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miss_lucy21Well, three days on the Wellbutrin and nothing horrible has happened, thus far. Nothing miraculous has happened either, but that's to be expected. It's still a bit too early to tell if something untenable is going to crop up- usually, if I'm going to completely not tolerate something, it will be obvious within the first week- but this is looking good so far.
There have been some side effects, but most of them are the type that will go away after two weeks and they're not horrible:
- I'm a little extra groggy, but that will almost definitely go away. Groggy happens to me with virtually every new medication, whether that's a listed side effect or not. It almost always subsides within about two weeks.
- The dry mouth is ramped up a bit, but that was to be expected. It will probably settle back down to the usual level and even if it doesn't, it's something I'm used to and I already have coping mechanisms in place for it (I was already on multiple medications that cause dry mouth)
- I'm having some slight processing issues- for example, I have two main passwords at work that are used in different contexts. I wasn't having any trouble remembering either password, but kind of having trouble figuring out which password I was supposed to use in that particular context. This is not unheard of- I use the wrong one at least a couple times a week because I'm not paying attention to what my fingers are doing- but it was happening more often than usual. And I was having extra trouble with locks (I am infamous for turning keys the wrong way in a lock), but again, that's a thing that happens regularly, it was just happening more frequently. I'm hoping this one subsides, because it's annoying, but if it doesn't, eh, I can work around it. It can also be attributed to being a little extra tired, so if that's the case, I should be okay.
- The most concerning issue is the appetite suppression. This is probably a good portion of the reason why this med has a warning about not taking it with a history of anorexia and bulimia, although that doesn't seem to be entirely clear (it's been found to have a greatly increased risk of seizures for people who have bulimia, which is not an issue in my case). However, it's not completely suppressing my appetite and also, I'm not at risk of becoming underweight if I happen to lose some weight. I've got a good, oh, 160 lbs of wiggle room. And, having no appetite isn't a trigger for me (if I lose a significant amount of weight, that might be triggery, but I will cross that bridge if it happens, which probably it won't, My set point is pretty well established and my body is awful damn stubborn about keeping it). The same thing happened when I was on Ritalin and Adderall and I was not anywhere near as recovered as I am now when I was on those. So, I've been there and I had successful coping mechanisms when I was on the Ritalin, so I just need to pull those out and get them integrated.
I mean, I am always going to have disordered eating patterns. It's one of my quirks like my inability to tell right from left, my utter lack of time sense and the fact that I can't wear lacy lingerie. They're all things that I can create work arounds and coping mechanisms for (some of these things are easier than others. Like, I just don't buy underwear with lace on it. Boom. Accomodated.). As long as things remain at the disordered eating pattern stage, I'm fine. It's only when I start getting anxious about whether I've gained or lost weight in a given week or if I'm eating too many calories to lose weight that there is a problem. And since I don't own a scale and therefore can't obsessively weigh myself every day, I have at least one safety guard in place against the anxiety. If I stay away from the calorie trackers, I will probably be even safer. And awareness of where the line is another safety measure. So, risky, but a manageable risk.
So, I feel reasonably comfortable with the state of things as they stand right now. Granted, I'm not seeing any benefit yet, but I probably won't for a couple weeks, so.
There have been some side effects, but most of them are the type that will go away after two weeks and they're not horrible:
- I'm a little extra groggy, but that will almost definitely go away. Groggy happens to me with virtually every new medication, whether that's a listed side effect or not. It almost always subsides within about two weeks.
- The dry mouth is ramped up a bit, but that was to be expected. It will probably settle back down to the usual level and even if it doesn't, it's something I'm used to and I already have coping mechanisms in place for it (I was already on multiple medications that cause dry mouth)
- I'm having some slight processing issues- for example, I have two main passwords at work that are used in different contexts. I wasn't having any trouble remembering either password, but kind of having trouble figuring out which password I was supposed to use in that particular context. This is not unheard of- I use the wrong one at least a couple times a week because I'm not paying attention to what my fingers are doing- but it was happening more often than usual. And I was having extra trouble with locks (I am infamous for turning keys the wrong way in a lock), but again, that's a thing that happens regularly, it was just happening more frequently. I'm hoping this one subsides, because it's annoying, but if it doesn't, eh, I can work around it. It can also be attributed to being a little extra tired, so if that's the case, I should be okay.
- The most concerning issue is the appetite suppression. This is probably a good portion of the reason why this med has a warning about not taking it with a history of anorexia and bulimia, although that doesn't seem to be entirely clear (it's been found to have a greatly increased risk of seizures for people who have bulimia, which is not an issue in my case). However, it's not completely suppressing my appetite and also, I'm not at risk of becoming underweight if I happen to lose some weight. I've got a good, oh, 160 lbs of wiggle room. And, having no appetite isn't a trigger for me (if I lose a significant amount of weight, that might be triggery, but I will cross that bridge if it happens, which probably it won't, My set point is pretty well established and my body is awful damn stubborn about keeping it). The same thing happened when I was on Ritalin and Adderall and I was not anywhere near as recovered as I am now when I was on those. So, I've been there and I had successful coping mechanisms when I was on the Ritalin, so I just need to pull those out and get them integrated.
I mean, I am always going to have disordered eating patterns. It's one of my quirks like my inability to tell right from left, my utter lack of time sense and the fact that I can't wear lacy lingerie. They're all things that I can create work arounds and coping mechanisms for (some of these things are easier than others. Like, I just don't buy underwear with lace on it. Boom. Accomodated.). As long as things remain at the disordered eating pattern stage, I'm fine. It's only when I start getting anxious about whether I've gained or lost weight in a given week or if I'm eating too many calories to lose weight that there is a problem. And since I don't own a scale and therefore can't obsessively weigh myself every day, I have at least one safety guard in place against the anxiety. If I stay away from the calorie trackers, I will probably be even safer. And awareness of where the line is another safety measure. So, risky, but a manageable risk.
So, I feel reasonably comfortable with the state of things as they stand right now. Granted, I'm not seeing any benefit yet, but I probably won't for a couple weeks, so.