wellbutrin and synthroid

[joescatterbrain]

Hello,
I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, inattentive or combined, I wasn't paying attention if the psychiatrist mentioned or not. I'm a 32 year old male. He gave me 7 week worth of Wellbutrin XL and sent me for blood work.

Week 1: 150 mg. Wellbutrin XL/day

Week 2: 150 mg. Wellbutrin XL/day an my family doctor started me on Synthroid 0.05 mg for slight hypothyroid (TSH 5.5 with a range about 1.8-5)

Week 3: 300 mg. Wellbutrin XL and Synthroid 0.05

Week 4: same as week 3

Week 5: same as week 3 and 4

Week one I felt slight mood elevation, still unfocused, slight insomnia and much easier to jump out of bed in the morning. Insomnia was gone by week two and I felt very positive but still unfocused plus and increased libido, once I started Synthroid I find it very hard to get going in the morning. By week three until now I feel nothing at all from the Wellbutrin except for bad dry mouth and still tired in the mornings. Plus the increased libido is gone.

Is there anybody here that found Synthroid made them tired, it's supposed to do the opposite. By the end of week six should I feel anything from the Wellbutrin? When I go back to the psychiatrist should I ask him if he would consider adding some Ritalin with the 300 mg Wellbutrin or even back down to 150 mg Wellbutrin with some Ritalin?

I went to see him because I am a terrible procrastinator and my career counselor thought he saw ADHD, I never considered it and was surprised by the diagnosis. I thought maybe slight depression but he said it's not the case. He also said anybody that know ADD would spot it in me within 2 minutes. I'm still just an unmotivated, unemployed hermit. I have lots of ideas, but no motivation to act on them.

Anybody here who was in the same situation and found the right meds to give them the necessary kick in the ***?

[Gills66]

I just signed on to post a question about Wellbutrin and Synthroid and saw your post - perfect timing although my situation is a bit different. I have no thyroid (removed due to cancer) and have been taking synthroid for a few years. I switched from Strattera last year to ritalin and then dex and then concerta and back to ritalin. My biggest complaint with all the meds is extreme tiredness so we added Wellbutrin to the mix. I thought it helped initially but now I am so tired all the time that my family life is suffering. I have dropped the ritalin and have a bit more energy today and I think tomorrow I am going to increase my dose of synthroid as I have some left over from an earlier dose. I can't see the doc for 2 weeks and I need to do something. One thing I have learned is what the doc sees as ADD might actually be related an underactive thyroid even if it doesn't show up in bloodwork. I'll be curious to hear other peoples experiences. I hope you get things sorted out - feeling tired is not fun.

[joescatterbrain]

Since I felt good on the Wellbutrin alone I'm assuming it's the Synthroid causing the sleepiness. The only hypothyroid symptom I had that bothered me was my hair is getting very thin. I'll give it some more time and then either try giving up the Synthoid or switching to armour or another combined T3/T4 med. I've read that dopamine deficiency can cause hypothyroidism as well, perhaps the ADHD meds would raise my dopamine enough that I wouldn't need thyroid meds at all. Who knows, I'll see what my doctor has to say in a couple of weeks.

[Gills66]

Did the doctor do bloodwork before starting you on Synthroid? If you only have one symptom I'm curious why it was determined to be thyroid related. For you to be feeling tired does make it sound like its related to the Synthroid. I upped my Synthroid this morning and feel so much better already. It definately gets confusing when more than one med is involved!

[joescatterbrain]

I went for bloodwork the day after I was diagnosed with ADHD. I forgot to get a copy of the results but my TSH was 5.5. The funny thing is when I was tested 3 years ago and last year for routine bloodwork my tsh was 5.3-5.5 and the doctor wouldn't even think of trying meds, this time he said "oh, look at that, we better start you on some Synthroid today".

Did you feel better after a single increase? Maybe I should try and see if that does anything. I'm on low dose and far from being hyperthyroid so it shouldn't hurt.

Of course I also had the lack of motivation/procrastination symptom as well that could be ADHD or thyroid related.

[penguin]

Hi,
I am hypothyroid also. Get that synthroid going. You can not judge its affects properly for 5 weeks. There is no reason not to take stims, or any other adhd meds. They may need readjustment after the 5 weeks. Or when doc says tsh levels are good.
reason he is now concerned about tsh is becasue some docs were slow to get the word that new lower levels are the standard. you should be below 3, depending on the labs test. ALWAYS ASK to see the lab report. It will list the ranges.
Enjoy, Ken