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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ChrisB on August 28, 2000, at 1:45:31
Getting ready to order Wellbutrin from o/s (I live in Australia and they dont have it here) and keep hearing in my research about its seizure risk. I had a head
injury 15 years ago from which I have fully recovered
and during the last 8 years have been on over 30
different psychoactive med.s.
I suffer from social phobia, ADD, body dysmorphic disorder and resulting depression. This all started before the car accident. Ritalin and Dexamphetamine are
addictive for me and a few times I had about 20 10mg.
tabs of Ritalin in a 24-hour period in combination with
20mg Paxil and never had a seizure, and on at least 30
other occasions had about 10-12 tabs per day and never had a seizure. Ive never had a seizure period.Does anyone know if I am at risk?
In the contraindications in the Wellbutrin prescribing
info. it says contraindicated in patients with history of head trauma and this has me worried. But why would
the seizure risk be any greater with this antidepressant than any of the others or the stimulants?
Posted by stjames on August 28, 2000, at 2:08:04
In reply to Why the big deal about Wellbutrin and seizures?, posted by ChrisB on August 28, 2000, at 1:45:31
the seizure risk showed up in a study of women with eating disorder(s).
Given your "tap on the head" I hope a doc is perscribing and watching
your reactions to these meds. No 2 brain injured
people are alike so you can't generalize.james
Posted by JackD on August 28, 2000, at 2:17:36
In reply to Why the big deal about Wellbutrin and seizures?, posted by ChrisB on August 28, 2000, at 1:45:31
I think Wellbutrin's higher seizure risk is just a result of statistics when compared to other AD's. I also think people are at risk of seizures at a lower overdose with Wellbutrin than other meds. No-one can really give you a scientific explanation on why this is so and specify who exactly is at risk, simply because no-one really knows Wellbutrin's precise biological mechanism.
If you've never had a seizure before, and don't have any other possible seizure-provoking conditions besides your past head trauma, I'd give it a shot. Even if you are at risk, just proceed with utmost caution, and step up the doses slowly. Just experiment and stop if you start getting weird reactions.
P.S. I have ADD and anxiety with resulting depression and Wellbutrin is a godsend. Good luck with it, and check out my other post about Wellbutrin.
Posted by Racer on August 28, 2000, at 2:40:49
In reply to Why the big deal about Wellbutrin and seizures?, posted by ChrisB on August 28, 2000, at 1:45:31
Hey, neighbor!
OK, so I'm in California now, but an honorary or in-law Oz type. My SO is from Newcastle, but we've decided to move back to my beloved Melbourne if we head back...
Anyway, the seizure risk, as stjames said, is largely based on the women wiht eating disorders, and that came from the electrolyte imbalances involved in starvation. As for the head trauma, I hadn't heard that one, but if you've got no after effects, I would guess you're not at a higher risk than the rest of the population. Talk to your doctor, though.
And the dysmorphic body image would make me talk twice to a doctor. Just MHO, but there for what it's worth...
Posted by allisonm on August 28, 2000, at 19:39:20
In reply to Why the big deal about Wellbutrin and seizures?, posted by ChrisB on August 28, 2000, at 1:45:31
Hi Chris,
There's an eGroups site dedicated to Wellbutrin (http://www.egroups.com/links/psycho-babble-tips/Wellbutrin_SR_000963633280/) that has most all of the Wellbutrin-reelated psychobabble threads in it (including this one).I'd look in the "In General" folder and the "side effects" folder.
Meantime, this thread in the "In General" folder:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000420/msgs/30780.html
has an explanation by Cam that talks some about seizures.Also the thread called "Wellbutrin info ...Cam?" in the "In general" folder has another reference to seizures. No doubt there are more, but those I recall off the top o' me head.
Take care,
Allison
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