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Avatar universal

Are there any known side effects of taking effexor and wellbutrin together?

I suffer from severe depression. Without meds I am suicidal.

I was on bupropion hcl xl 450mg(wellbutrin) for almost 10 years. I noticed no side effects. Unfortunately it only lifted me up enough to not be suicidal. I was still quite depressed.

Several months ago a psychaitrist added Venlafaxine(effexor) to my daily regimine. He started with a low dosage(37.5mg I think) and worked me up to 150mg a day over a period of about 3 months. During this time I did not notice any side effects. My mood improved dramatically. I can honestly say in regards to my mental health I have never felt better in my life. I have not gone manic and I am definately not depressed anymore. Freinds and family have noticed a marked difference in my affect, my job performance has improved and perhaps best of all I can actually feel and see several differences myself. I have tried several medications(over many years) for my depression and nothing else has come close to working so well for me.

Perhaps 5 months after starting Venlafaxine I started to experience some physical symptoms. First there was itching. It began occuring in the evenings. It could start almost anywhere on my body and then it would start to spread until I was feeling intense itching sensations from head to toe. There are no external symptoms. No redness or hives or anything else I can see. After an hour or two it usually passes. But let me tell you it is a very uncomfortable period. The next thing I noticed was that I seemed to have become alergic to water. Whether I am just washing my face or taking a shower whatever part of me that gets wet begins to get the same severe itch as I have already described, again with no visible symptoms.

Another symptom that started to occur perhaps 3-4 weeks after the itching is a problem with the inside of my mouth. Mostly it is a discomfort in my tongue. It is hard to describe, it is not especially painful although it is definitely sore. It feels like it has been scraped against something rough and it is now tender. I also get strange tastes in my mouth. Most commonly it tastes like milk that has gone bad. Another symptom is that I think I am salivating more than I normally would although this is hard to gage. Last but not least is the strange sensation that there are little things floating around in my mouth. And, much like the itching I described above there are no visible symptoms. Nothing in my mouth looks red or inflamed. There isn't anything that looks out of the ordinary.

My question is this, has anybody experienced any of these symptoms before? If so, what can you tell me about them?

By the way, I am not including any info about how I have approached my condition (i.e. doctor's, psychiatrists, personal research) because I thought my posting was already too long. If anyone actually responds or shows interest in it I would be happy to add that at a later date.

Thank you ahead of time for any help or suggestions you can offer.
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Avatar universal
Be careful about the magnesium -- it you take too much, it can cause diarrhea, and as it's in balance with the other electrolytes, particularly calcium, you can end up harming yourself.  Always know how to use supplements properly if you're going to take them.
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Avatar universal
Take vitamin D 10000 iu per day and Magnesium pills morning and night! It will def help against: depression, sleep issues, anxiety, stress, tiredness, vision problems, allergies, rashes, agression, itching, feeling sick, migraine, speechproblems, thinkproblems, memoryloss, inflamations, etc etc etc...
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Avatar universal
The fact I said it would be unusual to be on both doesn't mean in a particular person it might be the right combo.  Everyone is different, and when nothing works psychiatrists start looking at the unusual.  
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Avatar universal
I've never taken either -- I'd be scared to, as both are very stimulating and I'm an anxiety sufferer.  I think nobody's answered this because it would be uncommon, I'd think, for someone to be put on two such stimulating antidepressants at the same time.
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Thank you for responding. It is disappointing to see how little response I have gotten. I have scoured the internet looking for a similar reaction as to what I am experiencing and I have not found even a single similar case. I also haven't found anything describing any contra indicators for combining the 2 drugs. In fact I came across a few individual cases of people taking both and responding well. It apparently is used to treat drug-resistant depression. I found a doctors article on it here: http://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/article/Pages/2013/v74n02/v74n0201.aspx
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