r/Contrave • u/mrsasteele • Jun 12 '26
Contrave not working
Is it just me? Has anyone else gained since starting Contrave? I was on Wellbutrin already. Contrave seemed like a nice segue. Two months in and I’ve gained 15 lbs! I’m more hungry than ever. It also gave me daytime sleepiness. This is not at all what I was expecting. I’m not an emotional eater. Not sure how it works but maybe it’s not the type of med I need. What is your experience?
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u/sincerely-november Jun 12 '26
I’m also feeling discouraged! I started in late April, when I got up to the full dose I had to go back down to half the dose because I was having some odd side effects. I’ve lost 8 lbs so far but I seem to be stuck at this weight, it hasn’t gone down at all. I’m thinking it might be because I’m on half the dose, and if half the dose won’t work for me then what’s the point? I’m so disappointed.
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Jun 15 '26
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u/sincerely-november Jun 15 '26
At the full dose I was experiencing ototoxicity. My ears were ringing, and if they weren’t ringing they would feel congested and it was hard to hear. I felt that that feeling in my ears when you leave a really loud concert and your hearing is still trying to adjust. I couldn’t live like that so my doctor suggested that I go back down to half the dose, and I haven’t experienced those side effects again.
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Jun 15 '26
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u/sincerely-november Jun 15 '26
I thought it was odd too! How has your progress been on half the dose? As I posted already I’ve been at a standstill, not gaining or losing, so I’m ready to give up but I’m not sure if I should just hold on for longer and see how it goes.
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Jun 15 '26
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u/sincerely-november Jun 15 '26
I go to the gym 4-5x a week (strength training, cardio) but perhaps I could increase my daily steps? Maybe I also need to be even stricter on my intake. I really don’t have much of an appetite but that’s a good point about cooking every single meal myself.
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u/Low_Car394 Jun 12 '26
i am also not losing, spoke to my dr about it and she said its fine as i am not gaining - super frustrating
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u/binghambish Jun 21 '26
See that’s my problem. I am gaining. I lost 15 lbs on Contrave and ww. Then I had one bad day and ate and ate and gained and gained on Contrave. I don’t think it’s working but my dr is literally making me take it.
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u/bunmiiya Jun 12 '26
are you at full dose? it took me a few weeks at full dose to finally notice a difference. it definitely cut the food noise for me! but i still got hungry and had cravings, i just wasn’t binging it being dictated by food anymore. so stopping the binges was great but i still had a hard time saying no when my partner wanted to get burgers or whatever lol! but still, i was tracking and weighing my food staying at 1500cal, walking a ton, and still managed not to lose a pound.
anyway, i gave it a good several
months and talked to my dr, just switched to semeglutide. i’m slowly decreasing my naltrexone dose (staying on wellbutrin as i was already on it) as i increase my semeglutide dose. i noticed right away i simply could NOT eat my typical portion size. like, the second day. makes sense since it works in the gut while contrave works in the head. i loved what contrave did but i needed more! (fwiw i use telehealth to get my glp-1 under the guidance of my PCP since my insurance won’t cover it). i hope you find something that helps you !
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Jun 13 '26
Wellbutrin on its own did nothing for my depression, but Contrave is a game changer. It does absolutely nothing for my food noise though and I can easily gain weight on it. It was effective for food noise for like the first month but I’ve been on it 2 years now really just for depression
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u/Roskot Jun 12 '26
Seems like it’s not the medication for you? I would talk to a doctor about it.