Bupropion for motivation

Therapeutic Efforts Pharmaceutical
#7

Hallo Tomas,

i am taking 150 mg Zyban (Bupropion) for a month and it works very good:

Libido increases,
sexual dreams happen again after years,
the orgasm is more intense, lasts a bit longer and is more satisfying.
Sexual arrousal is better.
Now i can be stimulated again by normal things like a good looking Woman or “normal” porn.

But there are also non-sexual effects:

Anhedonia disappeared
I can feel pleasure again
Fatigue is much better, i have more energy
i can motivate myself better
I don´t have any desire for Sweets or salty things

I am convinced that the main reason for the good results is the dopaminergic effect of Bupropion.
I don´t know if Bupropion is a possibel Cure for PFS. But it improves the Symptoms that are caused by PFS. I quit Propecia in Jan. 2008. I have tried many natural things. But Nothing really worked for me.
I will continue with 150 mg of Zyban/Bupropion. After 9 month i will try to taper off and then i will see if PFS returns again or not. If PFS won´t return again, then i will make a post on Propeciahelp and claim for me to be cured. At the moment it is too early to claim a victory over this damned syndrome.
I wish you luck Tomas. Don´t give up.

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#8

can someone PM me where can I order bupropion. I saw its available on kiwidrug, but maybe there are cheaper sources ?

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#9

Hallo slick1,

here in Germany Bupropion is also prescribed as a drug for people who want to quit smoking. It is called Zyban. It contains 150 mg of Bupropion. That´s what i am taking. You get it with a private recept from your doctor.

#10

@axolotl @awor any reason why this might be helping?

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#11

Maybe boosting available dopamine concentrations?

#12

There have been mixed experiences on wellbutrin. I’d say that in bad cases it has made people worse, but in people that are not so severely affected, it has helped some.

He is also talking about wellbutrin:

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#13

Hallo,

i want to post two links, that could explain why Bupropion (and other dopamin agonists) works for libido and other non-sexual dopamin-dependent functions (at least in my case).


In my modest opinion the two most important messages are:

  1. AR receptors are important for a normal dopamine transmission. AR receptors can be found in dopaminergic brain cells. An impairment of AR receptors (as we suppose in PFS) leads to an impaired dopamine-transmission in the brain.
    Clinical symptoms are: low libido, fatigue, affective nivelation, depression-like Symptoms.

  2. Dopamine-agonists like Apomorphin (Bupropion is also an Dopamin Agonist) raise sexual behaviour in castratet male mice and knock-out mice without ER-receptor. That means: Dopaminagonists don´t need AR or ER for having an effect. They are independent from these receptors.

That´s why i believe that Bupropion works for me. (At least at the moment. I hope it will last.)

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#14

Thanks for your feedback!
This is great news indeed. Please keep posting in the future either eith good or bad results…it is always good to know how it affects to different people.
I had heart that wellbutrin can help our situation from a doctor who knows about pfs…and i do still think this as a possibility.

Regard.

#15

Agreed. As far as things go Wellbutrin is definitely something I am strongly considering. Naturally I’m still quite cautious as to any negative effects it may exert.

#16

I have waited over 10 years until i decided to try it on a pharmacological way. I lost 10 years of quality of life. I wish i would have decided earlier to take Zyban/Bupropion. Now i feel alive again after years. The possible adverse effects of Bupropion are Nothing compared with the negative effects of this Poison called Propecia. At the moment i don´t notice any negative effect from Zyban. Perhaps a bit of decreased appetite. That´s all.

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#17

Hey Chris! So you’ve been on bupropion for a month now, right? Did you take the XR or SR formulation? Have you noticed a change in your sleep at all, for better or worse?

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#18

Hallo, fortunately i never had problems with sleeping. I take Zyban. I don´t know what kind of forumulation it has. But Zyban doesn´t cause me any sleeping problems. By the way, are you from Spain?

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#19

No sir, I am from the states. I speak Spanish, however!

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#20

Ah, ok. :slightly_smiling_face:
I would like to mention one more thing. It is known that active substances like Bupropion and many other drugs like L-Thyroxin, antipsycotics (dopamine-antagonistic drugs) etc. can have stronger or minor effects depending on the formulation, the dosis and the Company that produces this drug. I don´t know if this phenomenon could also be found in Bupropion. So perhaps 150 mg Zyban has another efffect than 150 mg Bupropion from the company X or 150 mg Wellbutrin XR or SR. And also it is important to know, that if you double the dosis from 150 mg to 300 mg, that doesn´t automatically mean a double effect. In some cases in could have an inverse effect. So if we want to compare the effects of Bupropion to us, we should take the same drug from the same company. Don´t get me wrong: I don´t want to make any advertisement for Zyban. But we should be aware of this mentioned phenomenon.

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#21

Thanks for mentioning that! It’s important to know the differences in formulation when comparing users experience with a treatment. Appreciate your input, @Chris74 and I hope you have continued success and health with your treatment :slight_smile:

#22

I’d like to hear the experiences any others who have taken or continue to take Wellbutrin to chime in here if possible.

There are a whole gamut or possible treatments and protocols, ranging from herbs to aggressive options like hormones and drugs which directly affect hormones.

Wellbutrin seems to me to be quite benign in terms of potential downside while likely boosting the mood (at the very least) of the user. It’s mechanism of action is reasonably well understood. I think almost all PFS sufferers could do with a mood boost.

#23

I took WB for 7 years. I honestly don’t feel comfortable expressing any opinion about it in the context of PFS (although in any other context I would absolutely advice against it). It is a horrible thing to be on it (I’ve written about it before) but PFS might be even more horrible so I don’t know… All I’ll say is, if you decide to take it, try to be on the lowest possible effective dose, which is a quarter of a 150mg pill. The XR/SR release doesn’t matter at such a dose.

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#24

Attention! It is strictliy forbidden to divide the pills, because Bupropion is released over 24 Hours. If you divide the pills, the extended release is destroyed and you have a higer risk of adverse effects including epileptic attacks.

Please don´t give such an advise to the people here. Thanks.

#25

What you say about cutting the pills is true and people need to be aware of that.

However, when I gave this advice, I took into account the pharmacokinetics of the drug, which I have tested extensively over a 7 year period. A lot of other things go into this advice, which you or the authors of the official studies may not be aware of - most importantly, the negative psychological effects of a steady and high dose of WB in the form of 150 or, god forbid, 300mg.

A quarter of a pill in the morning was the best dose for me. This is a dose that punches above its weight, precisely because it reaches a temporary concentration similar to the one reached by a higher XR dose, as the drug is released faster, and yet it is small enough not to cause problems. It is a way of experiencing the benefits of WB at least part of the day at the lowest possible overall dose.

For beginners I would advice starting with 1/8 of a pill until the organism gets used to the drug, which unfortunately happens very fast. I say unfortunately because this is how the drug loses its effectiveness. In fact, I would advice skipping doses on days when you don’t necessarily need a lot of motivation in order to preserve effectiveness (and minimize side effects).

A quarter of a pill in the morning, while giving you a punch to get you started in the day, is not enough to keep you revved up all day. It is important, in my opinion, to lower the drug concentrations later in the day and have a clearer mind at least some of the day.

No doubt the higher (regular) dose of 150mg will be more effective but it will also have a lot more negative psychological effects (again, I have written about this before), which most people, unfortunately, are not going to notice while they are under the influence of the drug.

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#26

Hallo Sibelio,

in my case 150 mg per day works good. I am now taking it for 30 days and i don´t feel a decrease of effect. I hope it will last.

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