# Wellbutrin remission and Crohns



## ubob (Jan 23, 2007)

I hope that this is not a duplicate, I posted but nothing showed up so I wiil try again. My daughter is now three years in remission after being daignoised with severe crohns and being prescribed remicade. I was fortunate to be directed to a doctor with a unconventianl approach at treating crohns and my daugher wsa placed on wellbutrin, after being sick and missing school for a year my daughter gained complete remission within a few weeks of starting on the wellbutrin. Since then Ia have been bleesed to be able to introduce three other people to wellbutrin and they have gained the same results as my daughter. One lady from louisiana had not had a well day in ten years and gained remission within a week of taking the wellbutrin. The reason I decided to post this is that I heard from a friend of mine who introduced this treatment to two of his aquaintenances with the same results. The wellbutrin is safe, effective and it works!! To anwser the question that everone asks, yes wellbutrin is a antidepressent but it lowers TNF as well which is the same action as remicade. The cost for wellbutrin for my daughter is less that $40 per month. If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me. The type of wellbutrin and the dosage is extremely important. As my daughters doctor said this is a free lottery ticket and you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

God Bless

UBOB


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## Nancy Lee (Jan 23, 2007)

Thanks so much for sharing such useful information ubob!  
Since I am currently on an antidepressant, when I see my doctor I am going to ask him if he can switch it to wellbutrin.
Seems you know several who have had success with this drug.
And it is true...we have nothing to lose and so much to gain.
Again, thanks for the info and I do hope you daughter stays in good health.


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## ruthymg (Jan 23, 2007)

Wow, thats interesting stuff, well worth as try if its so successful. Thanks for sharing that with us.


Ruth


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## Nancy Lee (Jan 23, 2007)

Further to our conversations ubob,
I googled Bupropion and Crohn's Disease and up popped 
pages of web sites regarding this!!

Thank you so much again!

Nancy


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## Karen (Feb 17, 2007)

I am sure that you will have a great time here and you will also make plenty of new friends ... jump right in and have some fun !!


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## xrayzerase (Feb 18, 2007)

hi-yeah- i remember you mentioning this on a post..
oddly-i have been on wellbutrin..(not for crohn's though-for depression-like 5 years ago--it helped first time-but then i stopped-and when i restarted-i had panic attacks-so went to prozac-been on it since--just upped it actually)
anyway-just i was curious about this..but-i wonder if doing would be different if using it for crohn's--it is a good drug--but it also has its .."ups and downs"...especially depending on dosing.
i was on 300mg.
i have heard of many things that work as a tnf blocker--even things like certain herbs. thing is-to be sure they have been studied in a way that they are used "right"--like remicade-they pretty much know dosage before starting etc. 
i belive in all these things-especially herbs -as they SEEM less harmful-but-they may not always be as safe -simply because they are not "created" and "processed".
they caneasily stir up other things in the body as well-so-i guess all i am saying is-that even though this thing on wellbutrin sounds like a definite thing to look into-(i know they use it for other stuff besides psych stuff--like to quit smoking for example) but-that is a very low dose ..
just-wellbutrin may not have as many "cancer-scares" or whatever-and may even-if it works-keep one in remission longer without worrying about another flare so soon...but-i just happen to know a bit about psych meds (no -im not a dr--but i have been through the psych system since i was 11)-and the mes are good-but-they really can effect the mind/nerves etcc-so-just-tricky-especially if using higher doses) (that is why i am curious and asking you what does she takes?)


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## Liesia (Nov 11, 2012)

What is the type and dosage of Wellbutrin your daughter was on.  I was actually going to ask my doctor about it next week because I had read that it can help with abdominal pain.  I asked for an antidepressant because I read they can help with pain, so I was prescribed Celexa.  I still have pain, but I do think it has helped with the anxiety and therefore helps me cope with the pain better.  I do want to try the Wellbutrin though so will talk to my docs about it next week.  Thanks for sharing the information.


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## texasnative (Dec 27, 2013)

I found this and some other threads on this subject after having one of my worst Crohn's flares ever right at the time I had a colonoscopy scheduled (November 7, 2013). I had been on Remicade in the past but stopped taking it due to fear of side effects and started trying natural therapies. The natural therapies I was on worked to some degree, but when I started noticing I was having more "bad days" than good I scheduled the colonoscopy so I could see where things were at and consult with my Gastro on how to best address the issues.

My Gastro is well aware of my desire to avoid drugs that have a side effect of "cancer" and "death", and thankfully is willing to work with me to experiment with different solutions. After the colonoscopy and subsequent CAT Scan (the inflammation found in the procedures was horrible!) I asked him about Wellbutrin for its TNF-inhibiting properties. He said there was nothing in the medical resources available to him that indicated it worked at all for Crohn's, but he was still willing to let me give it a try. Due to insurance restrictions, I could only get started on 200mg daily of the "immediate release" generic (Bupropion) tabs -- one tab twice daily -- and even with that dosage I noticed an incredible turn-around. I'm about 45 days into this treatment and I am having solid bowel movements once or twice a day. Of those 45 days, I had one bad week (somewhere between the 3rd and 4th week), but taking a probiotic capsule once a day for a couple of days cleared it right up. I am amazed! I have a follow-up appointment with my Gastro in about 2.5 weeks and I'm looking forward to getting another round of blood tests to see how my levels look, but I feel great!

There are some side effects of Wellbutrin/Bupropion to be aware of, not all of them bad. The ones I experienced are:
* Headaches. I started having headaches when I started taking the Bupropion and these lasted roughly 3 weeks. I took Ibuprofen as needed to get through them. Headaches are no longer a problem for me.
* Increased aggitation. This seems counter-intuitive for an anti-depressant, but I noticed I was more "on edge" shortly after starting the treatment. This lasted only about 3 weeks, though. I feel balanced and calm now.
* Hot flashes. I started having hideous hot flashes that would wake me almost hourly at night, and were starting to make me miserable at work during the day. I researched alternative therapies for this and found Pycnogenol, Maca Root, apple cider vinegar and Vitamin E could help. I tried the apple cider vinegar solution for a few days (sipping on a glass of water with 2 teaspoons of the vinegar in it) until the other supplements could kick in. I no longer have horrible hot flashes but do periodically feel warm in the night, but it's not so intense that it keeps me awake.
* Increased libido. Holy cow! :eek2: My sex drive went from zero to 100 in a week, and it hasn't abated at all. My husband is rather delighted with this side effect, as am I. Even if this turns out not to work long term for the Crohn's, it would be worth continuing on the Wellbutrin just for this side effect alone! :ybiggrin:
* Decreased appetite. Being overweight, I'm loving this side effect. I haven't weighed myself since starting, but can tell I've lost some weight just by the way my clothes are fitting.
* Decreased alcohol cravings. Another great side effect! I was drinking waaaaay too much, and once I started drinking, I couldn't stop. Since starting on Wellbutrin, I no longer have serious alcohol cravings. I can go days without a drink, and if I do grab an alcoholic beverage I can have just a couple and stop. Wellbutrin seems to have turned on an indicator in my brain that tells me when I've had enough, and I can simply stop at that point.

I hope to post periodic updates here as I continue down this treatment path. If things continue the way they have up to this point, though, I'm declaring this a "miracle drug"!


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## Garbanzo (Jan 6, 2014)

There's some evidence that Prozac has similar effects! I've found lower doses of Prozac generally calm my gut better than other ssri.....will consider add low dose of Wellbutrin next. I did notice range and anger from Wellbutrin before so I quit only after 10 days.

Here some info on Prozac http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15683856/


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## nogutsnoglory (Jan 6, 2014)

I have been on prozac and think it aggravates my crohn's but have
Long been interested in Wellbutrin. It does make anxiety worse though so that scares me.


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## Garbanzo (Jan 6, 2014)

nogutsnoglory said:


> I have been on prozac and think it aggravates my crohn's but have
> Long been interested in Wellbutrin. It does make anxiety worse though so that scares me.


Strange.....or it just shows how we are different ! My friend who has crohns turned me to Prozac.....I was on lexapro before.....and it wasn't as good for my anxiety or depression.

You may also try lose dose of zinc & magnesium turate I've found they both help greatly


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## tawar100 (Aug 17, 2015)

Thanks everyone for sharing an "out of box" treatment option for Crohn's. I would be interested in knowing the dosage and frequency of Wellbutrin that people have tried?
Thanks


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## wildbill_52280 (Aug 21, 2015)

tawar100 said:


> Thanks everyone for sharing an "out of box" treatment option for Crohn's. I would be interested in knowing the dosage and frequency of Wellbutrin that people have tried?
> Thanks


I tried it for crohsn and depression, it made me feel to weird mood wise for first 5 days so i could not continue. lots of other ingredients in these pills, emulsifiers and polysacharides which could feed pathogens in some peoples intestines and that I believe interact with disease, but it may work for some. I did have a few moments where my mood was very good though, to many ups and downs though, had to quit and side effects werent going away fast enough in relation to any few benefits i had observed.


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## samk (Dec 8, 2015)

I had NO idea Welbutrin was a tnf-inhibitor.   

I take Pentasa for Colitis and I take Welbutrin for depression/ocd

I need to talk to my doctors.  Neither my Psych or my GI told me.

But I just had my first flare up since my very first flare 6 months ago.  Before I even noticed that I was having a flare up, I started to sense my Welbutrin wasn't working well for the depression/ocd.   Just days later it became clear I was having a flareup.  I randomly typed in colitis and Welbutrin and found out the connection.

I will ask my docs next time around but I assume the anti-depressant/anxiety part of the Welbutrin might have stopped working because maybe the Welbutrin was directing itself solely to my colon where it was needed to help fight the flare.

So, that's a good thing, but on the other hand I am struggling a lot more right now with the OCD in particular.  But as hard and upsetting as it can be for me, I'd rather just kinda work through that on my own right now and rest assured that the medicine is going where it absolutely needs to in order to save my life.

Also, I just wanted to interject that- yes, the first month on Welbutrin was really rough (for me at least) and my anxiety was sky high at the start.  But once it really kicked in it started to have the opposite effect, which is what helped me control the OCD.  I don't know if that's typical or if I'm a rare case.


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## nogutsnoglory (Dec 22, 2015)

I wouldn't call it a crohns treatment but possibly a helpful adjunct. There isn't enough evidence to support going on wellbutrin alone to control symptoms of IBD. I am interested in it for energy but am afraid my anxiety will skyrocket.


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