is there any way i could convince my dr. to put me on wellbutrim? All other antidepressants that I have tried (lexapro, and prozac) have made me gain weight. Its 3 weeks since i've stopped all of them and I have lost 5 pounds already! I do have bulimia, but i need to be on an antidepressant that won't make me gain weight. I've heard that wellbutrim won't, but has some small dangers. Help

[Kismet]

Wellbutrin is not recommended for folks with a history of eating disorders. Also, welbutrin does not work by effecting the same neurotransmitters as SSRIs. Prozac and lexapro re-uptake serotonin. Wellbutrin doesnt touch serotonin---its effects are on dopamine and norepinephrine. Therefore it may not work for you.

Talk to your doctor about this--he may have other options for you.

[Genevieve]

Unless your bulimia is totally in the past, it would be rather irresponsible for your doctor to put you on Wellbutrin -- especially since there are now reports of seizures on the XL formulation, too. The seizure risk is too high when there's any ongoing bulimic behavior present. That doesn't mean that you've been "good" for two weeks -- more like two decades.

There are other antidepressants available that don't cause weight gain for most people. Zoloft might work for you, or possibly Luvox. I've been told that Parnate is pretty well weight neutral. Cymbalta might be an option for you, or possibly Effexor. And there are -- according to my doctor -- non-anti-depressant options, although we haven't gone too deeply into them yet. Lamictal is one, though, that might be worth a try.

More to the point, regardless of weight gain, did the SSRIs work for you? That's one clue to help figure out which is the best avenue to explore for you, because if they did work, then something like Wellbutrin would probably not be a good bet, anyway, since it does not affect the serotonin system.

Hope that helps.