Fluoxetine (50mg) +Bupropion (150mg)

Hi everyone. So I've had depression for 6 years (since I was 15) and I have been on fluoxetine (prozac) ever since. 3 months ago, I went from 40mg fluoxetine daily to 50mg daily. And 2 months ago, I started on Bupropion (Wellbutrin) at 150mg sort of as a booster, because I was in a horrible state of mind. I think people usually go up to 250 mg bupropion after a few months, but I might not because I'm on a pretty high dose of fluoxetine.
I do take forever to respond to medications, I know that. I think it has gotten easier to get out of bed in the morning, but still, I can't feel anything (emotionally). I'm completely flat.
Does anyone have experience with this med combo? Has it worked for you?

Further info: I also have anxiety disorder with panic attacks, for which I take clonazepam, 0.5 mg daily. I also have ADD and take ritalin on an as-needed basis when I need to get schoolwork done (but I avoid it as much as possible because it makes my anxiety worse).

Thanks in advance.

Hi Obu.!

As for not feeling emotions, i can relate here, this is called anhedonia- the inability to feel pleasure or any emotion whatsoever.

I also have no emotions, i remember the time before the big depression started.. like 10 years ago when i was 18..I got excited, fell in love, music sounded alive,the fresh sparkling sensation in my chest and the smell of the grass coming up in spring (aaaaaa, i miss it sooo much.)
and then suddenly blah, complete silence, like the mind was shut down, there was no more emotions, no feelings only emptiness and thick fog.

I even can't believe this kind of a state is possible.. how this even exists, how can human being even experience such kind of misery...this is worse than cancer!! The suffering that we all go through, cannot be even explained in words...no one who has experienced this can even possibly even IMAGINE what has happened to us. Just like people who are deaf who cannot hear, or people who are blind cannot see, we are emotionally paralyzed, we can't feel anything! This is just inhumane, and to be honest, I'm not sure I even have the strength to even care about life or anhedonia anymore. Anhedonia is probably the worst thing a person can ever experience... sorry for bringing the moral down here, i don't try to be negative(what does this word even mean anymore??)

There is a way out thou...

NARDIL --The doorway out of this god forsaken state of mind.. this is IF and only if:
-you are willing to sacrifice punch of your favorite foods
-you don't care putting on some extra kilos, you will probably need new clothes.
-you are willing to stand in front of toilet bowl 15 minutes praying for a drop.
-willing to be constipated for so long that you will lose tenth of your body weight after the final drop.
-you will not consume alcohol(not too much at once on a party) or any other substance(not a single pill) as you will end up seeing spiders crawling up on the walls of your bedroom and calling cops that people with chainsaws are trying to kill you in your own bathroom.

Else wise You will be happily snowboarding in your newfound freedom!

Let's fight it on!
SWIM.

SWIM wrote:Hi Obu.!

As for not feeling emotions, i can relate here, this is called anhedonia- the inability to feel pleasure or any emotion whatsoever.

I also have no emotions, i remember the time before the big depression started.. like 10 years ago when i was 18..I got excited, fell in love, music sounded alive,the fresh sparkling sensation in my chest and the smell of the grass coming up in spring (aaaaaa, i miss it sooo much.)
and then suddenly blah, complete silence, like the mind was shut down, there was no more emotions, no feelings only emptiness and thick fog.

I even can't believe this kind of a state is possible.. how this even exists, how can human being even experience such kind of misery...this is worse than cancer!! The suffering that we all go through, cannot be even explained in words...no one who has experienced this can even possibly even IMAGINE what has happened to us. Just like people who are deaf who cannot hear, or people who are blind cannot see, we are emotionally paralyzed, we can't feel anything! This is just inhumane, and to be honest, I'm not sure I even have the strength to even care about life or anhedonia anymore. Anhedonia is probably the worst thing a person can ever experience... sorry for bringing the moral down here, i don't try to be negative(what does this word even mean anymore??)

There is a way out thou...

NARDIL --The doorway out of this god forsaken state of mind.. this is IF and only if:
-you are willing to sacrifice punch of your favorite foods
-you don't care putting on some extra kilos, you will probably need new clothes.
-you are willing to stand in front of toilet bowl 15 minutes praying for a drop.
-willing to be constipated for so long that you will lose tenth of your body weight after the final drop.
-you will not consume alcohol(not too much at once on a party) or any other substance(not a single pill) as you will end up seeing spiders crawling up on the walls of your bedroom and calling cops that people with chainsaws are trying to kill you in your own bathroom.

Else wise You will be happily snowboarding in your newfound freedom!

Let's fight it on!
SWIM.

Thanks for responding, SWIY. Yeah anhedonia is really bad. I can't tell whether I prefer feelings of sadness over no feelings at all, which is weird. But when you go for so long without feeling anything, even bad feelings are welcome.
As for Phenelzine, thanks for the recommendation. I'm always interested to hear what other people take as medication and what they think about it. I don't think I'll be trying phenelzine, I'm right now trying to make it so that I don't have to go off fluoxetine. It takes at least 6 weeks for fluoxetine to build up to functional levels in my system, so it's not the kind of thing I can just go off to try something completely new.
I wouldn't be able to function, I don't think, without ritalin and sleep aids. So I don't think I could take Phenelzine if it means I can't take anything else. Maybe in the future, if I can't work it out with an SSRI, then I'll experiment in the MAOI department.
I'm curious to know exactly how nardil is working for you (but you don't have to answer if you don't feel inclined). In your experience, is it worth the side-effects?

SWIM wrote:As for not feeling emotions, i can relate here, this is called anhedonia- the inability to feel pleasure or any emotion whatsoever.

That is incorrect. Anhedonia refers specifically to a reduced ability or an inability to experience pleasure (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181880/). There is a subtype of MDD (Major Depressive Disorder) termed MDD with melancholic features and one of its features is anhedonia. Those that are experiencing MDD with melancholic features clearly are experiencing emotions because many of the symptoms of MDD are emotional: moroseness, guilt, shame, grief (http://depression.wikia.com/wiki/Melancholic_features).

Being unable to experience any emotions is something altogether different from anhedonia and not typical of MDD.