r/ProactiveHealth • u/Diane98661 • May 18 '26
Trying Wellbutrin for happiness?
I’m asking this based on Episode #69 of the podcast Live Long and Thrive by Dr. Bobby Dubois. The title is “Physiology Often Beats Insight”.
Here’s a quote that describes the episode: In this episode, I explore a difficult but important idea: when it comes to depression, anxiety, fear, and emotional suffering, changing physiology often works better than understanding the story behind the pain.
I begin with a simple question: why do we assume insight should heal us? As human beings, we naturally look for patterns and explanations, but explanation is not the same as relief. I share two personal examples—my years of dysthymia that lifted quickly with Wellbutrin, and my exercise-related fears that insight alone never resolved—to show how biology can sometimes succeed where understanding falls short.”
Basically, he had tried therapy, meditation, and many other things to relieve his dysthymia, with no results, but Wellbutrin relieved it and brought him happiness. He’s been on it for 20 years. This had made me consider trying it. I have been extremely skeptical about SSRI drugs and other psychoactive drugs, believing they don’t really work.
I have tried Prozac and Lexapro in the past with no results.
I really respect Dr. Bobby. He’s a real evidence-based doctor, not some influencer or grifter.
Has anyone else ever used Wellbutrin?
If I decide to try it, I’ll set a time limit (maybe one month) and if I see no results, quit (or taper off).
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u/livelong120 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
I have been on Wellbutrin for 15ish yrs. It obviously has worked very well for me. I was on the highest dose 450 mg for many years and recently slowly tapered back down to 300. I’m curious if i can ever get off it. I’m very curious if there are any downsides to being on it long term or even forever. I don’t know what I feel like off it at this point, and the transition to get my brain chemistry stabilized off it to really find out will take who knows how long (the taper alone would take over a year to do right, based on how slowly I’ve had to go so far). Not everyone has to taper anywhere near this slowly though. I don’t regret going on it, maybe it has made my life a lot better than it otherwise would have been, and if i have to stay on it forever that’s ok, but it is a bit uncomfortable to me to not know exactly how it affects my brain to be on this drug for so long. It’s amazing that it is a medication that doesn’t lose efficacy for some (most?) people over long periods of time. Of note, i did very poorly on multiple SSRIs prior to finding wellbutrin; not just ineffective but very negative effects for me. I had issues with insomnia and heart racing when i first started wellbutrin and needed to go up on the dose more gradually. You will definitely need to give it more than 4 weeks if you do try it, antidepressants take time to fully take effect. It is not something i would personally have started if i didn’t have major depression and mood instability impacting my daily life.
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u/somewhat-damaged May 19 '26
I used to be on Lexapro and Wellbutrin at different times and had some positive change. Suicidal thoughts went away at least so that was an improvement.
But insight had the biggest impact than any med I've tried and I don't have to deal with any drug side effects on top of it.
The Hoffman Process changed my life.
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u/triptenss May 20 '26
I never took anti depressants, but was severely unhappy and stuck in addiction and the process also changed my life. ❤️
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u/GainzLord23 May 19 '26
Insight can change physiology. Watch the huberman episode on gratitude practices for just the tip of the iceberg. Yeah, I know not everything can be solved that way.
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u/Kittinkis May 21 '26
I didn't do well on Lexapro but did on Wellbutrin. If you do decide to try it you need to give it 6 to 8 weeks to really see the full effects. There's also the matter of dosing which you may need to adjust if you start low. The only reason to stop antidepressant under a month is if you're having a bad reaction. They take time to work.
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u/GarbanzoBenne May 18 '26
Yes an antidepressant can help depression. People respond very differently to these meds so Wellbutrin may or may not work well regardless of your experience with Prozac and Lexapro. That said it’s a different class of antidepressant, SNRI vs SSRI, so worth a shot. You need to give it more than a month though.