What is the Reality of Wellbutrin Withdrawal Symptoms?

ByPrimary Researcher

Executive Summary

  • Wellbutrin is an addictive drug.
  • Wellbutrin addiction and Wellbutrin withdrawal symptoms are deliberately minimized by pharmaceutical companies and the overall medical establishment.

Introduction

A primary method used by pharmaceutical companies, MDs, and the overall medical establishment is to minimize addiction. This article covers the gaslighting of patients and the public and patients on Wellbutrin withdrawal symptoms.

What the medical Establishment Says About Wellbutrin Withdrawal Symptoms

Let us review some comments about this issue of Wellbutrin abuse. It is always informative how the medical establishment will bend reality to defend a revenue stream. The following quotes are from the website The Recovery Village.

Assertion #1: Wellbutrin Has Benefits?

Despite the benefits of Wellbutrin, there has been anecdotal evidence that Wellbutrin may have a potential to be misused and addictive.

The article How Large is the Effect of SSRI Antidepressants? questions how much Wellbutrin and any antidepressant are helping anyone. The article Fully Considering Antidepressant Side Effects points out that the medical establishment aggressively minimizes short- and long-term side effects.

Secondly, why is it considered only “anecdotal” that Wellbutrin may have the potential to be misused or addictive? Recall that as a background, pharma companies do not fund studies to test if their drugs are addictive. This comment entirely leaves out the one-sided nature of drug research and calls something obvious “anecdotal.”

Thirdly, it is not only Wellbutrin that is addictive — as I cover in the article How SSRIs Create Dependency Called SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome, the pharma industry created a new term to explain away why so many patients that take antidepressants can’t get off them, even when they very much want to.

Assertion #2: Intravenous Wellbutrin

For the most part, Wellbutrin is considered to be a relatively safe antidepressant. However, since Wellbutrin affects the “feel-good” brain neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, it is sometimes taken to achieve a stimulant-like high. When Wellbutrin is taken in high doses or in dangerous ways, such as intravenously, it may act similarly to a stimulant, such as Adderall or cocaine. People who use Wellbutrin recreationally may use dangerously high doses of up to 1200 mg at a time, while the maximum daily dose of the drug is 450 mg for prescription use.

Along with injecting Wellbutrin, some recreational users will crush the tablets to snort them. This provides all of the effects of the drug directly into the bloodstream at one time and bypasses the time-release elements of Wellbutrin.

Yes, the point is made that drug addicts taking Wellbutrin are significantly higher doses than a person following their prescription. But if Wellbutrin did not have addictive qualities, then drug addicts would not be seeking out Wellbutrin in the first place. The only question here is the dosage and the method of administration. So yes, the drug dosage is higher, and the buffering is lower. But let us not kid ourselves. This same drug is being used, except it is being used in a more controlled fashion. The argument for opioids is the same. Purdue Pharma constantly promotes its “time release” opioid formulation. However, that did not stop many people who were told that opioids were not addictive from getting addicted to opioids.

This is false.

Wellbutrin, like other depressants, is addictive, even when used as prescribed. This is explained in detail in the article How Antidepressants Produce Addiction Through Altering the Neurotransmition Process. (Subscription required)