Bupropion for Bipolar Disorder User Reviews (Page 3)

• Ril...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 10, 2020

"My doctor put me on bupropion XL 150 mg, and it was awful! Two weeks in, I started having terrible anger and irritability spells to where I would just scream. After 17 days, I had to stop taking it. The worst side effect I'm actually STILL having, though since stopping, is actually weight GAIN!?! I have even decreased my calories and increased my exercise to bring my weight back to normal, but nothing is working! I've become so frustrated, and my doctors are no help. Has anyone else experienced weight gain from this medication not related to overeating? I am so desperate for answers :("

• cho...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 6, 2019

"At first, I got a little heart palpitation from this medicine at 300 mg. However, after a month of that, I feel great, and it curbs the side effects of Lithium Carbonate, which I am also taking and which makes me gain weight. I am down to a healthy weight after gaining almost 15 lbs. on Lithium alone. I also don't feel suicidal, so that's another plus."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 7, 2018

"Remember, XL lasts 24 hours and takes 5 to kick in. Taking it in the morning means it is out of your system the next. I had 5 hours of awfulness every day for years, now on SR (slow release) 2 x a day. Let’s see how that does."

• Den...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 29, 2021

"Omg, when I first started taking it, I was doing things I hadn't in years. I guess I liked the manic phase. When I swung the other way, crying, agitated, obsessiveness is where I am now. Will definitely stop taking it. Tired of losing control of my emotions. When manic, I did lose weight, but now that I'm depressed, I can't stop eating. Not good for me."

• JBa...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 8, 2020

"Prescribed bupropion (Zyban) for my depression associated with bipolar II disorder. We started at 150 mg some time ago, and it must not have worked, as when I went back, we increased to 225 mg. Still complaining of depression, we later increased to 300 mg, at which point I started to experience unpleasant side effects (sleep disturbance, racing thoughts, anxiety). I can safely say this drug did not do its job, and I am disappointed I was not put on other drug/s recommended by the literature before this one. It has taken me 6-12 months to work this out. Plus, it is hideously expensive."

• Anonymous
• December 11, 2009

Bupropion "I had tried Zoloft in the past, went off because I was feeling better. Many years later, needed something again. Went back on Zoloft - it did nothing. Tried it in combo with Wellbutrin - nothing. Tried just the Wellbutrin - nothing... except a 25-pound weight gain. Everyone says you lose weight on Wellbutrin... uh... not so much! I gained 25 lbs in spite of barely eating and taking up running... AND... it made me sweat ALL THE TIME. It did nothing for my mood, but the side effects were completely depressing. P.S. the weight did NOT come off after I quit taking it. My guess is it damaged my already slow metabolism."

• Man...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 2, 2019

"After 25+ years of being misdiagnosed, told I am bipolar 1 and started bupropion 150 mg 1 x day and doxepin for sleep. Has lifted me out of a deep, debilitating depression so far but won’t go higher since a higher dose triggered my manic episodes. Refuse to take lamictal or lithium, etc., because side effects like weight gain, liver damage, etc., scare me really bad. Haven’t had any noticeable side effects but know 150 mg is a low dose. What works for one person doesn’t for another."

• TWG...
• July 13, 2017

"I'm giving this two stars because it helped me quit smoking, but that's all it did. I've been taking it for almost two months now, and my anxiety has greatly intensified. I also have muscle aches in my legs and back - not sure if it's related to the bupropion, but I didn't have these feelings before I started taking it. It did not help me lose weight, but I did finally plateau after gaining consistently on Paxil and Abilify. I'm still taking Abilify, so maybe that's interfering with weight loss, I'm not sure. Also, my depression was under control for a while, but with the relentless anxiety about everything, it's creeping back in. Everything feels like an effort, and all I want to do is stay in bed all day. This medication is not for me."

• gar...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 6, 2024

"On 450 mg daily; this medication helped pull me out of a depressive slump that cost me an entire semester of college. I'm able to get out of bed every morning, and I was also able to tackle three years of substance abuse. I'd highly recommend it for treating major depressive episodes. The first few weeks can be really rough, and if you have a mood disorder or family history, be careful as it can induce mania. I'm also on Lamotrigine as a mood stabilizer to prevent this. Bupropion was crucial for my recovery on top of weekly therapy. -2 because it sometimes makes me quite irritable and restless."

• Com...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 21, 2023

"I have been taking this for about 2 years now, off and on. All I can say is, if you are going through episodes of depression, this works. A dosage of 300 mg has proven to be too strong for me, as I don’t sleep. That was the only side effect, so we lowered it to 150 mg, and it works much better for me. This gives me motivation and energy I did not have. You will still have bad days, but this makes them manageable. It also may cause some anxiety, as you will be more energized, but I was also given an anti-anxiety med, which works great with this. I hope someone going through depression reads this, and it helps. This pill saved my life."

• Mer...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 26, 2015

"I have been on my antidepressants (Celexa, Lexapro, Effexor, Prozac, Lithium, Lamictal just to name a few). Lexapro seemed to work best for me, however, after a couple of years, its effects have reduced and I started to get angry, easily annoyed, and I always get tired around 3 or 4 pm and need a siesta, so to speak. My doctor put me on Wellbutrin SR HCL 100 mg once a day to try and combat the tiredness from the Lexapro. It was filled with the generic version. I must say both my wife and I notice it has worked wonders for my anger and agitation, however, I am twice as sleepy and groggy on it and have to take it before I go to sleep, and when I get up, I'm exhausted. It's doing the opposite of what almost every review I've seen for me. I'm going off of it ASAP."

• MEH...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 15, 2019

"How much was your guys' starting dose with bupropion? I am put on a very low dosage of 75 mg SR because I am bipolar, and my doctor always seems to put a low dose on different meds before increasing. How long did it take for you to work? Thanks."

• Hel...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 2, 2020

"Bupropion worked just OK for my bipolar. Made me able to take care of my responsibilities, but the depression still remained. Plus, the constipation was ridiculous. Didn't have a single normal bowel movement the entire time I was on it (~2 months). Plus, after about the first month, I started having delusions of being followed/watched whenever I went out in public, so I had to stop it. Psychosis is a rare side effect of this medication, so beware!"

• Bip...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 7, 2021

"I have been taking this medication for 2 months now. I started off on 75 mg for a week to get me used to the medication, then went up to 150 mg. I was very irritable and annoyed by everything. My doctor raised the dose to 300 mg because I was still down. This made everything 10 times worse. It made me cycle through huge mood swings daily. I would be okay one moment, then sobbing the next and depressed. It also made me super anxious. I had problems with anxiety, but nothing close to how this made me feel. I even had an anxiety attack at the grocery store and needed to leave. Then I would feel numb. I was never happy on this medication. What made me get off of it was I kept having days where I would cry all day and everything would set it off. I also started to deviate from reality. My husband felt like a stranger, and my house didn’t feel like mine. I’d want to run away because I thought I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. This did not work for my bipolar 1."

• Pea...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 4, 2019

"When I was prescribed the bupropion a year ago, I believe I was going through a depressive phase. I take Lamictal, and since then it’s hard for me to tell when I’m depressed because I don’t experience mania on Lamictal. But over time, the bupropion started making me feel sedated, foggy, and highly unmotivated. I wasn’t really feeling depressed, I just wasn’t feeling much of anything, and I was dissociating a lot. I decided one morning to just stop taking it, and it’s been a week, and I feel almost 100% better. I’ve been able to actually get off my couch and do things again!"

• Mis...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 22, 2018

"I was only at 150 mg of bupropion. I was wired that first night. When I finally fell asleep, I’d wake up repeatedly through the night, making me fatigued all day. At day four, my coworker asked if I was okay because she said I hadn’t smiled all day and I looked “dead” in my face. It didn’t occur to me that I’d gone from being very social to very antisocial. I can’t remember when the anxiety crept in. And irritability. But by day five and six, I was swearing at my 9-year-old, which is so absolutely not me. I was so angry, beyond irritated. At only day seven, I stopped. I was previously diagnosed as bipolar II and take Tegretol. Here I am, five days beyond the quit date, and at least I have my personality back. My sleep is insane; I can sleep again, but I slept 12 hours last night. It’s like I’m catching up for a week of disruption. What seems to still be lingering is stifling anxiety."

• Cia...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 22, 2021

"The first couple of weeks were great, and then the mania came. I've been hospitalized for seizures as a side effect of this drug, so be careful. It has definitely helped with smoking cessation and helped regulate my appetite."

• spa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 24, 2015

"I'm 19. They put me on this originally for anxiety, but apparently, I'm bipolar according to the psych evaluation test. The first day on it, I basically felt 'high', since then, I've felt pretty great. I also take Gabapentin (for fibromyalgia) and Prozac."

• she...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 7, 2018

"I have suffered from BP2 for over seven years now and, like many of you, have struggled to find something to lift the fog and fatigue and lingering depression left behind after the mood stabilizers. I titrated up to 300 XL and honestly didn't feel much difference other than being much more irritable than usual. I then (do not recommend) went directly down to 150 XL. PLEASE do not cold turkey this drug. Everyone is different, but my experience in this was awful. I have never had withdrawals that bad from a drug. I was hospitalized for having severe anxiety and depressed thoughts that are now still lingering after two weeks. My very personal opinion is that this doesn't seem to be a fit for treating my bipolar depression. Everyone is different, though!"

• Dar...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 28, 2019

"After having a breakdown and realizing I'm bipolar, not major depressive like I was diagnosed with over twenty years ago, my Dr. started me on this. I had been on it years ago and had done well until it started making me anxious. This time it completely stopped my impulsivity, my compulsive behavior, and brought me out of the horrible pit I was in. It took a good two months to get me stable, and I lost weight in the beginning. Then I started craving carbs bad, but I switched from the 12-hour to instant release, and it's much better now. I have better energy with the instant and no more headaches like the SR gave me. Still not quite where I want to be, but better than I was."

• gam...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 4, 2020

"I have been taking it for two months and have not yet realized its effectiveness. It may take a little longer, I will try to keep taking it. The only things this medication is doing are that I'm smoking less and wake up well. Well, I wake up wonderfully well, and it's only in the evening that I get into severe depression. At night, it's just anxiety, really dark thoughts, and eating. I just want to eat during the night until I fall asleep."

• Any...
• November 7, 2013

"I was put on Wellbutrin for smoking cessation. I had zero personal or family history of any mental health issues. The Wellbutrin did not work for smoking cessation, so my doctor took me off it abruptly. I suffered from the common on the Internet, but completely unheard of by doctors, Wellbutrin withdrawal symptoms of 'brain zaps' or 'brain shivers,' odd sexual side effects, and powerful dreams. These adverse withdrawal effects from Wellbutrin were then misdiagnosed (according to the DSM) as bipolar. So, in my case, Wellbutrin withdrawal effects were the etiology of a bipolar misdiagnosis."

• Mon...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 4, 2019

"I was always a 'crazy child,' and people envied my character and confidence. Although they all saw me as that, I was actually going through a lot in my head. I would be the happiest person alive in the room, while my mind was thinking of how I could end it all. I lived with that for 19 years, no medication. I hate medication, but after being in a 2-month slump of depression, I decided it was time. My doctor told me it might or might not work, but it would help with that nicotine addiction, so I was for it. After taking it for 3 days, I felt hot, different, and had a horrible date (she doesn't talk to me now), so I stopped. I felt good the next week but felt depressed again, so I tried again for a few weeks and felt good for the most part, except the anxiety just ruined my confidence and sex drive. I am still feeling like I'm not right, and I am in a continuous cycle of not knowing what to do. It is great for depression, but for bipolar disorder, it is a hit or miss."

• OK ...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 15, 2022

"I've been taking bupropion for bipolar II, (severe depression) for over a year. I started out on SR, then moved to XL, and now moving to immediate release starting tonight. Bupropion has definitely taken away severe depression (NDRI is the mechanism of action required for me), however, this med has also come with side effects. Initially, ringing in ears (not bad, just noticeable), severe constipation (take 3 Colace nightly), makes me sleepy so I take it at night (complete opposite of what it's supposed to do), has brought on 2 near panic attacks on freeway overpasses (I was slightly afraid of heights, now I'm terrified), and, worst of all, I have lost all interest in life. My doc says, 'you're depressed,' and I said, 'nope... not depression, just lack of interest in anything.' I really miss my exciting, fun life. I guess this is what being normal feels like? Happy not to be crying but not sure I want to go through the rest of life this boring. I will see how the immediate release works now."

• Kan...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 7, 2020

"So I have a history of bupropion. I first started it in July 2019 for bipolar disorder and lasted only 3 days on 150 XL. My doctor was sure that after months of other meds not working, this would be the one for me. It caused tremors in my hands and face, and it was horrible. I then started taking Latuda 60 mg. I decided for anxiety to start taking the bupropion again after my doctor recommended it. I started out on 100 mg. I then upped it to 150, but it caused manic episodes. So I lowered it back to 100 mg. It’s been very beneficial since then, and it’s very helpful in my cocktail of meds. This plus Latuda and Zoloft have changed my life, and all my anxiety is pretty much gone, and the bipolar is under control."