Wellbutrin

Overview

About Wellbutrin

Wellbutrin may affect your coordination or judgment and impair your ability to drive or operate dangerous machinery. Avoid activities that require full alertness until you know how the drug affects you.

Like all antidepressants, Wellbutrin could trigger a manic episode in people with bipolar disorder.

Although Wellbutrin occasionally causes weight gain, a more common effect is weight loss: About a quarter of people who took this medication in clinical studies lost 5 pounds or more. If depression has already caused you to lose weight, and if further weight loss would be detrimental to your health, Wellbutrin may not be the best antidepressant for you.

Possible food and drug interactions when taking Wellbutrin

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Do not drink alcohol while you are taking Wellbutrin; an interaction between alcohol and Wellbutrin could increase the possibility of a seizure.

Wellbutrin should not be combined with drugs that lower the seizure threshold, including:

Antidepressants classified as MAO inhibitors, such as phenelzine and tranylcypromine

Other antidepressants

Antipsychotic drugs such as chlorpromazine

Cocaine

Diabetes medications, including insulin

Opiates such as heroin and morphine

Sedatives, including benzodiazepines such as alprazolam

Steroid medications such as prednisone

Stimulants, including over-the-counter diet drugs

Theophylline

If Wellbutrin is taken with certain other drugs, the effects of either could be increased, decreased, or altered. It is especially important to check with your doctor before combining Wellbutrin with the following:

Beta-blockers (used for high blood pressure and heart conditions) such as propranolol
Carbamazepine
Cimetidine
Cyclophosphamide
Heart-stabilizing drugs such as certain antiarrhythmics
Levodopa
Nicotine patches
Orphenadrine
Phenobarbital
Phenytoin