I couldnt take the adderall anymore. Yesterday was the last straw. i went shopping, I was a bit spacey, but ok, then on my way home i felt great, then i got home, sat down on my bed and cried for 3 hrs straight. i felt hopless, depressed and i wanted to die.. and I was NEVER like this before i started adderall. i went to the doc today and she gave me 150mgs of Wellbutrin XL, i hope this is better...

My heart goes with you. Let us know how do you feel.

Take care.

Mo:-)

thank you so much moshken. Are you taking anything? I havent started yet, I start tomorrow... I havent taken anything today, and I'm sooo weak, non-energetic, I have a spinning headache and I'm exhausted, but I can't seem to fall asleep... but I'm not feeling suicidal, so today is like a vacation compared to yesterday... I will let you know how things go :)

Just a word of caution... NOT meaning to try to persuade you to stop the wellbutrin, but just some warnings from someone whos been down that path.

If you havn't tried other stimulants (some form of Ritilin, ext...) then I would stress to go that path first. Antidepressants have quite a bit of side effects in my run with them, and while they work quite well for someone who is actualy depressed, I would NEVER try one again for anything related to adhd.

First off, the mental effects were a killer for me. They made be very laid back and relaxed, but as a 4th year student at MIT this isnt quite the thing I needed. I went from a 3.9 to a 3.1 in a term, when I should have only improved. My short term memory was also somewhat effected.

Second, at some point, you WILL want to get off these medications, and that can be quite hard in itself. Wellbutrin wasnt that hard to drop for me, but still something. Effexor on the other hand, was a living hell for a month.

Anyway, just my two cents on the matter.

Ive been on both ritalin and adderall. I wont lie.. i did ritalin BEFORE my ADHD diagnosis and i did it quite a few times. It worked, but I still got that spaced out feeling from it. And as you can read above, the adderall DEF. didnt work out. Ive never been on antidepressents, but my doc. believes they will help me for I do have depressive thoughts/symptoms (which were way worsened by adderall), its a trial sort of deal, if it doesnt work out, i can always switch, or wellbutrin can be taken with ADHD meds (for me it will NOT be adderall though), so we'll see what happens.. thanxfor responding guys, feedback really helps :)

I was given Wellbutrin before I was diagnosed with ADHD. Doctor thought I had depression. I did horribly on it. However, no one knew I had ADHD. The depression type behaviour was related to frustration/anger/low motivation from add, not depression. So, Wellbutrin did not work for me.

I hope you have better luck with it. Please keep us posted.

Sorry nikki, that's not quite correct. Wellbutrin failed to work for you not because it's an "anti-depressant," but instead because it didn't work for you. You got that right, it didn't work for you because it didn't work for you. That's all we can conclude.

Wellbutrin is classed as an anti-depressant, sure, but while some doubt remains on its mechanism of action, it's thought by most that it acts on dopamine and norepinephrine, just like most ADHD medications do. Most anti-depressants, on the other hand, focus on serotonin. Wellbutrin is in fact used often specifically for ADHD, usually when a psychiatrist doesn't feel comfortable enough yet prescribing amphetamine and methylphenidate.

Wellbutrin has been a fricking miracle drug for me. I can't say enough good things about what it has done for me. After the initial jitters (2 weeks) and insomnia (6 weeks), I've had no side effects at all. I was very depressed, and Wellbutrin makes me normal- not happy, just not hopeless and despondent.

Unfortunately, the Wellbutrin didn't do anything for my ADD (my doc was hoping to kill two birds with one stone). I've gone through Strattera and Concerta, now on Adderall (no effects yet, but just started). I'm scared i might be one of those people with ADHD that drugs don't work on.

BUT, I just had to chime in about how great Wellbutrin has been for me.
(also: no weight gain and no sexual problems like when i was on Celexa. Yay!)

My gut (& experience) tells me that Wellbutrin will work well for most people who's mood imbalances are caused by neurotransmitter problems and not due to the primary ADD dx. I would guess that it would not work well for most people who's depression is mostly due to AD/HD issues.

That said, there's also the individual reaction to consider; nobody can really know until they try.

Since you've tried both Adderall & Ritalin, and your doc seems to think you have a problem with depression it's worth a try.

Another thing that leads me to believe it's a good path to choose for you is your persistant crying reactions. When I discovered I'd accidently lowered my Prozac dose, the contribution of Adderall gave me a pretty imbalanced day emotion-wise. I really think the mood needs to be under control before a stimulant can do its job.

If Wellbutrin helps you, but you're still having trouble with ADHD symptoms, you might try adding a stim on top of the Wellbutrin at some point in the future. It may work completely differently then.

Good luck!