wellbutrin - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

greenidme · 10-24-2007, 06:10 AM

Anyone had any experience with Wellbutrin for bipolar depression? I did well on Prozac but my insurance no longer covers it. I understand Wellbutrin can cause weight LOSS, unlike most a/d's. I take Zyprexa and that causes weight gain so I'm excited about the prospect of losing the weight.
Any comments welcome-
my best to you all!

Lor60 · 10-24-2007, 08:16 AM

My son has used both prozac and wellbutrin. I'm surprised your insurance will not cover the prozac. We pay for all of my son's medications. The prozac was only $4.00 at Walmart. Unfortunately he did not do well on it.

He takes wellbutrin XL now which is almost $130.00 per month for the 150mg. I know there is a generic for the 300mg. He has only been on the wellbutrin for a month but so far so good.

Welbutrin is in a different class than prozac. It is not a SSRI so I am surprised it would be suggested as an alternative to prozac. It is frequently used for bipolar depression in patients who are already taking a mood stabilizer,

Good Luck,
Lor

fineanddandy · 10-24-2007, 09:03 AM

I lost about 5 pounds on Wellbutrin.

As a word of caution, Wellbutrin can be stimulating so be sure to watch yourself for insomnia and other signs of impending mania.

Llama · 10-24-2007, 10:57 PM

I was on wellbutrin twice. Once before bp diagnosis and once after. I liked the after version better because I was then on a mood stabilizer. It works well in my opinion and does not cause weight gain which is lovely I know!

The thing to watch out for is a seizure. So if you have a history of them it might not be such a good med for you. They also say not to drink heavily on this med because that can make the seizure risk even worse. Athough I drank heavily on it and nothing happened so go figure.

all in all i say this is a great med and would love to still be on it but pdoc says no. You can't always win I guess As fineanddandy said it can be stimulating and it was too much so for me so I had to go off it. sigh

mac51 · 10-27-2007, 01:32 PM

I had the same experience with Wellbutrin - on it before and after diagnoses. I didn't lose weight on it, but have been able to maintain weight at an ideal level with it (unlike Effexor). I had some head injuries and theoretically a risk of seizure, however, am also on Lamotrigine which is an anti convulsant anyhow... I have tried effexor, zoloft and paxil but wellbutrin is by far the best for me - it is a great drug. When I was being treated soley for depression, however it did induce hypomania - so I now I take WB in the morning only and taking seroquel in the evenings. It's a great balance for me

BTW - also drank heavily on WB with no adverse reaction - but I know that I was just "drinking to stop thinking" and now that I am on lamotrigine, don't have that same desire to binge drink - in fact drink very rarely these days

I find the insurance issue interesting - in past my insurance companes have requested Dr's authorization that it is being prescribed as an AD, since it is also marketed as Zyban to quit smoking... which they wouldn't cover