I just started taking Wellbutrin XL 300mg a few days ago and I'm just wondering how do I know if it's working? I've heard it can take up to 8 weeks for it to finally kick in full throttle. What about for ADD symptoms?

So far I've still been having problems with getting distracted and pulled off task and I can't stop moving my foot up and down when I'm trying to concentrate. My concentration has had a slight improvement but it's still a challenge just to sit down and do a boring task that I'm doing. I've had a slight boost in energy levels too, but still pretty foggy.

Havn't had any noticeable side effects other then really REALLY strange dreams, dry mouth, slight irritability (no more then usual).

I mean should I be on Adderall or Dexedrine as well with this med? I'm just confused as hell... I was hoping Wellbutrin would be the cure all med...with the exception of my anxiety. I wanted to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

According to my Dr. Wellbutrin has a 50% shot at fully treating ADHD on it's own - this percentage improves on doses of 450MG Ttl. Give it more time and if no improvement - ask for the dose adjustment or to take a small stim dose in conjunction.

The easy answer is "you'll know." But the problem for a lot of people taking anti-depressants and ADHD medications is that you may have been so depressed and so thwarted by adhd for so long (i was in this category) that your sense of what's high functioning is warped, ground down. You start to think that your low functioning is the norm and is as good as life gets. So that's a challenge a lot of us have.

For example, I've had bouts of serious serious depression (can't go to work), and I've had repeated bouts of moderate depression (really don't want to go to work). So a few years back, I was sort of hovering at mild depression (can go to work but it wears me out). Well, I sort of got used to that mild depression and started to think, "well this is the way life is." So if someone had asked me how I felt, I would have said, "fine."

Wellbutrin was the drug that helped me figure out where I was. It lifted me (initially) so much that I then realized, oh my God, I've been way more depressed than I thought I was. I was on 300mg XL as you are on, and then last year, I went up to 450 mg of XL, and I had the same feeling: I felt so great, I said, "oh my God, I must have adhd, because now I can really focus."

Seriously, that's how I discovered I had adhd: the wellbutrin at 450mg gave me such focus that it was clear that I had been handicapped previously. (Sadly that focus faded after 6 weeks and so I'm also on Concerta now.)

I would give you this advice: set being REALLY REALLY HAPPY AND PRODUCTIVE AND ORGANIZED AS THE NORM. So if you are not amazingly happy and engaged in life and wonderful activities and full of energy and able to concentrate and meet deadlines and prioritize and make good decisions, you should assume there is major room for improvement.

Now the sad fact is ... we may NOT get to this really really fantastic state. But you want to aim for that and to stop only when it's clear you can't get there--after trying multiple meds at multiple dosages and multiple combinations of meds at multiple dosages!

I would also recommend a therapist/counselor in addition to the shrink. The counselor and you can set up a system of monitoring and assessing whether or not a drug is helping and whether it is helping a little or a lot.

There is another way to gauge your improvement: talk to a loved one or colleague. They will pretty much know. And in fact, 99 percent of the time, a friend or colleague will notice the change without you saying one word. They'll tell youk "Man, you seem different."

Good luck.

Well I can only hope for that kind of optimism.

thank you tone tone many of us dont know what normal is. I surely didnt know. The first time I took a stimulant type medication for weight loss not for my then undiagnosed add I thought I had to be seriously high or stoned! My calm and focused feeling was so foreign to me!! It scared me seriously because I felt I could become really addicted to these feelings that to my surprise were how people (Most) feel..

Thanks tonetone

xeon is there a reason you cant take stimulants? Perhaps you might do better with a combo of stimulant along with the welbutrin.

kattsqueen

thank you tone tone many of us dont know what normal is. I surely didnt know. The first time I took a stimulant type medication for weight loss not for my then undiagnosed add I thought I had to be seriously high or stoned! My calm and focused feeling was so foreign to me!! It scared me seriously because I felt I could become really addicted to these feelings that to my surprise were how people (Most) feel..

Thanks tonetone

xeon is there a reason you cant take stimulants? Perhaps you might do better with a combo of stimulant along with the welbutrin.

kattsqueen

Well I was a moron and decided to be honest with the psychiatrist with my drug abuse history and so she's apprehensive about prescribing me a stimulant I think. I could be wrong... just seems like each time I go in I get ambushed by a case manager and her.... I wonder if I screwed it up last time because I think she was going to try putting me on stimulant and I blurted out "Let's try Wellbutrin!". My reasoning behind it was that Wellbutrin had been shown effective for Inattentive ADD and depression...

In my defense though I am on a benzodiazepine (Klonopin) right now and those are supposed to be really addictive and I havn't been abusing those. I only take it when I am having a super panic attack I can't deal with. My blood and urine test came back clean for all drugs too when they drug tested me... So I'm hoping maybe next time I might be able to try to get a stimulant added on to the Wellbutrin if the wellbutrin proves at that point that it's not working (which is in 5 weeks).

Hey, I don't think you were being a moron to be honest with your doc about your drug abuse history.

Here's the blunt truth: people with adhd, by definition, do not take good care of ourselves and have trouble making smart decisions. We need help from others. That's just the painful truth. You need to tell your doc everything. Eventually if your doc decides to give you a stimulant, he'll know to monitor you closely for any problems. And that will take the pressure off of you as well.

As awkward as it is, it's important to tell the docs pretty much everything, including any herbal supplements we might be taking.