I have taken Zoloft for 20+ years (200mg) one time a day. I started seeing a RA doctor that put me on many drugs including Webuterin 2 times a day in conjunction with topamax. I feel like a walking drug store. Honestly, I have had no side effects from the 2 drugs that I can tell, but I am unsure if I should be taking this much antidepressants.
I take Wellbutrin and Zoloft. Is this too much anxiety medication?
Question posted by tammybeckham on 18 July 2023
Last updated on 24 July 2023
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Well your question really caught my eye, specifically when you mentioned anxiety, yet they have you on two separate antidepressants. In addition, one that you have been taking for over 20 years. Everyone’s experience and chemistry is different so I don’t want to tell you what to do, just share my own experience and you can think about it and decide for yourself if it’s helpful. I suffer from Major Depression Disorder and Anxiety. Every time I mentioned anxiety to my previous Psychiatrists they just kept saying depression, depression and I had to keep saying anxiety, anxiety. I finally found a good Psychiatrist and she prescribed a low dose of a benzodiazepine. Those are specifically for anxiety, but also do fall under the controlled medication list and you would need to take it according to Dr.’s instructions. Medications that fall under this list are Ativan, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin (sp?) and possibly some others. You would need to ween off, if you ever wanted to stop taking them. My experience has been that they are easy to get off of with support from your Dr. In fact, I have been on and off of many different pain medications and an antidepressant that was prescribed to me had a noripranephren (sp?) re-uptake inhibitor that was harder to get off of than the fentanyl patch I was on. Also, my experience has been that most antidepressants can lose their efficacy after 2-5 years, but changing to another one will work again and if it stops, you can go back to the original one and it would be effective again or just change to another one and it will work just as well. So I would suggest that you demand to be heard as the previous poster suggested and possibly bring up some of the things that I mentioned and see what you and your Psychiatrist thinks. It has to work for you and not necessarily your Psychiatrist. He/She is not doing their job if they are too afraid of prescribing scheduled medications that might very well give you better quality of life. That is what we all want, need & deserve. In addition, I also take some herbal and vitamin supplements that I find helpful. If you would like to learn more just private message me. I don’t sell them, but you could find them at a Health Food Store or on-line. I wish you the best of luck!
Hi, Tammy!
I know what you mean! I take 11 different medications but I legitimately have a need for all of them.
The standard duplication recommendation is only one antidepressant but Wellbutrin is commonly prescribed along with other ones. They're two different classes of drugs.
I'm not sure about the Topamax. What was it prescribed for? It's an anticonvulsant so maybe it's to offset the very rare possibility of a seizure with Wellbutrin?
Is your doctor responsive to questions and is he aware of all the medications you're taking? You may need to have a discussion to get an explanation and answers.
Best regards and good luck!
Just for the record, Zoloft is FDA approved for the treatment of anxiety disorders and Wellbutrin has been shown to be effective also (without the side effects of some of the other antidepressant anxiolytics).
They work long term by correcting neurotransmitter imbalances that negatively affect brain function. They are particularly effective for that reason whereas short term medications should only be used for about 6 weeks. They mask the symptoms and must be taken strictly according to the doctor's instructions to avoid addiction. They are usually only prescribed to get you through until your antidepressant/anxiolytic medications become fully effective.
Related topics
topamax, zoloft, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, anxiety, fibromyalgia, doctor, medication, drug
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