Sustained release symptoms and conditions

I am also experience hair thinning while on Wellbutrin. I have had blood tests and there is no other detectable cause. The dermatologist said that she was only able to diagnose as possibly hereditary. However, I began noticing it shortly after starting 300mg of Well XL and then noticed increased thinning when I went up to 450mg. I don't take any other medications at all.

I searched the Wellbutrin prescribing information (a pdf on the official Wellbutrin website) and this is all I can find:

Other Events Observed During the Clinical Development and Postmarketing Experience of Buproprion

Adverse events for which frequencies are not provided occurred in clincial trials or postmarketing experience with bupropion. Only those adverse events not previously listed for sustained-release bupropion are included. The extent to which these events may be associated with Wellbutrin XL is unknown.

Skin: Rare was maculopauplar rash. Also observed were alopecia, angioedeme, exfoliative dermatitis and hirsutism.

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Alopecia is hair loss. All that means is it was reported and they didn't do a study that would have produced data with which they could measure the likelihood that it is a Wellbutrin side effect. In other words, people said they were experiencing it but they can't confirm it.

I just dropped down to 300 mg and I'm contacting my shrink about tapering off completely - I feel like dealing with scalp showing through and feeling horribly self-conscious and unattractive because of it is not going to help my depression and self-esteem issues any.

I'm a woman by the way - the number of reports of hair thinning in women seems significant to me. I have no family history of thin hair on the female side that I know of.

IR is tricky with 3 doses a day,.. STAY AWAY FROM DIETARY SUPPLEMENT NIACIN !!! Unless,.. you are an expert identifying the safe, from the toxic, from he 'placebo'. YES.. most of the $20-35 a month NO FLUSH have NO BENEFIT. Do NOT work. Safe??.. yes! Work??,.. NO! Preventative Cardiology Norris RB, et al Jan 2006. the cardiologist wrote Rx ER niacin & pateint switched to NO FLUSH,.. no HDL changes, no further LDL drop, No trig drop,.. NOTHING !! Card didn`t know. Grilled patient. patient confesswed. Labs do NOT lie. HDL, especially HDL2 AND Lp(a) hardly move for 9 months, BUT continue to respoind for 3 years. Allen Taylor, MD, Colonel - Walter Reed & Moti Kashyap, VA/Los Angeles-Long Beach. ONLY niacin & estrogen increase HDL2. Fibrates LOWER HDL2. 1000 mg or 1g increase HDL2 11% & at 2000 mg or 2g it increases 189%. Absolutely unique. By he time the flushing quits occuring : 1) small dense pattern B LDL. even with a total LDL of 85, pattern B will eventually get you
2) LOW HDL2; Often far below 10 in males & < 15 in females
Niacin is THE MOST POTENT AGENT to fully correct BOTH these defects.
Manage triglycerides up to 800 mg/dL with ONLY 10 caps fish oil and 1 gm or more of RX niacin: No need for fibrates until pancreatiis is a threat @ ~>800-1000..

BEWARE the SR, CR, LA aka 'LOW' FLUSH niacins. Poor efficacy and other poor tolerability issues: GI, etc. Again, unregulated, not even OTC. DANGEROUS to play with. Several gov't studies, on Sustained release / SR at the VA, there were reports of confirmed hepatotoxicity: "...fulminant hepatic failure.." long residence times in the liver are not a good idea.
DO NOT PLAY DOCTOR!! Find a Dr. who has A LOT of experience Rx-ing ER niacin. If he doesn`t CURRENTLY have 50-100 successfully managed niacin patients, ask IM's, ENDO's & Cards until you find someone who does have clinical experience. 100 new starts a year,.. minimum. OR.. call a lipid clinic. They know. USE HE WEB: Find a lipid expert in your zip code: Lipid.org aka National Lipid Association

Take care,..
...be well...!! ;-)
Steve the Lipid Guy

The hard truth about sustained release niacin ( NIASPAN) The Drug Niaspan will raise your HDL, but the prescribing physician won't tell you that this drug has one of the highest drop out rates. The reason? The side effects are unbearable for most people.

The posting below states that "Niaspan WILL save your life" Not true! The niaspan website fully admits that Niaspan is not to be taken to prevent a heart attack if you have never had one. So far there is no proof that Niaspan will prevent a cardiac event. But there is proof it will alter your blood lipids.

Niaspan can damage your liver. That is why liver function tests are routinly done for those taking the drug. It is toxic doses of Vitamin B3 which results in the horror stories you read in this.
Niaspan can damage your muscles. Taking this and other cholesterol lowering drugs only add to your health risks.

Be smart. Eat right and exercise. Its the best thing you can do for your health.

Good luck.

originally was taking 150 mg and after a few days increased to 150 mg 2x/day. Those first couple of days taking two a day made my ears ring LOUD! And I had rather extreme bout of depression, more than I'd ever experienced with uncontrollable crying and wanting to die.

Lack of appetite, very dry mouth, constipation also present.

Doctor suggested 150mg sustained release and most side-effects gone except for inability to sleep.

probably going off of it because I hate taking any kind-of drug and certainly don't want to endure any long-term side-effects.

If first you don't succeed, try again. I couldn't tolerate the wellbutrin XL (extended release version) but did very well on the regular wellbutrin at a low dose (75 mg once a day).

While taking a trial of wellbutrin XL, I felt unusually tired, but I had insomnia to the point I had to go to wallmart to purchase generic brand sleeping pills, which I'd never taken before. This did not go away even after several days. I felt like I did when I first popped a psuedoephedrine 24 hour release pill for allergies when I didn't fall asleep until a half hour before I was due to get up. Ever since then, I laugh about how fucked up psuedoephedrine 24 hour release is and how it make me feel as high as a kite. I didn't feel high on wellbutrin, but I tossed and turned uncomfortably even though I was more tired than usual and only wanted to catch some shut eye.

Furthermore, on wellbutrin XL, I felt anxious for no reason, a weird sort of amphetamine addict or drugged up shake that I couldn't tolerate. I never do well on extended release versions of medications, however, because I experience more side effects for whatever reason. I'm glad I decided to try a lower dose that isn't an extended or sustained release because it worked well.

I like wellbutrin in general. Other positive effects are feeling slightly less depressed (not overwhelmingly so though), and feeling more intelligent and consequently, more self-confident. I also have more energy to do daily tasks, and am much more organized. I also notice I'm more logical minded and less impulsive. I think my thoughts are clearer and consequently, I feel more stable, which is all good.

Negative side effects are, especially when I first started taking it, unusually greater hyperactivity. First, it effected me in such a way that I felt even manic and like an ADHD little kid who runs around before bedtime and acts silly and hyperactive. This diminished after taking a lower dose and also after several days after it had been in my system. Now, I'm not troubled by hyperactivity.

Also, when I added this to my prescribed zoloft, I feel like in a fog from hell. Especially this was true after I ran out of ritalin and had to rough it for two weeks on just wellbutrin and zoloft. For example, at the convenience store, I look like I'm a vicodin addict as simple choices becomes overwhelming and I'm inundated by a baffling array or options, such as whether to buy sunchips or pretzels and lollying and looking lost as I wander the isles to the point the salesclerk probably thought I was going to steal something. Especially after I dropped my purse on the ground and started rummaging around to see how much money I had, also increasing my options because I could buy alcohol too, only I couldn't decide which kind, the raspberry zodka or plain, or should I just buy a bottle or wine since all they had were 6 packs or smirnoff ice? Luckily, the salesclerk looked like she was stoned so she probably didn't notice, although when I said "and I'm the red car on that pump", I couldn't remember which number it was, she said, "so that's YOUR red car" as if there was a huge discussion amongst the two on who owned the red car parked at the pump for so long.

I decided not to take zoloft with wellbutrin and that wellbutrin is no substitute for ritalin. I like wellbutrin better than zoloft, however, because althought it doesn't help my OCD or anxiety, and I think makes them worse, it still makes me feel more capable simply because I do better at work and in life - organizing things and the like.

Lastly, since I'm more anxious on the wellbutrin/ritalin combination, I'm currently looking for a medication to go with the two to treat my anxiety and OCD without making me feel like I'm in a fog. However, I feel very pleased with wellbutrin because it helps my depression and ADD and the side effects are mild, and even less noticeable at a lower dose for me.