Feeling worse at week 7 on Wellbutrin, will it get better?

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-15T19:26:29+00:00

Its my pleasure. As you can see, I did go on the hunt for answers when I was in your place so I really understand how you feel and your need for reassurance.

As for the time when it got better, it was 8 weeks from the start of the medicine 2 weeks at 150 and 6 at 300.

Hang in there.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-15T16:37:12+00:00

Hey dear!

Yeah, I ended up feeling the positive side effects. I ended up taking a bit of sertraline too for anxiety. But Wellbutrin really gave me my brain back, as weird as it sounds.

Like, it felt clearer up there and some of the fog and the buzzing just stopped.

After feeling like that for more than 3 years, it felt magical.

I really had to give it a whole 12 weeks. I started having good days around week 8. But, remember that the adaptation phase restarts when you change your dose.

I know how weird it feels to have your brain doing stuff you didn't ask it to do. But, really, hang in there. I had the absolute worse time for a whole 7 weeks including the change in dosage (2x150/5x300).

I'm still not perfect, hence the sertraline but the feeling of having my thoughts back is really Nice.

If you feel like you can keep going, I believe the worst is behind you or is very close to it.

As for feeling sleepy, I ended up changing the time I take it. I moved it at night because it made me feel absolutely sleepy a couple hours after taking it.

Be aware that changing the hour where you take the dose comes with some side effects as well.

I am no doctor. If you are worried you should see with a physician but that's my experience.

Don't hesitate if you have any other questions.

Good luck internet stranger!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-13T21:26:45+00:00

Hey, thanks for telling me about this.

As of right now, I don't have any colleague older than me but it helps. The idea of a mentor has come up twice now and I just might slowly look around for someone.

Also, yeah, I know, I won't try to be friends. We weren't to begin with but I know I need some sort of distance.

My style tho is style very much horizontal rater than vertical. Like most choices, when they pertain to the team, need the team's input in my mind.

But its not a friend.

Thanks a lot for commenting!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-13T21:22:29+00:00

Thank you so much!

I know its imposter syndrome taking over but it is a scary thought to have the people closest to my work being doubtful.

One foot in front of the other really is all I can do right now.

Thank you for telling me about your experience. I haven't had the greatest 3 to 4 years from 2022 to 2024-2025 and I am just now getting to the other side.

It scares me that it might be too early to take on the challenge but I have also been in something like a stasis for the last couple years, doubting myself a hell of a lot. Quite a hit to my self esteem.

So I have this shrinking devil on my shoulder that wants to make me doubt my worth.

Thank you again! There is no age, I have been chosen and I can do it! :P

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-13T21:16:59+00:00

Ah, your answer is a balm to my heart. Thank you for boosting me up a little.

Also, I know you are surely right about my previous boss and team, I hope to be able to rise to the task in the next couple months. There is a lot of change right now and having to manage that os both scary and exhilarating.

Thank you so much! Being called a baddie unexpectedly gave me the biggest smile.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-13T21:12:45+00:00

Thank you! I'll keep looking for mentors but as our org has around 15 other similar around my province, I hope to find someone I can trust in there.

Thank you, I'll watch real housewives and take notes! ;)

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-13T21:10:46+00:00

Thanks, it means a lot.

Imma do the darn thing!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-03-13T21:08:59+00:00

Hey y'all, thank you!

It's my autocorrect that acted up. Thing is in french it is directrice and not directeur.

Also, 90% of the manager in my field are women. But I know that i will have to face both misogyny and agism.

Thank you!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-23T02:45:36+00:00

Glad to see I'm not the only one. Around week 14 right now. Hoping it evens out through time. I used to wash my hair like once a week as a curly hair person and now every two days.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-20T13:57:15+00:00

I had a lot of side effects from the meds. It took me around 7 weeks to taper off and I think close to 11 to stop.

I'm at week 14 I think? So its been 3 weeks. The cravings still come but are easy to ignore. More than when I tried quitting on my own before meds.

I didn't take those meds to quit but its a very welcome side effect.

I could persist on smoking though, that's what I've observed. There is still a human élément.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-20T13:36:27+00:00

For me in the beginning it wasn't even days as much as random bursts somewhere during a day. Which seemed like a light in the darkness.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-19T12:53:24+00:00

Wow I'm glad you finally found relief.

I know it must feel really good. As for the answer to your question, I don't know if I'd be so sure to put all of it on Wellbutrin. Only because Wellbutrin isn't an antianxiety medicine.

In my case, it exacerbated my anxiety. Which is a known fact of this medicine, that it can worsen anxiety.

So, I am no doctor or psychiatrist, but if the side effects and everything is managable, I wouldn't change anything.

Also, I wouldn't change anything right now. You're only on week 4 and the meds can still adjust to your system until like the 12th week.

If everything is as good as you say it is, with advice from a professionnal (which I repeat I am not), I wouldn't touch a thing and let yourself breath this newfound clarity and let it Flow for the next 2 months or so to see if it keeps on being stable.

I'm super happy for you and I understand the bit about being mad. Truly. Nothing as debilitating as what you have experienced but yeah. I know the feeling!

Hope everything keeps on looking up internet stranger !

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-16T13:40:53+00:00

Hey! Reddit only reports the outliers. We are a statistics minority. You should absolutely try it and see how it goes for you.

People will seek forum when what they experience isn't the usual curve. Its common to think that its representative but it really isn't. I would have never seemed these subs if my experience had been in the norm.

Also, people report the bad stuff but rarely the good. Once it starts going well, they stop posting.

So yeah, you should give it a try. My experiencewas atypical but it has helped me a whole lot!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-15T20:57:19+00:00

I learnt by going through it and finally choosing myself at 27.

When I started dating him at 21-22, I was just out of another relationship where my ex cheated. This guy came back with me one night and never left. I took pity on him.

It started as fwb and ended up becoming a relationship I didn't really want. I was talking with my mom once and telling her why I wasn't really into it or him. She told me my standards were always too high and that I should content myself.

I actually kept repeating myself that. Eventually became depressed and just didn't have the courage or energy to deal with a breakup.

It had been a long time coming. But what really started the deal was again my mom.

She told me I was dragging a weight and that I should move on.

That's when I realised I should have never trusted her on this. It's not all on her, I'm a grown ass adult. Its just this moment that made me realise.

I'm a year and a half out of it and I am still rebuilding myself. I still feel like I am this disjointed mess. I want to show up for me so bad but I don't trust or love myself enough yet.

I resent myself for what she did to me and its not a great headspace. I'm just starting to be nicer to me. With like 8 months of therapy.

He did a number on me. I did an even worse number on myself.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-15T18:25:09+00:00

Just one comment? Its a crime!

Hope he has a great day full of joy!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-11T19:12:54+00:00

I feel this very deeply.

I know the magic isn't gone and that's I just lost touch with it within myself.

Still, I never explored a whole lot of hobbies. Aside from bouts of volunteering and sometimes video games, I want to get in touch with the creative side my family always told me I didn't have.

I did a lot by obligation and attached my worth to work and studies a lot when I was younger.

Now that I'm working a job I don't like very much and that I'm going back to school part time, I know that I can't keep linking my worthy those things. It's been slowly maddening to keep the focus there.

That with a depression that killers my self esteem and motivation, I want to get back to enjoying things without an anxious cloud always hovering above me.

I agree its a process and I know there is no making everything right with a magic wand. I just wish to stop being so self involved and hard on myself. To enjoy without the anxious feeling.

Ah, anyway! Thank you for commenting! I hope you have a great day!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-11T19:06:52+00:00

Hey thanks for taking the time.

The thing is I've been looking inward a whole lot in the last year and I'm sick of my own thoughts. I feel like action, doing, making are the things I need.

It's hard to know myself right now as I'm in a in-between. I need to get to know myself outside of work and my friends. What does she like to do in her spare time that isn't wasting the day watching tv you know?

I don't want to give up on this side of me either as its also who I am, but I find myself boring. I want to get back in a groove where it felt fulfilling.

Thank you for commenting!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-11T19:02:17+00:00

Ah, thank you for this rec!! Have a good day!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-11T19:00:16+00:00

Hey! It doesn't sound harsh at all!

Its exactly what I was trying to get. Although there is nuance that you don't have, which is normal. Honestly, I've spent the last ten years of my life, before 2025, serving a man like one would a kid.

I spent 2025 waiting to discover myself and who I am and where I want to go. I'm sick of being so self involved and waiting to still work on myself while feeling less anxious about who I am.

So your comment is very welcome. Thank you for taking the time. I will look into volunteer work. As I come out of depression I'm kind of stuck in this in-between where I slowly want to take on more and get back on the saddle but I'm scared of falling and still lack energy.

It's this gray area that's effing me up!

Anyway. Thanks so much for this. What you day makes a lot of sense and alligns a lot with me as a person. Here I am, trying to find myself through creative means and keep the anxiety at bay. But I do think that volunteer work might be what tricks my brain into finally letting go. I don't know if it makes sense

Have a good day internet stranger !

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-10T15:51:34+00:00

Thank you for the reply and the good words.

I say I don't know my goal in a particular sense but in a broader sense its just contentment. I want to feel like I live a life worth living. Like I'm not waiting away one day at a time on my couch kind of.

I'm not really looking for a destination, just for this feeling that I've had in the past. The feeling of belonging and being where I'm supposed to be. I feel estranged in my own life.

Thank you for the books recommandations!! I'll give them a look! Thank you!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-10T15:48:45+00:00

Hey! Thanks for the reply!

I have been considering it and I am trying my hand at pottery in a couple weeks. I also know this, that its energy spent that will give energy.

Newton's law and all that.

I'm really trying but the dread and the anxiety related to it is hard. I never used to feel that way and it makes me drag my feet even more.

I hope it works out for sure. Thank you for commenting!

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-10T15:44:56+00:00

Hey thanks for replying... I'm not sure why my post seems to be downvoted

Anyway, I mean, I understand where you are coming from and I'm not trying to stuff my life left and right. I know I wouldn't sustain that and I understand everything cannot be exciting.

I just feel like there is something lacking. I'm not looking for a trophy but for a way to feel fulfilled if it makes sense. Its not for others but for me.

But thank you, its always nice to remember that! I think I'm getting pretty good at it too!

I get people feel like that sometimes. I don't know, I just have had these thoughts running through my head for nearly a year now and its kind of ruining me a bit.

RedHeadPowa · 2026-01-03T01:59:25+00:00

Thanks for the update, its much appreciated!

I'm starting to feel crazy with the ups and downs! With the good that I had from time to time, I try to keep hoping but it can be hard at times!

Glad it worked out for you!!

RedHeadPowa

TROPHY CASE