Wellbutrin and weight

Anyone ever had any experience with this. Just started today. Most people I know experienced weight loss on this drug. I am taking it to help with a sports injury. Have become depressed because I cannot work out. Any thoughts??

Wellbutrin (bupropion) is a dopamine receptor agonist, and there's some evidence that it can cause weight loss in some individuals.  e.g. patients on bupropion lost an average of 2.5 lbs in a 12 week study where patients weren't dieting or exercising; patients not taking it gained weight while 28% of people who took it lost 5lbs or more; in another randomized double blind study that put two groups of non-depressed obese people on the same moderate exercise regimen + reduced-cal diet, the group that also took 400 mg of Wellbutrin per day lost 10.1% of their body fat, while the group that took a placebo lost only 5% - a pretty big difference!

but there are significant qualifications to this:

one qualification is that the weight loss sometimes seen on bupropion is usually not dramatic, and most studies only looked at short-term weight loss (that is, weight which may be - and often is - regained).  for some people, the drug can decrease cravings, but that MAY be an effect that some people get more tolerant to over time.  also, there ARE patients on wellbutrin who GAIN weight - you should note, however, that fewer patients gain weight on wellbutrin than other antidepressants. 

in terms of anecdotal reports of people losing weight while on bupropion, there may be confounding factors: many, if not most, people taking wellbutrin do so because they are depressed - for that reason, they may have switched to wellbutrin from a different antidepressant, many of which DO cause weight gain.  another qualification - when it comes depressed patients, many of them either under- or over-eat [traditionally seen as a symptom of atypical depression, but plenty of patients with plain old MDD over-eat] while depressed.  if wellbutrin helps to resolve the depression, the eating pattern may be normalized (this applies to all antidepressants), and any weight gain or loss may be due to that, rather than a pharmacological 'weight-loss [or gain!] effect'.  but there's no doubt that in some patients, wellbutrin can cause some weight loss.  i wouldn't count on it to do the work for you though!

i take wellbutrin and love it...my depression is so much better i have more energy...work out better...sometimes i can get agitated a bit...but not to where it is extreme...and i definitely dont get upset like i use to...oh and since i started i have lost 30lbs+ but i also work out six times a week..hard...and eat less then before ..but i think the wellbutrin helped me have the will power to stick with these things...good luck to you and remember everyone will have different results with the same drugs...all the ssris made me feel terrible...i  was like a zombie on those ..with no emotion...good luck