Wellbutrin and Dreams

I have not found any information on this specifically:

My sister, who is not into LDing and does not know much about it, but still has crazy ass dreams like me that she can recall, called me crying today. She has been on Wellbutrin for a few days to try to quit smoking and last night she had a recurring dream that she could not speak. She was terrified b/c she had cut herself and was bleeding to death but no one (including our mom and aunt) would help her b/c she could not communicate. Every dream she had included not being able to speak.

These dreams freaked her out so bad she woke up in a panic attack and cryed all day over it. She asked me to try to find something about this (I've told her about the site).

Does anyone else have any information/experience with Wellbutrin specifically and how it affects dreams? A reply or PM would be much appreciated.

Did she miss a dose?

A friend of mine was also on Wellbutrin to quit smoking, and once he'd been on it a while, he was subject to terrible nightmares when he missed a dose before bed. He weaned himself off after a few of these experiences. Still smokes.

Wellbutrin is a MAOI, right? It fits that missing a dose could cause that, same as zoloft or any of that class of pharmacueticals?

You are correct Seeker, it is an MAOI.

I am not a Dr, but I concur with Seeker and the Rev........

This excerpt came from this link......http://www.prozactruth.com/bupropion.htm

PRECAUTIONS:

Psychosis, Confusion, and Other Neuropsychiatric Phenomena: Patients treated with bupropion have been reported to show a variety of neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms including delusions, hallucinations, psychotic episodes, confusion, and paranoia. Because of the uncontrolled nature of many studies, it is impossible to provide a precise estimate of the extent of risk imposed by treatment with bupropion. In several cases, neuropsychitric phenomena abated upon dose reduction and/or withdrawal of treatment.


Seems to me the alternative pharmacuetical is ZYBAN, and this is a comparison of the two from this link -> http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/buprop_wcp.htm#P

Psychosis, Confusion, and Other Neuropsychiatric Phenomena: In clinical trials with ZYBAN conducted in nondepressed smokers, the incidence of neuropsychiatric side effects was generally comparable to placebo. Depressed patients treated with bupropion in depression trials have been reported to show a variety of neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms including delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, concentration disturbance, paranoia, and confusion. In some cases, these symptoms abated upon dose reduction and/or withdrawal of treatment.



This info seems to support that welbutrin/bupropion can effect you negatively when used in a person who is not depressed and uses it as a treatment for smoking cessation. Maybe look at Zyban as an alternative? (personally I have not heard much about it)

Hope this helps..........

I took Wellbutrin at one point, but I can't recall any nightmares or freakish dreams. I also never smoked or took it for a long time, so that may also explain why. I'm off it now mostly because I was being grouchy and I could never remember to take it.

Thanks a lot guys...I really appreciate the quick and helpful replies. I will forward this info to my sister! BTW, she did not miss a dose as far as I know. She just started taking it.

I'm currently taking welbutrin for smoking right now and tried it a couple years back too. You absolutly get crazy ass dreams on this. Three other members of my family who have taken it had very vivid dreams. Nightmeres are only really bad because they're so vivid you get really scared and wake up and remember them.

Anyway, me taking it again now is how I even started looking into this LD thing. The dreams are so vivid it seems a perfect match for this.

Anyway, hope this helps, tell your sister there's nothing different or unusual about her having these weird dreams.

My sister has read over you guys' replies and feels a lot better. BTW she is now very interested in this site and does not have a computer, but she wants to come over to use mine and check out the site in detail! she has not had anymore dreams like this since that night. She is glad to know this is a common side effect to the drug. thanks again for the information.

Sweet dreams!

Wellbutrin is NOT an MAOI. It's a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor, and nicotinic antagonist: It increases levels of the 2 neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, and it "interferes" with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Acetylcholine is very important to dreaming, and dream recall. One type of Acetylcholine receptor is called the nicotinic receptor. That;s because nicotine is an agonist for these receptors- it fits into the receptor, like acetylcholine, and also does what acetylcholine would do if it were there. Thus, nicotine is like a pseudo-acetylcholine, for these receptors. Thus, nicotine is a powerful LD trigger/enhancer! (I'm certainly not recommending that anyone take up smoking to get better dreams!)

Wellbutrin is a nicotinic ANTagonist- it fits into the nicotinic receptors, but does NOT do what acetylcholine (or nicotine) do. So it supresses the effect of acetylcholine, and also gets to the receptors before nicotine can, thus acting like a sort of false nicotine, which is probably why it helps in quitting smoking.

So, Wellbutrin can affect dreaming by messing with the nicotinic receptors, but also note, if the person trying to quit varies his nicotine intake, less, more, what ever, THAT IN ITSELF will stimulate dreams, as explained above.

Since starting this medicine a few weeks ago, I'm having repetitive dreams about my doctor. I'm slightly embaraced because the dreams are so life like, and I see him every two weeks! I'm taking the medicine to reverse the sexual side effects of my zoloft, so I'm able to have a desire for sex. My desires are constant throughout the day, and the dreams well... Make me feel guilty because I'm married. Anyone else having these dreams?