Viibryd For Me

Hello....I am 38 and have been dealing with a divorce that started before I started on Viibryd. I am now on my 25th day of the starter pack. I haven't really noticed too many of the side effects of everyone else. I have noticed a craving for sweets, which I am trying to stop because my Dr. has had me on adipex for weight gain from zoloft. I haven't really gained any weight from what I can tell thus far.
I also haven't had any problems with stomach issues or headaches.
I have noticed my sex drive come back however....
I am just hoping that this pill is going to work for me. I haven't really been able to notice anything different. Do you all think maybe I just need to wait a while longer to notice????

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It can take approximately 4 to 6 weeks for the medication to reach its full efficacy in the body, so you may need to wait awhile longer.

We do have another thread on here that is very active, with many people posting and talking about their experiences using it, here's the link if you want to check it out:

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­Discuss/­Viibryd-220039.htm


There is also more information on the medication itself here:

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Viibryd/­

Is there anything else I can help with?

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I have been on several anti-depressants over the past 16 years. Whenever I would ween off one pil and go to another I never had any problems. I have been taking prestique for one year. I wasn't myself. It was hard for me to think, a little confused and I reequired much more sleep. I just dismissed these actions on getting older. (I'm 49) For the past month I have been trying to ween off and go on viibryd. This had been the worst experience of my life. I am dizzy, the brain zapps are terrible and now I really can't remember anything. I have to study hard to remember what I was going to do when I enter a diffrent room. It seems like my new favorite thing is to just sit and stare. OK folks, i'm not blaming this on getting older anymore! Help! Will this pass. I was given a starter pack of viibryd, i'm 5 days on the 40mg. but still taking a very small dose of prestique. I'm a very active, busy, busy person. This has me really depressed. Has anyone ever had this experience?

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Nicole,

Well you are the first of anyone on all the forums that I have heard say that they haven't noticed anything...lol.. I didn't have all the side effects either...but much craving for sweets, which I am not a sweet eater...have had to be very careful. I don't know anything about Zoloft, so I am not much help. I take Wellbutrin, Vii, and Xanax...this Vii has been an awesome drug for me. You can look on the other thread for my post. Good luck!!

Lisa,

Were you OK on the 20mg? My doc said that most people are staying at 20mg and that the FDA may change the recommended dosage to this.

I will keep my 40mg...lol...

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I have been on viibryd for several months, I seem to be losing my hair, has anyone else noticed this.

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Jennie, at this time I can't find any information relating it to hair loss, but remember it is still very new and it is difficult to say how any medication may affect anyone that uses it.

Have you talked to your doctor about it?

An additional tip for everyone, you should always make sure to take Viirbyd with food, taking it on an empty stomach can decrease its concentrations and cause it to be less effective.


https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Viibryd/­

Are there any other questions or comments?

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Wow, that's interesting to hear that the FDA might change the guidelines to 20 mg. I AGREE! I just wrote the FDA to speak out about my horrible sleep paralysis (see link on this forum for my several posts now). One thing my neurologist mentioned last week was that she didn't know fo anyone taking 300 mg. Wellbutring & 40 mg. Viibryd together (like that is ALOT). Ok, this is why I increased my Wellbutrin to begin with. In Aug. 2011, I had been taking 300 mg. WB (wellbutrin). I began Viibryd. At the 30 day mark, I noticed more fatigue & hunger & neuropathy foot pain. So I called up my family Dr. & they went ahead and increased my WB to 300. BUT, I am not sure if the nurse said the Dr. said to keep my Viibryd at 20 mg? I had taken 40 for 2 days and I had weird almost over seratonin symptoms in the evening. I then spoke with my Dr...I think? (memory loss is bad lately...worse since weaning off Viibryd) & was approved to stay on the 40mg of Viibryd. So YES, I do think 300 WB & 40 mg Vii is TOO MUCH. But 20 mg. is ok, if one is not having sleep paralysis/nightmares. But the only true way to test that out is to try weaning off Viibryd. HA HA HA. Good luck. This is the most mind bending medication out there. Thankfully, I am strong as all heck & cannot wait to be off of Viibryd! Never taking another SSRI ever! Like Dr. OZ said....SSRI's take the brain chemicals and shake it up like a Boggle game set. To those who are having success with the med, I 'thought' I was in that league until I started weaning, just because I wasn't feeling truly happy. Blah feeling is not how I should be feeling on an SSRI. I expect better. ;) Going to try to go natural. Sunshine & exercise. But still stay on my beloved Wellbutrin! (my refined prescription cup of coffee/appetite control). Something funny about Wellbutrin is that I haven't smoked cigarettes in almost 15 yrs (social smoker) but once starting the Wellbutrin I could totally see how it stops certain addictions. I am slightly ADD and it helps me focus. Ok--maybe more than slightly. :) I like my ADD and my OCD, because my house is clean. lol

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editing to add......when my Dr. gave me Viibryd, he expected for me to stop the Wellbutrin cold turkey (!?) Which I never did as I had some 75 mg. still laying around (I was taking either 150 mg or 300 mg of Wellbutrin at the time of starting Viibryd). So after 30 days of only taking 75 mg. of Wellbutrin SR, I requested my family Dr. 'ok' 300 mg. Wellbutrin along with the 40 mg. of Viibryd. I don't want to ruin it for people, if it's working for you. I took those 2 together for ....5+? months w/o any issues. But I did begin to feel like 'what were they doing for me?' Decided to wean off Viibryd, because my husband curses at it due to cost and my lack of libido. :) Just so glad I know now about the horrible side effects so I have saved my brain from further damage?! from Viibryd. I don't know a lot about discontinuation syndrome from any SSRI. Assuming it's the same? But when my family Dr. acted like I've grown a 2nd head for talking about this (via phone w/ nurse) I began to wonder about the Viibryd. I'll be following these posts very closely & also updating you all. thank you!!! I couldn't do this w/o you all!

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I had wicked hairloss during chemo (as you can imagine) but my chemo was not the type to actually make one bald. So....about 2-3 times since then...the last time maybe last summer, I went thru several months of a lot of hair falling out for no reason. I really do think that it's a normal pattern, from what I've heard, and not from the drug. But anything is possible. Just make a note when it started and ended and I bet you'll see it as a cycle thing every few mos. or years. My mother on the other hand, was on meds for her hypothyroid & losing a lot of hair. So there are other medicines that can cause hairloss.

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I also experienced severe "brain zaps" on Viibryd. They were so scary to me. Along with that I also became overly aggressive with people I really care about. Two things I could not live with. I realized after 5 different antidepressants that one a day meds are not for me. I am trying no meds for awhile. The withdrawl from Viibryd have been the worst so far. I have been depressed and not myself. I just don't know how long to wait before reconsidering being off meds all together. Does anyone know how long to stick it out to give my body a chance before I try yet again another medicine???

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The drug won. I was freaked out, saw Dr's, had an MRI, nightmares were awful....but the feeling after going from 40 mg. for 6+ mos. to 20 mg. for 14 days and then 10 mg. for 1 day was enough for me to realize that DARN IT, I am just going to try the 40 mg. dose AGAIN to see how I feel. It wasn't a placebo effect. I took the 40mg at night (reluctantly) & also 5mg of Ambien. No nightmares. So Sun. night (last nite) I was supposed to take 40 mg. again, but again, reluctantly, took the leap & waited until the am. I DID NOT have any nightmares or discontinuation symptoms. I did not take Ambien last nite as I was drowsy feeling, but I have to laugh because from 3:45am-9:30am I think I woke up every 30 min. I had my libido back, just missing my regular pm dose, but nothing happened. :) So here we are Mon. am & I debated on taking 30 mg, instead of 40 mg, but because I had horrible side effects when BREAKING the pill to 3/4 dose/30 mg. weeks ago, I didn't want to go thru that again. Maybe Viibryd shouldn't be broken? I know my snapping the pill wasn't perfectly accurate & that could have been enough to throw off my meds for those few days, sending me into a discontinuation syndrome tizzy!? So I recently took the 40 mg. and I am feeling fine. This is what I observed at lowered doses. When going to 20 mg. I had 2 days of out of the blue tears. I guess I was used to not getting 'teary' on the 40 mg, so I was annoyed w/ myself. :P Life felt like a Hallmark commercial at times. No thanks. I already know that Viibryd kills PMS. :) Thank God. My libido was better on the 20 mg. but I felt partially covered by my depression. Someone mentioned feeling argumentative on Viibryd. That's a tough call for me as that's my personality. ;) In the past, I've noticed when going off the Wellbutrin, I would find myself being more honest & sharing my valid feelings & opinion. Oh, but no....it's best to keep opinions to oneself. :) Ok---so on the 10mg. for 1 day, I had taken Zyrtec with it for my all over light acid burn feeling that I get all over my skin at times (sebborheic? keratosis? flare up/allergies/scalp itching) and so on Sat. I felt out of it and grouchy. That's why I took the 40mg. Sat. night before bed and THANK GOD had a nice day Sun. I know it made a difference. We'll see what today brings. I've felt a little head-achey (frontal) since going back on the 40 mg, but that could be the Wellbutrin (300 mg) side effect w/ the Viibryd. All in all, 30 mg. might end up being a better dose for me? Anyone else taking 30 mg? Any other news on the FDA changing the max dose to 20 mg? (I do not believe that's enough, but that's just me...) Hang in there everyone!

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Hi...I do feel like you will benefit from Viibryd, especially after going thru a divorce (or during). I know from experience with emotions & Viibryd that you will feel more in control & I do remember feeling more smiley when first starting Viibryd, but that soon faded. I am already a smiley person though. But I do always feel like I am dragging or fatigued and have gained weight. So it's really important to keep up with an exercise routine. I do wonder though how natural endorphins will work with Viibryd? As I have a tendancy to be hyper & already easily excitable w/o meds, the Wellbutrin calms me (like an ADD med?!) & the Viibryd takes away almost all of my NEGATIVE feelings towards where I live. It makes me CONTENT with where I am, so I can go about my day & not want to complain about this Godforsakin state. :) Sp?

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Hi...so have you tried Wellbutrin with Viibryd? I can't say that I've felt overly aggressive. It could be something as simple as playing wii fit kickboxing while taking your Viibryd that might work for you? Or Viibryd and Xanax (as needed)..when feeling overly emotional & stopping the ridiculous emotions (oh don't I know) before you feel aggressive? Or go out for a walk/run...get a treadmill? I just hate to hear someone have to hop around to different meds. My neurologist confirmed with me that Viibryd is basically Effexor. Years ago I was on Zoloft during chemo. I want to say that Zoloft & Prozac (tried Prozac for a few weeks) both made me feel more tired. That's the one big difference with Viibryd is that it doesn't make me feel 'TIRED' and like laying around not nearly as much as other SSRI's. Now I was taking Buspar with Wellbutrin prior to taking Viibryd (w/ Wellbutrin still) and I think someone said once that a Buspar type med might be mixed in with Viibryd? My husband takes Celexa (20 mg/day) & I think it's kind of a joke. I see him as more tired, he still has his yelling tantrums, but I think he is a bit more calm on Celexa. That's for him to figure out. I have enough of my own headaches trying to make sure that I am just feeling good enough. I just want to be ok and content with where I am in life and not 'feeling' crabby, like I thought was 'normal' for many many years. I could have avoided a lot of inner turmoil for myself had I just tried an anti-depressant in my 20's. I had to be at my worst towards the end of chemo and crying & saying that my husband needed an anti-depressant!!! before the PA said to me that I would benefit from one. I was not happy with her. I felt ganged up on. But once the Wellbutrin started working & I wasn't obsessing every single minute & crying about dying & leaving my children w/o a mother, that I began to heal & feel 'ok.' When it came time for me (last summer) to finally give in and tell my Dr. that I think I needed an SSRI, he told me about Viibryd. I told my husband that I can either feel AWFUL and ANGRY and SAD all of the time and still have a libido for those 10 min. moments......or I can take an SSRI and not have much of a libido, which I can deal with, and I just remind myself that 'sex' is part of the marriage (lol). Which would he rather have? So I think he now realizes that the SSRI comes first, for my health! "screw" him! haha jk.....awful play on words there.

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Same. Several months, maybe 4 0r 5 on the Vii and now my once thick hair is thin, wispy and falling out by the brush full.

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Going off Pristique gave me brain zaps also

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how effective is taking vibriid 40 mg and bupropion 150mg together? I was on Viibryd doing fine then noticed I was getting depressed again as this progressed the Dr added bupropion .Anyone taking both these would be very helpful with this information.

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OMG I started on this 11 days, I had long thick hair, Now I have a lil thinned out clump of hair in the back. Went to my doctor with my concern he suggested i get a scalp test. Which is scheduled for july 11th i will be bald by then...I have google everything under the sun trying to figure out why this was happening, so today I ask my daughter to google viibryd and heres my answer...ugggggggg so mad, sad Take it for depression, my hair falling out is making me more stressed

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i have been on viibryd for almost a year my hair is falling out and i have all kinds of jount pains my hands are swelled up so much i can't wear my wedding ring witch was to big for me before.i have also gained 20lbs and unalbe to loose it i just cut down this week from 40mg to 30 and plan to stay on that for a couple of weeks i have read all the horror storys about people cutting down just praying i do not have that problem.

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I'm 51 and have been on Wellbutrin 300 mg for several years but still experiencing depression throughout that time. I finally asked my doctor for an addition or change in meds and he suggested Viibryd due to less weight gain issues as many of the others. As soon as I added the 10 mg to the Wellbutrin I felt markedly better--I mean within 12 hours. When I got to the 20 mg Viibryd in the sample card I stopped the Wellbutrin, as per the doc. By the time I got through a week of just 40 mg Viibryd, I was back to the same depression (and experiencing joint pain on top of it). Doc and I discussed and I started back on Wellbutrin and, for now, 20 mg Viibryd--which we may take down to 10 eventually (especially since Express Scripts charges the SAME COPAY for 10, 20, and 40 mg Viibryd--I'll just cut them and save myself some money because it's definitely not cheap). Bottom line for me, the Wellbutrin is still a great-working med for me. I think it just needs a little "booster" once you've been taking it for several years. Also, I had GOOD dreams for a change when I started on the Viibryd, although it did give me some diarrhea initially.

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I'm on the medication exact same but at 20mgs. Have you had any life threatening reactions?

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Just started on Viibryd my 2nd time. The first time I felt great until I started on 40mg and things got crazy.This time only taking 20mg. I have read a lot of blogs and 20mg seems to be the magic number. I have only noticed one side effect and that is I am hungry as a BEAR which I love to eat anyway, otherwise feeling much better after 10 days. .Has any one tried 150mg Wellburtin with 20 mg Viibryd????

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I would like to know when the best time is to take Viibryd? Do you take it in the morning or before bed? Thanks

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My hair has been shedding horribly since starting this med and the dizziness and diarhea is terrible tooo.

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skeety7 - I am trying this exact regimen starting today, with a side of Xanax as needed: I have used Wellbutrin (actually generic right now although I prefer name brand) off and on since 2007. Currently have been on it for about 2 years again. It's working well enough - it's 300 mg but usually broken up into two 150 mg doses. I take one as early as possible, and one at least an hour or two, at the most 3 hours later.... If I don't take 300, I feel a drop-off at about 6-7 pm. If I stagger the two 150s, I don't notice a drop, but if I ever want to start cutting down I can easily and slowly taper back down to 150 daily. Not doing that now though! My life is very stressful with a sick mother and a son who was just diagnosed with Bipolar I after having a severe psychotic manic episode. Add to that just having teenagers, a mortgage, a relationship, well, life is just very stressful. I know that Wellbutrin and Viibryd don't really help anxiety, so I do have a Xanax scrip for acute "attacks" but it's the lowest possible dose, and I usually break them in half, and I do not use that daily or even weekly, normally. Sometimes I do use it nearly every day - like the ten days my son was speaking in rhymes and in a psychiatric ICU. Then I will go months only needing one here and there. I wasn't sure if the Wellbutrin wasn't working or if life is just that difficult right now, but I need just a little more help. Lying down and letting life pass me by is just not an option; I have far too many responsibilities. So I am trying the Viibryd. I think I am going to ramp up and try to stay on 20 mg and never go to 40. I will also probably stick with 300 mg generic Wellbutrin (unless I can ever afford name brand and then it will be the real deal) staggered at 5-6 am and 7-9 am 150 each. I will try and check back and let you know how it goes.

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There's so many scary posts written here that I just wanted to share my own experience so that those considering Vii...

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Have been on Viibryd for almost a month. Dr. having me top out at 20mg for now, so cutting 40mg in half. Initial stomach...

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First day (morning) after taking Viibryd. Took my first 10 mg last night before bed. Slept ok. No weird nightmares. Regu...

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I've been on viibryd for over a year and I'm still depressed. I get up, go to work, come home and go back to sle...

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At first I was a wreck, super high anxiety and depression and I cried several times a day. I think that might have been ...

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Greetings, I just went to my doctor today and she is switching me from Celexa 20mg to Viibryd 40mg. I notice a lot of yo...

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I've been on viibryd for over a year and I'm still depressed. I get up, go to work, come home and go back to sle...

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