# Wellbutrin-Xanax combo anynone?



## Inshallah

Why haven't I nor most other people here seem to have thought of this one?

Xanax is the best anti-anxiety med there is (I'd rate it higher than Klonopin for anxiety); while Wellbutrin is imo the best antidepressant there is on the market at the moment.

High dose Xanax could make the anxiety inducing effect of Wellbutrin manageable.


----------



## ntdc

xanax does not take the edge of wellbutrin that much. i have done it, it basically gave me about a half night of sleep. anyway another member said valium actually works better with welbutrin


----------



## Inshallah

I should have added, for those with concurrrent depression. Obviously for anxiety only you don"t want wellbutrin in there.


----------



## Xande

umm don't really agree that wellbutrin is the best antidepressant out there, but I also don't have much experience with that many antidepressants. Of course wellbutrin didn't work for me and may work for others, but I don't believe there is any "best antidepressant or med".


----------



## Inshallah

I agree Xande, I also used "imo" for the WB. If you did'nt feel anyything from WB, then forget about it altogether because the rest is even weaker 

For Xanax I think there is no doubt that it's the best legal anti-anxiety agent.


----------



## Xande

Inshallah said:


> I agree Xande, I also used "imo" for the WB. If you did'nt feel anyything from WB, then forget about it altogether because the rest is even weaker
> 
> For Xanax I think there is no doubt that it's the best legal anti-anxiety agent.


Oh ok, my bad then, lol just took magnesium so I'm a bit drowsy and obviously not reading well.

Actually Lexapro worked much better than wellbutrin for me, but now I'm trying out to Pristiq to see if it might be more helpful. Already don't like these slight headaches I'm getting (I had no startup side effects with Lexapro).

Never tried Xanax though, lol only ativan but find it helpful.


----------



## broflovski

Inshallah said:


> Why haven't I nor most other people here seem to have thought of this one?
> 
> Xanax is the best anti-anxiety med there is (I'd rate it higher than Klonopin for anxiety); while Wellbutrin is imo the best antidepressant there is on the market at the moment.
> 
> High dose Xanax could make the anxiety inducing effect of Wellbutrin manageable.


Sounds reasonable. Bupropion is effective for energy, motivation, mood-lift. I can hardly stand the anxiety it induces. But having no opportunity to obtain xanax or any benzo long-term i need to use phenibut and a bunch of sedative herbal meds like valerian, melissa etc. Snorting bupropion and taking it with fluoxetine makes bupropion more dopaminergic and les anxiogenic.


----------



## UltraShy

Inshallah said:


> For Xanax I think there is no doubt that it's the best legal anti-anxiety agent.


I'm entirely unimpressed by Xanax, but it does seem better than Klonopin, and on par with Ativan & Valium. Benzos are not very effective at all for me, but they're the be all end all of anti-anxiety meds in 2011. If they don't work, the medical community simply shrugs its shoulders and says "well, nothing we can do." Thanks to the DEA even the most severe anxiety cases are not allowed to try other unconventional and/or "dangerous" meds that offer the potential to help. After all, we must protect folks from drug "addiction." We'll just ignore the obvious fact that many will turn to alcohol to self-medicate in the absence of effective prescription medication. Alcoholism is basically a slow form of suicide, while others will select a much faster path to death.

When one is dealing with a debilitating mental illness that causes tremendous suffering & can be fatal, it seems totally ridiculous to speak of any drug as being "dangerous." Unless a doctor is prescribing cyanide, it would be pretty damn hard to be more "dangerous" than the death by suicide or alcoholism (suicide in slow motion).


----------



## UltraShy

Inshallah said:


> Wellbutrin is imo the best antidepressant there is on the market at the moment.


Sadly, that may actually be true. Current antidepressants leave so much to be desired that the bar is set exceeding low for what qualifies as best. This is kind of like saying the Yugo was the finest automobile made in Eastern Europe during the 1980s. Probably so, but then the standard for comparison would be vehicles where actually starting upon turning the key would be deemed highly impressive.



Inshallah said:


> High dose Xanax could make the anxiety inducing effect of Wellbutrin manageable.


Since early August I've been taking 300 mg Wellbutrin XL daily. I only take it for the appetite suppressant effect. I find it otherwise useless, but it doesn't appear to have any negative effects, with very minimal appetite suppression being the only effect that seems to exist.

I don't notice Wellbutrin increasing my anxiety at all, but then it's hard to imagine it would when even real stimulants -- e.g. dextroamphetamine -- don't make me any more nervous.

I doubt many on SAS have more experience with Xanax than I do. I've been taking it daily since 2003 and have a script for up to 10 mg daily.


----------



## swim

yes probably Xanax would be good at counteracting eventual anxiety given by WB (if there is any, can't tell since I never tried this AD)


----------



## Dpbthgt

broflovski said:


> Snorting bupropion and taking it with fluoxetine makes bupropion more dopaminergic and les anxiogenic.


Can you go into more detail on how and why this works? Also, is it fluoxetine specific? If so why? Thank you.

I'm interested in the positive aspects of it but it sounds risky.


----------



## broflovski

Dpbthgt said:


> Can you go into more detail on how and why this works? Also, is it fluoxetine specific? If so why? Thank you.
> 
> I'm interested in the positive aspects of it but it sounds risky.


I've got a kind addicted to snorting bupropion. It induces short rush and then some controllable slightly hypomanic state. Energy, motivation, talkativeness, hypersexuality and a touch of euphoria. I snort it to bypass first-pass liver metabolism so let more of bupropion itself (which is mostly dopaminergic) reach the brain (before it is converted to hydroxybupropion, see here their affinities for monoamine transporters and compare). And I take fluoxetine, which inhibits enzyme converting bupropion into mostly noradrenergic and much more long-living hydroxybupropion (which is responsible for often observed anxiogenic effect).
Fluoxetine is not specific and i suspect not the most efficient. "Since bupropion is metabolized to hydroxybupropion by the CYP2B6 enzyme, drug interactions with CYP2B6 inhibitors are possible: this includes medications like paroxetine, sertraline, norfluoxetine (the active metabolite of fluoxetine), diazepam, clopidogrel, and orphenadrine. The expected result is the increase of bupropion and decrease of hydroxybupropion blood concentration". 
At the same time, fluoxetine is known to greatly potentiate DA/NE raise with bupropion. They speculate this is due 5HT/DA systems interaction, but I'd consider that metabolic effect + 5HT2C receptors antagonism by fluoxetine which has its own DA/NE-ergic action.


----------



## Dpbthgt

Thanks for the detailed response. Very interesting. So paroxetine should cause increased bupropion and decreased hydroxybupropion blood concentration also? Thanks again.


----------



## broflovski

Dpbthgt said:


> Thanks for the detailed response. Very interesting. So paroxetine should cause increased bupropion and decreased hydroxybupropion blood concentration also? Thanks again.


You're welcome and yes it should, but it may be less effective in eventual potentiating of bupropion because of less prominent pharmacodynamic synergy (lack of 5HT2C antagonism).


----------



## Inshallah

Broflovski you always make me laugh with the snorting of wellbutrin, in a good way I must add, not laughing AT you since I'd do it myself as well. You Russians really have a certain connection with drugs in general, have you ever used "krokodil"? The stuff that rots flesh off bodies


----------



## broflovski

Inshallah said:


> Broflovski you always make me laugh with the snorting of wellbutrin, in a good way I must add, not laughing AT you since I'd do it myself as well. You Russians really have a certain connection with drugs in general, have you ever used "krokodil"? The stuff that rots flesh off bodies


I've been using Coaxil for an year or so, and felt greatly while that IV tianeptine users idiots were loosing their legs and arms. Now don't want to go a tiniest bit closer to that desomorphine stuff. It's horrible. Snorting bupropion is much more healthy, morally and kosher. Snort bupropion!


----------



## barry1685

broflovski said:


> I've been using Coaxil for an year or so, and felt greatly while that IV tianeptine users idiots were loosing their legs and arms. Now don't want to go a tiniest bit closer to that desomorphine stuff. It's horrible. Snorting bupropion is much more healthy, morally and kosher. Snort bupropion!


Hahah! Love the snorting.. Although my girlfriend would think of me as a drug addict and probably freak out. No person could snort a drug in front of others without them thinking of it as a drug.


----------



## broflovski

barry1685 said:


> Hahah! Love the snorting.. Although my girlfriend would think of me as a drug addict and probably freak out. No person could snort a drug in front of others without them thinking of it as a drug.


I do it in the office. Everybody got used to.


----------



## blue the puppy

i dont take xanax but i do take both wellbutrin and ativan. however, i usually take them at different times (wellbutrin in the morning, ativan in the evening). i also take 2 other psychotropic drugs so not sure how that affects things as well.


----------



## Arisa1536

UltraShy said:


> .
> 
> Since early August I've been taking 300 mg Wellbutrin XL daily. I only take it for the appetite suppressant effect. I find it otherwise useless, but it doesn't appear to have any negative effects, with very minimal appetite suppression being the only effect that seems to exist.
> 
> I don't notice Wellbutrin increasing my anxiety at all, but then it's hard to imagine it would when even real stimulants -- e.g. dextroamphetamine -- don't make me any more nervous.


Sounds like a relatively good plan, one of the reasons why I am most interested in trying wellbutrin. The appetite supression and increased libido side effects are positives imo but not for everyone and they tend to help give you energy instead of zap it away like the run of the mill SSRI/SNRI antidepressants which make you anxious and not hungry at first but once they kick in you end up sleepy and lethargic and hungry for carbs...well effexor did anyway

Xanax and wellbutrin sound good mixed together as they would help combat the side effects of both for example, xanax would help aide sleep that wellbutrin tends to destory and wellbutrin would keep your energy levels up


----------



## Inshallah

Wellbutrin is also a serious 'heat you upper', even more so than ssri's. Lot's of wellbutrin sweating complaints. Xanax cools you off so that should co-work nicely as well.


----------



## jonny neurotic

broflovski said:


> Fluoxetine is not specific and i suspect not the most efficient. "Since bupropion is metabolized to hydroxybupropion by the CYP2B6 enzyme, drug interactions with CYP2B6 inhibitors are possible: this includes medications like paroxetine, sertraline, norfluoxetine (the active metabolite of fluoxetine), diazepam, clopidogrel, and orphenadrine. The expected result is the increase of bupropion and decrease of hydroxybupropion blood concentration".
> At the same time, fluoxetine is known to greatly potentiate DA/NE raise with bupropion. They speculate this is due 5HT/DA systems interaction, but I'd consider that metabolic effect + 5HT2C receptors antagonism by fluoxetine which has its own DA/NE-ergic action.


Thought you may be interested in this. If I understand it correctly a greater IC50 number means less inhibition. If that is the case then paroxetine would be a far better option than fluoxetine. Although norfluoxetine has a favourable IC50 the enzyme that metabolises fluoxetine is inhibited by bupropion. In anycase paroxetine has the lowest IC50 of them all. IDK if the 5HT2c antagonism of fluoxetine will be strong enough to bring it up to par. Also if, like me, you want to avoid SERT inhibition as much as possible then the lowest possible IC50 value is the preffered option.

The search continues...


----------



## broflovski

jonny neurotic said:


> Thought you may be interested in this. If I understand it correctly a greater IC50 number means less inhibition. If that is the case then paroxetine would be a far better option than fluoxetine. Although norfluoxetine has a favourable IC50 the enzyme that metabolises fluoxetine is inhibited by bupropion. In anycase paroxetine has the lowest IC50 of them all. IDK if the 5HT2c antagonism of fluoxetine will be strong enough to bring it up to par. Also if, like me, you want to avoid SERT inhibition as much as possible then the lowest possible IC50 value is the preffered option.
> 
> The search continues...


Thanks for the article. I read already about enzyme that metabolises fluoxetine into norfluoxetine is inhibited by bupropion. But i have never taken it into account. I had not very successful experience with paxil, and it's much more expensive that fluoxetine. Anyway, a huge part of bupropion/fluoxetine synergy may be due to 5HT2C blockade not metabolic interactions. And I found a way to avoid/delay metabolism of bupropion - snorting helps avoid first-pass liver metabolism. Though painful and addictive. And I use Lyrica to prevent any anxiety remained. Pregabalin is also addictive. Hell.


----------



## IndieVisible

broflovski said:


> I've got a kind addicted to snorting bupropion. It induces short rush and then some controllable slightly hypomanic state. Energy, motivation, talkativeness, hypersexuality and a touch of euphoria. I snort it to bypass first-pass liver metabolism so let more of bupropion itself (which is mostly dopaminergic) reach the brain (before it is converted to hydroxybupropion, see here their affinities for monoamine transporters and compare). And I take fluoxetine, which inhibits enzyme converting bupropion into mostly noradrenergic and much more long-living hydroxybupropion (which is responsible for often observed anxiogenic effect).
> Fluoxetine is not specific and i suspect not the most efficient. "Since bupropion is metabolized to hydroxybupropion by the CYP2B6 enzyme, drug interactions with CYP2B6 inhibitors are possible: this includes medications like paroxetine, sertraline, norfluoxetine (the active metabolite of fluoxetine), diazepam, clopidogrel, and orphenadrine. The expected result is the increase of bupropion and decrease of hydroxybupropion blood concentration".
> At the same time, fluoxetine is known to greatly potentiate DA/NE raise with bupropion. They speculate this is due 5HT/DA systems interaction, but I'd consider that metabolic effect + 5HT2C receptors antagonism by fluoxetine which has its own DA/NE-ergic action.


Yup I've long discovered snorting bupropion is a blast, try it with shots of whiskey or vodka! Even better 

Yes xanax and bupropion works great for me, so does klonopin too, any benzo will work with bupropion. I think it's the best antidepressant too! I hate all the SSRI's.


----------

