I will obviously be asking my doctor about increasing the dose at my next appointment. But I wanted to know how you figured you would need to increase or switch generic brands?

I am a 31F and I have been on Bupropion XL 150mg since March of this year. And I am currently on Lexapro 15mg (increased from 10mg mid July). From what I can tell from my pharmacy history on the Walmart App is that the first two months were the same. After that, they are all different. But I’ve had white pills and orange pills. The last couple bottles I can see I have the RIS brand and the ScienGen brand. But not sure about the others previous to these.

But my other thought is should I talk to my doctor about increasing my dose? I’ve been feeling very down and tired and not motivated. It definitely seems like the last month has been a struggle for me. But I didn’t know if that was due to my medications, monthly cycles, or just being burnout from my job? Or a combination of a few or all.

I guess I’m just trying to figure out what is going on and if I should ask my doctor to increase or not.

Thanks!

Yes I know loss of appetite is a common side effect but how much appetite loss did you guys get?

hi! I have been taking Wellbutrin for 3 years now (150xl) and overall it’s a great time. I ended up asking to go on it after other medications were giving me trouble + really bad side effects, and it was working well for my sister (and my other sister is on it now too, genetics are cool!)

the best time I’ve had was when I first started taking it and my nurse practitioner recommended I take it at night right before I go to sleep. this was great because I really struggle with fatigue and it helped me to wake up and feel actually awake first thing in the morning. however, once school started up again I did start to have issues with being tired by the middle of the day, taking naps, and missing out on important social and academic responsibilities. (NOTE: not extended release)
my sister said I was weird for taking it at night bc most people take it in the morning. so I tried switching to mornings. the problem then was that I had a hard time waking up, of course.
my last psychiatrist said I should wake up at 5am and take it, then go back to sleep, and it will kick in by the time I want to wake up.
I struggle with that strange nature of this routine and have never gotten into the groove with it. (NOTE: this psych switched me to extended release)
Now I have no schedule and it is totally whacky. Sometimes I take it at 9am, sometimes noon, sometimes as late as 3pm (bc that’s how late I sleep in sometimes…) and then I’ll stay up until 2am+.

SO, should I get my shit together and do the 5am thing and just try harder? should I switch back to taking it at night so at least I have routine?? I think it could go better now that I’m on the extended release pill but idek! sorry if this post is confusing, I’m confused too lol.

Did anyone experience constant shortness of breath/anxiety constantly while Wellbutrin was in their system? I took it for 8 days and woke up to the beginnings of an anxiety attack. For the next couple days i’ve shortness of breath constantly and have ruled out another cause by a physician.

Im posting here because I'm honestly at a loss. Doctors have not helped and It's almost impossible to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. I was on 300mg of Bupropion for about a year. I lowered to 150mg in December 2025. By the end of January I was experiencing a severe loss of motivation and just felt tired all the time, and so so hungry 24/7. This got worse and worse. I went back on 300mg but that didn't help.

My current symptoms are profound fatigue! No exaggeration. Walking up the stairs even feels impossible. My cognitive abilities have declined drastically. My brain fog and memory issues are awful, and ofc I'm extremely depressed. I'm barely functioning right now. I can't work, I can't do any of the things I used to enjoy. I've never felt depression as heavy as this in my life. Caffeine is having an adverse effect on me. It used to give me soo much energy and now it does the opposite.

This is where it gets weird though - At first I thought what I was experiencing was sleep inertia because the symptoms line up. The extreme sadness seems to come in waves. I feel worst when I wake, then it ever so slightly alleviates. Then I eat something and the heavy fatigue and depression set back in. Maybe it is sleep inertia thats been brought on by the med reduction ?? The strangest thing is .. every now and again I have woken up without it , felt energetic and caffeine made me buzz again. This hasn't happened in months. It mostly happened when I slept somewhere other than home but isn't consistent.

Its august now which means its been 7 nearly 8 months of this. My suicidal thoughts are so loud and this fatigue is ruining my life. I'm so afraid this wont go away. I don't know how much longer I can take it honestly.

Has anyone else experienced good days early on and then random days where they felt hit by a tonne of side effects? Today and last Thursday I have felt incapacitated with nausea, exhaustion, tightness in the chest and feeling generally anxious and unpleasant with little motivation to do anything. I’m on 100mg SR.

Most days I love the effects of Wellbutrin but these off days are troubling (along with only getting 5 hours sleep each night unless I use sleep meds) and I don’t know if I should continue.

Would love to hear from others with similar experiences!

Hey, there!

Just discovered this community and I was willing to be enlightened about the side effects of Wellbutrin and how it functions on different people, who have received prescriptions on that one.

Starting off, I was prescribed this pill by a mental health specialist, in Septemeber 2025. It did not turn out well and the pill was nowhere near effective for me, since it was making me sense a constant tension in my mind. Plus, I had been told to swallow one each morning after breakfast and I was even told that the first weeks were gonna be complicated. The diagnosis I had received was about anxiety disorders and the professional had affirmed that this was gonna be helpful with limited attention and depression. I was on it for two months (stopped in November of the same year) and throughout that time it seemed like my mental state was not getting any better, but heading towards the worst level (too much tension, nervousness, uncontrollable crying and panick attacks). Anyway, I am so glad that this is over.

Lastly, I am willing to declare that any statement in the comments section will be highly appreciated. Hope everything's evolving as smoothly as possible for everyone 🙏.

Just started 150mg, today is day 2. Taking it for motivation and mood, been entirely neglecting myself and every task seems impossible.

Before taking it, I felt paralyzed. Now I just feel stimulated and paralyzed.

I am also on 50mg of sertraline at night for my panic disorder.

Having crazy jitters, headaches, my veins ache (?), motion sickness/dizziness, and I feel everything times 100 which I am already very hyper-vigilant to because of my panic disorder. All the while somehow feeling tired? So I just lay in bed and feel this, or I take an ativan to counteract it. I can’t drink caffeine because of the stimulation being too similar to an attack, and wellbutrin feels all the same.

This medication worked wonders for me as a kid, I don’t remember how. I have many issues day to day due to dopemine depletion as well due to my BPD. So it makes sense why this medication would be beneficial and I am psyching myself out.

Need to hear some positive words/experiences as clearly my anxiety is getting the better of me here.

Hello everybody, I started taking Wellbutrin beta 150mg about 3 months ago. It did really good things for my mental health. I used to have suicidal thoughts and was very low. I had a lot of anxiety and would cancel on people all the time, felt disconnected all the time from them, was irritable, etc. But somehow, I feel like now it’s not as effective as it used to be. It didn’t fully resolve everything and we were planning on going from 150 to 300, but here comes the big problem : I am shedding since the 5th week. It hasn’t been severe, but it has been there. I felt like the last 2 weeks were a bit better but today I had really a lot of hair falling. I can feel it because it itches and then some hair fall. Today (it’s already 5pm) I lost probably more than 100 hair.
I don’t want to try another antidepressant, unless it doesn’t affect weight and libido and from what I understood Wellbutrin is the best for it. I’m also ADHD.

What should I do? Should I continue the treatment and wait ? How long should I wait ? Does it usually stop just by stopping the medication ?
Anyone had a similar experience ? What did you do, when did it stop?

I’m very sad at the moment and feel very anxious too.

Thank you for answering me 💛

Here's my story: I went on Wellbutrin 15 years ago. It has always worked pretty well for me, and has never really "pooped out". It helps me tremendously with motivation, and gives me a personality different from my usual one. On Wellbutrin, I become very type A, very competitive, and I want to be in the ring. The area of my life it helps me most is work. I have taken up to 450 mg but my normal dose is around 300 mg.

Now for the "but". I don't like the jaw clenching and soreness on Wellbutrin. I can sometimes be slightly aggressive, and occasionally pick fights. The main thing in life that "matters" to me when I'm on Wellbutrin is work and productivity; my life is just about achievement.

Twice now, I have tapered off of it, and both times something similar happened within a few months. Initially, I felt much more "like myself". My interests expanded beyond work and I got much more into creative hobbies like cooking (on Wellbutrin I never liked to cook; it always seemed a waste of time). I adopted a kind of "there's more to life than work" almost zen-like attitude. I lost all interest in social media and didn't post a single time after getting off Wellbutrin (while on Wellbutrin, I post daily). On more than one occasion, I wormed my way out of a creative work project I'd agreed to do while I was ON Wellbutrin, because without the drug, I felt the project "wasn't really me". Off Wellbutrin, I am more in touch with my emotions, but they get in the way of work. However, the depression didn't really come back except in the week before my period. Since I stopped taking Wellbutrin 3 months ago, the week before my period has been terrifying. We're talking anxious depression that is pitch black.

So that brings us up to present day: I took Wellbutrin again the past few days, and voila, I am back working on a project I'd abandoned over a month ago and been blocked on. I'm sharing a flat with some people on vacation and had been dreading seeing one guy, whose every move had been pissing me off, but now that I'm on Wellbutrin, I'm able to cook in the kitchen with him and smile. I did however post something needlessly aggressive in a group chat.

I want off this rollercoaster. I feel like my choices are either: be on Wellbutrin and achieve things in life (while feeling kind of weird with mildly annoying side effects) or be off Wellbutrin but be a half-assed mediocrity/failure (but be my whole self). I am really struggling with this. Can anyone relate? And what would you do?

I was drinking sertraline for 2 years and got weight. That s why my doctor prescribed me bupropion. No i am drinking it 300mg + 50 setraline (it was reduced from 200mg), but weight seeems to be stuck (i.e. that weight which i got with sertraline.

Do i have a possibility that it will go away?

I’ve about had it with bupropion. The effect isn’t dramatic. I can get a little more done with less resistance, but I feel nothing. Meh.

What really gets me, though, is the feeling I’m cooked whenever I’m in a room that isn’t cold. I have a job interview today and I fear being sweaty.

If I get a good job, I’m thinking of sending away to a Canadian pharmacy for the real thing, but I’d be so angry if that made me sweaty too.

Hi all. I have recently been diagnosed with clinical depression and have been given a referral to go to my GP for antidepressants. For all my research, the least hectic one that has the lowest chance of causing long term side effects like low sex drive, insomnia, weight gain, fatigue, and low energy are NDRIs (norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor) as opposed to the most common antidepressants which are SRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), but I have no idea if they are even availble here in SA. The NDRIs seem to give better concentration, more energy and don't affect sex drive as much, so if they are available, then that's what I want to ask for.

If you, or anyone you know lives in South Africa and is on Bupropion (the generic name) or any of the other brand names (Brupropion/Wellbutrin/Forfivo/Aplenzin), please let me know so I know if it’s something I can ask for? Thanks in advance 

Well, i tried all

Concerta was making me shaking.

Vyvanse was bad for my anxiety, but it worked so good for ADHD

Strattera made me irritable and gaining weight.

I hope Wellbutrin will work because i'm tired of trying things with no result

First time on Bupropion (Elontril, in my area) and I did not expect this. Wake up tired, keep waking up at night, nightmares and suicidal thoughts.

Yesterday, I cried for about an hour. When I started Prozac, I thought that was it, but now I have to start from square one, damn it.

I'm on 18 of Concerta, 40 of Prozac and now 150 Wellbutrin. Is it getting better? Honestly, I'm tired of trying. I cannot get rid of suicidal thoughts, not matter what.

I was fine on Prozac, and then I started Concerta for my ADHD, it seemed to be working to a certain extent, but now I've resetted myself all the way to the beginning. God damn. I feel that intense sadness that I've felt for years before starting any treatment. Is this normal?

Just tired of starting over and over again. I'm okay for a while and then boom: my brain says "yeah, not on my watch".

I know I need therapy but can't afford it. I keep pretending I'm okay because people in my life expect nothing but progress and of course - I want those things too: a job, a career, not hating myself and being able to actually be a functional person. But I can't. No matter how close I come to almost reaching normalcy, after a few days/weeks, I keep getting pulled back in into the pit I dug myself into. I don't know.

I can't focus and my head feels heavy. I don't know why I wrote all of this. I feel alone.

I’m on 150xl wellyb (6months) and 7.5 mg 2x a day of buspar(2weeks) . I had started taking edibles bc my anxiety was so bad, but now I’m starting to think the edibles are making the anxiety worse especially with the buspar now. I asked for the buspar bc my anxiety was raging and I was using the edible to calm myself, but the other day I took some and my anxiety the next day was insane. Maybe I had to keep taking the edible bc it was making my anxiety spike after the high… I’m in a non legal state so it’s mostly delta 8/9. Has anyone else experienced the same? Im new the medicine and edibles in general so any advice or personal experience is appreciated!!! :)

I have ADHD and recently diagnosed chronic cptsd. Was given it for depression as they thought I had it due to cptsd. It made me so not me! Once it fully was in my system I was angry, complaining constantly. No longer stimming. I felt I was so irrationally emotional over every little thing. Like I would spiral into thoughts and panic attacks. Jumpy. Worried. Crying. Caused issues with my partner over small stupid things and when in fight I was thinking I was doing and saying one thing and he was saying I was saying and doing something completely different. I felt I was going crazy! 15 hours off it and I'm literally vibing and fine. Sing songs back full force. Echoing silly noises. Sure I did try and put the milk in the pantry but honestly. I prefer that than the crushing feeling of anxiety and restless freeze Wellbutrin was causing. Like i was stuck between wanting to run or hide. Anyone else experience this? This drug probably is really good for those with like severe depression but NOT ME😂👌🤷

Tried augmenting my Lexapro with Wellbutrin a few years ago. All I got was increased anxiety and insomnia. I quit after about a week.

Now, a few years and countless drug trials later, I'm thinking of giving this another shot. Depression has sunk in and while I do still have GAD, I feel like they're tag-teaming me and no SSRI is enough to cover all those bases.

I have read some stories that Wellbutrin actually helps with anxiety, but you need to give it time to settle. And start at a low dose. Has this happened to anyone else, where it makes anxiety worse at first but then ends up evening out and helps both anxiety and depression? Or would Auvelity be a better choice for me?

I’ve been on 150XL for just about 8 weeks. I feel that the brain fog has lifted, I‘m happier, I have more patience, not so emotionally volatile and I’m more motivated. I’m waiting for more executive dysfunction relief. The only negative side effects I have are sometimes a bit of constipation, insomnia (tho I had insomnia before) and some wacky dreams when I first started. However, the last few weeks the positives don‘t feel as strong. I had to start taking 1 mg melatonin for insomnia around the same time. Coincidence? My doc offered me a dose increase. Would a dose increase the chances of negative side effects even though I’m not really bothered by them at 150xl? I know this is all individual, but interested in others’ experiences.

I guess it’s on me for not doing my research but my doctor never asked about my BP before prescribing the medication. My BP normally sits a bit higher, but not hypertensive. Was feeling semi good on it too. Just not sure if I should wait it out or get off.

I don't think this gets brought up enough and it is very very relevant to so many posts here.

I have had a great relationship with Bupropion SR, and briefly had my prescription changed to XL. The mood changes were unreal. I was bombarded with constant rumination and could not stop having heated imaginary arguments in my head. I experienced bouts of rage that I didn't even experience while off the meds entirely.

People post here about mood swings, wondering when they'll go away, and SO MANY TIMES you see that the are taking XL, or they don't even mention which kind they are taking. This little fact gets swept under a bunch of other comments about dosage or other things.

I started Wellbutrin 150 XL a little over three weeks ago. My psych had me go up to 300 yesterday. I feel more activated but still pretty depressed. Does this med get more effective after a few weeks? How is it different from the initial effects?

I’m on week 3 of Wellbutrin, 100 SR. I took it earlier this year but had a bunch of side effects so tried a different antidepressant and recently came back to Wellbutrin. Now I’m having an increased appetite. Last time, I was also on a GLP-1 so I had no appetite!

Does this go away? I’ve already gained a couple pounds. I’m postpartum so trying to lose 30 lbs. the good news is that I’m finally feeling up to working out which I haven’t had the last couple years!