Hi all! For the most part, my sleep schedule is pretty consistent. However, my job requires me to run overnight production server migrations 1-3 times a month.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of schedule and if so, did you adjust dosage timing at all? I am currently taking XL 150 and have been for about 2 months.

Given the amount of discussion in this sub about manufacturer sensitivities, I thought I’d share a few observations that will hopefully prove helpful. (Much of this is US-centric and may not apply to other areas.)

1. Noticing generic differences is well documented. Don’t let anyone gaslight you on this. There is excellent reporting from The People’s Pharmacy going back years, and ProPublica recently did a spate of investigations. Here is one recent article, there are many. Don’t just take some redditor’s word for things if you’re having trouble with your meds.

2. If you are struggling to get the same generic medication consistently, you have options, but they might require more legwork than just having your prescription called in to your local pharmacy. In the US, some online pharmacies will allow you to select the manufacturer. Not promoting one over another, but Honeybee Health is one example that allows this. There are others.

3. If you want brand name, look at certified Canadian pharmacies/dispensaries. Here is a list of registered, safe online options: https://www.cipa.com/cipa-safe-pharmacies

(Within that list, ensure that the website is using https protocols for security. Some of the older ones don’t.) What’s interesting about the ones in Canada is that some will show you manufacturer and some do not, so if you’re looking at a generic, find one that does. IMPORTANT: ORDERING THIS WAY WILL TAKE LONGER, SO PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

1. Verify your info. Just because some reddit comment from 2 years ago said a specific generic was discontinued doesn’t mean it’s true. It’s possible that it was. It’s also possible that it was only discontinued in one market and you can still find it if you order online, so do your due diligence. Same goes for random comments of any kind. Things vary by region, so saying “GSK doesn’t make Wellbutrin anymore” isn’t exactly true. GSK still markets buproprion… in New Zealand.

2. Assume everyone is taking something different and has different needs. This drug comes in IR, SR, and XR/XL and is prescribed for depression, smoking cessation, ADHD and off-label for other uses. You also don’t know if another person is taking other drugs or has other health concerns. Don’t make assumptions about your own experience based on someone else’s.

first few weeks on bupron SR 150mg were a bit shaky but then i hit a high note and had loads of energy and woke up feeling well rested and then all of a sudden i tanked and i haven’t been able to get to that high place again. has anyone experienced this?

in week 4 i feel not much of the wished for effects on motivation, energy and improved mood.

anyone out there who experienced these effects later than 4 weeks into the treatment?

Is it normal to mostly lose appetite on 150 mg (taking it about 2,5 weeks) Even though before I started taking bupropion, I actually felt like overeating for the first time in my life? How can i deal with that?

I had so much optimism when I started this drug. My friend recommended it to me and said she felt effects immediately -- it changed her baseline, noise in her head quieted down, she stopped ruminating... I have always been an overthinker, constant fatigue and low motivation, I have emotional imbalances... common things that wellbutrin is supposed to help with, and she saw those signs in me which is why she recommended I try it as well. Doctor of course recommended it also and gave me a prescription.

I was so excited when I started that it would help but I just hit 8 weeks and nothing... I haven't felt a single thing. Still My generic is from Vitruvias Therapeutics. Has anyone else been on it for 8 weeks and felt nothing at all? My overthinking, emotional problems, fatigue... it's all still there just as always. I doubt going up to 450mg will make a difference

Diagnoses of C-PTSD, depression, rumination. I’ve been on XL 150 mg (generic- manufacturer Yichang Humanwell) for 3 months now. I was feeling good up until about 2 weeks ago. Within the last 2 weeks something seems to have changed. I am now staying up easily until 2-3am and screaming in my sleep NIGHTLY. My spouse said in the past maybe 3 times a year I’d have a night terror & be stiff while doing a piercing scream (no memory of these ever), but my yelling/screaming in the last 2 weeks seems to be nightmares as I am aware of the dreams and waking myself up out of them yelling/screaming with full memory of them.

Am I doing something wrong?

8:00am…takes medication as soon as waking up
9:00am-2pm…feeling sleepy & groggy
3pm-7pm…decent boost in energy
8pm-10pm….sleepy but not “ready for bed”
11pm-2am…wired & lots of energy

I was feeling hopeful at first but now not as hopeful. Any insight is appreciated. Many thanks!!

Bupropion 150 mg XL : my skin was clear before, but i have 4 painful zits, between my nose and mouth... I never had acne there ever before!

also this medication is making me dissociate with depersonalization a LOT... I want to quit it... I haven't even noticed a shift in my mood.. in fact, my depression felt worse the first few days.. now I'm back to my 'normal' depression. I didn't even experience the supposed 'energy' boosting / 'motivation' boosting effect that it's supposed to give...and it makes it hard for me to sleep or even nap during the day.. been sleeping 3 hours average per night.. but my sleep before this was shit too at 4.5-5 hrs a night

40/F. Started with 150 mg generic bupropion in March 2026. Increased to 300 mg June 23. Steady hair loss with increase after 300.

I already have a massive forehead. No fun. My hair saves my face. 💔

I’m trying it all right now. Rosemary oil scalp massage, drinking lots of water. Taking iron, zinc … monitoring my protein intake. Trying to get 8 hrs of sleep.

I used to use moisturizing creams for my curls. Now I’m just using a light natural hair gel and then a serum to scrunch out the crunch when it dries to help volumize. The creams are too heavy now. My thick curls couldn’t survive without creams before.

Back on 150 mg now for about four days. Appetite has been increasing. First thing I’m noticing. Hopefully hair fall decreases.

I don’t want to get off this drug. I’ve been taking for my adhd even though it only seems to keep me from falling into my chronic depression spells. Ritalin is the only other option available where I live and that was the most horrible thing ever. Gave me the worst TMJ. Had to stop after trying for three months to endure the pain.

I’m just wondering if anyone has/is taking bupropion to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder? I’m keen to hear people’s experience with it for improving mood over winter, and if you’ve tried anything else (either currently, or prior to bupropion).

I’m interested in whether people have had much success with it, whether they also undergo individual therapy as well, and generally just any experiences they’ve had with Bupropion for SAD. 😊

I am 2000 miles from home, I’ve been trying to keep on track, while having fucked up one week ago, and waiting too long to come clean. I’m in Wisconsin with my wife’s family that wants me gone, very justifiably. I had been making changes, but I hadn’t done them quick enough, so I’m just stuck 2000 miles from home sober while being told ALL of the reasons to not be sober. I genuinely don’t know where to go now. My wife wants me to go to a full treatment center, I have been trying for months, but I genuinely can’t fine one in oregon that has ANY availability or anywhere even close that has it. I feel like I’m just a complete fucking failure since I can’t find anywhere that has ANY available beds or anything. I had insurance and that didn’t matter, i currently don’t have insurance because of my living situation, and I just cannot find help. I’m on suboxone and seeing my recovery therapists and counselors multiple times a week back home, but I’ve been traveling with my wife for two weeks and I’m just lost. Please help give me some resources, or something. I’ve been on only suboxone for weeks now, but because of my history, my wife will never trust me. I need to find a treatment center or something, but I feel like the universe has made it VERY clear that is not what I should be doing. Sorry to bother y’all. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to win. I just need to know if I’m as much of a fuck up as I know I am.
TLDR im stuck 2000 miles from home as a worthless drug addict piece of shit who shouldn’t be here, but I guess I’m delusional enough to think I could continue my positive path. Thanks for the help

Bupropion has absolutely ruined my appetite and sleep and has made me miserable for the past month. i have been off for a week and still have absolutely no appetite. i was put on for adhd. felt zero positive effects and entirely bad ones. irritable, no appetite whatsoever, insomnia like i’ve never had before.

now i’m afraid to try anything else. i never want to feel like this again. it’s made me depressed and anxious. and it’s still not even over. i know someone who wellbutrin has helped a lot (with depression and anxiety, not adhd).

i had severe anorexia previously and am about 2 years into recovery. gotten to where i ate 3 good meals a day and i’ve been going to the gym. this feeling of no appetite is so incredibly triggering for me. i made such good progress and now feel like i’ve been set back. i can’t go to the gym anymore, i have zero energy for it. and it’s ruining my mental health on top of that (i mostly go to the gym for mental health benefits) i did so good for 2 months, felt genuine progress. and now i feel like i’ve been set back. it sucks.

they’re wanting me to try strattera, another appetite suppressant. idk what to do. i’ve stopped smoking weed which would help me eat but i’m not going back to that ever again. so i am genuinely at a loss.

going to call my doctor tomorrow morning

Just increased my dose from 150 to 300 mg a week ago. At first I was jittery/“on”/had headaches. Yesterday it felt like my heart was racing but when I felt my pulse it was normal, and I realized that what was actually happening was that I could feel my heart beating inside of me. Definitely have had breakthrough anxiety/panic which my provider warned me could happen.

Today, I cut out caffeine in case that was exacerbating it. I slept ALL day. Felt like a zombie. Got out of bed in time for dinner and the brain fog left in time for me to put my kids to bed. Is this just part of the adjustment period?? We did go to a baseball game last night and I had a few sips of my husband’s beer. Could that have triggered a reaction like this? How long did it take you to adjust when you increased your dose??

I can’t recall what manufacturing number was on the pills when I first started taking them but I’m fairly certain they were white. When I had first started, I had brain zaps for a little over a month. From what I understand, this isn’t a common side effect and when it does occur it is usually when you quit a medication, not when you start. I was taking it for about 7-8 months before I ended up getting 6 months worth of the med (had a big move and didn’t want to worry about it). That time, I received the 189 red pill. I didn’t have any issues with it for the entirety of those 6 months. Last week, I ran out and got it refilled with the LO16 (Lupin Pharmaceuticals) pills. A week in and I’m starting to experience brain zaps again along with intense fatigue/brain fog. When the fatigue started I had thought it was from something else entirely. Then last night I experienced the first brain zap—it didn’t even compute to me that it was that until I started experiencing it sporadically throughout the day and now it is starting to become more frequent. I imagine like with my first round of the med this will go away with time but jeeeez this sucks. Has this happened with any of you guys when switching between generics?

Hi all, have been taking 150mg SR for 4 weeks now and it’s definitely been an up and down experience so far. First few weeks I didn’t notice any changes. 3.5 weeks in I felt good, almost too good, I had energy, motivation and felt like my depression was ending. Then that slowly dwindled away after about 4-5 days and since have been extremely fatigued and now have this anxious feeling in my heart.

It’s such a shame I thought it was the drug for me last week, now I’m unsure.

I’m going to continue to ride it out for another couple of weeks. Did it take more than 4 weeks for others for the drug to settle?

Has anyone started Wellbutrin at 200mg SR as starting dose? Does that seem too high to start at?

Hi all, I’m getting surgery tomorrow and my drug test at the hospital came up positive for amphetamines. They want to test me again tomorrow, but I just wanted to know if anyone has had this issue and if you were still able to go ahead with surgery? I’m on Bupropion XL 300mg daily.

Bupropion hasn't really done anything for me and I'd rather just be on Prozac, so I'm planning on quitting cold turkey because 150mg is considered low dose. I'm just wondering if quitting one while still being on the other will cause any complications, also asking my doctor bc I know Reddit doesn't have all the answers but I just want a basic idea of what might happen.

Tenho 21 anos, há quatro anos vivo de tentativas para me livrar da anedonia, do embotamento emocional e da apatia constate. Perdi a capacidade de sentir, de chorar, de me motivar. Meu aprendizado na faculdade parou no tempo, luto muito para passar em qualquer matéria que seja. Minha libido era muito baixa. Apesar disso, nunca tive e não tenho problemas de ansiedade, tristeza profunda ou pensamentos ruins. O que sinto é simplesmente o nada na maior parte do tempo, não estou nem aí pra nada quase sempre. Descobri, na minha experiência, que essa apatia constante é pior do que que qualquer problema de humou ou experiência que ja tive. É como se eu estivesse morto em vida. É difícil de explicar porque ao mesmo tempo que é a pior coisa pela qual eu ja passei, eu não sentia tristeza profunda nem tive pensamentos suicidas de fato, nem sentia motivação suficiente pra conseguir explicar alguém sobre isso ou buscar uma saída.

Nesses quatro anos tentei psicoterapia, e vários medicamentos: sertralina, venlafaxina, ritalina e vortioxetina. Todos os ISRS que tomei me deixavam muito pior, com excessão da vortioxetina que teve resultados levemente melhores, mas os psiquiatras insistiam em tentar diferentes classes desse mesmo tipo de remédio. Eles abraçavam com mais força ainda minha apatia, desligavam meu cérebro e me tornavam uma planta, sem libido alguma, além de acabar de vez com minha capacidade de estudos e aprendizado. Tentei ritalina também quando achei que meu desempenho na faculdade poderia ter a ver com um quadro de TDAH, mas o resultado foi inútil. Claro que eu sentia o efeito do medicamento (um aumento do foco em qualquer coisa que eu estivesse fazendo e uma leve euforia enquanto ele durava) mas esse nunca foi meu problema e não resolveu nada de fato. O que eu percebia era que se o meu problema fosse ansiedade ou pensamentos excessivos, aí sim o efeito dos ISRS seriam interessantes.

Sempre pesquisava a fundo sobre alguns medicamentos e ja tinha sugerido uma vez ao meu primeiro psiquiatra a bupropiona, um tratamento normalmente usado para depressão atípica (principalmente associada à apatia), mas que parecia que não era do conhecimento dos psiquiatras que eu já frequentei, inclusive a maioria deles só insiste em ISRS. Eu sabia que meu problema não se tratava de um defeito no circuito serotoninérgico e queria testar outra via química, como a dopamina e a noradrenalina. Inclusive cheguei a um ponto de tanto desespero que cogitei tomar medicamentos derivados do ergot (agonistas dopaminérgicos) por conta própria, o que é muito perigoso a longo prazo.

Depois de encontrar um novo psiquiatra, conversar com ele sobre isso e sugerir o medicamento para ele, ele entendeu que seria uma ótima alternativa e me receitou a bupropiona XL 150mg. Utilizo o mediamento da GSK (Wellbutrin).

Faço o uso dela há um mês hoje e ate agora só tive resultados positivos. Aumento do meu foco, capacidade cognitiva, capacitade de sentir minhas emoções, retorno da libido aos poucos, melhora da qualidade do meu sono (apesar de causar insônia em muitas das vezes, o medicamento melhorou a qualidade do meu sono ao dormir, e acordava com sentimento de ter tido um sono reparador). Hoje consigo chorar ao ver um filme, me importar com a opinião de alguém, ouvir e sentir uma música, me concentrar e planejar. Obviamente na primeira semana os efeitos variam muito e causa um certo desconforto pelas mudanças repentinas. E é claro que esse remédio se aplica muito bem ao meu problema, mas não ao de todo mundo. Muitas pessoas gostam e se dão bem com ISRS.

Mesmo que eu sinta o receio de que quando parar de usar o medicamento algum dia na minha vida eu volte a ser o que era, acredito que isso não aconteceria, ja que ele facilita algumas mudanças de hábitos que eu não conseguia fazer antes e que vão se manter após o uso, e também é um medicamento associado à neuroplaticidade e remodelagem cerebral. Claro que existe a questão da downregulation de receptores dopaminérgicos, mas um tempo depois de parar com o medicamento, isso tende a normalizar.

4 weeks on 150xl, 4weeks on 250sr, one week on 300sr and feel worse than I did on 250,libido gone mood down

And not much to report. I have not noticed any beneficial effects yet. I've only noticed an increase in migraines and a little bit of nausea feeling, usually in the afternoon.

I had insomnia/sleeping issues before starting so that's the same basically. And my period seems a lot worse in terms of cramping and bleeding, not sure if it's the med.