Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hello,
Reading many posts in this forum have encouraged me to make some medication changes. I had taken 100mg Zoloft for 6 years. 2.5 yrs ago my RLS became unbearable. I started with mirapex and changed to Requip a year later. I'm having a hard time with weight gain. Recently, when it seemed the Zoloft was bairly working and panic attacks started coming out of nowhere, I decided to talk to my PCP about changing to Wellbutrin, therefore perhaps allowing me to give up Requip. She agreed and told me to do an immediate switch between Zoloft to Wellbutrin XL 150mg. Well that was a disaster. I had horrible withdrawal symptoms. I couldn't work. I called my dr, she said to go back on Zoloft for 2 weeks, then call back for a taper down schedule. Well... Within 2 hrs of swallowing a Zoloft tablet I was back to my normal self. The past four weeks I have tapered down off of Zoloft. My last Zoloft was Wednesday. By Thursday I was having major mood swings, emotional breakdowns and crazy thoughts. I called my dr again and she doubled the Wellbutrin to 300mg. It doesn't matter, I'm going through SSRI withdrawal. It's been tough on my family. I have no tolerance for my kids shanigans. If you look at me cross eyed I either cry or scream. This is so hard. I hope it's worth it. All I do know is that I have had killer headaches since I started Wellbutrin. It also corresponds with stopping/decreasing Zoloft. So I don't know which causes it.
Why am I writing all of this... I'm just looking for some support, encouragement, and for someone to tell me my head won't explode, but that it will all be alright.
Btw, Requip controls my RLS just fine, thank goodness, but it also causes me to binge eat.
Thanks,
Saptree

Saptree - SSRI withdrawal can be very nasty. I do remember that the shorter acting, the worse the withdrawal. So, switching to one that is longer acting may help. I don't remember which is longer acting, though.

Have you had your serum ferritin and hemoglobin checked? Could be that if it's below 50, increasing it could help reduce symptoms even more (and potentially prevent augmentation).

Hang in there....We're here whenever you need us.

The last time I had my ferritin checked was 2 yrs ago. I managed to get it from 7 to 40. My sleep dr said that was good enough. The iron pills were giving me severe stomach pain. I do wonder if I can increase my ferratin level and rid myself of SSRI's if I can manage RLS without mirapex or Requip. It's what I would like to do.
Yes, this withdrawal is nasty. I think I just have to fight through it. I hope it doesn't last too long. I'm almost there... Hope I don't loose my job with my attitude in the meantime.

saptree wrote:The last time I had my ferritin checked was 2 yrs ago. I managed to get it from 7 to 40. My sleep dr said that was good enough. The iron pills were giving me severe stomach pain. I do wonder if I can increase my ferratin level and rid myself of SSRI's if I can manage RLS without mirapex or Requip. It's what I would like to do.
Yes, this withdrawal is nasty. I think I just have to fight through it. I hope it doesn't last too long. I'm almost there... Hope I don't loose my job with my attitude in the meantime.

It isn't good enough! You need to have it closer to 100.

The iron pills can be terrible. You might be a candidate for a transfusion, though. Quite a few people who get them are able to reduce or eliminate their medication. They may need several transfusions over the first year to get to a stable place (our bodies "eat" iron for some weird reason). Of course, some people do not benefit. But, that said, it's worth trying.

I take Wellbutrin, it can cause headaches, I only take 150mg once or twice a day. You may be taking too much, a Dr. told me that Wellbutrin won't help with stress that much, it's mainly for Depression. Maybe the Dr. would give you something for anxiety to go with the Wellbutrin. If I take a high dose it will make my headaches worse. Maybe the headaches will go away after a few weeks. Zoloft or other SSRI's are better for anxiety.

Yes... The Wellbutrin was causing the headaches. I saw a PA at my dr office a week ago (because i had suicidal thoughts) and has tapered me off of Wellbutrin by going down to 150mg for a week then off. At the same time I was put back on Zoloft at 50mg, with an increase to 100mg after a week. My mind and mood went back to normal with the Zoloft, and the headaches were cut in half by the decrease in Wellbutrin. I was also given atrovan for break through anxiety.
Wow... I really wanted to stay off of Zoloft since I went through the trouble to quit it. This PA made it seem like I couldn't live without it. I learned the Wellbutrinisnot for me. That black box warning... It's no joke.

Wow! I was considering asking for a switch to Wellbutrin, but I think I may hold off. I have absolutely no problems with Zoloft, but was concerned about interactions with pramipexole. I think I will just wait and see what happens. From what I read here, Wellbutrin is really only for depression, right? I have more issues with anxiety than with depression when I am not taking the Zoloft…..

Yeah, I don't think Wellbutrin works for anxiety.,, and I went on Zoloft for anxiety.
I'm still having headaches, milder, but still annoying. Maybe Zoloft contributes to them too. Generic Zoloft that is. I have had a ton of trouble with different manufacturers of generic Zoloft. I'm trying to get Pfizer brand but it's a major insurance fight. And with a change of insurance carrier on Jan1st, I can't make an argument for it right now. Best I can do at the moment is use Greenstone, which is part of Pfizer, but it doesn't seem as effective as it was.

SSRi withdraw can be a pain in the ****. When I have to do a quick withdraw from a drug I use high potent Benzodiazepines like Lorazepam or Clonazepam to kill/nuke the withdraw symptoms. After 1-2 weeks you can stop the Benzos and you should be just fine. The thing is that I can imagine that many Doctors consider this method to rough/brutal and this method does not work for all drugs. It depends on the drugs and the conditions you have.

I was on Escitalopram for some months and then switched tu Wellbutrin. The Escitalopram withdraw was very easy. I did it in three days without needing Benzosdiazepines or having any withdraw symptoms.

At the beginning the Wellbutrin wasn't doing much for me but over the weeks I could cleary notice a couple of positive effects:

- it reduced my daytime RLS/WED symptoms

- it improved my energy

- it improved my cognitive fuctions (I am able to read books again, better concentration and attentin)

- my mood improved over the weeks. the mood change didn't happen over night. It is a slow but constant process and after every week I can cleary notice improvement.

I had Wellbutrin in combination with other drugs in the past and it didn't work out for me then.

Some combinations work, other's don't.

It is a big trial and error thing.

GAAWD how depressing it all is

Now I'm trying BuSpar on top of Zoloft. It hasn't set off my RLS yet, but it kinda makes me hyper at night.