By Shawn Steel, JD. Are some of your pregnant patients taking Wellbutrin? If so, it could be a danger to them and their baby. This drug is extremely popular, but it has a serious history. But then came the side effects, including strokes and much more. Wellbutrin is an antidepressant.
It is used to treat depression including seasonal depression, otherwise known as SAD Seasonal Affective Disorder , the blues that may occur in the fall and winter.
Scientists claim Wellbutrin should work by increasing certain types of brain activity. The drug is also used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD a longtime suspect diagnosis ; difficulty focusing or controlling actions; antidepressive disorder; or episodes of other abnormal moods. Now we have a pill for them. For those who like to dabble with more exotic issues, the literature reports that Wellbutrin is used for popular off-label uses such as getting high, weight loss, bipolar depression, RLS restless leg syndrome , pathological gambling and sexual dysfunction.
The FDA does not approve Wellbutrin for any of these conditions. Restless leg syndrome — really? When given to women who are suffering from pregnancy depression or postpartum depression, Wellbutrin may increase the risk of serious birth defects including heart defects left outflow heart defect , bilateral club feet, and reduced testicles for male babies. Tremor, rash and a few anaphylactoid reactions have been reported. Panic symptoms and psychotic reactions have been reported in patients taking bupropion and fluoxetine concurrently.
Bupropion is contraindicated in patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors or ritonavir. Carbamazepine increases the metabolism and decreases the antidepressant effect of bupropion. The recommended dosage in patients attempting smoking cessation is mg once daily for three days and then twice daily for seven to 12 weeks or longer. This regimen may be accompanied by nicotine replacement therapy. Patients are advised to stop smoking during the second week of treatment.
The manufacturer offers a counseling and support service. Consultants from the Medical Letter conclude that a two- or three-month course of bupropion, with or without transdermal nicotine replacement therapy, may help to alleviate some of the withdrawal effects from smoking cessation. However, conclusive data have not been published. Long-term relapse rates have been high with use of all smoking cessation agents.
Already a member or subscriber? Log in. Interested in AAFP membership? That finding was accompanied by an admission: The original approval did not involve testing of the mg. Rather, only the mg. That methodology was chosen because it was viewed as unethical to expose volunteers to the higher dose — and the possibility of seizure — when dose proportional testing had always been deemed valid.
See FDA Update. In this instance, however, it was not scientifically appropriate to extrapolate the results. This month, Teva voluntarily ceased marketing the mg. The results of these studies should be available early next year. Automatic Xrefs. ChEBI Name. An aromatic ketone that is propiophenone carrying a tert -butylamino group at position 2 and a chloro substituent at position 3 on the phenyl ring. Supplier Information. Find compounds which contain this structure Find compounds which resemble this structure Take structure to the Advanced Search.
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