Can Wellbutrin cause problems with verbal communication?
I feel the same way from time to time and I’m on no medication. For me I think it is a stress/anxiety reaction. I’ve noticed that in certain situations (like work) it shows up. Like when someone asks you a question they know the answer to, but ask you to see if you know what you are talking about, you can sense it. For me, that’s when the “duh…uh…um…yanno…blah…blah…” starts. I sense the hostile nature and clam up because I’m afraid that I MIGHT be saying the wrong thing. On the other hand, if someone comes to me because they think I might have the answer, my stress level doesn’t rise and the words flow out smoothly. So possibly, it is a symptom of anxiety that is not covered by wellbutrin.
I took Wellbutrin SR a few years ago and found my ability to write poetry completely disappeared while I was on it. It was like my vocabulary had been reduced to what it was in middle school. It was a very frustrating feeling, knowing that the words were in my head, but couldn’t get onto the paper. I was taking a 150mg dose and talked to my psychiatrist about it. He told me it was a common side effect. I stopped taking it altogether and it took a few months to get back to normal.
I’m in academia. I am convinced this happened to me as a result of anti-depressant medication. I had a hell of time writing papers and discussing my subject with others. I stopped all the medications over two years ago. I’m still struggling with articulation difficulties however (although I’m sure my own hyper-awareness of the problem exacerbates it). One interesting thing of note: my comprehension was preserved. I could read bits of technical philosophy and subjectively feel like my comprehension level had not changed/diminished. Yet when it came time to regurgitate what I had read, I struggled. I felt it was “in me”, just not in words. I studied for exams by writing out essays word for word and rereading them multiple times. I tend to misuse words as a result of the need for word subsitution all the time. But the problem for me was/is not merely or primarily constant “tip of the toungue” experiences. It’s more about synthesizing language into as you say cohesive, and I would add, flu
