[Path]

I have been dealing with chronic DP/DR for many years now, but have always been told by mental health professionals not familiar with this disorder that it was "depression" and/or "anxiety". I am only now coming to understand that whatever depression and anxiety I experience is secondary to the underlying DP/DR.

I know that SSRIs have been at least partially helpful for some people with DP/DR, but I am wondering what experience any of you have had with the atypical antidepressant Wellbutrin, which acts on dopamine and norepinephrine rather than serotonin. It is sometimes prescribed to people with depression who do not respond (or only respond partially) to SSRIs, or people who have ADD on top of depression.

I feel like the extra "focus" and "energy" from the Wellbutrin just gets channeled into the obsessive internal self-monitoring that is part of DP. It also may be making the visual component of DR worse, although I notice that I have a really hard time comparing how I'm feeling (or how things "look") right now to how it was at various points in the past.

What do you all think? I'm thinking about stopping the Wellbutrin and just continuing with Celexa. And ultimately I may have to face up to the fact that if my core issue is Depersonalization/Derealization, antidepressants are just never going to be that effective for me.

 

[Guest]

Never tried it personally, but as elliott said it's very commonly prescribed for this type of situation. It may help with your depression and ease some of your anxieties, its a fairly harmless drug in the grand scheme of good vs bad drugs, so it cant hurt to try!

 

[TDX]

I don't think that bupropion is a particularly strong choice for someone with primary DPD. You're justified in your belief that anti-depressants are unlikely to be effective.

Bupropion's action of dopamine is too weak to really make a difference. If someone wants to go the dopamine route they are better off trying Aripiprazole, Amisulpride, Segelegine, Ritalin or Adderal.

I feel like the extra "focus" and "energy" from the Wellbutrin just gets channeled into the obsessive internal self-monitoring that is part of DP. It also may be making the visual component of DR worse, although I notice that I have a really hard time comparing how I'm feeling (or how things "look") right now to how it was at various points in the past.

Have you tried Clomipramine? It might be effective for some people with depersonalization and is although good against OCD, so I might work against you obsessions.

 

[Path]

Thanks, this is super helpful.

 

[hopefuluk2]

Hello Pete. Since you have DP for long time, how can you describe it now? Do you have brain fog/blank mind/head pressure? How is your vision? Is it dream-like state? Has it changed over time?

 

[Path]

Hi hopefuluk2, I do experience brain fog, but not exactly blank mind or head pressure. I notice often that there a discrepancy between an internal feeling of emptiness/numbness and my external affect which appears to others to include a more or less normal/full range of emotional expression. A big part of it for me is a constant internal self-monitoring of the severity level of symptoms, and a pervasive feeling that I am different, alone, changed or on the other side of an impenetrable barrier from others (as if on a different planet, not fully here). Visually I have some degree of seeing things as flat, too bright or too dim, and sometimes farther away than they really are or slightly double vision (but not exaclty). I would say all of this is at more of a chronic (but fluctuating) low level, compared to the much more extreme level that I experienced as a teenager when it was first triggered. I remember that as being like looking through binoculars backwards with everything/everyone seeming very far away and two dimensional, but I have not experienced that level as an adult. How does it feel for you?

 

[hopefuluk2]

Thanks for your answer! I got it 6 months ago after panic attack of smoking marijuana in Amsterdam and some stress in my life. Vision seems 2D as if I am in a dream and it has not improved in six months. I have brain fog. Sometimes head pressure at the front. Blank mind is SO annoying. When I talk to people, I feel as if my mind is stuffed with cotton. I don't feel myself when I talk to people. It is very annoying. The brain fog feels as if I am tipsy/high/stoned in an unpleasant way!