Wellbutrin & Weight Loss!
 

I started on Wellbutrin at the New Year, same time as I started back at WW and being very serious about watching my diet. Since 1/1, I have lost 7 lbs! I am so happy and excited, but of course terrified that once my body gets fully acclimatized the wt loss will stop. I really need to get back to my more normal 170-180 wt range. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I hope you have continued success! :carrot: After I switched from Lexapro to Wellbutrin, I found I finally had the drive and the focus to really try harder.

They just put me on wellbutrin as well, and I find some days I'm super hungry and then somedays I have to force myself to eat

I'm two weeks in and still losing. I'm up to 9 lbs now!! I'm still afraid it will wear off, but in the meantime the Wellbutrin is giving me that boost of self-control... or maybe I'm just not a depressed face-feeding machine! I hope to start new habits and stick to them, since I have alot to lose.

Sadly the appetite suppressant effect wore off rather quickly for me but it did get me motivated to start WW and exercise and for that I am grateful. BTW it is the only med that works for my depression. I did have to lower the dose that was prescribed for me though because it caused anxiety. The 150mg dose works great.

I can't have it unless it is a generic-- thanks to the sucky insurance situation in the USA (home of millions of un-insured and under-insured).

Don't let that fear backfire.... keep a positive attitude, your doing wonderful :bravo:

I was wondering if I should switch to wellbutrin as I've been on Lexapro for nearly 6 months and have been feeling so unmotivated and tired for a few weeks now..sounds like some of you have had some success on it..might have to talk to my doc about it

I'm going to my doctor to beg to get off of Celexa tomorrow. I'm hoping she'll put me on a non-SSRI, specifically Welbutrin. I've heard a lot of positive stuff, but mainly I just need to get off Celexa because I sleep 12-16 hours a day sometimes, and have NO energy.

Before Celexa I slept about 8 hours no problem, and I was losing weight. But on Celexa... Man, I can't lose weight for ANYTHING. *sigh* I mean it's ok for my depression issues, I guess, except that I am depressed that I sleep through life as a lump.

Anyways, here's to hoping I get on Welbutrin tomorrow.

Went to the doctor yesterday to talk to her about Celexa. Told her how unhappy I was with the constant fatigue and weight gain.

She said "Celexa shouldn't cause weight gain" ... [so it's likely that i'm not trying hard enough].

Anyway, I told her to switch me to Wellbutrin since I read enough medical articles to know that Celexa, an SSRI, is well known for contributing to weight gain or prevention of weight loss. "Google it," I said. LOL. I was so sassy.

So I'm switching doctors AND switching meds to Wellbutrin. We'll see how this goes... =)

Oh jeez... I know what you mean. For a while, my GP was handling my depression and was just pretty much throwing meds at me. I finally got tired of it when I told him Cymbalta wasn't working for me so he told me to stop it COLD TURKEY and start back on Prozac. I basically lost my ever-loving mind and had to take unpaid time off from work to deal with the withdrawals and craziness that put me through.

So I ended up going to a psychiatrist. That was the best decision I EVER made. I'm on Lexapro (20mg), Wellbutrin XL (150 current, up to 300 next week) and Topamax (100mg). It's a good combination for me so far, and after I level off at where she wants me on the Wellbutrin we may try to wean me off the Lexapro. I figured if someone was going to be tinkering with my head, it may as well be someone who does it for a living and not someone who just reads tidbits out of medical journals and says "Here! try this!"

I have no problem losing weight - I count calories and I do have the side effects of loss of appetite right now. Sometimes I am hungry, sometimes I need to make myself eat because I know I need to. I weigh my food, I walk & have a heavy bag at home. So while the appetite loss is nice, it will wear off eventually, so I just keep truckin with the changes in my lifestyle.

12 pounds so far & still losing!

Another pro for Wellbutrin... increased sex drive. It's actually been studied, so it's not just me. Looks like a win-win for my husband. Happier, thinner, hornier wife. Sorry if that's TMI!

Safyre is right. I went through the same thing except my GP tried a few different things and then said I needed to see a psychiatrist (he said it to be helpful, not nasty) because he wasn't an expert. So I found a pdoc that I really like and it also turned out to the the best thing I did. She finally diagnosed me as bipolar (and we kept wondering why all the SSRI's didn't work) and now has me on 200 mg. Lamictal, 105 mg. Wellbutrin and 75 mg. Seroquel. I feel better than I have in YEARS!!
I don't find that the Wellbutrin helps or hinders my weight loss. I gain or lose depending on what I eat and how I work out. I know that it sounds wonderful that Wellbutrin helps some people with weight loss, but I would caution anyone against switching just for that reason. It's really for the doc to decide.

Right - different meds affect different people in different ways. What may be a lifesaver to one person may just completely not work in any way, shape or form for another. What may pile on the pounds in one person, may not in another, or vice-versa... And typically, the appetite suppression side effect if you get it is temporary - just like most side effects. Brain chemistry is just funny that way.

Yeah I think I'm going to switch from a GP to a therapist instead, because it feels like my GP is just throwing stuff at me sometimes, hoping something works. =/

I don't know whether Wellbutrin will help or hinder my own weight loss, but in my experience with Celexa, I felt that it really did hinder me (partly from the fatigue, no doubt) so I'm just looking for an improvement on that.

I've been on Welbutrin since September (or was it August?) Anyhow, I've lost almost 30lbs since then, and I'm still losing. It really helps with the food addiction aspect of obesity, at least for me. I think it's working like it works to help smokers quit. I usually gain 10+lbs over the holidays, and this year (without trying to diet at ALL), I lost 2 lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I love Wellbutrin-- started fall 2008, stopped may 2009. During that period I lost about 15 pounds without working out at all.

I just started it again 6 days ago. With that I began a hardcore new regimen of counting calories and getting at least 100 minutes of physical activity per day. I've lost 15 pounds in 6 days. 10 of those pounds were in the first two days.

For sure it's a first week boost, but last week I was watching what I ate and working out some. My appetite was disturbingly low one day-- so much so that I felt sick the next morning. Otherwise, though, it's been high energy and happy times, except for one odd side effect: my pupils are a little dilated! I'm sure it will go away soon as I didn't have that side effect before. Regardless, I've been MUCH less inclined to watch TV (watched 1 hour this week as opposed to 10+ hours usually) so it has a silver lining. I also find myself fidgeting a lot and standing up at work (I teach small seminars where it's ok to sit or stand). Loooove Wellbutrin. I think I'm starting to understand how the time of day affects how the Wellbutrin works, or how long it takes for me to get an energy rush from it. Also, it seems to interact well with caffeine.

So I started taking my Wellbutrin about 10 days ago. The changes have been interesting:

- I am jittery, but not weirdly so. I just noticed that when I sit in class, I now do a slight nervous leg tapping fidgety thing... A lot of people do the same thing, so it's not weird, just new for me.

- I don't know if it's related, but I haven't been as hungry this past week, or I just kinda forget I was eating something. Which is weird and new for me.

- Still having some anxiety issues. Started freaking out over stuff i can't control and woke up very suddenly at 3am with a case of the frets. Hopefully it's just a side-effect of switching meds.

- Lost 9 lbs.

30and300 - if the sleep problems persist, your doc may recommend you take your evening dose a little earlier in the day. As for the jittery-ness, I know when I took a higher dose, I developed a hand tremor, which was freaky. I've cut the dose and the tremor is gone.

The "wellbutrin effect" (whether it is appetite suppression, hyperness, or just generally happier so not emotionally eating all day) is still working for me. I've lost 16lbs since Jan1. I can actually see a difference now!

30and300,

Wellbutrin is a fantastic medication for depression, but it is not indicated for anxiety disorders (many people find that it worsens their anxiety). If your anxiety persists, I'd recommend talking to your doctor about adding a second agent for anxiety (either a second antidepressant like an SSRI or an SNRI or maybe even a benzodiazepine).

Yes, my doctor told me to watch my anxiety levels, because I do have a history of social anxiety and panic attacks. Wellbutrin actually seems to have helped with the anxiety to an extent - for example, making phone calls is hard for me, but is much easier now that I'm taking Wellbutrin. It does not work as well for anxiety as Paxil did for me, but Paxil had other unacceptable side effects (like massive weight gain and the disapearance of my libido and the near inability to have an orgasm). So definitely keep an eye on anxiety - as Jen mentioned, sometimes wellbutrin and a low dose SSRI are used together to help both depression and anxiety, and to help counteract each other's side effects.

Celexa made me gain weight as well(10lbs in 2 months). For some reason physicians seems to disregard how much weight gain contributes to depression(and vice versa).

I have been on wellbutrin for a long time. It hasn't helped me lose weight but it keeps me active and happy and that is good enough for me. It certainly doesn't prevent weightloss like celexa did.

Thanks guys. So far the jittery feeling is ok if I take it early in the day and eat food with it. I might look into a companion SSRI if my anxiety continues to be a problem though. I have a follow-up appointment in a week or two, so hopefully my sleeping problems will go away by then.

I've been on Wellbutrin for 4 days now and I feel very different already. I feel like it has put me back in the "driver's seat" on sticking to my eating plan and I am not giving into cravings I went out to eat twice with family this weekend and passed up the bread basket both times!

All I know is: I was on WeightWatchers FOREVER (like over a year) and never lost more than a couple pounds, then regained and lost it over and over. I wanted to succeed, but just couldn't. Maybe it was depression, food addiction or just inability to do anything difficult. I started Wellbutrin for New Years & since then have lost 17 lbs. I definitely eat healthier and eat less. I think I've been able to stick to it because of the medication and haven't had any negative side effects. I'd stay on it forever, but really want to get pregnant once I get the weight off, so I know I'll have to give it up at that point. Good luck to everyone!

I gained 10kg in one month when I started Wellbutrin :( and they're really hard to take off; I exercise and watch what I eat, but it goes down real slow :(

Sorry to hear it, Ginger. I have found the success stories here to be SO inspirational. They help me to believe that I really CAN do it. Good luck & keep at it!

I guess I will be soon contributing to this thread as I was diagnosed with dysthymia and got a prescription for Wellbutrin today.

Aliquot - Good luck with the meds! I hope they help you to feel better & make your weight loss journey a little easier. I just celebrated losing my 1st 20 lbs, which I think would have been impossible without the Wellbutrin (for many reasons). I know my family is also much happier since I started taking it!

Really late reply here, but I take the generic version of Wellbutrin (SR not XL) and it works just as well as the brand label for me. I was skeptical, but it has worked out well.

Day 1 on wellbutrin (well, the generic brand of it)...and I didn't sleep a wink last night.

Hmmm... that's not going to work in the long term! Maybe take it a little earlier in the day? I take two a day & my doc had me start with one at first. I started with the AM dose for the first week; then added another at bedtime. By then I think my body was acclimatized.

He has me taking one in the morning and one in the evening. The doc said it might "interrupt" my sleep for the first few nights so hopefully it will get better...

Your idea sounds good though so if I don't sleep tonight that's what I'll do. Thanks.

I take my second dose a few hours before bed and that helps. When I first started doing the second dose, I took it before dinner. That really helped me work into a later dose.

...how long do I have to take it before I know if it works or not. Every day since I've started I've been on the verge of tears...

Oh no! They say 2 wks for it to make its way totally into your system, because it's not the wellbutrin that makes you feel better, but some byproduct of a byproduct. Meaning your body has to break it down twice before it can activate. In my case, I usually feel better after about a week; though just knowing I'm going back on does wonders right away.

For me, it started working right away, but not completely. The first week or two, most of the effects were related to energy level and appetite - more energy, less appetite. Those two things helped to improve my mood, but I can also see how the extra energy in the begining could actually make you feel more on edge and more moody and anxious (especially if you're having trouble sleeping). It was 2-4 weeks before I felt more in control of my emotions. I know that when you take it to quit smoking, they advise you to take it for a month or so before picking a quit date, so I'd imagine that's when it's fully in effect.

I won't take my second dose after 3pm. I need my sleep. :)

Also, I found that I had an immediate improvement in my focus and drive. I never felt like crying when I first started. So I'm not sure if that's common or not.

I will say that it was almost impossible to eat for the first few weeks. I had no appetite, which was disconcerting. I had to set an alarm to eat. Sounds like a dream, but not really. Even the idea of eating left me feeling blah.

Yeah I really haven't felt any of those effects. I've only felt slightly dizzy, jittery, and more depressed than I was before. I also feel grumpy all the time. :\

Well, I'd say give it a few weeks, if you can, and see what happens. Obviously, if you're starting to think dangerous thoughts, you should call your doctor. Otherwise, try to ride out the side effects. When I started Paxil years ago, I had a rough first month, but once my body got accustomed to it, it worked well. I didn't have as big an adjustment time to Welbutrin, but it seems like most side effects of anti-depressants fade over time.

Also, both times I started Wellbutrin, they had me start out for the first week or two with one pill per day. I saw up thread that your doctor has you taking two from the get go. You might call him/her and let them know that you're having a lot of side effects and ask if you can drop down to one a day for awhile.