Information on the antidepressant drug Wellbutrin

Wellbutrin, sometimes known as Bupropion, is an antidepressant drug used to treat major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder. While the drug was initially developed to serve the purpose of an antidepressant, later research and subsequent use indicated that the drug was effective in helping people to quit smoking and even limited the withdrawal effects of smoking. Weillbutrin is one of the most popular antidepressant drugs in the United States, and one of the major reasons for its popularity is because it does not have side effects such as sexual dysfunction and obesity, two of the most common side effects of antidepressants.

The Side Effects
 
While it is true that Wellburtin does score over some of the other antidepressants in the fact that it does not cause sexual dysfunction or weight gain, it must be understood that the drug is not without its own set of adverse effects. Many of these are common with other antidepressants while a few may be unique to Wellburtin only. In the following section of the article we will discuss some of the side effects of Wellburtin. However, although the list is quite comprehensive, it is not complete. So there will be a few side effects of the drug that we cannot mention in the limited scope we have here.
 
There are some common side effects of Wellburtin that have been widely reported by a large section of patients who have been prescribed the medicine. These would include dry mouth, insomnia, excessive sweating, tremor, nausea and tinnitus. Some of these side effects might also result in the cessation of the treatment using the drug, with the most number of treatments being discontinued after patients complained of rashes and nausea.
 
One of the major controversies regarding Wellburtin has been its effects on seizures and there has been a continuing debate on whether the use of the drug increased the chance of seizures. In fact, it was mostly because of Wellburtin’s infamy for causing seizures that it was withdrawn from the market. But later studies have indicated two key things about Wellburtin. First, that the risk of seizures for taking Wellburtin was about the same as it is for taking other antidepressants. Secondly, the chance of a seizure induced by Wellburtin was largely dependent on the kind of dosage that has been prescribed. So if the dosage is limited to anything between 100mg and 300mg then the chance of seizure was limited to a low 0.1%, if the dosage fell within 300mg to 450 mg, the risk of seizure stood at 0.4%, but if the dosage was increased to 600mg the rate of seizures jumped up to 2%. So the dosage prescribed is very important when we consider the risks of Wellburtin-induced seizures.
 
Another cause for concern while using Wellburtin is its effects on patients with cardiac conditions. Again the effects are closely related to the kind of dosage administered. Patients with or without cardiac problems, when administered Wellburtin at a dosage of 400-500mg in a day, showed signs of rise in blood pressure. But there was no change in pulse rate. However, patients who were administered dosage below 300mg did not show any perceptible changes in the blood pressure.
 
But perhaps the most serious side effect of Wellburtin is its effect on children and adolescents. Studies have established that most antidepressants increase the rate suicidal tendencies among children and adolescents. Wellburtin is no different. So when the drug is prescribed to a child or an adolescent, the behavior of the individual must always be monitored so that such adverse effects do not manifest in the worst possible way. It must be emphasized that Wellburtin is not the only antidepressant that causes such a side effect.

Article Tags: Other Antidepressants, Side Effects

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