Physician - PsychiatryProzac and Wellbutrin are very often prescribed in combination and is perfectly safe.You need to chew before you swallow your food. Basic skills of life here. There's a reason we have teeth. Please use them.There's nothing inherently wrong with you seeking medical reassurance when you're anxious about something, but also understand that medical resources are limited and healthcare workers are burnt out and very overworked. If someone comes in for the 4th or 5th time with anxiety symptoms that are similar to the past 4-5 times, it's human nature for the doctors to automatically assume it's anxiety again, which is neither medically urgent nor emergent. It becomes harder and harder for the doctor to justify medical workups when the cause seems very obvious.Having experienced anxiety symptoms for so long and so often, you can learn to recognize when it's anxiety vs something new that would feel different. You can learn how to start taking an active part in recognizing triggers of your anxiety and learning to avoid triggers (i.e. CHEWING your food) or de-escalate your symptoms before they become severe. As a psychiatrist, I'm acutely aware of how difficult is to find a therapist who can take insurance within a reasonable wait list (you should still get on those wait lists, it'll be your turn eventually). In the meantime, you can look into online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) courses you can do on your own from home. It's not as effective and personalized as working with your own therapist, but it can get you to start learning the basic skills and concepts and start practicing those skills while you're waiting for a therapist. Therapy will be essential for long-term control of your symptoms. Meds alone will never be enough.
Hi there. Female, 20yo with Panic Disorder, GAD, MDD, BPD, the works. Hate it.Anyways, I've had psychiatrists keep me on Prozac 40mg most of my life and it's been the most comfortable. A numbing experience, but it did the job. Years ago, I tried Wellbutrin but at the time I had COVID (which actually amped my anxiety) and thought my anxiety getting worse was due to Wellbutrin, so I was taken off. Back to prozac for 2 more years. Recently, I got off it again and got on Wellbutrin 150mg due to sexual side effects and hoping it'd help my anxiety.It did not. In fact, it made anxiety worse and I've had awful panic attacks, physical symptoms that have been cleared by my GP after tests showed nothing was physically wrong.Talked to the psych, and he said "Ok well I can cross taper you from Wellbutrin slowly back to Prozac.".I swear I keep hearing never to take those together, and even my past psych wanted me to be off prozac completely before getting on Wellbutrin years ago.Note I have horrible health anxiety and dread feeling any negative physical symptoms (to the point I annoy my GP about it) and it's starting to make me feel helpless. I'm constantly bothering people and terrified of dying, and just... Feel like a waste of time to my doctor, a waste of resources to my nearby hospital when a panic attack gets so unbearable it feels like I'm fucking dying, and a bother to my loved ones even though they try to be helpful and reassure me I'm not dying.Last night was possibly the worst panic attack since I've been on Wellbutrin, even worse than Prozac PAs. Basically I was eating soft stick candy, swallowed a whole piece because I have a bad habit of not chewing my food, felt like it was stuck in my throat, tried coughing/throwing it up, began to panic when my throat started feeling weird after trying to force myself to throw up, and panic ensued. Fiance checked, nothing was in my throat and turns out it was probably a phantom feeling in my throat.But anyways, about the medication.So... I've agreed to do a cross taper and lower to 100mg for 2 weeks before adding in Prozac 20mg if I felt ok.Is this ok?Also, secondary question.What do you think of patients who suffer from these things? I'll be completely honest... I genuinely feel like a horrible person for wasting the time of people who help others that really need it.I had gone to an Urgent care when I started experiencing really bad breathlessness and a nurse came in to talk to me, I told them what I was feeling and mentioned it felt worse than most of my panic attacks. She asked me if I had a history of anxiety, answered yes, and she did my vitals and left. Later a doctor came in to check on me, nurse pulled her back outside and I had heard her say "No no, she's having a Panic attack" and their voices became more muffled as they walked away.It just... Kinda confirmed what I was already feeling and connected with other experiences of having gone to hospitals feeling absolutely shitty, with doctors recognizing me and seeming annoyed, or seeing my GP look at me with.. I dunno, not really pity, but something else that just makes me feel like I'm disappointing him, and it's not his fault... It just sort of destroys me, because every time he clears me of any physical illness, he just reminds me to find a suitable therapist and combine it with my medications, despite me knowing and not telling him most therapists around me have a year long waiting list and the ones I tried that DID hear me out... Well, didn't help at all. One I tried recently missed appointments constantly, telling me to wait until next week... for 4 weeks straight. And when I finally saw her, I wanted nothing more than to just spill the beans and vent and try and work through recent trauma with just a really horrible and abusive friendship that I'd managed to cut off, and...She said that before that, we had paperwork to fill out for the next 2 sessions. Not homework or therapy paperwork, mind you, paperwork paperwork.It's just... A helpless feeling. I feel like a bother to most doctors having the anxiety I have. I want to get to a therapy asap to stop having these obsessive thoughts about my health, and in turn, let you guys do what you do best, y'know?I'm really sorry to bother you all here. I guess I want some insight? Validation? Criticism? Confirmation of whether or not it's a huge inconvenience/nuisance for you all? I'm not sure... Any answer on the second half is welcome. Thanks, and again, sorry.