Has anyone taken both Wellbutrin sr and Wellbutrin xl? Which one was better?

Question

I have been taking Wellbutrin xl for 6 months now. It helped at first, but pooped out on me in a BIG way. Im back to sleeping all the time, mising appointments, locking myself up in my apartment, not answering my phone or returning phone calls. I have no motivation, and I dont want to be touched or have sex at all. These are the things that I was doing during my many severe bouts of depression. Where is the energy and refreshed feeling that I keep hearing about? After doing soem research on the internet I came across some information that stated that although in theory Wellbutrin sr and xl are supposed to be exactly the same, according to majority of people who tried both, the sr version worked much better than the xl. I was switched to the sr version today, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works better. Im getting desperate. I think it has to do with the fact that the sr is released over 12 hours as opposed to the xl 24 hours. more in blood stream at one time.

Answer 1

I took wellbutrin for a while (don't remember which one), it did nothing for me. My doctor switched me to Lexapro, it works wonders!!!! Good luck I know how debilitating depression is!

Answer 2

XL and SR are not the same.The XL has a longer plasma level tthat stay in the system longer so their can be side effects to the XL rather than the SR. We do have some of our clients on the SR because the side effects are more manageable than the XL. The XL does not cause more XL in the blood stream. Imageine the SR as a roller coaster. Everytime you take the SR you get a peak of initial medication and than drops and everytime you take the SR you get the same peak. The XL releases slow into the bloodstream cause it too work over periods of time. So everyone is different. Some people have side effects on SR than XL. So it varies person by person, but if you had better management with the SR, talk to the doctor about switching to SR to try. I know our Psychiatrists have done the same thing.

Answer 3

I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time again. I too have taken both SR and XL and had the opposite problem of my SR pooping out on me. My doctor wanted me to take 150 in the morn and 150 in the afternoon but I could never remember to take the afternoon dose so he switched me to XL that I could only take once a day. But it looks as if I may bump up to taking two in the morning.

Supposedly the XL should work better because it maintains it's dosage longer through out the day and the SR has a shorter half life and would therefore peter out mid day. But if you are not getting relief perhaps you can ask your doctor about taking a second dosage mid day or seeing if you could also add in an SSRI. I no longer take an SSRI but when my symptoms sounded like yours the combo of the wellbutrin SR and Zoloft( for me- everyone is different and will respond differently to which SSRI works best for them) was the only thing that got me out of bad and back out in the world.

I am sorry you are having a bad bout right now. I truly hope it passes quickly.

Answer 4

I didn't notice a difference between the SR and XL, but it wasn't the only med that was being changed at any given point. I'm on XL now and I've stablized. I like the XL better just because I have to remember to take half as many pills. I hope the switch works for you. Good luck.

Answer 5

I took Welbutrin xl for a month, I was more depressed and had seizures. Had to get off it.