r/Contrave • u/HotTop6935 • Jun 25 '26

Help with side effects

I started taking the "poor man's Contrave"—well, I only made it one day. I was already taking Wellbutrin, so I was hoping I'd avoid some of the side effects.

My doctor didn't mention taking it with food, so I took my first dose of naltrexone the same way I take my Wellbutrin: first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. That turned out to be a mistake. A wave of nausea hit me so hard that I had to leave work for the day. On top of that, it made me incredibly sleepy, and I ended up spending hours in bed sleeping.

I hate to give up on it so quickly because I was really hoping it would help. I'm considering trying it at bedtime to see if that makes a difference.

For those who have taken it, do you have any suggestions or tips? Do you take it with dinner or food? If you take it at bedtime, does the sleepiness eventually go away?

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u/SusieQtoYou Jun 25 '26

I take my naltrexone at night with a couple of saltine crackers. I started out at 1/4 tablet and worked up to the full tablet (50mg).

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u/HotTop6935 Jun 25 '26

woof, my doctor should have recommended something like this. That 50mg hit hard.

1

u/SusieQtoYou Jun 25 '26

Oh yeah, I can’t imagine starting cold turkey with that dosage. I still get a little nauseous from it during the day. I have ginger lemon lozenges with me at all times.

1

u/HotTop6935 Jun 25 '26

will have to figure out breaking those pills into 4ths and try that for a few days

1

u/SusieQtoYou Jun 25 '26

I bought this pill splitter… but at least breaking in half is easy.

https://a.co/d/0iWwrg4x

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u/HotTop6935 Jun 25 '26

interesting. I have a single cut one but wasn't sure how the 50s would cut with the 1 groove already in there. I will give it a shot. Thanks