Wellbutrin and rash

Stopped smoking on Oct 27, 2009. I had began taking Wellbutrin about a week prior to quitting smoking. Then on Nov 6, 2009, that morning start to break out in red welts all over my neck, which fast moved to under my arms, on my sides and then to my face. I went straight in to my doctor and they gave me a benadryl shot and a steriod shot. My dr advised me to quit taking wellbutrin, because I was having an allergic reaction to it. I quit taking wellbutrin. But the rash just got progressively worse over the next 24 hours, I passed out on Nov 8, 2009 and was taken in to the ER, there I was given another Benadryl shot and another steroid shot. The ER doctor also wrote me a prescription for Benadryl and for a round of steroid pills. It is now Nov 12, 2009 and the rash has left for the most part, except if i get my skin hot, then the rash just appears and itches badly, but as soon as my skin cools it is gone. My chest was very painful the first four days of this ordeal, it is now only painful occasionally. My doctor says it will probably take about two weeks for all side effects to completely disappear. This is the only severe drug reaction that I have ever had in my life.

I spent 1 month on 150mg Wellbutrin XR, then switched over to 150mg of the SR because my copay was much much cheaper. (Most likely because it's actually Bupropion SR, the generic) I've only been on the SR for 2 weeks now. So a total of 6 weeks all together. I am totally losing hair, and have been for about 4 weeks. The other side effect that really bothers me is my memory loss and confusion. I am having trouble remembering the simplest words when I'm in a conversation with someone. I feel dull and stupid, just not sharp. This is very concerning to me, as I've always been an intelligent, quick witted person. The only other small side effect is I am sometimes just itchy all over. No rash or anything, but just itchy. I am worried about withdrawal symptoms if I stop cold turkey. (Had a bad bout with coming off Zoloft.) Does anyone know if the SR pills can be cut into 1/2's or 1/4's? My pharmacist told me no - but I'm thinking of just doing it anyways. Any suggestions??

I switched from the small round white generic Wellbutrin to the large round yellow Wellbutrin 2 weeks ago. Not to my agreement, I just picked it up at the pharmacy and there it was. Anyway, today I went to the doctors for a rash and she told me that different manufacturers have different fillers in the pills, so I could be allergic to one of the components. I took my new Wellbutrin back to the pharmacy and the pharmacist gave me my old generic brand. The rash was on my stomach, the hips, my back...and it appeared Sunday night. Just a story in case anyone is experiencing something similar. If this doesn't make my rash go away, I will report back to let you know it in fact wasn't the change.
******

pic of the different pills.

******

pic of my rash

I am so relieved to see these posts. My husband started Wellbutrin 2 weeks ago. We are at the beach and yesterday he started experiencing itchiness followed by rash and welts that have spread and are huge now. He has them on his legs, under arms, around waist and on feet. This morning his right eye became extremely swollen and now his lips are HUGE.. At first we though an allergic reaction to seaweed until it started getting worse. I googled benadryl and wellbutrin to see if they could be taken together and found this sight. He has also been complaining the last week with chest pains and I see some people also experienced that. Thank you all for sharing for now I can see what is causing it and we are stopping Wellbutrin now.

I have been on generic Wellbutrin for almost two weeks and have not gotten a rash but have noticed that my anxiety has gone up, especially at night. I already have anxiety about not sleeping and normally will take benadryl or lunesta to help that. I also feel like I have this surge of anger, that I am not sure where it came from. Has anyone else had this? I talked to my doctor yesterday and he said to follow up on Friday and see. I am switching from lexapro to wellbutrin because of massive weight gain and to help me quit smoking. Any advice would be grateful, I can deal with it if I know its going to pass shortly!!

I have been on wellbutrin for four days. I can't think straight. My head feels like it is being compressed when I try to think. I can't remember most things. Someone asked me my mailing address and I had no clue. I've lived there for four years. I had to call someone and ask them my address. I couldn't focus. It was bad. By day three, I had started to get these itchy spots in weird places. Well, yesterday I quit taking it because I couldn't handle the weird feelings. Plus, it was making me suicidal. Today I wake up and my entire torso is broken out in a rash. I completely believe wellbutrin is to blame. If it wasn't the weekend, I would totally be calling my doctor. Guess I'll do that first thing tomorrow...

i have been taking Wellbutrin xl for 10 days.I broke out with itchy red warm whelps that vary in size all over my body. I started around hairline, neck and wrist. Next day it moved to stomach, under breast and armpits and legs. day 3 its now on my face. Benadryl helps some but as soon as it wears off the rash appears again. I have been experiencing major heartburn as well. Doctor said because it took 10 days to break out , he doesn't believe it is the medicine. I take absolutely nothing else other than 1 a day vitamin.
He prescribed prednisone for rash relief. So we will see if this works , but after this web site , I am going to stop the Wellbutrin. Its not worth the itchy splotchy rash. Driving me Crazy!!!

Hi, My name is K., I'm a 38 year old woman and about 8 months ago my doctor put me on 150 mg. per day of wellbutrin for my depression.Shortly after starting it I began to get a hive like rash all over my head, it the spread down my body rapidly.I've been seeing doctors about this since Jan, 2009 and none of them has been able to figure out whats been causing this rash. Today I decided to type in rashes associated with wellbutrin on my keyboard and whalah!! There it is and here we are!! I'm posting this for other people to hopefully see if they have these symptoms, so that they don't have to do as I did and waste hundreds of dollars on doctors.

I have been on Wellbutrin for about 4 weeks for depression. About three days ago, I developed an extremely itchy scalp, which ran down my neck and everywhere else. I have huge welt like hives all over my body and they "move" from area to area. I am going to the doctor tomorrow to find out what is going on with me. My depression is better, but not worth this horrible rash.

I am also experience hair thinning while on Wellbutrin. I have had blood tests and there is no other detectable cause. The dermatologist said that she was only able to diagnose as possibly hereditary. However, I began noticing it shortly after starting 300mg of Well XL and then noticed increased thinning when I went up to 450mg. I don't take any other medications at all.

I searched the Wellbutrin prescribing information (a pdf on the official Wellbutrin website) and this is all I can find:

Other Events Observed During the Clinical Development and Postmarketing Experience of Buproprion

Adverse events for which frequencies are not provided occurred in clincial trials or postmarketing experience with bupropion. Only those adverse events not previously listed for sustained-release bupropion are included. The extent to which these events may be associated with Wellbutrin XL is unknown.

Skin: Rare was maculopauplar rash. Also observed were alopecia, angioedeme, exfoliative dermatitis and hirsutism.

----------------

Alopecia is hair loss. All that means is it was reported and they didn't do a study that would have produced data with which they could measure the likelihood that it is a Wellbutrin side effect. In other words, people said they were experiencing it but they can't confirm it.

I just dropped down to 300 mg and I'm contacting my shrink about tapering off completely - I feel like dealing with scalp showing through and feeling horribly self-conscious and unattractive because of it is not going to help my depression and self-esteem issues any.

I'm a woman by the way - the number of reports of hair thinning in women seems significant to me. I have no family history of thin hair on the female side that I know of.

I am so glad I came across this website. I have been taking Wellbutrin for about 5 weeks and I have not be great about taking it regularly. I woke up yesterday with my left eye swollen and by mid-day that went away but my lip was completely swollen. Now today my stomach has an enormous rash across the right side and my wrist are swollen on the palm side and extremely itchy everywhere. I will stop the Wellbutrin and report it to my doctor.

after 3 weeks on the meds(300mg once a day), started itching in the back of my head,which then started behind my arms.I decided to take benedryl,which relieved some. Rash was huge hives,and ictched horribly. I dont think i need a dr. to tell me this isn't workin. after reading these posts I quit, before something else happens. P.s still smokin,and very forgetful!

I've been on the generic version of Wellbutrin, Bupropion HCL SR, 150 MG for a little over a month. The palms of my hands have a rash. At first I thought I just had dry hands but right when I think it has gone away it comes back even more. Is this a side effect?

major itching, welts, and rash. I have been taking wellbutrin for three weeks and I am not taking it anymore! Class-action is in my future! and to the guy who said "you just need a drink" - your implication that everyone is just nuts (as the drug inherently suggests) was really off the mark. You must be an investor in the companies who develope these meds!

1st night no sleep or rest. After about a week of treatment would randomly break out in red rash over 90% of my body and it would itch so bad i scratched blood out! had to stop it immediately. was taking with blood pressure meds and paxil for nicotine cravings.It did help with the cravings alot but not worth the risk.

My hair has been falling out and is noticably thin on top. Only took the wellbutrin for 3 months , but have lost lots of hair. Have also had a severe rash/hives on my arms and legs, it tingles and burns. Have went to the ER once already because of the hives. Stopped the wellbutrin and the hives and itching went away. But what concerns me the most is the hair loss. Will it grow back? Wish I had know about these side effects before taking the it. I am hoping that there is another medication I can take to go along with my effexor as the wellbutrin did help my depression. Does anyone know any other medication might possibly work with effexor, that won't make me gain weight, grow bald or be miserable with itching? Help!

itchy red rash or blotching on forearms at top or under. But,
rash appears one to two hours later.

Hello.

I am 26 years old with no health issues at all. Wanted to quit smoking, Dr. prescribed me bupropion/Wellbutron SR 150 mg.
I was instructed to take 1 pill a day for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks I set my quit date and then take 2 pills a day. (300mg)
For the first 2 weeks...I really didnt feel like myself. Felt like I can snap at one moment and then calm the next moment. ok, not such a big deal.

During week 3 I quit smoking and increased the dosage to 2 pills a day as instructed. I quit on Saturday, July 16th 2006. On Tuesday i started off with my regionals itching like crazy! I wasnt sure why this was happeneing so i put some anti itch cream and helped some what. I would just keep breaking out with the same bad itch anyway. Then...Wednesday, July 19th I woke up 2:00 AM with real bad chest pains and I was itching all over the place. From my head, neck, arms to my back and front of my body and basically had rashes all over the place.
They would disappear from one spot and appear in a different spot. I then started researching all over the internet about te side effects and I did find a ton of people expereincing the same things. From 2 AM i couldnt go back to sleep because of the pain in my chest and the HORRIBLE ITCHING and rashes.
I went ot the ER around 10:00 AM and stood there till about 5:30 PM. When I was in the ER i started breaking out even worse. My right eye was closing shut and my right hand became so itchy and swollen it looked like i broke my hand.
They quickly gave me a shot of Benadryl and some steroid with it and after about 30-60 minutes... the swelling started going away. They didnt find any realtionship from the Wellbutrin and my chest pain and the itchingness which i didnt understand.

Anyway, i still have some rashes breaking out...I have been using Benadryl which will control it a little bit but then I switched over to Claritin because i couldnt stand feeling like a walking Zombie from the Benadryl.

I am still researching and waiting for my Dr to come back to figure out how I can get rid of the itchy rash breakouts. I also feel just mild pain in my chest about once or twice a day for about 10 minutes.

If anyone knows anything that can help me...I would appreciate it.

thanks.

please help Ive been expeirecing alot of weird reactions to this medication. Im paranoid all the time. I feel like im going to die. I got rashes when i drank. I also had head aches all over my head and i had joint pains. I get scared alot now. The slightest thing on my skin will make me paranoid and I will loose my mind. when will this go away?

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 have been on Welbutrin since May. Since then, I have had an aneurysm. I also have Psorisais. I am taking Lopresor and
Norsvac. My feet has a rash and my buttocks too.

I have gained weight and stay hungry all the time. I seldom
get a good night's sleep. I have memory loss and confustion
cannot focus on important things.

Don't know which drug is causing this.

Itching scalp, ears, eyes, arms, hands, chest, genitals, legs, feet accompanied by rash and hives; indigestion; aching arm muscles; severe and constant ear ringing, sweating