Hi everyone!  I'm 2 years off of Bupropion(generic Wellbutrin) and here's my intro thread at SAD.

 

and my success story.

 

Now that the holidays are over, I wanted to register and say hello to my SAD friends on this site.   

 

I hope everyone is doing well.  This forum seems really easy to understand and use, thank you to the site's founders

 

for giving us a place to continue the mission!

Welcome to the forum, j1290.

 

I am the Recovery Assistant Bot and I am here to post some information for you whilst we await replies from other members.

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications. If you are experiencing an adverse reaction to them, withdrawal difficulties or are injured by them, we are very sorry to hear this and will do what we can to help you.

 

While we are waiting for human members to reply, there are some things you can do that will help you get the most out of this forum whilst you await further support.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here:

https://antidepressantrecovery.org/misc.php?action=help

 

Please update your signature. This will allow members to see some basic information about your drug history and situation so that they may help you best. Information on how to do this is located in the guides linked above, but here is a direct link:

https://antidepressantrecovery.org/misc.php?action=help&hid=8

 

Once this is done, future posts made by you will have this signature turned on by default.

 

If you have migrated here from "SurvivingAntidepressants" feel free to post a link to your old thread in this one, or include it in your signature.

 

We hope that you will find this forum helpful.

Hey j1290

 

Thanks for joining the forum!

 

Great to have you here. 

 

And thank you for the feedback I’m glad you like the site. 

 

Would it be ok to add your success story to this site?

 

Chippy

Thank you for joining.

 

Yes, as Chippy asked, would it be possible for us to put a copy of your success story on this site, or for you to post it here? They're very valuable to people.

Hi j1290, I came from SA as well. nice to see you here.

@j1290 Thanks for stopping by my page.  It's nice to see that you are here. Warm wishes.

Hi j1290, you seem very familiar from SA. Glad to see you here and that we can read your success story. It is something so many of us, including myself, are looking forward to doing in the future. Welcome and drop a line here and there.

Be well my friend.

I’m from the other site as well.  Happy to see you here.

On 1/4/2026 at 2:32 PM, j1290 said:

Hi everyone!  I'm 2 years off of Bupropion(generic Wellbutrin) and here's my intro thread at SAD.

 

and my success story.

 

Now that the holidays are over, I wanted to register and say hello to my SAD friends on this site.   

 

I hope everyone is doing well.  This forum seems really easy to understand and use, thank you to the site's founders

 

for giving us a place to continue the mission!

hi, what made you want to taper Bupropion last?  I'm debating whether to taper wellbutrin XL or prozac first and hear mixed opinions 

12 hours ago, Healthyagain said:

hi, what made you want to taper Bupropion last?  I'm debating whether to taper wellbutrin XL or prozac first and hear mixed opinions 

I don't have any recommendations or advice, but I can tell you my thinking at the time.  

 

Venlafaxine was causing me problems over the 6ish years that I took it, due to running out on vacation or whatever, so I really wanted to be off of it.  

I also knew it was difficult to taper, so I figured it was better to get off of it first and avoid longer term habituation.  I had read Bupropion was easy to taper off of, so I didn't worry about it much.   

 

Considering it turned out I waited 6 years between tapers due to unforeseen life issues, maybe that wasn't the worst idea.   

 

That said, I'm not sure there's a one size fits all answer.  I think like most things tapering related, trial and error is the most reliable way of finding answers.  

 

FWIW, looking at your signature, 12 years of maxed out Bupropion is a red flag for possible issues tapering, from what I've read.  I had no clue going into my Bupropion taper that I was at risk for the med breaking and not working right again due to how long I'd been on it.  I thought it would be a breeze 😂

 

@go2zero on surviving antidepressants was my biggest help with this, and I often refer him to other people that tape Bup.    

 

The best advice I ever read concerning beginning a taper was to get things as stable as can be career, living, relationship wise before attempting to do one.  They're risky, and there's only one way to find out how they will go.

 

Here's a quick guide from the Royal College of Psychiatrists that I found concise.  Evidently they're calling Bup a medium risk drug instead of the low risk it was at one time.   Interesting.   

 

I always encourage people while tapering, but never for anybody to begin one.   This is serious business because anything can happen.   If there were one thing I wish I had done better, I wish I had read absolutely *everything* about tapering I could get my hands on.   I eventually read all those things, but after things had gone wrong 😁  Forewarned is forearmed.   

6 hours ago, j1290 said:

Here's a quick guide from the Royal College of Psychiatrists that I found concise.  Evidently they're calling Bup a medium risk drug instead of the low risk it was at one time.   Interesting.   

 

I've been trying to press them on this via my MP, they don't seem to want to answer so far and so far have not agreed to meet me.

 

I've been asking how there is a ranking system of how risky these drugs are for causing a multi-year syndrome, which patient voice studies show disables a significant proportion of people to the point that they cannot work nor take care of themselves, and patients are still not warned about this.

Almost 2.5 years off of AD's

 

I wanted to touch base as things wind down on the previous website.  

 

Time flies.  I can't believe its been so long already.   Those first couple years past zero were mostly about recovering physically and regaining functionality, and letting the CNS settle down.   The last 6 months have been more about re-assessing myself and my foibles off the meds, rather than struggling to get through they day with WD symptoms.   

 

I still get windows and waves, I guess?  It's most notable with the hypnic jerks, I'll have a day or three where I get them when I'm really tired.  They're mild and harmless, but I'd rather not have them at all.   If they never improve more than now, I'll still be fine.   I get some emotional peaks and valleys, and they seem to be tied to appropriate things, rather than WD.  

 

I still have the extra mental horsepower that I regained, along with better memory.  I can imagine what dish I need to put leftovers in, rather than having to look in the cupboard to see what I have.  Seems trivial, but being able to think an additional step ahead is really nice.   

 

I'm looking through some of my notes, and fortunately don't have these symptoms anymore.  The headaches/pressure that defined my taper and post-zero recovery are more or less gone.  At one time I was taking Ibuprofen and migraine meds very regularly, and I think its been at least a year since I needed them.  

 

Speaking of meds, I have started taking prilosec for heartburn.  I will get off of it as soon as I can to avoid issues, but at least for now have no complications with it.   I haven't taken a benzo crumb or clonidine in at least a year.  I won't rule out using them altogether, however it'll be a real situation before I take that step.  Things are too steady now for me to want to risk destabilizing them with a pill unless absolutely necessary. 

 

I stopped using caffeine 6 months ago to try and let my CNS settle.  I miss the idea of drinking coffee now and then, but I *love* feeling natural and not affected by chemicals.   

 

Getting off meds was a lot of work, but it was worth it.   

 

 

12 hours ago, Luke said:

I've been asking how there is a ranking system of how risky these drugs are for causing a multi-year syndrome, which patient voice studies show disables a significant proportion of people to the point that they cannot work nor take care of themselves, and patients are still not warned about this.

Dr. Shipko wrote a book about informed consent for SSRI and Antidepressants.  If I had gotten anything like truly informed consent that he proposed, I'd like to think I never would have started taking these things.   

 

Good on you for trying to spread the word.  Like you described, I had many, many days where I questioned if I would be able to continue working and functioning while tapering and recovering.   

21 hours ago, j1290 said:

On 1/31/2026 at 8:14 AM, Healthyagain said:

hi, what made you want to taper Bupropion last?  I'm debating whether to taper wellbutrin XL or prozac first and hear mixed opinions 

I don't have any recommendations or advice, but I can tell you my thinking at the time.  

 

Venlafaxine was causing me problems over the 6ish years that I took it, due to running out on vacation or whatever, so I really wanted to be off of it.  

I also knew it was difficult to taper, so I figured it was better to get off of it first and avoid longer term habituation.  I had read Bupropion was easy to taper off of, so I didn't worry about it much.   

 

Considering it turned out I waited 6 years between tapers due to unforeseen life issues, maybe that wasn't the worst idea.   

 

That said, I'm not sure there's a one size fits all answer.  I think like most things tapering related, trial and error is the most reliable way of finding answers.  

 

FWIW, looking at your signature, 12 years of maxed out Bupropion is a red flag for possible issues tapering, from what I've read.  I had no clue going into my Bupropion taper that I was at risk for the med breaking and not working right again due to how long I'd been on it.  I thought it would be a breeze 😂

 

@go2zero on surviving antidepressants was my biggest help with this, and I often refer him to other people that tape Bup.    

 

The best advice I ever read concerning beginning a taper was to get things as stable as can be career, living, relationship wise before attempting to do one.  They're risky, and there's only one way to find out how they will go.

 

Here's a quick guide from the Royal College of Psychiatrists that I found concise.  Evidently they're calling Bup a medium risk drug instead of the low risk it was at one time.   Interesting.   

 

I always encourage people while tapering, but never for anybody to begin one.   This is serious business because anything can happen.   If there were one thing I wish I had done better, I wish I had read absolutely *everything* about tapering I could get my hands on.   I eventually read all those things, but after things had gone wrong 😁  Forewarned is forearmed.   

Thank you for your detailed response.  

For me, part of the confusion comes from how things went last time. I followed a psychiatrist’s plan of a linear taper—reducing bupropion from 450 → 75 and Prozac from 40 → 10 EOD over ~8 months. That’s when panic attacks and intrusive thoughts started. I updosed, not realizing at the time that my nervous system had destabilized (and that other elective meds were likely contributing), then adjusted doses up and back down again. I’ve been holding for a few months now.

Since then I’ve been reading and watching everything I can get my hands on, and I still don’t have a clear answer on which med is safer to taper first for me. The intrusive SI is the one symptom I absolutely want to avoid at all costs—the rest I can manage—so minimizing that risk is my top priority.

9 hours ago, Healthyagain said:

Thank you for your detailed response.  

For me, part of the confusion comes from how things went last time. I followed a psychiatrist’s plan of a linear taper—reducing bupropion from 450 → 75 and Prozac from 40 → 10 EOD over ~8 months. That’s when panic attacks and intrusive thoughts started. I updosed, not realizing at the time that my nervous system had destabilized (and that other elective meds were likely contributing), then adjusted doses up and back down again. I’ve been holding for a few months now.

Since then I’ve been reading and watching everything I can get my hands on, and I still don’t have a clear answer on which med is safer to taper first for me. The intrusive SI is the one symptom I absolutely want to avoid at all costs—the rest I can manage—so minimizing that risk is my top priority.

Hey @Healthyagain Thanks for joining the forum. Could I ask you start a topic of your own look to discuss your journey over on there for me? Thank you!

3 hours ago, Chippy said:

Hey @Healthyagain Thanks for joining the forum. Could I ask you start a topic of your own look to discuss your journey over on there for me? Thank you!

Done!

Edited February 2Feb 2 by Healthyagain

59 minutes ago, Healthyagain said:

Done!

Perfect thank you! 🙂 Ive approved it for you.

Almost 2.5 years off ADs

 

I have a yearly event I have been doing for a very long time.  That gives me a bit of reference to how I react in a similar stressful situation over time.   This is my first year doing it 'recovered' from AD's, more or less.  I'm handling it better than ever before.  It's much nicer not having that elevated feeling that ADs gave me.  

 

I'm sure I could still go down the anxiety rabbit hole, and probably will, to be honest 😆, however it's not as seductive as it used to be.  

 

The usual triggers, like lack of sleep, make things trickier.  

 

I stopped caffeine about 6 months ago, and it has been a huge benefit.   There were some days it might have been nice, when I didn't get enough rest, but I don't miss that roller coaster one bit.   

 

There might still be some windows and waves, but they're not particularly noticeable.   I get hypnic jerks now and again, usually when I'm really tired and not concentrating on anything.   Annoying but tolerable.   

 

Shout out to everyone from SAD.   I feel like things are starting to move along here.  Thanks to Luke and Chippy for making this site possible..  

Glad to hear your success from being Rx free 😀  This is an awesome reminder to everyone that healing happens! Thanks for joining us here and sharing your story and chiming in on others as well. 

1 hour ago, j1290 said:

stopped caffeine about 6 months ago, and it has been a huge benefit.   There were some days it might have been nice,

Have you tried decaf... I've been to chicken to do either but sometimes.... that Starbucks caramel macchiato teases me. 

😂☕🚫☕🚫☕🚫😂

11 hours ago, j1290 said:

Almost 2.5 years off ADs

 

I have a yearly event I have been doing for a very long time.  That gives me a bit of reference to how I react in a similar stressful situation over time.   This is my first year doing it 'recovered' from AD's, more or less.  I'm handling it better than ever before.  It's much nicer not having that elevated feeling that ADs gave me.  

 

I'm sure I could still go down the anxiety rabbit hole, and probably will, to be honest 😆, however it's not as seductive as it used to be.  

 

The usual triggers, like lack of sleep, make things trickier.  

 

I stopped caffeine about 6 months ago, and it has been a huge benefit.   There were some days it might have been nice, when I didn't get enough rest, but I don't miss that roller coaster one bit.   

 

There might still be some windows and waves, but they're not particularly noticeable.   I get hypnic jerks now and again, usually when I'm really tired and not concentrating on anything.   Annoying but tolerable.   

 

Shout out to everyone from SAD.   I feel like things are starting to move along here.  Thanks to Luke and Chippy for making this site possible..  

Thanks for being here @j1290 sorry we have to meet each other under these circumstances. We all empathise especially with the sleep. The Jerks are awful arent they! Wishing you well. Chippy

Quick update.  This event that I've been working on before, during, and after tapering ADs is less anxiety provoking than before.  

 

I still have plenty of anxiety, and Id wager it's higher than the "norm".  For me, however, it's more manageable and less dramatic.  My life isn't as much ruled by it and I am able to remain flexible and keep moving forward.   The challenging things are't as scary as they used to be.  I'm definitely doing better off the meds at this time.  

 

I have taken some benadryl to aid sleep, a very small amount, for a few days.  After consulting chat GPT, I am going to do my very best to re-program my circadian rythm without the use of meds.  It'll be hard but well worth it if I can.   Nothing feels better than being entirely medicine free after so many years on them.

 

@LostinCanada

Starbucks looks amazing!   I am too chicken to try even a decaf.  

 

On 2/26/2026 at 10:08 PM, j1290 said:

more manageable and less dramatic.  My life isn't as much ruled by it and I am able to remain flexible and keep moving forward.   The challenging things are't as scary as they used to be.  I'm definitely doing better off the meds at this time.  

This is so positive….and it is going to get even better….so happy for you.

On 2/26/2026 at 10:08 PM, j1290 said:

going to do my very best to re-program my circadian rythm without the use of meds

Keep us updated along with any tips….😴💤😴
 

On 2/26/2026 at 10:08 PM, j1290 said:

I am too chicken to try even a decaf.  

I bought a beautiful smelling pack of decaf months ago….still unopened. Mayb one day. 🤣🤣🤣

Hi @j1290 and @LostinCanada. I switched to decaf early in my taper when I realised it was making my anxiety worse. I did a "cross taper" between caf and decaf. As I made my morning coffee, I gradually increased the proportion of decaf until it was all decaf. It was completely painless - esp  when compared with getting off ADs. It still has a fantastic placebo effect though in terms of feeling ready to face the day.

Thanks for that info @Fifree

I really need to just give it a try. ☕️☕️☕️

54 minutes ago, Fifree said:

still has a fantastic placebo effect

It really is about the feeling of holding the cup and facing the day. 💯❤️