My Miserable Months of Medication Switch-Ups, Side Effects and Medical Mysteries

Aug 9

8 min read

From increased anxiety, medication side effects, and an irregular cycle, I just want to feel like myself again.

I started off 2026 with surgery on my tongue to remove a pre-cancerous lesion. The recovery was tough. I was in excruciating pain for a couple of days. But it was totally worth it so I could put this behind me and move on.

I am happy to report that my tongue has made a full recovery. Unfortunately, I would soon find myself dealing with other health challenges. It's like one problem resolves... and another turns up. This year has included a lot of experimenting with my mental health meds, figuring out what works, and dealing with uncomfortable symptoms and side effects. And anxiety. Lots of it.

In January, in addition to dealing with yet another sinus infection, I was an anxious mess: I often felt my heart pounding, I was quick to jump at anything, and I would cry at the drop of a hat. I needed to get back to feeling good again. I came up with a plan with my concierge doctor: get off Adderall, get back on Wellbutrin at 150mg extended release, and get weened off of Zoloft — after 14 years of the antidepressant, it was no longer working. It couldn't have been if I felt so horrible.

Step 1: Stop Adderall

Coincidentally, it was my tongue surgery that speeded up the process of going off Adderall. I was prescribed Oxycontin for the pain since Tylenol and Advil were not cutting it. But I was freaked out to take Oxy while taking Adderall. So, since I had already started taking the Wellbutrin and had heard this would help me feel better while going off Adderall, I stopped the Adderall cold turkey. Oxy and Adderall — two highly addictive drugs at once? — no thank you.

The Rosy Period

The Wellbutrin made made me feel like a newperson. I was happy, motivated, energetic, excited about things, and calm. Everything was rosy. During this time, I felt so good, I even stopped taking Ativan, which I had been taking again as needed for anxiety.

I was feeling more present and noticing the joy in little things. On some Tuesday and Thursday mornings, after dropping Harper off at pre-school, I would drive to Doylestown and hang out at a cafe, with my laptop in tow, getting work done or doing a little writing. The change of scenery helped me feel inspired, and I began posting a bit more to social media again after having felt overwhelmed by it for months.

At the end of February, I got a new car: a Certified-Pre-owned 2022 Nissan Rogue Platinum in white with tan interior. I was really enjoying my car and all the conveniences it offers, from Apple CarPlay to a capless gas tank that simplifies the process to a trunk that opens with the touch of a button. I was relishing in all the little niceties and feeling lucky and grateful — after all, I had not been in a position to buy a new car even though I wanted one desperately. My 2016 Mazda was paid off, but I was using the title as collateral for a loan that still had over four more years of payments to go.

In early February, my mom, who shared the Mazda with me, got into an accident on a cold and snowy day when the roads were not their best. Fortunately, she was totally okay apart from the emotional toll it took on her (she had little desire to drive after that). With the car being 10 years old, my insurance company totaled it. I could have gotten really screwed, but I had GAP insurance, which covered what I owed on the loan. I had no car to trade in and now I may have a car payment, but I'd rather pay that for a car (at a much better interest rate) I love than that loan.

I felt like the universe had listened and was helping me out.

Step 2: Get off Zoloft

Next up was getting off the Zoloft, which turned out to be surprisingly easy (though I had heard otherwise). I worked with my nurse practitioner to ween off slowly, and I honestly felt no withdrawal effects, nothing — probably because it stopped working, right!?

So, at this point, I was only taking the Wellbutrin and feeling great. I experienced no anxiety or depression symptoms and was so proud of myself for feeling so good while being on so little medication. It had been years since I had been on this little or nothing at all.

The Honeymoon was Over

Unfortunately, the honeymoon didn't last. By the end of April, I started feeling some anxiety seeping back in, and, by May, it was back in full force. I started feeling more anxious when teaching and especially on the days that Jared goes out gaming with his game group, leaving me to put Harper to bed on my own. I started finding myself being incredibly needy and asking him to stay home more often.

Having a medication "poop" out on me, as they say, is a common occurrence that can happens with multiple medications. Now I had to figure out what to do next. Where do I go from here?

Step 3: Increase Wellbutrin dosage

In May, Lisa, my nurse practitioner, decided to increase the Wellbutrin from 150 to 300mg, the highest dose you can go. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any of the positive effects I had after starting on the lower dose. My anxiety was the same or worse, and I began to experience extreme fatigue and dizziness.

Step 4: Decrease Wellbutrin and Add Strattera

Pretty quickly, I contacted Lisa again, and we came up with a new plan: drop down to 200mg of the Wellbutrin. She was hesitant to start me back on another SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, like Zoloft, Lexapro, Prozac) or SNRI (serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, like Effexor) type of antidepressant, so she decided to add 25mg of Strattera, which is a non-stimulant treatment for ADHD, which I was diagnosed with last year. If my anxiety symptoms stemmed from the ADHD, this would probably bring me some relief.

I started on the Strattera in early June. Unfortunately, it would take four weeks for it to kick in. So, in the meantime, I felt like I was on nothing to combat my symptoms, and I would become anxious almost daily: my heart would race, I had little appetite, and my stomach felt queesy. First, it would come on when I had something to be anxious about, but soon it would hit without warning for no apparent reason. I went back on Ativan, which I was taking almost every day, to feel calm, to feel normal. I was a mess.

Once the Strattera did kick in, though, things only got worse. I felt really off on it and experienced awful fatigue at times, where I could barely get myself off the couch. Other times, I felt dizzy, and had terrible dry mouth all the time. I felt absolutely NOTHING positive and only negative. This was a nightmare.

Step 5: Goodbye Strattera

By July, I was done with Strattera, and worked with Lisa ween off of it gradually, first dropping down to 18mg for a week before stopping entirely.

By this point, I decided that I needed to be back on a traditional antidepressant (SSRI or SNRI) asap in addition to the Wellbutrin. Back in 2008, I experienced great relief after starting Lexapro, which I took for six years, followed by Zoloft, which I was on for 12 years. Although the Zoloft may have "pooped out," there were others to try.

I also had come to realize that the anxiety I felt did not stem from my ADHD. No, I have ADHD AND I have anxiety. And at this moment, my main concern was getting rid of the constant anxiety and feeling like myself again. I did not want to keep experimenting. This is my life, not a science experiment.

Step 6: Hello Prozac

At the end of July, about two weeks ago, I my Wellbutrin dose was reduced back to 150mg. And I started taking Prozac. I am looking forward to the positive effects but am not quite there yet. I've been anxious and nauseaus almost every morning (more than I ever was durihng pregnancy!) because the Prozac is more stimulating than other SSRIs. Lisa thought that in addition to easing my anxiety, it would give me more energy.

Hopefully, the anxiety is only temporary. To counteract the anxiety, I reach for an Ativan because I know it'll make me feel better by calming my nervous system. I hate taking it almost every day and worry that it could mask the effect of the Prozac, but I need to be able to function, and I keep telling myself that it's only temporary. Once my body has fully adjusted to the medication (hopefully in the next few weeks), I should experience the full therapeutic benefits and not the side effects.

I've also been more tired. I felt a little spacey in class last Wednesday and was exhausted once I got home. Since then, I have been happy to just plop myself down on the couch with a cozy blanket. The only benefit I seem to have experienced from the Prozac so far is less restlessness. A lot of the time, I found it hard to relax and had to be doing something all the time. Now I've been resting more, which my body needs, but I've also been putting things off more.

It's been years since I started a new antidepressant. I remember starting Lexapro in 2008 and feeling amazing within two weeks. I don't remember any side effects. I want to feel like that again.

Is it Endometriosis or Perimenopause?

To complicate matters, I have another health issue on my mind.

During the spring, around the same time that the anxiety returned, I started getting my period every two weeks, and this has been consistent throughout the summer. This is not normal.

With the increased anxiety and brain fog I was experiencing, I assumed it was either due to my endometriosis or to perimenopause. A general blood test of my hormones showed that my levels all looked fine.

In July, I finally saw the new gynecologist I had been waiting a year to see, and she said those blood tests don't mean much. She said that at 44, I am definitely going through perimenopause (I was just thrilled) and that my bleeding inbetween cycles could be due to many different things, from endometriosis to fibroids to perimenopause only. She wanted me to go for a pelvic ultrasound followed by an endometrial biopsy to rule out endometrial cancer, which really freaked me out.

I am going for the test on August 24th and am so nervous — nervous about the results and nervous because I've had an endometrial biopsy before, and it was the most painful test I've ever done in my life. It was way shorter than childbirth, but just as bad! But I will do it because I want answers.

For months, I had questioned whether this issue was causing the anxiety I'd been experiencing. It sucks not feeling like myself on most days, and with all my medication changes and irregular cycle, it's hard to know what's causing what. Is it side effects from the meds, or does it have to do with my cycle? My gut tells me it's a combination of both.

I have experienced health mysteries before that I have solved — like finding out that endometriosis was the main cause of my infertility — and I will figure this one out, too.

I need to remind myself that what I'm feeling is temporary and that I should be feeling like myself again soon.

Comments welcome: If you have dealt with anxiety, medication switch-ups, and/or issues with your monthly cycle and this post resonates with you in some way, please comment! I love discussing with others and supporting each other.