Wellbutrin and forgetfulness

I have been taking a generic version of Wellbutrin SR 150mg for almost 2 months now. I also take Zoloft 50mg. Before I started the wellbutrin, I had been taking zoloft for over a year to help with depression. The zoloft was working very well for my depression, but it completely killed my libido and as a newlywed, I felt something had to be done as it was beginning to affect my relationship with my husband.
So my doctor prescribed the wellbutrin. For the first couple of weeks I experienced a lot of nervous energy, a shortness of breath, a bit of nausea, forgetfulness and confusion. I almost stopped taking it because I didn't feel it was helping my libido either. But I stuck with it and after 3 weeks, it felt like it was definitely having a positive effect on my sex life. My husband noticed it too. He mentioned how much more responsive I had become when we were intimate. After 2 months, I am absolutely convinced that it has changed our lives and our relationship.
It is not, by any means a miracle drug though. I have a few complaints about it, the main one being the CONFUSION that I experience for hours after I take it. I was taking it in the morning before I went to work and everyday I noticed that I was not as sharp and efficient as I usually am. I figured this was a temporary side effect so I kept taking it as usual, but it never went away! I kept forgetting everything, lost focus easily, had dull headaches, and generally felt as if I could not connect to what I was doing.
SO...about a week ago, I thought I would try to take it at night...when it's not as important to be sharp and focused (and more important to be turned on). And it has turned out great! I'm so glad I started to do it. It doesn't affect my sleep...in fact I think I sleep better. And when I wake up in the morning, my dull headache is gone and I feel less foggy. At work, I feel normal again. My short term memory has recovered and I don't get confused as easily.
If you suffer from a lot of memory loss and confusion from this medication, I definitely suggest taking it at night. It has really helped me! Thanks and good luck!

I've been on Welbutrin for about six months, along with Zoloft. I had tried it because of the lack of motivation and the lithergy I was feeling (I suspect) as a result of the Zoloft. I came across this site after a search for memory loss connected with Welbutrin. I believe I'm having that problem. I don't seem to have the quick grasp of words I did. In a phone conversation today, I could not remember a certain medical term that I have been using rather frequently over the past six months. There are some other cases, but that incident put me on the trail of memory loss research. I actually suspected that it was the Ambien I had been taking for sleep (I have not completely ruled that drug out). But all the posts here seem to indicate that the welbutrin could be at fault.

I'm on 150mg, twice daily. However, in the morning, I will actually take one and a half pills (225mg) to get me going. I have noticed CONSIDERABLE jitters, hand tremors, enough that if I'm doing delicate work of some type, I have difficulty continuing ti complete the task. At the 225mg, I do seem to become over amped a bit, but it improves my motivation. A St. Johns Wart capsule will usually calm that, but you see the problem of one drug, helping one problem, but causing another, so you take a third! I have tried numerous other antidepressants and they all caused more side effects than they were worth.
Celexa cause an eventual complete lack of ANY motivation! Plus SERIOUS sexual side effects. Zoloft has been the best with the least side effects and I have always returned to it. But the sleepiness can just be extreme with me.

I have run out of Welbutrin and the result is return of the lithergy. I also believe that the Welbutrin may be causing my occasional up tick in anger. Possibly spreading the dosage will help. Not mixing it with caffiene may also help because caffiene can make me explosive if I don't limit my intake to about a cup of coffee. Most of you know that Zoloft, Prozac and the like increase the available seritonin in your brain, a calming neurotransmitter. Welbutrin increases the available norepinephrine, a stimulating neurotransmitter, akin to adrenalin. (Research for yourselves those facts, remember, I posting this because of a problem with MEMORY! :) So it makes perfect sense that people can become overstimulated with Welbutrin. The memory aspects of it, I don't yet understand. I'm going to experiment with dosage reduction and possibly replacing the Welbutrin with the amino acid L-phenylalanine. I hope this little post can help some of you as much as the other posts here have helped me!

Burt

I have been taking the generic form of Wellbutrin (social anxiety with a touch of ADHD) for just over six months and as much as I hate to admit it, I believe that the bad is finally, convincingly, outweighing the good.
The good things that came along with 150mg of the SR every morning at 11:00: Weight loss (but only after an initial one month period of eating every form or carbohydrate I could find), it seems to brighten the whites of my otherwise cloudy eyes, helped me maintain conversations with people that I would have normally cut off early, and possibly--but only possibly--helps me focus (although the hyper focus that I used to get via the ADHD is gone. Completely. Non-existent.)
Which brings me to the bad: This goes against most of what I've read other people experience on Wellbutrin but lethargy has set in. And it feels like it's here to stay. It's not really a sedated lethargy but more of a false contentment that everything is just fine the way it is. No progression, no improvement, and looking to the future is almost impossible through the fog. I too, during the first two or three weeks, had the speedy, productive reaction to the medication. But that has subsided. Next, hair loss has become a concern. I'm in my thirties and it could be just how it goes but I truly doubt it. Mild constipation may seem bearable but I miss regularity more than I have time to describe. Ringing in the ears. Impaired memory. Confusion. Forgetfulness to a fault. Mild hives on the back. Irritability. A marked shortness of breath. After one month on Wellbutrin, I could barely run a mile on the treadmill when I've been accustomed to flying through three to five with ease. I feel weak, vulnerable even. Working out has therefore fallen to the wayside. And last, but probably the worst, this medication has seemed to cultivate a serious craving for other drugs. I can't explain it but I can't take it anymore either.
Like most people on a medication, I have read numerous posts and some people share some of my concerns but mostly, it seems that the people who report in are the speedy folks on day two or week two. That is, in my opinion, only a bit helpful, since these effects are usually short-lived. Wellbutrin started out with promise but while parts of me look into the mirror and see an improvement, underneath it all, I know that it is purely a nicely dressed form of prescribed avoidance.
I haven't posted this to discourage anyone. If it works for you--great. Really. But I also haven't read anyone's experience that matched my own so I figured it might help someone who is going through any of the same. Good luck.

I have been on Wellbutrin XL 150mg for 5 days now and have noticed that I am very short with people and experiencing anger. I tend to lash out. Will this go away?

I've been on Wellbutrin for 8 years. After reading this forum I seriously question wether if I am the forgetful person that I've become. It's been so long since I've been clear-headed, but I know that as a child I had an extrodinary memory. Because this has viably been a side-effect that has existed for 8 years, I learned to believe that it was who I was. 2 years previous to starting Wellburtin failed in an sucicide attempt and thought that it could be from that. But because of overwhelming anxiety and hives,my doctor has upped my dose from 150mg to 300mg daily. Now I'm noticing that I can't remember chuncks of time. Trying to replaying an event in my mind and realize that I don't what happened after...and which roads I drove on to get home. It's a daily occurence. I will set everything out to take to school, but forget to grab the stuff. Laundry takes me days, because I constantly forget to change loads. I get distracted easily and don't know what I was doing or simply forget that I was doing something. 3 times while writing this I forgot what my next sentence was going to be. I always feel like I'm in a brain fog anymore. My greatest fear is that Wellburtin is the only one in it's class. I tried Paxil, Prozac, Effexor and had horrible side effect. So is it Wellbutrin or nothing? Does anyone know or have suggestions of other meds? When someone hurts me, I usually can't remember it long enough to mad ever again. I also have severe migranies, but not sure if thy're are related.

I just ran across this site and WOW! I am not the only one experiencing these crazy syptoms. I hav been on Wellbutrin for 3 weeks now and noticed lack of concentration, extreme forgetfulness, lack of creativity ( I produce videos so this is a bad one) and just two days ago broke out in hives. The hives are like big welts, 1-4inches in size and very red. They itch like crazy and byt day two it progressed to swelling of my joints. The bottom of my foot swelled, then my wrists with aweful aching pains in the wrists, and then the next day I woke up with my left eyelid swollen almost completely shut! I got up today, day 3, to find trhat my left eyelid is better but is transferred to my right eyelid and now my lips are very swolen and uncomfortable. Syptoms seem to be flu like with lost of aching in my joints. Very frustrating. I was prescribed to take it to help with quiting of smoking and sure never expected this. I have never had any reaction to any medication my whole life and I am almost 40 years old. The only medication I took while on wellbutrin was loratab for back pain. I just read somewhere else taht the two shouldn't be mixed. I told my Doctor I was taking loratabs occaisionally and she made no comment about it.

I just was prescribed predisone for the hives/rash. Hope it helps. Have stopped taking the wellbutrin.

Glad I found this site.

Mary

I've been taking 30mg of XL for about 2 years. This is an increase of 150mg for about a year prior. Memory loss is the worst! I often go to do something and before I actually do it a minute later, forget what it was I was going to do. I have a very hard time concentrating. I have a job where I have to be mentally fit, and have been going crazy because I haven't been able to concentrate enough to figure out the simplest things. I am losing hair bad, but not sure if I can attribute it to Wellbutrin. I sweat constantly. I wake up in a puddle of sweat and have to turn my pillow repeatedly during the night to find a dry patch. I also sem to urinate a lot more than anyone else. I am up 1 or 2 times every night to use the bathroom. As for keeping me out of depression, it's worked well, but seems to be diminishing. I am feeling more and more depressed lately. My work and relationships are suffering due to my forgetfulness and I am irritable, mostly due to being upset with myself for not being able to concentrate and figure out what should be simple tasks.

I have not found a lot of information about these symptoms online except for this site. Only little blurbs here and there. After reading this, I think it's time to quit and try something else. Does anyone know if the hair grows back and memory comes back or do they just not get any worse after stopping???

Severe hairloss after 2 years of being on it. Its still coming out but I have only been off it for 5 days. Iam now on effexor,hopefully it will stop coming out. Does anyone know if Effexor causes hairloss too? I also have forgetfulness and Iam only 26. Iam about ready to try to get off of everything if I can.

Fogginess, confusion, forgetfulness, shaky hands when playing musical instruments

forgetfulness, often forgetting to eat for an entire day, forgetting schedule of the day, also have experienced itching. However, I am on it to treat ADD as an alternative to ritalin, and for that it is working well and i am able to concentrate on one task extrememly well w/out distractions.