Three weeks ago I was like you probably are now- newly prescribed Wellbutrin, scared to take it, and reading reviews because my anxiety made me think information was protection.
I was prescribed Wellbutrin after a week of daily panic attacks. Prior to the panic attack week, I had racing thoughts, hopeless, scared I would never recover, feeling like my entire life was imploding, feeling empty and exhausted by my brain. Then I got the prescription, and that gave me another thing to worry about- will I get worse, will I have side effects, will I have more panic attacks? I read horrible reviews and they stuck in my head more than the good ones. I want you to know that you are not alone, and that really and truly, things will be okay.
It’s been three and a half weeks. My “side effects” have been the occasional ringing in my ears and feeling like I had drank alot of coffee for the first 3 days. It did not give me a panic attack, and I was having them nearly daily prior to taking it. None of my anxieties about taking the medicine came true.
Please keep in mind that the people writing these reviews already have anxiety/depression- they, like so many of us, are already in the mindset of seeing, expecting and believing the worst. I don’t mean to discount anyone’s experience, but please realize that people with these conditions are much more likely to leave a bad review. Anxiety and depression lie to us and make logic seem foolish, and neither of these illnesses want to facilitate your recovery in any way. Your doctor has treated hundreds of people just like you, trust their experience. In the first week, I wanted to blame everything I felt on the meds, I would frantically google every symptom and emotion. I had to force myself to stop, to say if I had a question I would call my doctor but I would NOT google.
I am better now, not fully better- but I know I am on the way. It takes 6-8 weeks for full improvement, but the progress I’ve made in 3 weeks makes me believe I will feel fully better soon. I have down moods and cry sometimes still, but I am in much more control of keeping them short and manageable. If negative thoughts come up, I’m able to reason against them. Intrusive and racing thoughts occur less often and are far less powerful. I have hope. I have desire to do things that I know will make me feel better during the funk moods. The reason I’m coming here to write this is because I have found that doing acts of kindness or gratitude make me feel better. This is also what I would want to tell myself three weeks ago. I want to hug you and promise you that things will be okay. You will wake up and feel ready for the day, you will walk your dog and notice how pretty the sunset is or how nice the breeze feels. You will come up with new ideas, new things to do, things to cook, new ways to arrange your room, and they will make you so excited. You will be able to day dream a future of positivity, growth and overcoming instead of a future of dread. Your brain will heal and your happiness will return, I promise you. Take your meds, trust your doctor, do something every day (no matter how small, no matter how much you don’t feel like it) that you know will make you feel better when it’s done. Your anxiety and depression are lying to you- you have everything you need to conquer this. Read More Read Less