DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE
Humans: Controlled clinical studies conducted in normal volunteers, in subjects with a history of multiple drug abuse, and in depressed patients showed some increase in motor activity and agitation/excitement.
In a population of individuals experienced with drugs of abuse, a single dose of 400 mg of WELLBUTRIN produced mild amphetamine-like activity as compared to placebo on the Morphine-Benzedrine Subscale of the Addiction Research Center Inventories (ARCI) and a score intermediate between placebo and amphetamine on the Liking Scale of the ARCI. These scales measure general feelings of euphoria and drug desirability.
Findings in clinical trials, however, are not known to predict the abuse potential of drugs reliably. Nonetheless, evidence from single-dose studies does suggest that the recommended daily dosage of bupropion when administered in divided doses is not likely to be especially reinforcing to amphetamine or stimulant abusers. However, higher doses, which could not be tested because of the risk of seizure, might be modestly attractive to those who abuse stimulant drugs.
Animals: Studies in rodents have shown that bupropion exhibits some pharmacologic actions common to psychostimulants, including increases in locomotor activity and the production of a mild stereotyped behavior and increases in rates of responding in several schedule-controlled behavior paradigms. Drug discrimination studies in rats showed stimulus generalization between bupropion and amphetamine and other psychostimulants. Rhesus monkeys have been shown to self-administer bupropion intravenously.
Wellbutrin Withdrawal Symptom List:
Anxiety
Dizziness
Fatigue
Muscle and joint pain
Jolting electric "zaps”
Tingling sensations
Vertigo
Gait disturbances
Restlessness
Tremors
Visual hallucinations
Headache
Insomnia
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Blurred vision
Sweating
Fever
Abdominal discomfort
Aggression
Sleep disturbance and insomnia
Nightmares
Vivid dreams
Flu symptoms and general malaise
Anorexia, agitation
Irritability
Confusion
Memory and concentration difficulties
Chills and hot flashes
Crying spells
Suicidal thoughts
Lethargy
Weakness
Myalgia
Wellbutrin's Half-Life & Average Time to Clear Out of Your System:
Things get really complicated with Wellbutrin's half-life. Most drugs are happy to be metabolized into one metabolite and that's what acts on your brain. Often it's not the drug you take that does the work, it's the metabolite. Some drugs get metabolized twice, so you have two things working on your brain. Not Wellbutrin (bupropion hydrochloride). It gets metabolized into three metabolites and they in turn get metabolized again and all of that is what acts on your brain. So Wellbutrin (bupropion hydrochloride) itself has a half-life of 12-30 hours, and each of its metabolites have half-lives of 15-25, 23-43 and 24-50 hours. But wait, there's more! Another metabolite floats around after all that! However that last one is still an unknown factor. You piss it out, but does it do anything? So how long does it take to get clean of Wellbutrin? Four to eight days. For some people, maybe longer.
How to Stop Taking Wellbutrin:
Your doctor should be recommending that you reduce your dosage by 100-150mg a day (for the more popular SR and XL forms, 75mg for the immediate release form), every week if you need to stop taking it, if not more slowly than that. Based on the wacky half-lives above.
