These are some comments i read on a discussion board about wellbutrin and alcohol. My condition was no different from many of these people.
http://depression.about.com/b/2004/08/31/quick-tip-wellbutrin-and-alcohol-dont-mix.htm
Comments
August 27, 2006 at 3:38 am(1) kenneth says:
Don’t ever drink on Wellbutrin. I mean maybe a drink or two is fine. But be careful.
I’ve never taken any antidepressants, and my doctor didn’t bother to tell me no to drink. I had a good deal of booze and had a rather violent episode that i don’t remember anything of. Psychotic. Strange. Detructive.
I went apeshit haywire and could have hurt myself or someone else seriously if I didn’t have friends to restrain me.
December 4, 2006 at 2:06 am(2) Mike says:
I drink, but when I started taking wellbutrin, I had to taper into it. At first, I felt really bad after just a drink or two. Now, I am almost back to being able to drink like I did before, although of course, it is always helpful in depression to stay away from the nectar. It definitely does put you in a slump after a big night of drinking however.
December 18, 2006 at 11:31 am(3) Liz says:
I didn’t realize that Wellbutrin and Alcohol could be such an ugly concotion. I went to a party on Saturday, and after only a few drinks,I was so out of it, that I don’t remember the entire evening. People said that I was acting crazy. I’ll stay away from the drinks from now on.
January 23, 2007 at 7:07 pm(4) Kate says:
BEWARE of the lethal combo! I started taking Wellbutrin a little over a year ago. My boyfriend and I tend to party. I have had some terrible, destructive, falling down, out of control, seriously wacked out behavior after having a few cocktails or wine. Although I think it has destroyed our relationship, I am thankful he was always with me - who knows what could have happened. Alcohol and Wellbutrin don’t mix.
May 14, 2007 at 2:07 am(5) Chris says:
I’m so glad to find this " the exact same thing is happening with me and I had no idea what was up. I’ve found that a small amount of alcohol is fine, up to 2 beers or 2 glasses of wine (I weigh 175 lbs.) Anything more than that, enough to make you feel a bit dizzy, can make you feel sick for days. Depressed, exhausted, clouded thoughts…fortunately it has gone away after a week every time. I am a college student and used to be an occaisional big drinker before I took Wellbutrin, but now reading this, I think it’s going to have to stop! You’re right Nancy, days of depression is not worth a few hours of “fitting in.”
September 24, 2007 at 12:14 pm(6) Joe says:
It is a seriously bad combination. I had two pints of beer one one glass of wine, which normally wouldn’t have bothered me. I began having random muscle twitches along with coordination problems; and apparently talking complete nonsense. I’ve found out that the alcohol Wellbutrin combination can cause seizures, which I avoided but it was a little to close for comfort. I woke the next day with a vicious hangover and went into a deep gloom for a few days. That was on only three drinks. While taking Wellbutrin one drink will give me a bit of a hangover and that’s about it. Still, it’s not worth it, so I’m staying away from alcohol as long as I’m on the stuff.
October 17, 2007 at 3:37 am(7) Tom says:
Thank you all for sharing. Like Joe, I had three drinks (2 wine, 1 beer) to fit in and boy did I pay for it. I had just started Wellbutrin earlier in the week and was too embarrassed to tell people at a dinner party. So I accepted wine when it was offered to me and went along to a bar afterwards. I felt like hell the rest of the night and for days after"depressed, out of it, like I canceled out all the good and I was feeling when I earlier in the week and actually felt worse than before I started the drug! I still don’t feel back to normal yet, whatever that is on Wellbutrin. However, the first few days on the drugs were great. After drinking, the mild side effects I was experiencing were magnified by 100"terrible headaches, blurred vision, muffled hearing, and a sore throat.
January 25, 2008 at 2:33 pm(8) Kelli says:
I have experienced blackouts while taking Wellbutrin and alcohol. And I just had two drinks the other night and felt bad for two days. Has anyone experienced blurry vision? Does it subside? Thanks
February 3, 2008 at 11:00 pm(9) MLRB says:
Just wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone. I’ve been on Wellbutrin for almost 2 years now, and it has REALLY helped me get my life back. I feel like a completely different person, in a good way. However I can no longer drink socially. A beer or two, or a glass of wine, is usually okay, but honestly I try even to avoid that much b/c I may get raging headaches. The strangest episode occurred last night, when I went out with the girls and tried some new beers. I used to be one of those people who needed 6 beers before feeling anywhere close to drunk, but after 4 beers last night I was totally wasted. I barely remember the last few hours of the evening! And when I woke up this morning, I still felt drunk. Coffee did not help. Even now, at 10pm, I still have: Clouded thoughts, dizziness, confusion, weakness, tiredness, anxiety, and bad coordination. Doing my homework is totally out of the question. I must add that I recently went from a dose of 100mg to 300mg, and this is the first drinking I’ve done since the increase. DEFINITELY practice moderation if you are on a higher dose. I don’t want anyone else to feel this way! I do want to add, in case anyone else is wondering, that I have not had any negative reactions with mild marijuana use (but all things in moderation!). I would much rather relax that way than drink, so I think the beer-tasting parties have come to an end! I’d like to keep the 3.5 GPA I’m maintaining, so it’s no big loss anyway. Hope this helps!
February 9, 2008 at 8:20 pm(10) AllenT says:
This is confusing. I just started taking wellbutrin and I havent experienced any side effects from the combination of alcohol/wellbutrin. I drank about 5 ounces of vodka last night and didnt feel any different than usual.
February 18, 2008 at 7:10 am(11) Drikk says:
A very interesting thread, as everywhere else the discussion of wellbutrin interaction with alcohol is limited to seizure risk. Yet I experienced sth quite similar to this.
I’m on 150 mg of wellbutrin sr, went for drinks with friends and after 3 drinks got quite out of control, feeling so full of energy and very agitated. Feeling unstoppable. After another 5 drinks friends went home, so I also had to. For the next 3 days I was totally spaced out, unwilling to communicate to anyone, uninterested in anything. A typical side effect?
March 11, 2008 at 7:56 pm(12) Dayna says:
Thanks for all your comments they have really been helpful. I have been taking wellbutrin(generic) for around 6 weeks or so and am noticing many positive side effects. I have taken many other AD’s and noticed that when i would start a new AD i would feel a euphoric high for the first couple times taking it. When i was younger and “trying to catch a buzz” i would mix wellbutrin with other substances that i had turned to before such as alchol, marijuana and other perscription uppers or narcotics. I felt unstoppable as many have you have mentioned. I notice that taking the medicine exponetionally increases my buzz in quite a dangerous way. I have actually given away my pills to a friend in order to see how he responded, and he felt “amazing” after one pill and only two beers. Not to recommend mixing the two because it has worked out badly in some circumstances, just wanted to make new timers aware that it will make you feel good. About a week ago i went out with some friends from work and had prolly two shots and a few beers, and was surprised at how tonked i was. The next day for the first time after mixing the two i felt terrible (like most of you reported here). Im not sure why now it effects me now more than before. I suppose that my frequent substance abuse in the past allowed me a tolerance whereas now i am again a “lightweight”. I guess my point is to agree with above comments while also stating that you should be careful not to become your own worst enemy because the combo can be quite entertaining…….
March 27, 2008 at 1:50 am(13) Pam says:
Ok, this is really weird. I feel like the lone ranger here because I can’t feel the effects of alcohol since my dose was increased from 150 to 300. I can drink one beer after another and feel nothing. Or my favorite drink - margaritas - I used to get buzzed after one drink but now I feel nothing after I drink three of them. It sounds like I am having a completely different experience than everyone else.
Also, I experienced blurred vision in one eye a few days ago. No alcohol in my system - my right eye just started to see double. It scared the crap out of me when it happened because I thought I was experiencing a stroke.
March 31, 2008 at 12:11 pm(14) Sheila says:
I have been on wellbutrin for about 2 months now and really feel fine drinking on it. I don’t have weird “drunk spells”, or any side effects. HOWEVER…the next day I am very depressed and feel down all day long. At first I couldn’t figure it out but realized the days of feeling really low were always followed by a day or days of drinking. I usually did not get drunk either, but one week, I drank wed, thurs, fri, and sat, and by the time Sunday came.. it was terrible and not worth it!!! Look at it this way.. when you drink the meds dont’ work.. So not only did my meds not work from wed- sat but i added alcohol which doubled the negative effect. It all makes sense.. Choose your poison.. right now wellbutrin is where I’ll stay!!!
April 9, 2008 at 1:50 am(15) Jessica says:
Today i was moved to three hundred milligram wellbutrin xl from one fifty. Forgetting i had already taken my one fifty dose i proceeded to take a three hundred, therefore taking the maximum dose of four fifty. i`ve, of couse, after taking such a high dose not felt like eating all day. i recently had three to four large shots of ninety nine proof alcohol and a good bit of marijuana and feel very tired but at the same time very good. it does feel like a different kind of drunk but not necessarily a bad one.
April 27, 2008 at 10:43 pm(16) Paul says:
Been on 450 mg for about a year, up from 300. Wellbutrin has kept my binge drinking under control but I still like to have a few now and then. Not a good combo. Before XL I was having 20-25 drinks a week. Now I find i can handle 1-2 drinks occasionally but if I do it consistently (e.g. more than twice in a week) it catches up to me and I spend a week to 10 days in depression. On the rare occasions now that I have over 4 drinks I feel depressed, uncommunicative, irritable for about a week. Not worth it for me so I try to abstain.
May 1, 2008 at 5:45 pm(17) susan says:
Omigosh! I’m so glad I found this forum. I’ve been mystified by the dramatic increase in my sensitivity to alcohol. I began Wellbutrin a year ago, and my tolerance has gradually gotten less and less. I now get VERY drunk VERY easily, and for the first time in my 52 years I’ve had drunkenness-related lapses in memory, lapses in judgment, double vision, passing out, 2-day killer-hangovers, severe guilt, and the like. Wellbutrin is great, but it’s made me a lightweight! Two’s my limit from now on. Thanks for sharing your experiences, everyone!
May 21, 2008 at 9:33 pm(18) Michael says:
I’ve been on wellbutrin 150mg xl for 3 weeks and for the first two weeks I avoided drinking at all but drinking is a large part of my social life (I’m in college and have a little bit of social anxiety). So when I drink I really drink (at least 5 drinks) and the only thing is the second time I drank I had a pretty bad hangover that lasted well past the morning. I normally don’t get hangovers at all.
June 26, 2008 at 1:09 am(19) Trevor says:
I’ve been on Wellbutrin XL for 9 months now and it’s definitely affected my drinking experiences. I’m on 300 ml a day. When i first started taking Wellbutrin, i could barely drink at all without getting drunk way to easily. It hardly takes anything to get me drunk anymore and it used to take a lot. I’d be careful while on this. I am vomiting a lot now after I drink and I never used to before. My advice is to definitely pace yourself if you are planning on drinking. That seems to negate the negative side effects.
June 28, 2008 at 9:29 am(20) Laura says:
WOW! You’ve all just described my experience since taking Wellbutrin! For the past 3 weekends I have become drunk(either passing out or unbelievably energetic)on WAY less alcohol. I’m now a “cheap date” when it used to take large quantities of vodka for me to feel any effects. I also have wondered why I’ve been feeling so down again lately. Thank you all for sharing! I know now what is going on and will def be more careful.
June 29, 2008 at 1:36 am(21) Marie says:
Thank you all so much. I thought I was crazy because the only stuff I could find on wellbutrin + alcohol was all seizure-related. However I feel like I get wayyyyyyy too drunk wayyyyyyy too easily and I blackout for hours at a time and do things I would never do before no matter how drunk I was. I don’t know what to do because I am a college student and drinking is a part of my lifestyle. Unlike some of you though, Wellbutrin does not increase my hangovers or depression. Just the extreme sensitivity to alcohol. Can anyone suggest a similar AD that doesn’t have these effects? I’ve ruined so much in my life these past few months because of being too drunk and out of control on just a couple drinks. Please… help.
June 30, 2008 at 2:34 pm(22) Kim says:
I am so glad I found this forum! I thought there was something wrong with me. I was out the other day at a festival and was very cautious about pacing myself while drinking beer…..but when I hit the hard stuff (sambucca)well thats all she wrote. i dont remember ANYTHING after about 15 minutes from drinking that stuff. I had amnesia and I think this is because of the mixture of Wellbutrin and the “hard” stuff. I was fine as long as I was sipping on beer. Well at least I now know I am not crazy or the only one who has experienced this.
July 3, 2008 at 2:02 pm(23) Hannathema says:
Like everyone else, I am so happy to have found this discussion! I am frustrated by pharmacists and doctors that when asked a question (i.e. this question) respond with the cliche pharmaceutical warnings. I started taking 300 mg of Wellbutrin (for ADHD/ depression) over a month ago, and am ashamed to say that I have no idea what the drug “does” to my emotional state, because I have been on a drinking binge ever since the semester got over (in large the fault of Adderall, which caused huge depression.) I suspected that I was f*cking things up with the drinking (@ 50 drinks per wk, Female, 22 yrs. old, 130 lbs), but am used to feeling like ****. I can drink more than ever (maybe just tolerance rising), I never get sick, but get wasted…the end of everynight is either blurry or blank. I am also hugely emotional…I have lost friends, and I carelessly lost my heart, and am full of regrets. I pull myself together in the morning, punish myself in the gym, fight the fog and constant stomach and head aches, and then night rolls around…
I’m rambling.
Thank you for sharing your experiences…more evidence for me that this med might actually help…I just need to put down the bottle.
July 3, 2008 at 5:39 pm(24) Bobby says:
I’ve been taking Welbutrin for about 2 years now and when my dr increased the dosage from 150mg to 300mg all hell broke loose. After having a few drinks I would wake up and wonder how I got home. People would tell me I did things that I do not recall at all. It’s like having amnesia. I’m so glad I had friends around who took care of me !! I could have easily been mugged in that condition.
Also, it would take me 3-4 days to recover!! Just crazy !! Be very careful, never mix Wellbutrin and Alcohol.
July 4, 2008 at 3:17 am(25) Rusty says:
I am currently taking Wellbutrin (Bupropion) @ 300mg a day and have quite mixed feelings about it. At first it made me lose my appetite and I could hardly sleep at night. I was very happy throughout the day and had abnormal energy levels. Previously 6 months leading up to this med I tried Lexapro for 1 month and Effexor for 6 months. The Lexapro did nothing and actually made the alcohol effects increase. Effexor made me numb to almost any level of alcohol or marijuana, scary since I was already very tolerant of both. It also made me apathetic about everything. It seems that every time I went back to my regular doctor he would prescribe whatever is the latest and greatest. Genetically I am subject to high normal blood pressure which is evident when I go to the doc yet he prescribes me meds that go against this condition. Effexor was hell to get off of, total disorientation and withdrawal. If it weren’t for my high consumption of marijuana at the time I don’t think I could have done it. There have been several bouts of exercise, healthy lifestyle, and total discontinuation of M & A but it seems that I get extreme anxiety that gets triggered by my emotionally challenged life and back I go. Lately I keep stopping the Bupropion for a day or two and always go back for fear of what could happen. I am not sure about these meds at all and their effect on certain types of people. I have a tendency to overanalyze the logical aspects of any type of substance in my body and I am coming to a point where I don’t think I can have anything like this in my system. Marijuana does almost nothing to me no matter the potency, how often or how much I use. I understand its effects and can rationalize them when it is in my system. Ignorance is bliss…. Alcohol is the same way. I can go thought 48 beers in a weekend and never blackout once nor forget any part of it. It seems that they dull a certain part of my brain that is not functioning properly. I have come to a point where I am seeking an actual doctor in the field of psychology not some BS counselor that always tells me to journal my feelings and use breathing techniques yet offers no feedback after I dump all of my cherished thoughts and past experiences on them. Believe me I have a lot of unfinished business and I am in no way a typical case but I feel that these drugs are not right for some of us with certain brain chemistry. I still do great at my job and solve difficult logical problems with ease all day long but everything else is a blur to me. I have always been able to self medicate and still take care of my life but since I chose to start anti-depressants my life has been out of control. My brain is not functioning normal. Maybe related, maybe not, just an obvious change.
July 6, 2008 at 12:28 am(26) barb says:
I took Welbutrin a few years ago when I was 23 and my friends kept saying that I would get drunk really fast and act kinda revved up. I didn’t really see it so I didn’t take their warnings until I blacked out, got completely naked and peed in the corner of my new boyfriends room! I have never peed during drinking and I didn’t have enough to black out. It was scary and I was takin’ off it. I definately think that my tolerance is lowered and with too much alcohol blacking out happens alot when on antidepressants. Alcohol and antidepressants are trying to combat each other in your brain. Its not good.
July 9, 2008 at 12:54 am(27) Roman says:
hey im taking wellbutrin as well , so im cool if i just take 2 beers ?? , and another thing does anyone know if there is any issue with smoking cigarretes and taking wellbutrin , i apreciate any information about that thank you
July 12, 2008 at 11:32 am(28) Kris says:
Wellbutrin (Zyban) is actually used to help ppl to stop smoking. It doesn’t hurt you to smoke while on the med, but it can help you cut your addiction to nicotine quite nicely if you use it properly.
July 20, 2008 at 12:32 pm(29) Maggie says:
I started taking welbutrin more than 10yrs ago for cyclothymia (rapid-cycling manic depression), obsessive-compulsive syndrome and suicidal tendencies… there has been some question that I may also have borderline personality disorder… I think it’s all ptsd from childhood abuse… I’m also in menopause. Point is, last spring we started playing with the dosage because I was under incredible stress( I had been taking 75ml 3xday, but switched to 100SR) and I started having these violent rage attacks. I was let go from my teaching job, and then started drinking and smoking weed like crazy. It got worse: one night I flipped at a bar and began crashing a barstool on the ground. Blackouts happened regularly, I stopped eating, just got really out there. I was also having off the wall hive attacks to foods I’d never had problems with. I switched to 150sr recently and feel a lot better. The rages stopped, nightmares and sleeplessness decreased, overall enjoyment increased. It seems like the dosage and form have a huge effect on my emotional and physical stability. Talk w/ your Dr honestly about your lifestyle and tendencies: I almost landed in jail. As my mother would have said, “(That’ll) give you something to cry about!”
July 21, 2008 at 2:10 am(30) Marly says:
Been on Wellbutrin for a little over two weeks. Friday night I took two shots of rum and caught a buzz very quickly (not normal). Then I decided to go get more (big mistake, I wish I could take it back). Talking to a friend on the phone I snapped and went off on him over absolutely nothing, I was screaming at him about something completely unrelated to the conversation. Arriving back home, apparently I drank roughly another 3 shots based on what was gone out of the bottle. Again this should not have been a problem, although it wasn’t normal for me to be drinking by myself (I missed that clue). Usually I’m the giggly drunk who loves everybody. Now, for the really bad part that I don’t remember. Apparently I spent two hours (intermittently, I kept hanging up) on the phone with a friend, while he was at work. Crying, hysterical, talking non sense and threatening to kill myself. He was so freaked out he got a hold of my mom to have her come check on me, this was just so completely out of character for me. She found me, passed out on the floor with a plastic bag duck taped around my head. I could have died and I don’t even remember any of this! I had to hear about it the next day! The irony here is that I am not taking wellbutrin for depression, I’m taking it to quit smoking. My friends have reached a consensus, the pills are making you crazy please keep smoking (I did quit). The alcohol warning lable needs to be more specific “Lowers tolerance and may make you paranoid, suicidal, irrational, delusional and anything you can think of that is the opposite of who you are normally.” All of that off of 5 shots of rum, hehe normally that’s just a good night.
July 24, 2008 at 5:35 pm(31) Jesse says:
DO NOT DRINK WHILE ON THIS MEDICATION! I am so glad I found this forum since I am trying to make sense of last night. I just started taking Wellbutrin 2 days ago to quite smoking. I consider myself a regular drinker but a happy drunk. Last night, I blacked out, hit my boyfriend, ripped his shorts off and scratched his face up. I woke up this morning without a trace of any memory. This is not typical behavior for me and I am shocked I got so out of control. This was scary and it is not worth it to have a drink. Read the label on your bottle, WHEN TAKING THIS MEDICATION DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. Be careful even if you have a record of holding your drinks, you may wake up in a strange place with blood on your hands or even worse a bag on your head like Marly. My doctor said I could drink in moderation while taking this, that is BS because no one should drink while on this, not even just a little.
July 28, 2008 at 12:28 pm(32) Sinceri says:
I’m glad to have read all your blogs. I have been on Wellbutrin for a couple of years. I love it! I cannot drink with it. I’ve had episodes thinking I’m the Incredible Hulk, and that’s not good. I have to stop drinking, its hard since its such a part of my social life. I can’t deal with the guilt or the depression afterwards. Thanks so much.
July 31, 2008 at 4:29 pm(33) Erin says:
I have been taking Wellbutrin for about 10 years. I started when I was 17, after my mom died. Since then, I have been a regular drinker, drinking massive quantities, while taking my medicine. I have had tons of psychotic episodes when drunk, looking back, but for some reason attributed it to the alcohol and didnt even consider the Wellbutrin was causing them. I recently reduced my dosage from 300 to 150 and I feel more clear headed. and I have been drinking less because Im back in school again at the age of 29. It’s crazy to think that all of the ‘issues’ I have had all these years, and unnecessary fights with boyfriends and crazy behavior might have all been caused by the medication that was supposed to be helping me. although, I guess I always knew. Im going to try to ween off of it or quit drinking.
August 1, 2008 at 6:45 pm(34) Sessie says:
First off, anyone who is taking Wellbutrin is obviously suffering from depression so regardless if you are taking Wellbutrin or not, the day after drinking will not be fun. While taking Wellbutrin, the effects of alcohol will be increased and your seizure threshold will be lowered due to the Wellbutrin but if you are not prone to having seizures already, you most likely will not have one. Some people may be fine drinking on Wellbutrin anf some not, but remember your bodies natural responses to alcohol will most likely be increased while taking Wellbutrin. Depressed people will feel depressed after drinking.
August 4, 2008 at 2:02 am(35) Patrick says:
I’m on 300mg Wellbutrin daily and I take Klonopin regularly, both for Social Anxiety (Wellbutrin was originally for quitting smoking). I also drink regularly, including when i take the Klonopin, and I noticed no side-effects at all. Maybe the only difference I see is that I get drunk quicker, probally because of the Klonopin. No hangover. No nothing.
August 9, 2008 at 7:54 am(36) Marley says:
SESSIE: Obviously not suffering from depression. Wellbutrin was prescribed for me to use as a stop smoking aide. After looking into wellbutrin a bit further I learned it LOWERS your alcohol tolerance significantly while also increasing the rate at which your body absorbs the drug. I BLACKED OUT from 5 shots of the candy rum (not even full strength 80 proof).
August 10, 2008 at 1:15 pm(37) Noey says:
I have only been on Wellbutrin Xl for 36 hours and in that time I have had about 3 drinks. I highly DO NOT reccomend drinking on this. Last night I had to cut my night short and laid in the fetal position having chills and muscle aches for hours. I have been an experienced drinker for a while and realized it was getting me no where. I made the decision to finally get on this medication and that outweighs drinking I am
