Wellbutrin/Bupropion XL and Drinking

jhunter46

I've been on Wellbutrin for about four months now. I stopped taking it right before Christmas, because I knew I'd been drinking around the holidays.

I just started taking it again, and it got me wondering, does anyone else take Wellbutrin and drink? I'd love to be able to have a beer every once and a while when I'm out to dinner, without having to worry about a seizure.

Sentry

I would drink on occasion while on it. I never died or had a seizure. However, your results may vary.

Bama

jhunter46 wrote: »

I stopped taking it right before Christmas, because I knew I'd been drinking around the holidays.

Have you talked to your doctor about this? I'm pretty sure you don't want to suddenly halt your doses with that stuff, especially since (AFAIK) the XL tabs only come in substantial doses.

bowen

I would say as long as you're taking it significantly before or after drinking (like 4 hours +), then you're probably not going to experience any side effects. Most of these warnings are there to protect themselves from lawsuits when some crazy bastard decides to down a bottle of vodka with some antidepressants, and as long as you're not drinking with the pills you should be fine. Stopping the dose is probably the worst thing you'll want to do in that situation as there are a lot of medications that can kill you if you do that.

Bupropion itself is recommended with lower doses of alcohol, but not outright. So a beer on Friday night will not likely kill you. Give your doctor a 10 minute phone call and just run it by him.

jhunter46

I was on the 150xl a day, I just never refilled my rx.

The holidays actually weren't that bad, but I did notice my energy level fall off the table after I stopped taking it.

Creepy

I am not advocating any course of action.

I have a friend who takes Wellbutrin and drinks like it's a 2nd career. He seems ok.

YMMV.

PantsB

Know the best place to get medical advice?

Video game message boards.

bowen

PantsB wrote: »

Know the best place to get medical advice?

Video game message boards.

I have a Ph.D. in bullshitology.

jhunter46

PantsB wrote: »

Know the best place to get medical advice?

Video game message boards.

:-P I just wanted anecdotal advice. I figure at least some of you are as broken as I am.

Bama

jhunter46 wrote: »

PantsB wrote: »

Know the best place to get medical advice?

Video game message boards.

:-P I just wanted anecdotal advice. I figure at least some of you are as broken as I am.

Do you not feel that your doctor will be honest with you, or something?

Feral

PantsB wrote: »

Know the best place to get medical advice?

Video game message boards.

The rules wrote:

Do not discourage people from asking for Help and Advice in Help and Advice.

Don't bother posting here for the sole purpose of discouraging people from seeking H/A in H/A. You don't actually know that no one here is properly equipped to provide valid advice, and even if no one is, it will still be obvious when bad advice is being given. Now even if that is the case, and the only advice offered clearly isn't very good, there's still a decent shot someone here has experienced a highly similar situation, and that they can lend support which is valuable. So don't bitch that people are asking for H/A in H/A because you think the subject is too serious for the Internet to handle. There's a line to be drawn between slagging the mere thought of H/A being provided in H/A on a subject, and recommending the attention of a professional in addition to any direct advice offered here. If you can't see that, that's okay, you're not the one whose duty it is to do so. If you disagree on where we've drawn that line, take it to PM's.

There's no particular reason why you should have to avoid limited drinking while on Wellbutrin. Some people who are on antidepressants see their alcohol tolerance drop noticeably but not everybody. And if your doctor is even half-way decent, he should be able to field questions about reasonable alcohol consumption without judging you.

The problem with wellbutrin & seizures is when an alcoholic is going sober, seizures can be one of the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol, and wellbutrin can increase that risk. Wellbutrin can also increase the risk of seizures in people who have a history of it. So if either of these apply to you, then you should definitely bring it up with your MD.

But as others have said, suddenly stopping Wellbutrin without tapering off or talking to your doctor first. Wellbutrin withdrawals can be pretty bad when it's suddenly discontinued.

proXimity

H/A should get a real life doctor on staff to answer these medical questions that nobody is ever REALLY sure about...

Ganluan

proXimity wrote: »

H/A should get a real life doctor on staff to answer these medical questions that nobody is ever REALLY sure about...

There was one here for a while answering the questions (with a disclaimer of course).

corcorigan

You might get further asking a pharmacist this sort of stuff.

The_Masterplan

Well,

I take 300mg XL every morning. Last night I partook in a ritual 'quad damage' w/ my friend (4 shots in a row of frozen vodka, slightly separated so my throat doesn't freeze) then nursed a Guinness and proceeded to play through an L4D campaign.

YMMV disclaimers yada yada.