Doing Well but Worried about Wellbutrin
 

Hi everyone!

I've been doing Atkins Induction for a little over 2 weeks....the 1st week I lost NOTHING at all, and this past week I've lost about 5lbs....probably a combination of modifying my diet more and loss of water weight. But, I've received a few comments that I look like I'm losing, particularly around my face, neck, back and butt. :p I'm a little hesitant of being TOO happy and calling this my WOOSH because...well, I just don't want to be disappointed later if I gain it all back. (Yes, I'm being glass-half-empty today).

What I'm worried about is adding Wellbutrin into the mix.
I've been pretty vigilant about what I eat.
I take all of my supplements (and there's ALOT).
My mood is good, and will only get better if I keep feeling the weight come off.

I received a prescription from my doctor for Wellbutrin to quit smoking....but have been procrastinating starting the medication. Basically, I'm really afraid of it stalling me, or causing me to gain weight. I'm a researcher, so I have access to all the academic research journals....I did a literature search on Wellbutrin and weight loss and it does look promising. I've also been reading posts on this website, and those are encouraging too. But, I still have some lingering fears/doubts about taking it.

I was hoping that people with experience taking Wellbutrin could answer a few questions I still have:

1. What is/was your dosage?
2. Does stopping Wellbutrin cause you to GAIN weight back??
If so, how long were you taking Wellbutrin before you quit?

I truly, truly appreciate any input!!!! This forum has been incredible....I couldn't have lost the 5lbs without all of you!!

:wave:
Anshim

Hi! :wave: Congrats on your first five pounds... feels nice even for a pessimist, no?

I don't have an answer to your question: no experience or expert opinion, but I did want to let you know that there are two forums here you might want to browse through. The Kick Nicotine Club and Addiction and Depression. Both should have good info and folks who've been where you are. Quitting smoking is definitely a tough one.

You can also do a search on Wellbutrin by clicking on the "Search" icon. I think there are several posts that may give you some info from people who may not happen upon this thread.

Hope you keep losing and are able to kick that nicotine habit! Better health here you come! :)

Hi Anshim
 

Hope I can help a bit -

I'm taking Wellbutrin - I take it for depression/bi-polar but I did quit smoking with it because one side effect is the "bad taste in the mouth" and the fact that it has some of the same effects as nicotene on the brain. ( I know that sounds stupid - but I'm in too much of a rush to worry about punctuation correctness etc.)

I don't think I could have quit smoking without the wellbutrin - it just happened that I was smoking less and less and when I started putting a concious effort in to it and was down to 4 a day and then 1 - I realized it was stupid and I might as well discontinue the 1. So I quit - I then gained 20lbs but partly that was due to the fact I quit at the end of December and the Christmas treats were still around - I had given myself a license to eat for 2 weeks and I guess I was a real hog because who would've thought you could gain 20 in 2 weeks - of course you must take into consideration that I am 48 years old (so everything slow's down) and I live where the winters make it so that I can't get any outdoor activity in whereas in the other seasons I am extremely active outdoors. It was just a BAD combination.

I know that anti-depressants are listed as some of the drugs that can interfere with atkins - however wellbutrin acts differently than anti-depressants like zoloft and prozac - it has a different action on the seratonin ( I never bothered to file the reason in my own peculiar brain so I can't clinically explain it to you - sory) but I know it is different - this is the reason I take it the other drugs all had really bad side effects on me.

presently I am taking 1 purple pill a day - I know that the dose for quitting smoking is 2 purple a day - but 12 hours apart- this is very important because taking 2 at once could cause a seizure if you are at all suceptible to them.

As to weight gain when stopping wellbutrin - clinical studies showed about even results as to whether people gained or lost when taking it - some find it an appetite suppressant others don't. The bad taste in the mouth and a lessened urge to smoke or drink alcohol are the only effects it has on me. Not that I was a drunken fool before - I'm just as silly as one on my happy days :D

Hope this helps out - if you have anything in particular you would like to ask me leave a note in my journal or message me. Good Luck

Hi there,
I take Wellbutrin for depression as well. I take the purple tab - one a day (150mg?). When i first started taking it a few years ago, i lost quite a bit of weight, but then slowly put it back on (but trust me - i worked at it - ate a lot of junk food!!). I think that wellbutrin helps to relieve the cravings for both food and smoking - which is why Dr.'s prescribe it for things other than depression. I don't think if you discontinue it, you will gain weight, unless you all of a sudden increase your food intake by a lot.

I took Welbutrin to help me quit smoking. I took it for three weeks three different times and the last time I quit smoking the day I took my last pill. Its supposed to take longer to get into your system, but for some reason, I could never manage to take it any longer. I don't know if the Welbutrin was something that helped me quit or if I was just determined to do it. At any rate...I did quit.

I did not lose any weight while taking it, but then again...I didn't take it for long. I quit smoking almost 2 months ago and about two weeks later started looking into doing Atkins. I've been committed to Atkins for about six weeks or so and feel that I have lost pretty quickly so far.

I don't think this answers any of your questions, but hope it helps a bit anyway.


L

When I started Atkins I quit smoking at the same time and took Wellbutrin, I lost more in that first month (which is the same amount of time I took the medication) than I have in all the months combined after...I did not affect my loss at all. By the way, I think being on Atkins actually helped me quit. I know they say doing a diet and quitting is not a good idea (they are both too difficult to do at the same time) but I honestly think doing Atkins actually HELPED me get over the cravings.

Gail

Hi everyone -

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Skamito - I'm familiar with those forums....but nowhere in my searches for "Wellbutrin" did I find answers to my questions about length of dosage and weight gain after stopping the medication. But thanks for the reminder! :) Maybe I'll keep a closer eye on those forums as well.

faeriegirl - did you feel like Wellbutrin had any effect on your appetite while you were taking it?

whyspers and gkeenan - It seems both of you didn't take Wellbutrin for very long. Why is that? What were the reasons you quit?

whyspers - when you say you couldn't manage to take Wellbutrin for longer than 3 weeks, why is that?

Thanks!
Anshim

I'm not very good at taking medicine and I chalk it up to just hating to take pills.

The last time I took the Wellbutrin, when I quit smoking, I ran out of the pills and didn't want to renew my prescription. I didn't have any bad effects or anything and there was no real reason I had a hard time taking it other than probably being lazy...lol. I really, really have to force myself to take supplements and my psyllium husks. I'm supposed to take them three times a day, but when I'm being really, really good I only get them twice a day.

I didn't mean to imply there was a problem that made me stop taking it.


Laura

Anshim - you might want to try your searches with the word zyban - it is the exact same drug compound as wellbutrin. It's marketed towards a different market. Some medical plans will not approve zyban prescribed as a stop-smoking aid whereas wellbutrin prescribed for depression is almost always allowed.

I have been on Wellbutrin SR, 300 mg. (150 mg. twice a day) since last August. I started Atkins on January 17. I have lost close to 25 lbs. It has not affected my weight loss at all. This drug is also known to aid in weight loss.

The benefits of the medicine outweighs the negatives. I hope this helps.