NH_Watts' TRT Log

Oh hey dude! Nope I had no idea. My involvement here goes in waves now. I must have missed your reintroduction.

Yeah I started the Bupropion XR (Wellbutrin XL) this morning at 150mg. Doc said he will bump me up to 300 along the way. Has your wife started taking it yet? Supposedly could take as little as 3 days and up to 14 to start feeling anything. Nothing to report from me yet. Is she excited? I am. I have been battling fatigue and fogginess for so long I look forward to some clarity. So she is just looking for libido and drive? Lots of off label uses for it it looks like so hopefully it works for her!

ā€œRead it may help boost energy and weight loss?? Let’s see. Cause if you remember my wife is very overweightā€ Yes I do remember you saying this. And yeah weight loss is an off label use as is energy as it is a stimulant.

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IIRC, I have asked you before the same question. Has Adderall worked long term? I am in the process of setting up an appointment with a psychiatrist, and I think my main thing is ADHD (was diagnosed as a child). I am almost sure I have anxiety, and possibly depression. Never feel motivated to do anything but lift. Most of the time it seems like a tremendous effort just to do normal people stuff like read a piece of mail.

I think it is possible that the anxiety and depression stem from the ADHD. Stress due to not getting things done sort of thing. Feeling bad about myself for not getting things done.

I am also curious about this Wellbutrin @dextermorgan and @NH_Watts have been talking about. Maybe that could help?

Wellbutrin is a stimulant, like Adderall but diff mechanisms. Wellbutrin, aka Bupropion, works as an NDRI (norepinephrine dopamine reuptake inhibitor) so its give you more energy (norepinephrine) and more feel good stuff (dopamine) all through the day. More drive, better attention & cognition, and a heightened mood. That being said the people that I’ve talked to with anxiety either had to stop taking it or take it along with something else because it affected their anxiety negatively.

Hmm, I do think my anxiety is driven by my ADHD. Anxious about things that I have been slacking on.

Getting any help (or at least any meaningful help) with this stuff is not easy, and is expensive. I feel like it is a lot of hoop jumping. In my state, I think it is required to go for a visit every 3 months to keep an ADHD stimulant prescription, and they will do random drug screens too.

Personally, I think we should have access to all drugs (I am kinda libertarian on personal liberties).

I talked to my PCP about a year ago and got treated like someone trying to obtain legal meth. I am trying to work with a psychiatrist, but haven’t heard back from her.

I am with you on the drug laws.

It might be your PCP. I went into mine, he is a DO, as a new patient for my yearly physical and told him my memory was way off for the last couple of years, Im always tired regardless of amount of sleep, and I always feel like Im a little high with my head in the clouds. I honestly thought he would send me for some memory testing or something and start brain scans but he referred me to a psychiatrist. I wasn’t looking for a script. Or maybe you didnt approach it the right way?

I was looking to get my old script back. I thought that was reasonable, but I guess I will have to do all the evaluations again. TBF, my old script was from about 25 years ago. But I do have a diagnosis for ADHD.

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Get on the XR and get on 300mg after 2-4 weeks. 150mg won’t do shit but help you quit smoking. You’ll definitely lose weight. It’ll curb your appetite like a stimulant would and you’ll have energy regardless of food intake. The non-XR version isn’t as effective. If your insurance will cover it get the actual brand name. If you dig online there’s problems with many of the generic brands. Wellbutrin used to offer a flat $50 on their website.

Remember it takes 8 weeks before you really feel anything at all and then it comes on slow until one day you realize ā€œdamn I feel itā€. Much like TRT people judge it before it has time to take effect and quit too early.

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It makes your heart faster and when you get excited or worry it can make them feel more pronounced but in time you get used to it.

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Im actually hoping this isn’t the case. I have a hard enough time getting 2400 cals in in a deficit.

Yeah Im on the XL which is the slow release. I think you have to start at 150 and then titrate up to 300. He mentioned I will need 300. I see that there is a form for a card to get the script for $5 a month. Im paying $18 for the generic so I will look into that. Thanks.

Good info. Am just happy primary gave to her without any questions. Happy dr have us med we wanted

I don’t think I’ll push it and ask the dr to change to XR. Idk

Interesting study on Bupropion (Wellbutrin) here, ā€œā€¦the treatment of depression with bupropion appears to be accompanied by changes in the gray matter, white matter, and total brain volumesā€

ā€œThis evidence of increased gray matter and total brain volumes with bupropion treatment has clinical implications for the possible effects of norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibition on brain structureā€¦ā€

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This is definitely a thing. Depression is linked to ADHD, and I understand exactly what you’re saying. It is sheer will power to get my backside up and do something sometimes, for no external reason. My problem is that I have a gene mutation that screws up my ability to process Adderall, among other things. I get about 40% effect, which means I have to take stupid doses sometimes, and the drug builds up in my system over time until it starts to become toxic. I can only take it sometimes and not everyday for long periods of time. I have to really kick myself in the ass sometimes to get into gear, and I never feel like I got enough done, ever. I have had a script for Adderall for around 15 years. It usually expires unused, so I get zero hassles on renewals.

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It wouldn’t be pushing it to ask for extended release especially since it means a better chance of getting the outcome you desire. They rarely use standard release anymore.

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I have extensive experience w wellbutrin.

Gave me decent energy but hindered my sleep. Unlike the posts here, I switched over to SR from XR in an attempt to help sleep.

I do recall a day, about 10 days into starting it, that I had insane sexual thoughts. I remember driving and not being able to focus bc all my thoughts kept going sexual. It was amazing. But it only lasted a day.

I stopped taking it a few months back. Safe drug and worth trying. Keep posting results for the board.

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What time of day did you take and how much?
@roscoe88

Right now wife is taking 150 SR in the am. Only day 3 but she seems more alert and motivated till about the afternoon.

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I actually looking for a bit more wakefulness and will take a little delayed sleep. Currently I fall asleep within 60 seconds of my head hitting the pillow so if it takes 10 times that long I would be ok with it.

Why did you stop taking it? Why did you start taking it? What were the other pros/cons to it?

In my endless search for
Missing libido I experimented w dopamine modulation. Nothing really has worked. Buspar gave me the greatest hope, but it was short lived.

I stopped taking wellbutrin bc I could no longer justify it. Although I did appreciate the alertness it gave me. A tad more confidence I suppose. Better speaking.

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@roscoe88 how did you dose the SR? Wife started with 150 in the am. Seems now energy till afternoon.
How long to start other 150?

Thanks.

SR is 12 hour release i believe, so she could just take 2 pills, 12 hours apart. Check dr.

I only took 1 SR pill in the morning. The XR kept me up at night.

This sounds like the same med they use in the military to keep people focused on long missions in the Air Force and spec ops and etc

I’m going to look into this. I feel great, but focus is hell for me. I think it’s due to this Suboxone shit I’m taking.

Thanks for sharing bro. I’m gonna look into this

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