Sounds par for the course around Utah. When I was in rehab at Odyssey House in SLC, half the people their were on Wellbutrin for depression, anxiety, and ADD. They used to try to cheek it and snort it cause I guess it can get you high. Idiots.
Cold-dodger--- Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that has been used for people with "mild" ADD/ADHD. So it's not unusual for Wellbutrin to be prescribed in such a manner. However, Wellbutrin does not help with focusing in a person who has more serious ADD/ADHD.
My LDS MD precribed Wellbutrin for mild depression for me about 4 years ago....after taking it for 9 months and not really seeing any benefit I stopped taking it. I know...supposed to be weaned off it slowly but I stopped, cold turkey. Some days can still be a bummer but I wake up every day and try to think positive thoughts and then go for coffee with friends and that always buoys my spirit.
I am a physician - family/emergency medicine. Wellbutrin (buproprion) is FDA approved for treatment of ADHD in adults.
Some people benefit from it but not many in treating ADHD. As for anxiety it usually makes it worse though I have some patients who swear they feel calmer with this medication. It does a nice job for depression in the lethargic individual.
It does not usually require a long taper and is not nearly as difficult to discontinue as other products such as Paxil or Effexor. Hope this helps.
Regarding indication of Wellbutrin for ADHD here is text cut/paste to Epocrates that does show an indication for that purpose. Maybe I am misreading it....FYI.
Wellbutrin XL
Adult Dosing . Dosage forms: 150,300 ER
major depressive disorder [300 mg PO qam] Start: 150 mg PO qam, incr. after 4 days to 300 mg/day; Max: 450 mg/day; Info: do not cut/crush/chew seasonal affective disorder [300 mg PO qam x4-6mo/year] Start: 150 mg PO qam, incr. after 7 days to 300 mg/day; Max: 300 mg/day; Info: begin tx in Sep-Nov, continue through early spring; decr. dose to 150 mg/day x2wk to D/C; do not cut/crush/chew *ADHD [300 mg PO qam] Start: 150 mg PO qam, incr. after 7 days to 300 mg/day; Max: 450 mg/day; Info: do not cut/crush/chew renal dosing [not defined] renal impairment: caution advised, consider decr. dose freq and/or amt hepatic dosing [adjust dose amount, frequency] Child-Pugh Class A: consider decr. dose freq and/or amt; Child-Pugh Class B or C: max 150 mg q48h
Are you talking a school for children? Or a college? My answer would depend on that and the circumstances. NEVER prescribe Wellbutrin for a child except as a very last resort for a serious mental condition. Many other things would work better including a change in activities and diet. I'm not saying that a change in diet/activities will fix anything, but those should be tried before resorting to drugs especially for a child.
Another name for Wellbutrin is Zyban and for those people who are trying to quit smoking cigarettes, it works. Of course, this again is for adults.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2015 01:17AM by verilyverily.
someone trained to make the diagnosis. I have gone to a Ph.D. psychologist for years. That is HIS job. When a regular M.D. prescribes, they don't have the training.
My therapist has a few psychiatrists he works with who prescribe the meds.
I had a doctor diagnose me 5 minutes after talking to me. I was going to just take him at his word. I then realized I had been seeing a psychologist for YEARS and thought I should consult with him. He was furious. It takes a lot to get this guy furious. If you want an accurate diagnosis, go to a psychologist or psychiatrist, not a GP.
The same GP had my son on Adderall, Klonopin, Paxil, and a bipolar medication. He couldn't even have a conversation or lift a sandwich off his plate. My son became addicted to the Adderall and then the doctor stopped allowing him to have it COLD TURKEY.
I call 'Wellbutrin' 'Hellbutrin'. I was one of the minority that it can put into full-on anxiety attack that basically unravelled me for several weeks, Effexor ended up being the ticket for me. I think you basically have to accept that you are in a process of 'medical experiments' until you and your Dr. figure out what will work for you.
This happened to someone in my family. I don't know that it was Welbutrin, but her doctor changed her medication and she got a full-on anxiety attack and had to be hospitalized. Amazing how these medications work.
When I tried to go off it, I had brain shivers. I couldn't work as I work at a computer. I was sitting here crying while working and my daughter kept asking me what was wrong. It drove me crazy just to look at the screen. The only thing that helped was laying on the bed with my eyes closed. The GP who prescribed it wouldn't tell me how to get off it unless I came in to see him (at that point, I hated him) and get on something else. He had misdiagnosed me (as above) and was determined to make me accept his diagnosis.
I read on online that you can go directly to Prozac and then taper off Prozac to get off Effexor and I happened to have some Prozac, so that is what I did. I won't go on anything but Prozac at 10 mg these days.
Call your Dr. Right away nd tell him/her. He needs to know this today. Then follow his advice as he is the one has seen you face-to-face. He might just want to see you reassess. Have you continue as planned. Tell you stop and wait. Who knows. But at this moment follow his/her advice.
Keep in mind that you may be experiencing some anxiety that is associated with worries about taking a new medication.
Call yor Doctor today and get in to see him or his on-call and do as they advise you even if it seems counterintuitive.
Everyone shows a different reaction. Wellbutrin has actually some good effects. It decrease the appetite and can help when you have a specific genetic constellation to quit smoking easier. But since it is a NORI it has less effect on anxiety than a SSRI like Prozac. It is used off-label for ADHS but it's also not recommended for children under 18. I think that there are way better therapies for ADHS/ADD than off-label pills. Esp. when he only suspect it. A Diet and more activity is often a better way for hyperactive kids. However - kids have anxiety thats also normal and some good talks and strenghten their personality also is way better than pills, who have a lot of sideeffects too. And as saud they're not as good as SSRI to cure anxiety. I would never prescribe any psychoactive drugs to minors unless it is really necessary to help them and after everything else failed. Nowadays MD's are quick to prescribe pills -also because the parents want them. And it is always an easier way to cure the syptoms with some drugs instead of curing the cause by changing daily routine, diet etc. And this is said: Noone can really say how it effect a kid in later life, its physic and psychic health.
This is pretty far out of my field, though we all had the general training in med school and internship. I'm assuming this happened at a health center at one of the church-owned universities. Assuming the MD in question thoroughly examined the patient and ideally consulted with the patient's therapist (as the average MD does not have the time to adequately obtain the info that comes out in therapy), the prescription seems reasonable enough. Of course the patient should be seen frequently at first and monitored for adverse effects as drugs can have unexpected effects on individuals.
A few states now license psychologists with the proper credentials to prescribe psychotropic drugs, but the last I heard, Utah was not one of those states.
Gee, I'm not sure the doc did consult thoroughly with my counselor.
It felt more like me reiterating myself.
I doubt both of their competencies too. I recently went to go see them again, because the student health center is close and convenient. I haven't been in a year.
I've announced to both in confidentiality that I'm atheist and my real feelings about the church, because these devolopments have done more to improve my mental state than anything I had ever tried
The counselor's first reaction to my atheism was that it was "just to sin," though he had before just acknowledged the the tremendous progress I was wearing on my sleeves. Then he suggested that I think about tranfering out of the school. We concluded with me learning from him that he verily believed that the source of all the kids' anxieties and depression, who were coming to see him en masse; was the pornography and masturbation. He thought "secular psychology waved goodbYe to God 200 years ago" and "when you turn your back on God, you lose the ability to be certain of what can be known beyond the 5 senses."
I still had anxiety issues, maybe some mild ADD (difficulty focusing), so confided in my doc too. I told her the relevant developments since last we met. She seemed kind a shocked too, Especially when I shared my new views about sexuality and expressed shameless confidence in them. Her Molly mormon came out and we butted heads over atheism and porn, especially the porn. One thing she said was whether I still dated mormon girls, because these were things they would want to know. I told her that these developments only occurred because I wanted to connect with people and be happy. "Maybe men just have a sex drive," I said, "and that's not shameful." To which she held up her ringless left hand in response and explained that porn had destroyed her marriage.
Anyway, the discussion ended civilly, and we decided to try Wellbutrin.
My encounters with both left me with serious doubts about the program the church has running here and the competency of the people they hire. Does the church hire people to reinforce its theology when people turn to medicine and proffetional counseling to do what their bishops could not? I wouldn't know where else to go at the moment, but figured I could put up with these jokers for just long enough if I was feisty with them.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2015 09:52AM by Cold-Dodger.
Secular psychology waved goodbye to God 200 years ago? Translation: secular psychology stopped trying to convince people their life was the way it was because of the invisible pink unicorn they did or did not have in their garage.
LDS Inc is still deep into the unicorn-selling business.
"A few states now license psychologists with the proper credentials to prescribe psychotropic drugs, but the last I heard, Utah was not one of those states."
Utah is one of those states, I believe. Psychologists can prescribe certain scheduled medications. No Narcotics, though.
after having bad experiences with inept doctors who diagnose my depression in 30 seconds and put me on remerron or whatever it's called, I decided not to take any psychiatric advice from anyone but a therapist or a psychiatrist. Way too many people allow regular practitioners to prescribe them psychotropic, antidepressant, or antianxiety medication. People need to see a Psychiatrist for that shit. They need to be evaluated to be placed on the proper medications, IF NECESSARY. I agree that doctors way overprescribe pills. I went off everything I could a few months ago and am tapering off the stuff I couldn't go off immediately. I've grown to hate pills. (except for Ibuprofen, of course I'm sure when my liver fails in 40 years I won't feel that way)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2015 12:00PM by midwestanon.
When I was in a BYU bishopric many years ago it was not uncommon for students to be given SSRIs to treat masturbation. Even then I knew that this was not really unethical and wrong.