Wellbutrin and short term memory

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 am taking Wellbutrin and it has helped my depression and desire for drugs every day. I have bad ringing in my ears all the time but I can deal with that compared to the good it has done.. The problem is I'm a engineer which requires a lot of concentration that I have lost since I've been on Wellbutrin. I also have memory loss. I can't remember peoples names 2 minutes after they told me. I am a support engineer so I have to tallk to many people every day as well as typing cause and solution. I find myself having to read everything I type over again because I leave out words and sometimes what I type makes no sense at all. Wellbutrin has helped me so much but I think I will have to stop or lose my job. What a choice. Before I started taking Wellbutrin I never felt like I was in tune with the world. Smoking pot worked for me but we all know what the long term effect of that is. Codine also made me feel like I fit in. So Wellbutrin has fixed all those needs and feelings but I just hate the loss of memory, concentration, and ringing in my ears.

I have been on Wellbutrin 300mg for about 5 months now along with Cymbalta 90 mg for postpartum depression. I have had VERY VERY bad memory loss (mostly short term), constant overheating (sweating for no reason), headaches, muscle spasms, trouble urinating, dry mouth, also I have been told by my practitioner that the generic form of Wellbutrin for some reason DOES NOT work as well as the name brand even though they are supposed to be the same thing.

i have been taking wellbutrin to help me deal with anxiety for a little more than a week. i thought it would take more time to have an effect, but i feel very calm. i even stopped smoking right off, which i didn't intend to do. The side effects are worse that i thought they would be. i have lost the ability to spell, my short-term memory is noticeably impaired, and i have trouble paying attention in class/at work. i feel very foggy and disconnected. i've also been having headaches, night sweats, and stomach pains, but they are mild.

I have been on Wellbutrin for a couple of years & it has been a life saver. But it is very possible my hair loss is due to it. I have always had a full head of hair & no hair loss in my family at all. I'm also experiencing hearing loss but don't know if this is due to the Wellbutrin as my Father & sister have had hearing loss. My doctor intends to lower my dosage next month & I am going to ask him if air loss is a side effect.

I have memory loss and I'm a teacher. I'm just hoping that the memory loss will not be long term. Does this stuff cause brain damage? It's possible. I will probably get off of this drug soon.

I started taking Wellbutrin three weeks ago. I had been taking Zoloft for four years and it had been working fine except my insurance company tripled the cost and I was beginning to have to take more to get the same results. I thought Wellbutrin might be good alternative after doing some research and my doctor thought it would be good for me to try out. Well, since I have been taking Wellbutrin I have become emotional (wanting to cry at things I would never cry at before), more irritable, my husband says "I am not the same person", dizzy, two sips of a beer gave me a horriable headache which lasted until the next morning, I had to sit down on a bench at the mall because I felt like I was going to faint, and worse of all my brain became very "fuzzy" feeling. It was like my short term memory was damaged. I am taking a Spanish class and was doing well (A's). After I started taking Wellbutrin I could not concentrate enough in class to learn, even saying to my professor, "please skip me, I am not feeling well". It was humiliating. I have maintained a 4.0 in every class I have taken since 1999 and completed a masters degree last year. So, all in all-this was my experience. Maybe if I had taken it longer, it would have been different, but it was like torture for me. One positive note....I felt absolutely no internal depression after a week of taking it (other than being upset about the other symptoms). It worked really well in that area.....so, maybe if others do not have all the symptoms I experienced, it would be a very good drug to take for depression-just not for me!

it made me feel like i was in a box. I had no emotion at all. I did not care about repercussions of ill made desicions. I didnt eat for about 3 weeks at 100mg. my arms shook and i would sweat profusely. I would have a pain so severe in my chest, back and stomach that all i could do was lay on the floor and cry. My anxiety and panic attacks persisted even at 300mg. the shaking stopped and so did the pain but the box has apparently dissolved because of my excessive crying. Everything around me assualts me- apparently wellbutrin XL at 300mg quit doing its job. I slept for 12 hours at a time - sometimes 20, having no recolection of falling asleep or ever waking up. Short term memory is shot - memory in general is shot. My keys, and shoes, and books dissapear on a regular basis because i cant remember if they are on the table or in the bag even though i set them down not 2 minutes ago.

I was on Wellbutrin for several years and have now been off of it for about a month. I believe that some of the side effects that I encountered using Wellbutrin include some short-term memory loss or inability to remember names, dates, etc.
Also am normally a very virile male, but noticed that my erections were not quite as hard while using Wellbutrin. At first I thought it was because I was getting older (now 52) but since being off of it, I'm back to my old self again. I now believe that they do not really know all the possible effects of using Wellbutrin and will definitely think twice about using any long-term medications.

it relieved alot of deppression and irritability. i have some short term memory loss. i take 150mg twice a day.the first day i was euphoric after that i felt more like myself before the break down.have been on it a year or so i feel real stability.

At first I had a lot of energy, was very outgoing, and couldn't sleep. I recently had my dosage upped to 450mg, and now I am experience pretty bad short term memory loss. It's bad enough to make me worry and wonder if it's normal, so I'm talking to my doc tomorrow.

SLIGHT LOSS OF SHORT TERM MEMORY. I AM DOING "ABSENT MINDED" ACTIONS. HARD TIME CONCENTRATING. For example, I get in my car ready to go & left the keys at the door. I have loss my keys so much lately my friends make fun of me & always ask if I have them. Another example: Is I seem to be getting information criss-crossed. Like I will leave the milk out & put the empty bowl in the frigerator. WOW! That was dumb; however I am not. I know it is the WELLUBUTRIN @ 150MGS ONCE A DAY. I am having a hard time concentrating simple actions....ANYONE ELSE BEEN DOING SILLY THINGS B/C OF MEMORY POOFS? Serious responses only please.

not eating or forgeting to eat, sleeplessness, dry mouth, sweating, confusion, short term memory loss, and finally i had a seizure and they had to take me off of it.