Quick Tip: Wellbutrin and Alcohol Don't Mix

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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?

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…….

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 shit. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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 afraid.

I have been on Wellbutrin for about 6 months now. I take 150 SR twice a day. I have also been drinking for a very long time. I did not discontinue my alcoholic behavior since i started. My tolerance to alcohol did not change at all. I continue to drink every night and I have not felt any difference in my tolerance. Drinking has been a serious problem for me as far back as I can remember. I have always been known to overdue it. Drank 20 beers last night and also upped my dose to 450mg for the evening. I do notice that I have serious mood swings at times and it could be because of this. Last night I cried out of control. This is why I uped my dose. I also use marijuana and have been known to use xanex, morphine, percocets, and vicodins while on this drug. I did notice the wellbutrin was helping within the first days i used it. I also have tried to stop drinking recently and on the second day I felt real wierd. Tripping out with high anxiety. Peeking out my window and getting sweats. Dont know if its from stopping alcohol or from mixing all this stuff. I wanna quit but feel as though I cant without proper counseling and meds. It is crazy to read these posts and see how everyone else seems to get more wasted than usual. I abuse alcohol and prescription drugs and feel like usual. High but like usual. I must have a serious problem. I just want to be normal and happy with my life. My mood swings are very strange. I usually am no longer depressed but it hits me every so often. I need to see my doc and hope something can be done. I have no side effects on this med and think it helps. Dont know if i need more meds or what. It feels to not make me as happy as it did in the first 2 months. I am ****** up and dont know what I can do. If anyone has any advise or suggestions I would appreciate your reply. Well gonna go finish some beers and smoke a bowl. Boy I hate to feel this way. I guess I am lucky to not have had a blackout or experienced a siezure as of yet. Wonder if my day is coming. I am usually motivated and keep a 3.8 GPA in college. I know I have a problem. I just dont know what to do about it. Does anyone have any ideas. Thanks for your posts. Once again as usual I feel like an outcast.

Been on 150 for a about 6 weeks or so. Was on it a year go. Worked okay, went off, now it doesn’t work as well.

I have been drinking quite moderately. 2 light beers last night. Glass of wine tonight and 1 light beer earlier. I feel like hell. I want to die. I think even this small amount of booze is making me feel worse and worse. Today I had a public flip out. Was perfectly fine one moment – what should have been a minor aggravation flipped me out.

I don’t know the solution. Will stop drinking period, but I think the Wellbutrin is messing me up even when I’m not drinking.

Please everybody get off this drug. I will pray for us all.

Yeah, I had an extremely psychotic episode while drinking just this past Saturday night. I may have ruined my boyfriend’s life forever and I attacked (verbally) an innocent girl for no apparent reason. I am usually not mean and aggressive and abusive like that at all. I broke a glass. I was out of control. As long as I’m wellbutrin, I’m never drinking again. I don’t know if my boyfriend will ever be able to forgive me/restore his friendships and remain in his running club, which is his entire existance.

I have been taking Wellbutrin for about a month and thought the antidepressant effects were just inconsistent. One day I would feel fine and the next depressed. After reading all your posts I realized the inconsistency is due to alcohol intake. I didn’t put it together until now. I’ve had a lot of social events this summer and I’ve had a few drinks at each. The next day the Wellbutrin didn’t “work.” I haven’t experienced any of the out of control behavior that some have talked about (thank God) just a little down on the day following a wedding or party. It’s not worth it to me. I’ll drink club soda with cranberry from now on. I’m really glad I came across these posts.

Well my doctor told me when first prescribing the medication that the alcohol does not work with Welbutrin. She said that the pot smoking is not that bad even though it is considered a depressant but she said the alcohol must stop in order for the drug to work. I think I should give it a try. What do I have to lose anyway?..A buddy told me something at school today…I told him of my drinking and lack or self motivation or care and he said….If you dont look out for yourself who the hell is going to look out for you?…..I knew alcohol was my problem but never cared to correct it…He said I should treat myself like a king just like he treats himself….This made so much sense to me…if I dont care about myself it does not matter how much help or support I have or anybody has…I hope to stop my corrupt lifestyle very soon. Thanks for all the posts.

It makes sense to me now! I’ve been on wellbutrin for about a week. The first two days were great, I started feeling in control. The third day I had about six or eight beers and a couple glasses of vodka cran. The next day I forgot to take my pill in the morning. I didn’t have a hang over, but I felt like shit, depressed and very easily agitated(I have two young boys so it don’t take much some times!).I thought maybe it was that I let the meds ware off but after two days I still felt like shit. It’s been three days and I’m finally feeling good again. I love to drink socially. I don’t think it will happen anymore. NOT WORTH IT!!! Thanx everyone and good luck!

Never ever ever drink more than 1 or 2 drinks while taking wellbutrin as i did and basically don’t remember the whole night. I didn’t drink that much to blackout like i did. Friends said i did some things that were absolutely bizarre and completely out of character for me. I will never drink more than 2 drinks while taking this very powerful drug.

I am currently on Wellbutrin 300XL daily.. I’m a 29 year old female and drink nightly at least 3-5 beers.. On weekends, a little more. I have not noticed anything different except that maybe I get a little more of a buzz faster.. And sometimes, after just a few, i just won’t even feel like drinking anymore. Since taking the XL, there’s been a HUGE improvement in my mood and drinking alcohol doesn’t seem to affect the effects of the Wellbutrin in any way. I still feel great! Now, i haven’t gone out and gotten blitzed since being on this medication.. I don’t go NEAR hard liquor.. My experience is only while at home.. But, i just thought I would share because I was very concerned myself when I was first put on this medication. I hope this helps anybody who’s wondering the same thing…

Ciao!

MARLY – you must have been terrified hearing that story, I certainly was and it’s made me decide NOT to take any chances with alcohol and wellbutrin. On a MUCH less severe scale, I woke up this morning after four glasses of wine over dinner at my brother’s house to find vomit everywhere (sorry, it’s gross). All over my bed, all over my beautiful new white rug, and I don’t remember it at all. I’ve spent the entire day getting sick with more intensity than ever before, and I feel lower than low. I appreciate the information from this post, mostly for the ways it can help me change some stuff to try and get better. I’ve lost most of my friends, not because of outbursts, but apparently, from my increasingly gloomy/boring/irritable attitude over the last couple of months. I can’t think of what they mean, and I’m generally overly self-analytical. Nothing like the blacked-out sickness had happened before, so to the people who have seen no effects – that’s what I would have said yesterday too. Take the opportunity to dodge having to learn the hard way that these things probably just don’t mix.

I have been taking 450 mg. Wellbutrin every morning for probably about a year, and drinking at times as well. Last week I had quite a lot to drink one night, took my Wellbutrin as usual the next morning, and suddenly had a full-on seizure in the afternoon. I knew nothing of it, but apparently I was thrashing uncontrollably all over the place and it took me quite some time to come out of it (my husband was present). Afterward, my tongue was swollen, abraded and painful along both sides where I had apparently bitten it repeatedly, and my arms and legs ached as though I’d had a serious workout. Absolutely do not mix this stuff. I cut out alcohol immediately and I feel so much better (much less depressed too), I wish I’d dropped alcohol years ago.

I just started wellbutrin 3 weeks ago. I was on 150mg and just recently upped it to 300mg. I’ve read a lot about many medications, but I’ve never heard about wellbutrin and alcohol mixing like this. I have a really stressful job right now, and I’m always anxietized, so I don’t know if wellbutrin is the right drug for me? When I’m less depressed it’s easier to get things done (ADD). But thank you so much for the early warning on alcohol everyone! I binge drink about once a week (avg. 10 drinks), so who knows what might have happened. I was insane(!) on 40mg of paxil and alcohol. Good luck all.

Well! This, is a really useful issue: wellbutrin and alcohol… I’m on a combo wellbutrin/sipralexa (serotonin-like) since two weeks, on 150 mg, morning.
After 2 days, I felt like my energy was back again (I have been feeling extremely tired for several years, after a mononucleosis and the CMV (cyto megalo virus). Then, I had quite a few drinks with my wife in the evening and the NEXT day I really got the feeling that Wellbutrin was not “working” out anymore!
That, corresponds to what you say, all of you: wellbutrin seems to “block” its working in presence of alcohol.
I think there is a choice to do there, don’t you think so? ((; Wellbutrin… or alcohol.
I don’t see any other way. Olivier, Brussels, Belgium

I have been on Wellbutrin-XL 150mg daily for 10 days, and abstaining completely from alcohol for 11 days (stopped drinking the day before starting the drug). I am not feeling any better yet from the drug, but want to give it a fair trial of 2-4 weeks without alcohol. Previously I was drinking 2-3 drinks daily and more heavily 1-2 times per week. I will definitely limit my alcohol to 1 or 2, if any at all, the next time I am out with friends. Thanks to everyone for your stories. I hope that I won’t have one to tell when I eventually decide to have a drink or two.

Like most of you here, I thought i was the only one. I have felt such excessive rage today that I banged my head against a door, could not stop slamming doors, swearing and shouting at everyone and it scared the hell out of me. I have been taking wellbutrin now for 2 weeks and i have felt increasingly more anxious and agressive. I went out on friday night, (it is now sunday) only had 2 drinks (double spiced gold, then a cider) and I actually started to feel off so I went home. I have also been finding that if I do smoke a cigarette, i feel nauseous and want to throw up. I also midly smoke marijuana (few puffs of a joint every now and again, so I am also wondering if that would have any effect? I will wait it out, see if things improve but i dont like this, im ruining every relationship by freaking out and hitting things.

A lot of these comments mention blacking out and doing intensely odd things, but couldn’t it just be the Wellbutrin lowering your tolerance? I’ve blacked out once in my life and I wasn’t on any medication at the time and I acted extremely nuts clawing at my friends face violently.
I’ve only been on the stuff for just over a week but what’s been happening to me when I’ve had just one or two drinks (and mind you I have a very very high tolerance level) is that for a period of maybe ten seconds or I will be trying to say something and it just won’t come out right. It feels almost as if I’m on a psychotropic substance. It’s very strange but I kind of like it all the same!

Booze and Wellbutrin… Never again would I make that mistake. I’m a career alchy, ALWAYS drinking ALL the time, morning, noon and night. Two years ago, I took Wellbutrin 300mg for about a week and then on the weekend I did my normal thing, drinking from the moment I got up ’till I passed out in the afternoon only to wake up and drink some more. Except that instead, I never passed out. I became anxious. Then more anxious. Then so anxious that I called a friend to come over because I felt terrified(of nothing). Eventually I was in a barely controllable state of panic that lasted for a day and a half. I spent the whole night on my couch crying and rocking, smacking my leg in an attempt to try and get control of myself. My friend wanted to take me to the hospital but I refused.

When I finally recovered I knew one thing for certain… I could either drink or take Wellbutrin but I couldn’t do both. I had to make a decision…

The pill bottle is still in my cabinet, mostly full and with two refills left.

I have been on Wellbutrin for 5 months. When I drink, I get extremely flush, so much so that my skin gets red and blotchy. Also, I feel a tingling and numbness in my head. Does anyone else experience this? Also, wicked hangovers!

Unlike many of the preceding comments, Wellbutrin/Budeprion SR (150 mg) was prescribed to me for smoking cessation. I don’t have depression/suicidal/alcohol issues; I’m just trying to overcome my “desire” to smoke. When the doctor told me the Wellbutrin/Budeprion SR MIGHT cause seizures, I decided to never take them even though there is no history of seizures in my family. The 24-hour (prescribed) patch has been effective for reducing my physical desire to smoke, but I’m desperately “missing” that “kick” in the back of my throat after inhailing, and I miss the taste of smoke in my mouth. I was told the Wellbutrin/Budeprion would help to remove those desires, but I’m not willing to risk flopping on the ground like a fish out of water. Has anyone else used this drug for smoking cessation? Does it remove the desire to want to smoke without (alcohol assisted) nausea?

I’ve heard mention of other AD’s here like Effexor. Stay away from that stuff. I’ve been on it for about 3 years. I wasn’t depressed, or even happy for that matter. I was just flat lined. What’s worse is when you miss one dose. The muscle aches, the “Brain Zaps” etc.

As far as Wellbutrin is concerned I believe its the best AD on the market, despite the side effects when you include alcohol.
I find that if I have 1 drink a week I still wake up in the morning with a headache, but if I have a few during the week it doesn’t seem so bad. I’m not sure why this is. Anyone else have the same symptoms?

AMY-I have also experienced blotchy, hot skin while drinking. I haven’t had many other side effects and I’ve been drinking a lot lately (4-5 drinks a night at least twice a week from nothing at all).

I’ve been on 100 MG Wellbutrin for close to 2 years now. It has helped me so much, but I just recently started drinking and worrying about the effects. I haven’t noticed anything horrible like what I’ve read above, and I think it may be because I’m on such a low dose.

I’m worried about any possible long term side effects or anything REALLY dangerous. Does anyone know if mixing alcohol and Wellbutrin can harm you more than just giving you bad side effects and increasing risk of seizure? I’ve been trying to find this answer forever now so if someone could help, that would be great! Thanks!

yup yup… like most everyone here, i ended up on this page after experiencing the worst backlash from drinking that i have ever had. I am on 4 doses of 75 mg IR 6 hours aparing for quitting smoking. A couple of days ago i went out w/ some friends and had maybe 3 beers and a shot. No black out or strange actions yet the next day i spiraled into the worst depression, paranoia ever. I turned off my cell phone and refused to communicate with anyone except my DOG for 2 days. WTF? My doctor never mentioned this and the Wellbutrin web site makes lite of the combo. I am 100% positive that my extreme reaction was due to Wellbutrin especially after reading all of the postings above.

Just like to comment again.. still taking 300 XL daily. Still drinking daily.. Wellbutrin still working strong! Nothing different when i drink. Maybe i’m one of those rare few.. I can’t believe how it can affect everybody so differently!

I’ve been on wellbutrin sr for almost three months I’m on 300 mg and I had been avoiding any type of alcohol consumption due to the risk of seizures. Yet, on Thanskgiving I decided I was going to try a new wine that I bought specifically for the holiday.

I could not finish a glass the taste was very strong and it just didn’t feel right.I’m 116 lbs so 2-3 glasses of wine would be enough before wellbutrin. Now, I can’t even finish a glass. The next day I was nauseous and had a terrible headache and felt sad and depressed. It’s not worth the risks besides we all know alcohol is a depressant the very thing that we are trying to get rid of.

I’ve been on wellbutrin sr for almost three months I’m on 300 mg and I had been avoiding any type of alcohol consumption due to the risk of seizures. Yet, on Thanskgiving I decided I was going to try a new wine that I bought specifically for the holiday.

I could not finish a glass the taste was very strong and it just didn’t feel right.I’m 116 lbs so 2-3 glasses of wine would be enough before wellbutrin. Now, I can’t even finish a glass. The next day I was nauseous and had a terrible headache and felt sad and depressed. It’s not worth the risks besides we all know alcohol is a depressant the very thing that we are trying to get rid of.

The bottle specifically says Do Not Consume Alcoholic beeverages while taking this medication. Therefore, even if your doc does not warn you about the effects of wellbutrin and alcohol the bottle does. The warning is there for a reason it’s better to be safe than sorry.

I can confirm that even two or three drinks -in the evening in my case- along with anti-depressants -in the morning- were enough to bring me back down to the old negative attitude very quickly. It also disrupted my sleep pattern and clouded my thinking for a couple of days so that I felt pretty useless and guilty, and of course that’s not what we want when we’re fighting depression.

I finally completely stopped drinking, and it makes a world of difference. I had stopped drinking before between 1992 and 2006, and have been taking anti-depressants since 1996. These two years of combining drink with medicine have shown me without a doubt that it was a losing proposition. Feeling fine again and staying so means, at least for me, the definitive end of substance intoxication.

I have friends on Well who drink like fish.. they are fine..I started two days ago but I am not taking it anymore if I can’t have cocktails.. How boring..

I am trying to exercise more and take muliti’s with energy boosters.. I say NO to Wellbrutrin and try something else that you can have alcohol with.. or try acupuncture or herbal remedies..

A special thank you to Pam for sharing her blurred eye experience. When it happened to me I called eye doctor who told me it was serious and I should get there as soon as possible. After considerable testing he could find nothing, so referred me to neural opthalmologist. What a pain, travelling to meet his hours, waiting, filling out forms, etc. He could find nothing wrong so recommended an MRI. Again, time, distance,forms,etc. An extensive MRI found no reason for blurred vision. All shrugged and said, fortunately nothing was wrong w/me, but had no clue as to what brought it on. You’re fortunate you didn’t get processed by med establishment. Thanks to your posting, I feel problem arose from booze/Wellbutrin.

Thanks, Terrified. I belong to same club. Drink until groggy, take nap, wake up drink some more, morning/noon/night. I now also will leave 2 time refillabe almost full Wellbutrin container in medicine cabinet. Didn’t realize risk of seizure.

How long do you have to be off wellbutrin before you can safely drink?

Ive been on WellbutrinXL for about 6 weeks and have not drank any alcahol since I started it. I have not noticed an improvement with my depression and anxiety so I have decide to stop the Well and to drink again – moderately. But I find no Info on how long it takes the Wellbuterin to be out of your system before you can drink safely. All the bottle says is “Avoid drinking alcahol while taking this medication”. Well that could mean dont wash the pill down with Jack Daniels or wait for a year after discontinuing it. Does anyone have an answer for this?

Thanks In Advance!

i have been taking wellbutrin for a few months now and the other night i went drinking and had 5 or 6 beers and im a pretty big leightweight so i was wasted. it is now day 4 and things seem a little blurry still and im pretty worried that its not gonna go away. will it? please help

hey roger dont worry same thing happened to me new years night, i had about 10 drinks and felt mentally clouded for the past couple of days but now im starting to feel better. hope you feel better too

I am glad I found this site. My experience has been the same as many of you. I get drunk very quickly, I blackout, and for several days after am in a deep depression and dwell on all the stupid things I did while making a complete idiot out of myself in public. I just want to be a “normal” person but cannot live without antidepressants.

wow. i never pay attention because most prescription drugs say no alcohol. i’ve just started taking 150mg of the XL after a few months break. I drank for the first time last night and got much drunker than normal and today am much more hungover than normal. i remember last time my doc upped my meds to 300 and i tried to cut myself and jump out the window. my bf literally had to hold me. until i’ve read all this I thought this was just in my head. thanks

I want to add my thanks to all those who have posted their experiences here and made me feel that I wasn’t alone in this, or that my Wellbutrin wasn’t working. Yep, I am on the second day after having 6 drinks, and I am depressed and irritable. I was all set to call my Dr. to up my appointment (in a week and a half), but I think I’m going to just avoid alcohol altogether until then and see if it makes a difference. I too had WICKED hangovers after 4-5 drinks but didn’t realize that the alcohol was causing the breakthrough depression so many days later. I was used to drinking pretty heavily but agree that it isn’t worth it to have a few hours of fun, to feel so shitty days later. I again, am eternally grateful to this site and all of you for letting me know that this combo could be so bad, and that it could last for as long as it has. I thought that I was going to have to start all over again with a new med, but I hope it’s just the booze!

Also, to Jackie #51-I too experienced huge “waves” of rage when my Dr upped me from 300 mg XL to 450 mg. I told him and got it dropped and that hasn’t happened again unless I’ve had a few drinks. I don’t know if this is the case with you, but if you’re still having this it might be in your best interests to see if your Dr wants to lower your dose.

I drank last night – way too much – and now after reading this site, and how I feel today, it makes sense. I will never drink again while on Wellbutrin.

Mike – are you on the brand wellbutrin or the generic? For some there is a difference so before you quit taking it, you may want to talk to your doctor.

I am now on Wellbutrin XL 300mg and I have noticed I naturally stop drinking (alcohol) after a few drinks, just as if something was “shutting” in my body and taking away any drinking pleasure… Wow, that’s nice for an old alcoholic like me! ((:

Yeah, it’s true that the “day after” a party or anything in the way, is much more difficult to live on WB, like hangovers, feeling down, low… Makes me want to quit alcohol for good.

To those stopping WB after a few weeks “because it doesn’t work out well”: beware!!! WB will get its full throttle AFTER 2 or 3, and sometimes 5 or 6 monthes!! So be patient, I really mean it… 3 monthes is really MINIMAL. BE PATIENT it deserves it!

Like most of you I get very easily drunk now that I have been on Wellbutrin for 9 months. Binge drinking (at parties…I only sip red wine at home) can cause me to have fragmentary blackouts, and to display inappropriate behavior that embarrasses me the next day, which is very unusual. I have always been able to “handle” my liquor, and I’ve been drinking since age 17 (now age 36).

I have depression, but my main disorder has always been anxiety. I switched to Wellb because SRIs take away my sex drive, which is absolutely not acceptable to me, and I thought I’d give Wellb a shot. I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this, but I’ve smoked weed for 18 years to relax and self-medicate my anxiety, but since being on Wellb I get HARD CORE paranoia and anxiety if I do that. My heart is beating a mile a minute and I seriously feel insane until the weed wears off. I decided to give up the weed a few weeks ago and am doing much better.

I can sip 8 to 12 oz of red wine thoughout an evening without getting crazy drunk, but after reading these posts I’m wondering if my listlessness and lack of desire to do anything productive is because of drinking ANY amount of alcohol while on this scrip. I have always been a motivated go-getter, but I have noticed in the past few months I can stay indoors all day on a weekend and never leave the house. This forum makes me suspect there is a connection.

I think I am going to be “clean” (scrip only) from now on. Big life change for me!!!

Hopefully this info helps someone.

i’ve been on wellbutrin and lexapro together for a couple years. I really don’t have any bad side effects at all and i still enjoy drinking while on these medications. I say try it and if it is bad for you then don’t continue to drink. But not everyone has to stop drinking while on these medications.

I myself have been on and off wellbutrin for 2 years. I stopped a year ago but recently have gone back on it starting the new year. Like most people i find myself slightly more sensitive to alcohol. The main issue is that when taking wellbutrin and i have alcoholic tendencies. I’m a moderate habitual drinker but the mechanism in my brain that says enough is enough just doesn’t function when on the meds. The more i drink the better i feel. After an embarrassing experience where i blacked out and friends had to carry me home I learned to consciously control my alcohol intake.

Another strange thing is that once I refilled my prescription with a generic version of the drug I have started to notice some side effects of fatigue, headache, irritability. I’m not sure if it’s coincident and I might have a virus or something or whether there is a difference between generic and brand

I am a 44 yr-old woman and in my life have never taken any medication other than aspirin–I hate taking pills. A week ago I was prescribed WB/300mg for smoking cessation and mild depression: a feeling of being flat, no interest in anything and a sense of being disconnected from people and life. After day 3 a noticeable side effect was that I was conscious of my heart beat and found it difficult to fall asleep and sleep soundly. I felt a little lightheaded and out of sync. Maybe due to lack of sleep? I’m probably a little older than most on this post, but still like to party on the weekends. Friday night is my one night to binge and it’s almost always white wine with an occasional shot of tequila. In the course of six hours I’ll drink one bottle and depending on the conversation and food, sometimes 2 bottles of wine. I can’t remember a Friday where I did not drink wine. I have never blacked out nor have I ever been out of control or behaved so badly that I was embarrassed the next day. I am always in control and know when it’s time to stop and go home. This past Friday was day 5 on the WB. After one bottle of wine, I felt hyper, sort of nervous and I was nervously using my hands to over-animate as I talked. When I did talk, my head would involuntarily shake side to side like someone with Parkinson’s disease. When I did speak, my words would come out jumbled and mixed up. I could not form simple sentences and since none of my friends know I am taking WB they would laugh it off and imitate me. I didn’t know I was mixing up my words to that extreme. It was definitely time to go home. When I announced that I was leaving I said to everyone “It’s go to leave for me” or something like that. It really scared me. The next day, I had a mild hangover and also had mild body tremors and involuntary muscle jerks and a nervous or anxious feeling all day. Today, I feel a little better but notice that I don’t feel 100 percent yet. I do believe my days of weekend binge drinking are over while taking this medication. As far as the smoking cessation, it is too early to tell, but what I do notice one week into taking WB is that 4-5 hours will pass before I realize I haven’t smoked, didn’t think about smoking, and I didn’t have the desire to cave in and have one. For me, I am going to stick with the 30-day trial period and follow-up with my doc and re-post. Being an ex-smoker and feeling better emotionally and socially is far more important to me than drinking. Thanks to all who share their experience. It educates us all in some way.

i have been taking wellbutrin for three months, and recently after drinking a bottle of wine i snapped for no reason and i assaulted my boyfriend. i was out of control, and i am usually a happy drunk… not this time. i have only a vague recollection of the events of that night, but i am still paying for it. our relationship is over and i feel kind of cheated because violence is completely out of my nature. i don’t even know what happened.

I was just prescribed wellbutrin 100mg sr. I am a serious drinker. Drinking a 6 pack a day with a shot or 2 of whiskey mixed in there. I have no qualms about quitting..it would be good for me, but I am reading that one should not “abruptly” stop drinking when prescribed wellbutrin so as to avoid seizures. So what should I do? slowly ease off drinking? Stop completely? Continue full strength. I just want to get better.

ok so i have been taking Bupropion for five days. i basically was seriously drinking almost daily since july, now it’s feb. my life fell apart and my “girl” told me she was pregnant from another guy as a christmas present. basically i was major depressed. i took prozac years ago but it made me just even.. if i won the lottery or was hit by a bus they were both the same amount of apeal to me. so 12 years later i decided to try the anti dep. meds again, but i adamantly refused prozac. basically i have had 3 things happen. first i got my script at like 7 pm on monday and was told it may make me not sleep so i waited to take it till tue morning. i ended up staying up all night monday and took my pill on tue morn. after about 40 hours of being up and 6 hrs after taking my pill (150mg) i had a totally weird experience. it was like i was trying to puppet my body through a tunnel i sort of zoned out, but i was still there(not missing time) but i was far away from myself. it lasted about ten min and stopped and hasn’t happened since. 2 i feel happier, even though i know it is supposed to take month(s) to get the benefit(s) from this drug, my smoking is the same. 3 i drank about a 12 pack last night, i was ok but this morning i just felt like hell. i haven’t had a hangover in years so i didn’t associate the feeling, but a headache, no energy and a lack of motivation or interest. before i began this med i had a few psychotic episodes while drinking, mostly anger involving a relationship, and blackouts where i would be told later by others what happened, i basically lost all my friends this way. so i am concerned about the potential for blackouts on this med, but i haven’t had anything yet, and if i feel like this ALWAYS after drinking it may be what i need to stop! i’ll update if i have any other strange experiences. has anyone else had the puppet zone out thing?!

I started taking wellbutrin XL in november of 2008 and am still taking it today. I continued to binge drink pretty heavily same as before I started. My doctor advised me not to but I did not really care. Honestly I don’t think it really effected me. I always black out and can’t remember the night anyhow.

I’ve been taking between 150-300mgs of wellbutrin for five years, sometimes with effexor. I don’t drink a lot, but I’ve had no change in my response to alcohol. I’m starting klonopin this week though, so I’ll tread carefully.

I have been on wellbutrin 150mg for 6weeks. decided to drink. Cant rememeber half the nyt which is unsual on my behalf. quit smoking since been on it. Smoked alot. Almost got it punch up for no reason whatsoever. my fault. Was uncontrollable. felt on edge and like “no where” the entire time. Got chucked out of the club by police officer, almost got arrested because I ran my mouth. Got home and decided to snort 2tabs. Messed me up totally. Peice of advice, just dont mix these two. Rather do drugs with this AD than drink. It is very weird feeling, and uncomfortable. I read these posts before I drank but decided to still go ahead. U probably wont take this advice, so learn the hard way and I hope nothing serious happens. Good luck

Anyone have an answer to my question above?

Kyle:
i think you are supposed to wean off of the alcohol. just like starting a med. cut down slowly, like a week at a time and then taper off completely.
after 2 weeks of 300 the doc upped me to 450 because i suddenly felt like life was hopeless and empty, so confused about my future and feelings. which is strange. i started for stress and to quite smoking. I didn’t realize that my 2 beers a night and the stuff was the reason i had such a hard 2 weeks. it was awful. i feel better on the 450. just had 3 beers tonight, only thing alcohol has done to me with wellbutrin is make me want to have sex, but yes the next day i feel like life has no meaning, wich is scary.
as for the smoking, i have been a smoker for 7 years. every 2 hours no matter where, i had to have one.
i am now down to 3 a day and that is AMAZING for me. it takes away the thoughts of smoking….so great

Thanks. I had done just that. 6 Beers then 5, the 4 and so on to just a small glass of red wine a night. Then last night I went to a show and since I had no answer I had a couple drinks. Exatly 2 Ketel 1 and Tonics. Got home and then had a few more. I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a bus. I feel really really, down today. I am just going to avoid alcohol completely from now on. It’s not worth it for me. It hurts to type this. I want to curl up in a ball and cry.

SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME. Okay, so I recently went on Wellbutrin 2 months ago. Since then, I’ve been drinking about 4-8 beers every saturday and sunday with minimal side effects. THEN, last saturday I drank 12 drinks in an 8 hour time span, got really drunk (didn’t blackout), and acted semi-crazy. The next day I felt like complete SHIT. This is now day FOUR and I had to take the day off of work. This is not a normal hangover and it is not getting any better. I am dizzy, light headed, have blurred vision, semi-confused, semi-crazy, lathargic, unpersonable, can’t concentrate. Has anyone else heard of this? PLEASE help!! I don’t want this to last forever because it really isn’t getting better and it’s been four days.

I just started taking 150mg of Budeprion and had no idea about the alcohol combo. I weigh 120lbs and am fairly sensitive to alcohol as is, but last night I only had 3 cocktails over the course of 4 hours. I remember feeling a little anxious then, but this morning I am soooo dizzy and have slightly blurry vision. I still feel drunk! I was planning on going out to a Mardi Gras party tonight, but after reading this I’ll definitely keep it to just one from now on! Thank you!!!

I’ve been on Wellbutrin for around 2 years now, but in the past two weeks was sure it was wearing off. Now I’m not so certain. I don’t even remember the different anti-depressants I tried before settling with this one because my depression was so dark. And I felt it returning! That don’t want to wake up, get out of bed, leave the apartment, go to class, feeling. The inexplicable sobbing because it felt like my body was being ripped apart. Just deeply, deeply sad and even suicidal at one point (I’ve attempted in the past). It’s scary. I still feel so down and unmotivated. I’ve also been drinking a LOT lately, and now I wonder if it’s a vicious circle. Drinking makes me depressed which makes me want to drink more. I’ll take a break from the bottle for a while. Never experienced blackouts or anything on 300 XL, but have had the invincible feeling. I’ll stay away from drinking and hope I feel less hopelessly depressed soon. I don’t want to scare my boyfriend, who met me after my depression was under control, away because of me bringing him down with me.

This weekend i went to a party and drank… about 5-6 heavily loaded jim and sprites. Ive always been a big drinker. I also had a couple shots. Now usually this amount of alcohol, well im drunk, but not blacked out. Usually i can drink more. Now i blacked out a good 3 hours of the night. The things that i did that night were very… not me. ever since than, i honestly want to kill myself. i feel horrible, i have nightmares. My dreams alone feel 3 days long. I wake up every 45 minutes scared. throughout the day i get my dreams and reality confused. I cant concentrate, and am absolutely detached from the world. Im scared right now. i advise strongly not to, the dreams alone will haunt me for some time.

I am so relieved to have found this thread. I have been taking Wellbutrin for about 10 weeks. I’m a freshman in college, and I’ve started drinking on the weekends with friends. I noticed that I was extremely emotional some nights after drinking. I totally flipped shit on my best friend for no reason last one night while walking to the dorms. But today, I am experiencing the most awful feelings. I can’t focus. I can’t form thoughts properly. I have a 3 page essay due tomorrow, and I’m about to breakdown. I drank on Friday night, and like most of you, became very drunk after only drinking a little. Last night at 9, I became extremely anxious before meeting up with a guy. I was completely unable to calm myself down. I still went out, and we drank wine. I was tipsy and shaky and could hardly express myself. But now, I can’t snap back. I can’t even function. I can’t form thoughts or focus. I’m glad I found this blog. I’m so mad at myself for not reading the label, and not listening to my counselor. I thought I was having panic attacks, but now it makes sense.

Interesting stories! I’ve actually been prescribed 600 mg of Wellbutrin per day with a few occasional 20mg adderall pills every so often. My body has a high metabolism. I’ve been taking Wellbutrin XL for about 2 years now and everything was fine up until about a few weeks ago. I’ve noticed that my drinking has increased recently (0 beers to 2 to 4 beers and a few shots of whiskey), due to the stress levels in my life.

Over the last month, I have been loosing out on more and more sleep and have become more and more stressed out from work. Several weeks ago, I took my regular dosage of wellbutrin xl and Adderall throughout the duration of the day, came home had about 4 beers, ran my usual 4 miles for the day, took my last dosage of wellbutrin xl for the day around 10 pm(totaling 600 mg), and at that point, I fainted and started feeling extremely dizzy and light-headed and called the Poison Control Center. After speaking with them and finding that everything should be okay, I started seeing spots in front of me and I began to feel really weak. Eventually, I had to have my girlfriend call 911. At the time, I was scared to death that I was going to have a seizure or god knows what. The paramedics hooked me up to all of the emergency medical equipment and found that I was going to be okay after all; however, I was advised to call my doctor immediately. The paramedics told me that a seizure is usually caused if you keep popping those pills just one after another; however, that was not my case. Anyways, I spent the rest of the night drinking water and pissing that stuff out. Needless to say, the following day, I felt like crap and could barely function at work (Thank god it was Friday).

After the incident, I went off this stuff cold turkey simply out of the fear that it instilled in me (no telling how my body will react to it again when and if I take it). My doctor has prescribed me Lexapro now … we’ll see how this goes …

I just wanted to post a WARNING to those who take high doses of this stuff and ingest alcohol along with it. Don’t do it! And get plenty of rest as well!

Ok, I’ve read most of these comments and I have to say I haven’t read one that described what I went through.

I take 300mg. of Well. and 20mg. of prozac to treat my depression. Up until just now I didn’t know how bad the side effects CAN be when mixing alcohol. I’ve been taking well. for a few months and I’ve been drinking moderately (as I always have). I did notice last Fri. a HUGE difference. Quite bizarre. I went to the bar with a few friends and ordered what I always do (double vodka/tonic), I finished it, didn’t feel anything, ordered another one. USUALLY if I have two double vodka/tonics in a night….I’m good for the remainder of the evening. However, this night was different. After finishing my second double vodka/tonic, I waited a little bit, and to my surprise, still didn’t feel anything. No buzz, no sense of feeling happier, I could have been drinking fruit juice all night. Soooooo….I had a shot of tequila, normally after all this alcohol I would be drunk off my ass. But guess what? after that shot…still nothing. So, I’m starting to wonder what the hell’s going on and I think it’s kind of funny. My friend THEN ordered my ANOTHER shot of tequila! 30 min later….NOTHING! What came next? An irish car bomb…..and yes, you guessed it, nothing. I had never felt so sober. I was in complete disbelief. Like I said, normally 2 double vodka/tonics OR two shots of tequila, over the course of the night would have been just fine. Btw, I’m 25, female and about 180#s.

I definitely notice a difference in hangovers though…not good. Also, after reading I DO feel worse for a couple days following. I just thought that was interesting, has anyone else noticed a DECREASE in alcohol sensitivety?

I’m taking wellbutrin for the second time in my life.. just started a few weeks ago again. Totally agree to watch the combo with alcohol. Personally it makes me manic, and prone to extreme outbursts of anger and rage. I’ve done some crazy things while mixing the two. Be careful.

I’ve been taking Wellbutrin SR 150 mg a day for the last 6 months due to depression from career burn out. I drink about 3 glasses of wine a night, sometimes 4 — I have not noticed much of a different effect, except that I feel like I drink more now than I used to because it’s harder to wind down from the speedy effect of the Wellbutrin. When I increased my dose to 300 mg (when I first started the drug) I had a complete psychotic episode (with no alchohol). Wellbutrin is a very strong drug, and while it cures the depression, I feel that it’s made me less sensitive/empathetic in general. Hard alchohol definitely seems to have a much, much stronger effect as well. I’m super athletic, so I would imagine that for people that exercise less the effects of the alcohol the next day or 2 without sweating could be much stronger.

Like most, I’m glad i found this site. For 4 years i took wellbutrin then switched to 20 mg of celexa. While on celexa, had an increased desire to drink but was always a happy drunk. Due to the weight gain, i asked doc to put me back on Wellbutrin. Well, i can assure you there is a big difference in the affect for me. On the same amount of alcohol, i get way hammered, not a happy drunk and am useless for two days. We all must remember, for those of us who take AD for depression, alcohol is as depressant. What do we think will happen????? Be careful. No more for me. Do your research because most of the docs are clueless as to how we feel.

Wow I’m so glad I found this because just last week I had a pretty shitty thing happen. After work my boss came and gave me wine and after just 2 glasses I went into and out of a blackout all night, could barely walk, blurred vision, etc. My boss who’s 50, married, and has daughter older than I am took advantage of me. I thought he mightve put something in my drink because normally to feel as fucked up as I was it would take 9 or 10 shots. I don’t recall if I agreed to go upstairs in the restaurant or not.. I was pretty messed up. I guess it’s not his fault though if my meds kept me from being able to say no.

i just started taking 300 mg of wellbutrin and .5 mg of klonopin a little about a week ago. i plan to drink this upcoming weekend. should i worry?

Jeesh. I just started taking Wellbutrin about a week ago. This past Sunday night I went out and drank a fair amount. Not an unusual amount for me as I have a high tolerance and have been a somewhat heavy drinker on and off for a long time. Anyway- I ended up completely blacking out. I don’t remember where I was- where I was going. My seconf to last memory was being at a bar and ordering another beer. My next memory was being handcuffed and put in the back of a police car and taken to the drunk tank at our local hospital. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE. I have never blacked out and I’ve never been arrested. Thankfully I did not make it back to my car. I vaguely remember trying to kick the door of the cell open and then nothing until about 11 am the next day. I found this site because I’ve been looking for info to explain this behavior. I utterly embarrassed and every time I see a cop (like in the restaurant I had lunch in today) Im worried they recognize me as the psycho from Sunday night. Anyway- I am relieved to read your stories…thanks for sharing. I quit drinking btw.

When I first started taking Wellbutrin it was 150 mg. Around the second week on it I had ONE beer and immediately started having tunnel vision and tingling in my hands, fingers and legs. I haven’t drank since. I had never felt that sensation before and am afraid it was a precursor to a seizure.

I am on wellbutrin now for about a month. From the first day that I took it my depression went away and my binge eating stopped. I had a ton of energy… The side effects were beginning to subside enough to tolerate when I went out until this past weekend. I drank alot…a few shots, a few mixed drinks.. I didnt get any more drunk than I would have before being on wellbutrin, and I didnt black out or throw up. However, starting the day after (Sunday) up until today (Friday) I have been extremely depressed, lethargic, I locked myself in my room, wont answer my phone, cant derive any pleasure from anything, cant work etc…the medication stopped working. And to boot starting on wednesday I started to feel like I was going through the residuals of opiate withdrawal! I went to my doc and she upped my dosage to 300. I didnt know if I wanted to do this because in the past when I drank (not as much) the medication only stopped working for a day or two maybe three but then it started working again like normal. I thought it would be the same thing again this time…boy was I wrong. My pharmacist said basically the drinking wiped out all the stores of the medication that my body had built up and thats why I was feeling like this. That I should keep taking the higher dosage until I build them up again (the 300 will do this quicker than the 150) and then once I feel better again if I want I can come back to 150 since I was doing well on it before. Im just starting to feel better today but this week was a horror show. Obviously I cant drink on this medication. I’m not sure if the pharmacist is completely right or not because I think the drinking messed up my dopamine system possibly depleting alot of my dopamine or desensitizing or screwing with the neurons or receptors. Just letting people know my experience so that it can help you learn without having to go through this nightmare.

I’ve been on Wellbutrin XL for over a year now. I’m only in my 20’s and weigh 138lbs, so I guess you can consider me a light weight, seeing as how prior to being on the drug it only took a couple drinks to feel pretty drunk. Since taking the medication it literally takes a beer or two to feel drunk. At times I feel very concerned what of could happen to me because not many people know I take Wellbutrin. Unfortunately, I don’t think I would be able to function without it.

I am on 100 SR and i’ve been taking welbutrin for a while now. I have noticed EXTREME depression the following day. The hang over sysmptons of lessened but the depression is always there. I realized the hangover connection but that the depression. It’s not worth it to experience that. I can’t imagine drinking at 300mgs. Some of you are really pushing it. I’m 230lbs 6′4 body builder… I can’t imagine how it would effect you.

I have been on WB XL for 2 days for mild situational depression and I have a first date next Tuesday (5days) and we are going to a wine bar. I only plan on drinking 2 glasses if wine. Should I either not drink at all or not take the WB for a few days. I am not a big drinker. Maybe 2-3 glasses of wine once or twice a month…if that. No other drugs or anything. I need help quick!

ok i have been on wellbutrin for about a week now at 150 mg. Went out last night with a friend and we shared about 3 pitchers of beer. This morning i woke up thought the world was going to end. Hangover from hell. Still at this point at 8pm iam still not the same. I have had dizziness, shaking, flush face, twitching, not very hungry symptoms. I have learned my lesson and will not drink on this medication again. It really does not mix at all.I can say though that it has begun to help me quite smoking though. i went from a pack a day to at least half a pack already in one week. Tomorrow i am suppose to increase my dose to 300 mg. Unsure if iam ready for this.

i just got on wellbutrin and could use some feedback from you guys. I’d taken Lexapro for a while, but it was barely working okk, so the doc and i agreed Wellburtin would be worth trying for me.

I like to go out w friends and party a bit. The first time after I took wellbutrin 150g was a big bash, so I threw down quite a few drinks and went swimming in a pool. I was drunk, but no differently b/c taking wellbutrin . I also got very hungover, but fine.

Then the next week was the 2nd time: my birthday party in Tribeca. I drank more than the previous time, things happened that shouldn’t have that i don’t remember and i woke up at a girlfriends place that I didn’t remember going to. But, I’d been legitimately soused. I have never not remembered so much of an evening like this one. The doormen at the building forced me to leave later in the morning even though I wasn’t a part of the fight that had taken place at their bar the nght before. And the hangover was worse this time, but more in line w the amoung i drank.

The 3rd, and maybe last time I drank booze while on wellbutrin, was last nite. I told myself I would not drink much, just one wine or beer with a light dinner and my date ate lightly, too. I felt ok, really, just with drinking very moderately. A beer or one wine and that would be it. But she told me that when I crashed at her place the 2nd night above, she got pregnant. She wants to keep the baby.

The botton line for me: I should have realized to take it easy on nite #2, not night #3. So I wonder if Wellbutrin can also affect your judgment in conjunction with alcohol. WHile I liked Darah enough to date and fool around with, i sure wasnt’ ready for this to happen. I don’t like to blame things, but if it weren’t for the Welluburtin I would not have come close to that and have another set of issues to seal with. So maybe I will just do the right thing, propose to Dara and then this will be a good kid, the first of mnay SO THANK you Wellbutrin, just keep me from other girls ready to get impregnated.

i’m really glad i found this thread! i was just prescribed wellbutrin for depression & anxiety (i’m already on prozac). like most people my age (24), i often go out & drink on the weekends with friends. i already get extremely tired (i’ve fallen asleep in bars more than once) and depressed while drinking, plus my social anxiety comes back worse each time. reading everyone’s reactions to alcohol & wellbutrin has just solidified my decision to cut back even more on my drinking once i start taking it. i’ve dealt with blackouts & not knowing how i got home in the past and i’m not looking forward to dealing with those again.

plus…i always have more fun watching everyone else be drunk while i’m soberly laughing at them

I have been on 300mg Wellbutrin XL for about 6 months now and have noticed a big difference in my reaction to alcohol.
I can have 3 glasses of wine and not feel any alcohol effects and wake up with a horrible hangover.
I also can not feel physically buzzed or drunk and have random moments of blackout or horrible emotional (mostly crying sometimes rage episodes) out of nowhere.
While I will still have a glass of wine at night, the “joy” of drinking is gone.
I think the best bet is to try and steer clear of alcohol while on this med!

I have been taking 150mg of Wellbutrin for almost a month now for my anxiety and depression. I consider myself a heavy drinker. I am noticing now when i drink i become drunk very fast and have a horrible hangover the next day. This past Friday i went and drank with a friend. I then took 30mg of methadone and a lortab plus alcohol. I could not sleep. When i got home in the morning i took 1mg of xanax to help me sleep. I woke up after 3 hrs and then took my 150mg dose of wellbutrin and 30mg of adderall to help me wake up and study for finals. I was doing all of this and not even thinking about what kind of drugs i was mixing together and the effects it would have on me. I have been vomiting everything, suffering sever nausea, blurred vision, and stomach pains. I AM AN IDIOT! When i drink i make poor decisions and feel awful the next day, especially when mixing it with other drugs!

I have been taking 150mg of Wellbutrin for almost a month now for my anxiety and depression. I consider myself a heavy drinker. I am noticing now when i drink i become drunk very fast and have a horrible hangover the next day. This past Friday i went and drank with a friend. I then took 30mg of methadone and a lortab plus alcohol. I could not sleep. When i got home in the morning i took 1mg of xanax to help me sleep. I woke up after 3 hrs and then took my 150mg dose of wellbutrin and 30mg of adderall to help me wake up and study for finals. I was doing all of this and not even thinking about what kind of drugs i was mixing together and the effects it would have on me. I have been vomiting everything, suffering sever nausea, blurred vision, and stomach pains. I AM AN IDIOT! When i drink i make poor decisions and feel awful the next day, especially when mixing it with other drugs!

I am so happy to have stumbled onto this thread. I have been off and on (mostly on) Wellbutrin (generic) for four years. Initially for smoking and now I notice that if I stop for a few days I fall into a deep depression. I am a wine drinker. It was nothing to drink one or even two bottles at a time. I started blacking out about 2 years ago. At first I would pretend I knew what had happened the night before just so no one would know. I then told my husband who is very supportive. I also flew into rages the next day…horrible sweats, racing thoughts etc. I just thought I was going crazy. Recentl yI went back to the Doc and he upped my dosage from 300mg to 450mg. I drank more last night than I have in a while and although I did not black out, I have had stomach cramps all day and have a feeling os listlesness and low self esteem. I never connected the dots between alcohol and this drug before. I think it is more dangerous to completely stop drinking. I am going to “step” down and hopefully just be an occaisional drinker. I am soooooo glad I am not alone!

I have been on 75mg of bupropion a day for about 4 weeks now. Last night was the first time a glass of wine made me very tipsy and the effect lasted for many hours — I was dizzy, as well. (Interestingly, I had a glass after being on for 3 weeks, but no impact, so I guess the medicine is fully in my blood stream now.) Anyway, be careful. I’m not sure I’ll have more than a glass of wine on this stuff.

I used to drink to get drunk when i was younger but that stopped eventually. I take wellbutrin, prozac, and triazadone everyday. One day I decided to have a couple drinks to relax after work. I ended up getting into a blackout, auto accident, dwi, and in a fight with two cops. Ive never been in a fight ever.Dont mix alcohol with pills

Anybody else have stomach issues? I have been on wellbutrin SR for years now, which i don’t actually take for depression but because it works in combination with my thyroid medication somehow (I don’t question what works). Anyway, I noticed that on wellbutrin often i will get really nauseous from not that much alcohol (i’m barely drunk but feel like i’m going to throw up). It didn’t used to happen pre-wellbutrin so i’ve always associated it with that. Just curious if anyone else had that issue. I also get drunk a lot faster on it, but I don’t any problems with depression afterwards or blacking out. The upset stomach thing sucks but not enough for me to consider going off the medication.

FYI, I have just started Wellbutrin for about 1-2 weeks now taking 150mg daily. I went out this past weekend with some friends and had about 6-8 beers, glass of wine, and couple shots of hard liquor. Ofcourse I was drunk but I was just normally drunk like I would be any other time. Is this because I just started on Wellbutrin I’m not getting the same side effects with the mixture you guys are getting? Also to let you know I have a naturally high tolerance against prescription medication and alcohol… just putting in my insight about this, wondering if anyone else had any same experiences.

I seem to have the exact opposite effect than anyone else here is describing about Wellbutrin. When I’m on Wellbutrin, it makes it nearly impossible for me to get drunk, no matter how much I drink. I’m talking drinking to 40s of malt liquor, multiple shots, over the span of about 3 hours. Anyone else get this, or am I one of those few people who are experiencing an opposite side effect?

I can still drink, but not as much as I used to. Up to a certain point (probably 6-9 drinks), I’m fine. Past that, I become very agitated and angry at everything and I’ve done some very stupid stuff in that state. I believe it’s the alcohol shutting down my reasoning “circuits” and after that the increased dopamine in my brain is more “active” or potent.

I feel depressed and “foggy” after having any drinks while taking Welbutrin however I had the same effect while taking Celexa. My doctor switched to W from C in order to try and curb the foggy feeling but it didn’t seem to make any change. Interesting to read all of these posts. Everyone’s body is a little different it seems.

I have been taking Welbutrin XL 150 for over 3 years. When I drink I have no problems whatsoever. The only thing I noticed was that it takes a lot less alcohol for me to get drunk, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re careful. The day after drinking though, I do feel more down and feel very out of it and “fuzzy”. But this usually only lasts during the first couple of hours after waking. I would say it’s fine to drink with this medicine as long as you realize that the effects of alcohol can be amplified and that if you drink too often it could lead to prolonged depressive feelings.

It’s 4th of July, been on Wellbutrin for about 5 wks to stop smoking, hav’nt drank at all and I’m craving beers real bad!. Bought a 12 pack of heineken came home, found this site, read it and NO WAY am I drinking!!!! Thanks to all of you for posting this. You saved me from a bad experience. Since I quit smoking on this med, hopefully I can get off soon so cause I really miss my alcohol!!
Good Luck to you all!!

Hey, I’m about to start Weelbutrin and I’m nervous because I’m a college student and I like to drink socially. Does anyone know what would happen if I didn’t take Wellbutrin the day I know I’ll be drinking? Would it remove the effects of the alcohol/wellbutrin combo? Or would it make no difference?

My doc said not to try to compare to others. As you can see, if you read the stories, most of them were not good. I like to drink, too. But, I have agreed to stop while taking Wellbutrin.
Doc says that you are messing with the neurotransmitters that you are trying to help with the medicine when you drink.

I have another horrible story with psychotic blackout.

I was on 300 wellbutrin as well as effexor for severe clinical depression.
I thought I had been slipped a date rape drug, but now I know the reason!
Due to severe depression, sometimes I would binge drink to feel better, so I knew I had a high tolerance, and never blacked out before even when drinking A LOT.
But after being on the medication for a few months, I went to a bar with a friend. I only had 3 beers. Apparently I was acting very strange, and when my friend was getting a taxi I wouldnt get in because I thought the taxi driver would kill me, I was crying and shaking. I’m normally a very logical person that doesn’t experience paranoia! Anyway, my friend got in the taxi with me and dropped me off on the main street a block away from my house. BUT I NEVER MADE IT HOME.
When I “came to”, it was 6am and I was at the beach, holding a dead rat. I was completely repulsed and thought I must be dreaming. I was extremely dizzy feeling and disoriented. I still had my purse with me (Thank gawd!) so I stumbled to a McDonalds and bought a coffee and sat there until I had the energy to take the bus home.
I live in a bigger city that has a lot of junkies that walk around all night. I could have been mugged, raped, or worse. When I got home I rested for a few hours, then went into the kitchen for a drink and fainted hitting my face on the counter and passed out for a couple minutes.

I only had three beers!! Usually this only gets me mildly buzzed!!!

On this medication I also experienced severe body tremors and went to the emergency room twice because it was so painful like I was possessed.

BEWARE. If you want to see if you can drink alcohol with this medication, do it when you are HOME and SAFE! Even a slow night at a pub could lead to a disaster.

I started Wellbutrin about 2 weeks ago. I’ve found that for the past few times I drink alot, like over 5 drinks, I get extremely depressed and have crazy destructive almost suicidal thoughts. I havent been like that in many many years. I think its because of the alcohol? I never put it together but now I think thats why.

If anyone has input, please let me know.

take it from mystia, the previous poster— unless you want to wake up on a beach holding a dead rat, don’t mix your wellbutrin with alcohol. i’m sorry, that made me laugh but it’s no laughing matter.
i feel down the next day or so after drinking with vitamin W, and have had some serious psychotic rages from mixing them over the past ten years or so.

I just received my first supply of Wellbutrin today. From your experiences should I avoid drinking tomorrow night? I was planning on starting the medicine the morning after but do not want any extreme depression symptoms. This column has been very helpful!

I just got fired from my job today. I’m on Wellbutrin, and had too many drinks at a job function Wednesday night. I ended up acting crazy as well as strealing drink tickets and alcohol from the bar at the hotel. My career as a teacher is over.

I’m on 300 mg’s of Welbutrin and 20 mg’s of Celexa. I’ve only been on the Welbutrin for about a month and have been drinking on the weekends. I do notice that I get a buzz faster than usual and after a few beers I don’t want anymore. I assumed this was because of Welbutrin’s “side-effect” that stops addictive thinking (it’s also prescribed for smokers who want to quit).

But for any of you out there who are freaking out I recommend taking it easy and having a few drinks at home before going out on it. See how it effects you and then go from there.

I am currently on 300mg Wellbutrin and 10mg Lexapro. I generally do not drink at all. This is the first time in a year since my son’s death. This past saturday night, I went to play poker at the bar and I usually just drink a diet coke, but that night I had the same glass size with JACK and coke… 7 of them from 7:30pm to 1:30am. With two shots of PATRONE…. tequila. I remember the whole night. I felt very happy (long time since I was happy) and I did not have any problems, although I was drunk.. no doubt. My husband got me home, gave me two ibuprofen and two dramamine and put me to bed about 3:00am. No headache, no vomiting, no seizures…. I felt really good Sunday.

I am in college and am a pretty regular drinker. I started taking 300mg of Wellbutrin 4 weeks ago and have had some scary incidents recently. I drank some wine and had a vodka drink and blacked out, can’t remember almost the entire night. I had another episode that was worse- violent and erratic. I have never behaved that way. It is really scary but I would rather give up partying than have to deal with things like that happening again. I strongly suggest NOT drinking on Wellbutrin at all.

I have to agree with most of the storys .I have had quite a few drinks and blacked out and let me tell u it was scary I even ended up in jail for my violent behavior I was so ashamed .I have been taking welbutrin for a year now I don’t know if I should stop taking it or not because of the side affects when I drink because for days after I lock myself in the house and get very depressed.I strongly suggest not drinking on this medication and if u like your drinks maybe talk to your doctor about something else

Ive been talking 60mg of Prozac (social anxiety and depression), for 2 years and just recently started switching to Wellbutrin. I currently take 20mg Prozac, 150mg Wel. I havn’t drinkin for months, and have smoked some pot while on Wel. which got me high but very anxious and restless. College is around the corner, so I’m bound to have some drinking experiences comming up, espeacially cuz I’m turning 21 in a couple months. I’m in a real pickle here trying to decide if I should attempt drinking or not, it would be so hard to just quit it alltogethor before I’ve even experienced legal drinking (bars, etc.). I’ve decided that weed makes me too anxious overall, but used to love the effect of loosing all inhibitions/ happy while drinking. I guess I’ll have to experiment n take it slow…it was great reading all these posts, nice to know I’m not alone here.

Hey guys this is no joke for real! I was taking Serzone until about 5 yrs ago. I switched to Wellbutrin XL and drinking was NOT a problem…at first. I worked at a bar where the management encouraged you to drink with your tables and it was never really an issue for the first couple of months but slowly I started noticing that I was getting drunk faster and faster and would completely black out sometimes. Its 5 yrs later and I can no longer drink ANY liquor..not even one drink. I will completely blackout and have said and done some horrible things when I was. I stick to beer only now.

I, too, have had a problem with mixing alcohol and Wellbutrin, but haven’t seemed to learn my lesson. After drinking, sometimes I feel fine, but every few times I get violently ill. It seems unpredictable. Last night I had three beers and ended up vomiting all night and had a splitting headache. I wanted to die and still feel terrible. I missed work today.

I’m taking Wellbrutin 150mg and Celexa. On the Celexa alone, I didn’t have any problem with drinking. Now after drinking I find I am depressed and low energy for about 3 days afterwards. SO not worth it.

I do find I get drunk much faster than I used to. I recently got pulled over and was made to do all of the drunk driving tests and blow. I passed the breathalyzer test and the cops seemed really surprised. They asked If I had been taking any narcotics or anything (which I wasn’t). They let me go, but I was obviously acting drunk, even though I had very little alcohol in my system. If you take Wellbutrin and drink anything at all DO NOT DRIVE!

I have also had a few blackouts and psychotic episodes. The blackouts are particularly frightening. Fortunately I have always been with people that took care of me, but I am embarrassed beyond belief.

During one of my psychotic episodes I physically attacked one of my male friends for no apparent reason. I’m 5′7” and 125 pounds. He’s over 6 foot tall and weighs much more than me. I attacked him, we started struggling as he was trying to calm me down and I managed to knock him off his feet and tried to gouge his eyes out. Luckily he was able to flip me over and he sat on my back pinning me to the ground until I calmed down. I was also screaming at him, telling him he was “dead to me”. The people we were with were totally freaked out. In the morning I woke up and was like “WTF??. I remember acting out of control, but I felt like it wasn’t me, like a had been momentarily possessed or something. I still have no idea what provoked me. I was covered in bruises and had a long, deep scratch on my shin that I still have a scar from. No idea how that happened. I have since tried to apologize for my behavior, but that relationship is pretty much ruined. I can understand why.

I’m glad I found this discussion. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I think I finally realize I need to abstain from alcohol completely. Knowing it’s not just me helps. I’m going to print these posts out and re read them when I’m tempted to drink again. Good luck to everyone that’s trying to quit drinking.

Hi, my doctor just prescribed Wellbutrin 200mg. mainly for my weight….is anyone else taking it strictly for weight loss? Im afraid what effects are goin to be mentally….do u become dependent? Can you stop for a day if you know you want to drink and go back to it? What are side effects?

ANyway just throwing this out there since I have bottle in front of me and im scared to try it just yet so i guess Ill continue reading……

So I started taking Wellbutrin XL for mild ADD/ depression. Been on 300 for about 5 weeks. Its been ok i guess.

There have only been a handfull of times i drank on Wellbutrin. Having read this website and the comments (fyi thanks to all for sharing!) I have been extemely careful with what I drank. When I drink its only been beer (sucks cause i was a big whisky guy) and tried my best to keep it to just ONE beer!

Of course, being a 220lb dude and a retired weekend warrior member, I thought I can handle being a rockstar again.

Big mistake.

It only took 4 beers. FOUR MOTHER F$@#@#R# Beers?!! I got mildy buzzed but really drunk–so far so good but then it began. I got a HUGE migrane headache–I had to go home and took about four advils. But little did i know the fun was just beginning. For the next 5 days I would be not only be lethargic and depressed but would be suicidal.

I’ve NEVER been suicidal like this for so long before. My head is still foggy. I don’t know what to make of it. Even during the days when i use to blackout (half bottles of whisky and beer funnels) I would be on my feet by know.

Four beers and My world is ending?? What the hell!! Its been nearly a week!!!!!!

first of all.. im not from usa, so my english is not so good. well… i have been taking wellbutrin 150 mg (+ zoloft 50 mg) for 3 weeks now. before that i was just on zoloft. after adding wellbutrin i started to feel much much better, really. first week i had headaches and loss of appetite…. i had (still have) a lot of energy during the day, but at night i get soooo sleepy (no sign of insomnia like they are saying).. and i am sleeping really good, like never before. about alcohol… before wellbutrin i was drinking quite a lot (a bottle of wine, 3 or 4 times a week). so… first i was wondering… am i a regular drinker (so i shouldnt stop drinking abruptly, like i was reading, or what??!)? anyway… i tried a glass of wine first week… i felt really strange. in few days i drunk 2 glasses… i was a little drunk already… then slowly 3, 4, 5 glasses… and i felt okay. so now i can drink a little more. but still i dont want to drink so much as i did before. i dont even need that so much anymore. after reading all your comments i was a little scared…. but my experiences with wellbutrin+alcohol are okay. for now

i started wellbutrin about 4 weeks ago at 150 mg per day. it was a different AD med from the prior cilexa, so i hoped it would work and give me what i needed. second week, Dr. and i agreed to bump it to 300 mg a day. lo and behold— i came out of my 8 month slump! i was energetic, enthusiastic, encouraged, and most importantly able to FOCUS and PRIORITIZE my life as a new doctoral student.

i’ve always been a drinker and never had a problem with alcohol and my prior AD meds (whether it was lexapro or cilexa). usually, a couple beers through the week and some mixed drinks on the wkds. no hangovers, no headaches, no black outs, etc. when i started the Wellbutrin, my mother, a nurse, warned me of the dangers of mixing alcohol with welbutrin. so i layed off. in the past month, i have only drank one time- at my father’s wedding reception. unfortunately, i drank beyond what my new alcohol tolerance allowed for (around 3 drinks, and too close together). i had a little hangover the next day…but no interaction with the wellbutrin. i continued my dosage as before, no alcohol either.

about 6 days after my little episode at the reception…i had a seizure while shopping at office depot for a new printer for my lab at school. no warning. no dizzy, nausea, faint spell, nothing…just a fade to black and i woke up in the ER of the local hospital like 6 hrs later.

now, the Dr. is mixing lamictal, an anti-seizure med into the concoction. although, you can bet i won’t be drinking for awhile. in addition, i had low blood sugar as indicated by labs run at the ER. eating correctly is also a part of the picture now. we’re not sure what was the direct cause of the seizure- excessive drinking a week earlier? low blood sugar as a result of lost appetite? :\

Hey guys, I totally agree about the alcohol part. I tried to drink a single glass of wine but it seemed really strong and I couldn’t even finish it. This may seem abit off topic, but I seem to be having very abnormal dream and sleeping patterns while on this stuff. I normally dream 3-4 dreams a night and before I was never really a dream person. I also always wake up after each dream and then have trouble falling back asleep and the dreams are so vivid and detailed. Having this many dreams usually leaves me fucked up during the day. Anyone else have this?

Has anyone experienced unusual anger after having a few drinks while on wellbutrin?

This thread has been really helpful but also very scary at the same time. I just started taking WB about a week ago (300mg). I just had a baby 2 months ago and I have really wanted to have a couple of drinks, but now I’m concerned. I was wondering if anyone has ever taken it strictly for postpartum depression?

I also wanted to add that my postpartum is VERY severe and I’m concerned when the doc tries to take me off in 6 months that it will cause me to go into a bad deep depression again. Has anyone experienced this when stopping WB? (sorry this question isn’t really concerning the alcohol)

Spencer, i have something similar. before i was dreaming every single night, but now (with wellbutrin) even more, deeper, defferent, vivid,…. but quite good dreams. just one night when i drunk a little too much wine in the evening, i had such a nightmare like never before in my life!!! i woke up and then nightmare again… woke up again, nightmare again… it was really scary. so, 5 glasses of wine for me is the limit.

I took Wellbutrin for approximately one month in 2007 for minor depression. I went to a happy hour with a friend while on the drug and had a couple glasses of wine over several hours (and ate dinner too). Apparently, I called her on my way home and she didn’t answer so left an unpleasant voicemail on her cell phone that I have no recollection of in which I was swearing and accusing her of flirting with my husband. When I “came to” I was sitting in the parking lot of 7-11 a block away from my house. I had driven for miles and made this phone call and had no recollection of it. When I got home, all hell broke lose. My friend’s husband called wanting to know why I said those things to his wife and I could not even remember making the call. I became hysterical and had suicidal thoughts. It was so incredibly scary and so unlike me. I lost a friend over this (but really in my mind if she was a true friend she would have forgave me as I was not in my right mind but that is another matter). Please do not take the chance and mix this drug with alcohol.

me and my wife had a few drinks and she said we was intimate but I don’t remember any of it. I drank as much as I normally drink but never had taken wellbutrin w/ it before. I don’t remember it but she swares it happened.

googled hangover/wellbutrin and was glad to see this website. thanks for all the comments – i definitely will not be drinking again on wellbutrin. when I was taking the generic version i could drink occasionally and never noticed a difference. my doctor said i needed to be on the name brand, that it is better. I’ve tried to drink twice while on it and have come to the conclusion it gives me a 3 day hangover!at least i now know why i feel so bad, it’s not just hypochondria.
i, for one, will not be drinking while taking this medication again!!!

Thanks for sharing everybody! After several years of being off Zoloft I decided to start up again due to slight depression & wieght gain. In the meantime, I was told by my doctor that it is time to quit smoking. We decided to quit the Zoloft and go to Wellbutrin. I have the bottle of W, but am scared to death of the possible side effects. the risk of acting out against my loved ones is very scary. Has anyone had a good result with the W and stopping smoking? I don’t mind the thought of taking it easy with the drinks until I quit smoking, but like I said I am scared of the effects and trying to get off the W when it is time.

It seems like maybe I’m the exception to most of the comments, but I think that drinking with Wellbutrin is ok.

Granted, you have to drink MUCH LESS than you normally do. I normally can drink close to 9 beers without feeling incredibly drunk, but last night I barely manged 5 before I was totally smashed. I don’t know the after effects on your body (such as the liver and stuff), but apparently when taking Wellbutrin, you will reach a “drunk” state much faster than without taking Wellbutrin.

If you DO choose to take Wellbutrin and drink (I’m in college so i obviously drink), just remember that you will get drunk faster on Wellbutrin. That’s a good thing, right? Less money spent on beer! If you are in a Frat or Sorority, you should mention that you are on Wellbutrin or just refuse to drink after half your normal limit. If you don’t, it can fuck you up for days. Seriously, going through the awkward moment of telling your frat or sorority that you can’t drink that much cause you are on anti-depressants is MUCH better than suffering through the crappy feeling of having a hangover for days. I really don’t know if Wellbutrin effects your body in other negative ways (mainly your liver and kidneys) when you drink, but it definitely gets you drunk faster, so if you are taking it, don’t drink quite as much.

My story is on the track of the extreme stories I read. I tend to drink a lot when I go out. I went to a guy’s house for the second time ever, and let’s just say the police came. I thought I was in a game and the devel was everywhere. The guy or I could have gone to jail because I was telling crazy stories about him. I thought I was seriously loosing it or he had druged me untill I read this site. I hope I never have to see him again, poor guy.

Simular experience to many of you all. Lower tolerance to alcohol on Wellbutrin xl. For those of you who are serious about stopping drinking AA can be a good resource. It is a free support group that is available all over the country. I am tryinf to get the courage up myself to go there. Eventhough I don’t feel like I am an alcoholic, I want to stop drinking completely. Wouldn’t it be nice to see what life is like, especially when we are on mood enhancers like Wellburrin. Good luck to you. I know I will need it.

So glad I found this thread! Thanks for sharing, everyone. I’ve always been a lightweight and have epic hangovers. I’ve been on Wellbutrin since I was 16 and didn’t start drinking until college, so I never realized my meds were the culprit. However, last week my dr raised the dose and I’ve been on 450 mg for a few days. Last night, I drank one and a half beers. This morning I felt like I got run over by a truck! I tried to tough it out but ended up throwing up at work. Looks like drinking on this dose is not an option for me. But… would it be a terrible idea if, maybe once a month, I skipped my meds so I could go out that night? I really love drinking and would hate to have to give it up completely. Has anyone tried this?

Holy crap! 150mg/day, and it only took four drinks to floor me. I spent the next 12 hours dry heaving in the shower, and the next week in a haze. Avoid drinking if you’re on Wellbutrin…period!

Wow thanks everyone for sharing your stories. I’ve always been a happy drunk until Wellbutrin. Last night I actually slapped my gf twice!!!! That is not ok. I love her more than life and would never raise a hand on her. I accused her of things that were in my head. I trust her completely but when I drink I go into a jealous rage! This has happened every time I’ve drank. Today she packed her bags and said she can’t do it anymore. She was selling her condo and the papers were supposed to be signed this morning. I feel like the biggest ass on the planet and will never be drinking while on this drug ever again.

P.S. I blacked out and don’t remember any of this.