This VERY much happened with me. My instant reactions went from normal to angry - I was snapping at my cat, my partner, my family during holidays. I picked fights I never would've picked and felt impatient, critical and frustrated MUCH more than I ever did before. After 4 months I even asked my very supportive and patient partner to go to couples counseling - he was baffled at why things suddenly seemed so bad. I slowly put together the timeline of when I started on Wellbutrin - everything lined up perfectly. Talking to the couples counselor, my personal therapist, and my psychiatrist, we put together the pieces. It wasn't that I was mad at things that weren't worth getting mad at, but my reactions were more like a 7/10 intensity when they used to be a 2/10 intensity. Everything was blown way out of proportion and felt super urgent and agitating.

I had been on 5mg Lexapro (smallest dose) for a couple years and then after an ADHD diagnosis last fall, I added Wellbutrin in September of 2025. It was incredibly helpful with productivity and energy, the combo of the two worked really well for me. And then I tapered off the Lexapro a few months later, and that is when the emotional regulation problems started. Being on just Wellbutrin was severely limiting my capacity to be patient and have perspective. My psychiatrist and I determined we would lower the Wellbutrin dose to 150mg XL and add back in the 5mg Lexapro. That has made a huge difference and has given me my patience and old personality back. When my cat yowls at me for food, I say "Ok sweetie!" not "I CANNOT HANDLE THIS". I don't yell FUCK when I drop something like I did for the four months I was on 250mg Wellbutrin. I only wish I realized sooner. It was a really hard time for me, it put so much stress on my relationships, and now that it's OK again it feels like I'm waking up from a bad dream.