually includes things like a CBC (Complete
Blood Count) and a metabolic panel that tests things like glucose,
cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, etc. Oftentimes they dont test
for B vitamin deficiencies and that can definitely contribute to
recalcitrant depression. Particularly low folate or low B-6. Also, low
iron is very common in women.

Additionally, there are several things specific to females that you
might want to check. Low estrogen levels can cause depression. I dont
know if youve been past menopause or not yet but some women complain of
depression like symptoms after theyve been thru menopause and their
estrogen levels drop.

Supplementing with estrogen is a common antidepressant augmentation
strategy for refractory female depression. Many women find that the
only way they can feel normal or halfway normal is to take an
estrogen/hormone replacement therapy product with an antidepressant.

Other useful augmentation drug strategies include adding lithium to
your antidepressant, adding lamictal to your AD and adding Ritalin or
dexedrine to your antidepressant.

Additionally, an obscure but sometimes important thing to check for
female depression is testosterone. Women produce testosterone, in much
smaller quantitites than men, but they produce it. There have been
women who have gotten good results at treating their depression using
extremely small amounts of testosterone...much smaller than what men
take when men have low testosterone.

The comment about thyroid problems is very true. Hypothyroidism is
extremely common with female depression. Another thing to rule out is
Lupus. It can cause depression problems.

I did the medication merry go round for YEARS until finally finding out
I had low testosterone and also low iron levels (anemia). There was no
way I could feel truly well with just antidepressants. It was
impossible. But the shrinks didnt care, they just kept rotating me from
one psychiatry drug to another...most of them dont give a shit.
psychiatrists are as a group usually very lazy doctors. You have to
PUSH and PUSH and PUSH and oftentimes work thru your internal medicine
doctor for tests. Thats what I did and it has paid off.

Had I listened to just psychiatrists, Id be dead a long time ago. Youve
got to think independently in this mental health medication merry go
round. Its a world of shit and I truly believe the only people who do
well in it are independent thinking people.

Finally, there is always ECT. A woman on this NG recently had it and it
was very successful for her. You could ask her about it if you want.

Just trying to throw out as many possibilities as I could think of...

hope you figure out whats wrong...might take some tests and some time.

take care,

Eric