Chantix/Champix and Wellbutrin

[MikeHamtar]

Hi,

First of all I don't know if I am suffering from depression or not, however I have been always unhappy with anxiety issues, my unhappiness was due to my family and work stresses.
Since I was a smoker I tried a new medicine called Champix/Chantix and the first two weeks were awful, but then after the weeks I have experienced happiness that I have maybe never felt in my life, I could actually enjoy a movie without thinking for problems related to work or family, no worst case scenarios, I don't know how to describe it but I felt that this is the way I should always be feeling! I am off Chantix/Champix now after completing the course of three month.

I read that Wellbutrin is actually a medicine to help you quit smoking as well, so in order to continue the feel good state, I started taking Wellbutrin XL 150mg, I've been on it for a week now, I can't feel any major differences maybe just placebo effect that I feel better and would like to know if I can up my dose to 300MG.

How can I know if I am suffering from depression?

[artemesia2]

I don't smoke so I'm not prescribed Chantix,.  IDK in your case. I  might be cautious since I read the drug can cause or worsen depression possibly severely.   I was Rxd  generic Wellburtin and I became allergic to it  Hives med term uticaria.   Of course everybody is different .  I am glad you're depression is much diminished,

[Paxiled]

Just to say, this warning is given for all drugs that target brain neurotransmitters, including antidepressants.

[artemesia2]

Do all the warnings include suicidal actions like the warning for Chantix?

[Paxiled]

Yep.  Also violent thoughts.  Take a look some time at all the warnings of side effects that come with your medication.  Sometimes they are commonly felt, sometimes rarely.  Most sites will tell you if the side effect is common or rare, more common if you're young or pregnant, etc.  For example, the suicidal thoughts is thought to be more common with young people.  Fun, eh?

[artemesia2]

As fun  as a ton of bricks falling on your head.   My Rx and OTC guide lists most common,  infreqent and rare side effects.

[real_jimmy]

There are side effects to every medicine. What helps the first time can have a reverse effect the next time. I have used Wellbutrin for smoking cessation under the advise of a doctor along with other medicines for my anxiety etc And It did help. But after a while I thought that I could take the medicine again  for the same purpose. But I felt suicidal and that is when I did some research on internet that confirmed the side effects. So be careful and do not take medicines on your own.

[MikeHamtar]

Thanks real

[AnxiousNoMore]

No one can diagnose you from here, but it seems more anxiety than depression. However on the flip side, anx and dep go hand in hand, feeding off each other in a vicious circle thereby escalating the problem until the poor victim sometimes is so depressed and jumpy that he thinks this is normal.
The worst part is that the victim is stuck trying to analyze what he feels during his darkest hour when he can find no purpose or happiness. So it is best to see the professionals as paxil said.
Also a clinical depression is all encompassing and you feel so bad that just about anything you are supposed to do makes you feel like answering "why bother", because there is just nothing that you can feel good about.

[Paxiled]

If you have depression you know it.  Life is miserable.  It's not just not being as happy as you'd like to be, it's being in a pit of despair.  We have a tendency in today's society to medicalize everything, and then sell a drug to you for everything.  These drugs might in fact make you feel better until they don't anymore or you have to stop taking them, which can be really hard.  Alcohol makes you feel better until it doesn't.  Cocaine makes you feel great until it doesn't.  So the fact that playing with your brain neurotransmitters, something that Chantix does as well, makes you feel better than you did doesn't mean you were depressed, it means you felt a bit better because nicotine causes an increase in dopamine release and Chantix mimics this effect as it blocks nicotine from attaching to nicotine receptors.  Wellbutrin, when your body absorbs it and it works for you -- these drugs are very individual and people get very different outcomes from them -- does the same thing in a different way and in a more direct and powerful way.  It also targets norepinephrine, which is like adrenaline, so it can very stimulating, which doesn't suit everyone.  If you're an anxiety sufferer it can make it worse because of this.  Now, here's the big question -- how did you get the wellbutrin?  If you've never gotten diagnosed by a psychologist or psychiatrist with depression, how did you get someone to prescribe it if you'd already quit smoking with the Chantix, a much milder drug on your brain than Wellbutrin?  By the way, you can always tell that a drug is affecting brain neurotransmitters when you see those warnings they give out, as you do with Chantix, and they warn that they can cause suicidal and violent thoughts and the like.  This warning is a dead giveaway that the drug is affecting similar things that antidepressants and anti anxiety drugs and anti psychotics are playing around with.  In effect, Chantix, and nicotine, are antidepressants, but generally with milder action than drugs called antidepressants.  If your depression is so mild you don't even know if you have it, you should be in talk therapy with a psychologist to learn how to think in a more satisfying way, not playing around with drugs that alter how your brain works naturally.  

[MikeHamtar]

Thanks for your reply, what you say makes sense

[MikeHamtar]

Where I live Wellbutrin can be purchased without prescription, actually any medicine as long as it's not on the drug chart like Benzo's and stuff

[Paxiled]

Where, exactly, do you live?  I know drugs are available on the black market in many countries, which can mean in the drugstore in some places in, say, Mexico, but why on Earth would anyone take a powerful drug like Wellbutrin without a psychiatrist's guidance?  I have no idea what you mean by the "drug chart," although I'm assuming you mean what in the US we call controlled substances because they're addictive, but antidepressants might as well be called addictive, they can be very hard to stop taking, though Wellbutrin isn't high on that list as of yet.  I'd hate to think there's a country where you can just buy an antidepressant without a diagnosis or a prescription, these can have major effects on how well your brain can work if you take them for a long time, and if you take too much, any drug that affects dopamine can cause movement disorders that are somewhat like Parkinson's.  Sometimes antidepressants work not by actually doing anything about the problem you really have but by not making you care you have the problem, such as using snris for pain control.  But because they are also doing what they were invented to do, you have to deal with that as well.  Be careful out there.

[MikeHamtar]

You nailed it, I am working in Mexico and my family lives in Europe, so I am very stressed being away from my family as well as living in a dangerous place like Mexico plus the work stress, I just feel under pressure and overwhelmed, without help of medication I usually spend all my time worrying about work and I am not able to enjoy the little things that make every human being happy like watching a movie or going out, I just worry all the time, and I thought this must be some kind of depression, when I quit smoking and started taking Champix I started enjoying life again although I was still under the same conditions, what do I have? why do I worry all the time? I am always afraid of consequences or what might happen in the future, is that depression or anxiety?

[Paxiled]

Could be one or the other or both.  The next place to go on your journey is a psychologist to find out.  If you can't fix it without medication, the psychologist will tell you to see a psychiatrist, who will evaluate you and hopefully, if it's a good one, give you the best med for your problem.  If it's an anxiety problem, that probably won't be wellbutrin, at least not at the beginning of your journey, because it's so stimulating, but you might get there.  If it's depression, it might be a good med for you.  Right now you're self-diagnosing and self-medicating, which can be a really bad road to go down.  As for the Chantix, is it possible you felt so good because you were doing something about a problem, cigarette smoking, and doing something good for yourself?  Is it possible you felt good because you were taking control of a part of your unhappiness and that felt good?  Positive acts can make us feel good.  Do them enough of the time and your mind thinks that way.  Good luck.