Wellbutrin

What is Wellbutrin?

Wellbutrin (bupropion) is a prescription mental health medication that alleviates depressive symptoms. It is also used for smoking cessation and has off-label uses, including treating anxiety and ADHD.

Wellbutrin is a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI). This makes it different from SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and SNRI (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants, like Prozac, Zoloft, and Cymbalta. Unlike SSRI and SNRI antidepressants, Wellbutrin does not affect the neurotransmitter serotonin.

So, if SSRIs or SNRIs don’t work for you, your psychiatrist might prescribe Wellbutrin for a depressive disorder.

What is Wellbutrin Used For?

Since Wellbutrin treats depressive symptoms, it is primarily used for treating depression and related mood disorders.

Wellbutrin is commonly prescribed for the following disorders:

How Does Wellbutrin Work?

As a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI), Wellbutrin blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine. These neurotransmitters are responsible for regulating mood, motivation, and attention. They are also part of the brain’s reward system—helping you experience pleasure.

While it’s still unknown exactly how Wellbutrin works, it does increase the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain for some people. By increasing these neurotransmitters, it alleviates depressive symptoms, improving your motivation, mood, and outlook.

Does Wellbutrin Help with Anxiety?

Wellbutrin has an off-label use for anxiety treatment. However, it is primarily used to treat people with anxiety as a side effect of depression. For this reason, it can help with mixed anxiety-depression disorder (MADD).

Therefore, Wellbutrin is generally not prescribed when you have an anxiety disorder without depressive symptoms.

Anxiety can also be a side effect of Wellbutrin, so it is important to talk to your prescribing physician about any side effects to adjust levels or try a different type of antidepressant.

How Long Does It Take for Wellbutrin to Work?

How long it can take for Wellbutrin to work depends on factors unique to you and your prescription. These factors include your dose and frequency, metabolism, co-occurring health conditions, and potential medication interactions if you take other prescription drugs.

However, you should expect Wellbutrin to work within the following approximate timeline:

• During the first few weeks, your body will adapt to taking Wellbutrin. You could have some mild side effects at this time. These side effects could include headaches, nausea, and insomnia.
• After a few weeks, your body adapts and side effects diminish. Depressive symptoms will gradually reduce in severity and frequency. Therefore, you start to feel an improved mood, increased energy, and motivation.
• When you take Wellbutrin for several months, the effectiveness improves. You’ll experience a stable mood, increased sense of well-being, and improved relationships as a result. In addition, you’ll feel more productive and engage in pleasurable activities more often.

Therefore, it’s important to continue taking Wellbutrin to treat your symptoms long-term. Oftentimes, people stop taking it once they start to feel better. However, if you suddenly stop taking Wellbutrin, you could have a relapse in depressive symptoms soon afterward.

As with any medication, talk to your doctor about any concerns or side effects you have while taking Wellbutrin.

Potential Side Effects

Wellbutrin has fewer of the adverse side effects commonly associated with other antidepressants, such as weight gain, apathy, reduced energy, and sexual performance issues. For this reason, Wellbutrin could be an alternative if you have any of these side effects while on other antidepressants.

However, Wellbutrin isn’t entirely without its side effects and common side effects include:

Generally, these side effects go away when your body gets used to Wellbutrin. So, mild side effects should go away within a few weeks. Still, if these side effects don’t go away or worsen, speak to your physician about your options.

In addition, some people have severe side effects, including:

Is Wellbutrin Addictive?

There is a low risk of addiction when you take Wellbutrin as prescribed. So, if Wellbutrin doesn’t produce the desired effects, don’t try to increase the dosage on your own. Instead, talk to your physician—after all, how long Wellbutrin takes to work varies from person to person.

Still, some people abuse Wellbutrin, meaning that they take it without a prescription or misuse their prescription. The effects are similar to cocaine but less intense. According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Wellbutrin (bupropion) abuse “[includes] recreational ingestion, nasal insufflation of crushed tablets and . . . intravenous injection.”