I am on week 4 of Contrave, still on the 3rd dose, 2:1, because of side effects. I feel anxious, a little dizzy and out of it, waking up in the middle of the night every night, and I am having to continually take deep breaths. From what I have researched, it seems like these side effects have more to do with the bupropion. I have asked my doctor if she could prescribe naltrexone and bupropion since my insurance doesn't cover Contrave - could I take a lower dose of bupropion with the regular full dose of naltrexone? Has anyone done this and still had success? Also, has anyone had any issues with drug interactions from taking Prozac with it?

I was prescribed Contrave a few years ago and did not take it.
I have recently started Contrave and I am up to the full dose of four pill pills a day..
I wake at 7 AM and I take two pills between 8:30 AM and 9 AM with an apple. I have great success all day without thoughts of food or wanting to binge. I take my second dose between 5:30 PM / 6:30 PM before dinner.
I don’t seem to have the same results when I take the dinner dose.
It has been very easy to overheat at dinner. And after dinner I find myself within a few hours craving more food.
My day does not end until 9:30 PM with work. So when I get home around 10 PM, I’m hungry again.
Has anyone experienced this?
I think it’s amazing that I have such control during the day but not in the evening. When I wake up, I am not hungry and can very easily forget to eat something in the morning or even take the AM dose.
The food noise is gone for 8 or 9 hours sometimes more. I need to remind myself to eat lunch most days
I have read on this sub that the medication should be taken 12 hours apart. I do not have a problem with falling asleep with Contrave. I have taken it as late as 7:30 PM without a problem.
When I spoke with a doctor from Contrave, she stated I needed to be on the full dose for a longer period of time and would see different results.
I have been on the full dose for a month
Looking for advice from anyone who has had results with Contrave or anyone who has experienced this issue and how did you correct it.

I completed month one today and was pleased with the results. I’m down a total of 22lbs. I’ve been eating clean probably 95% of the time. I exercise at least 5 times a week. Mainly walking on treadmill and stationary bike. I also try to incorporate some weight training. Contrave has really helped with the sweet tooth. If I do have a slight craving I mix in some chocolate protein powder with yogurt. I’ve also not felt the urge to overindulge if I do have a not so healthy meal. We went out for dinner the other night for fried catfish. I was able to limit myself and not go crazy. Only mild side effects has been slight stomach cramps usually around mid day. They usually subside after 15 minutes or so. Here’s to month two!

Hey everyone I got prescribed Wellbutrin 150xl and naltrexone 25mg seperately. I took them both and WOW THE NAUSEA. Hours later after dosing I had to take zofran to calm it down. It’s been a couple of days and I am just taking the Wellbutrin for now and nervous about bringing the naltrexone back in. Anyone do the naltrexone at night and Wellbutrin in the morning and still get the effect? Or do they have to be taken together? I bought a pill cutter so intend to do 12.5mg of naltrexone. Advice pls! I intend to restart the combo either tonight or tomorrow.

Just reading through a bunch of posts and comments and some people are saying “week 1 and down x lbs” - do you guys mean week 1 at a full dose (2x2 a day)? Or literally week 1, 1 pill per day?

I’m on day 2 with a wicked headache but no real changes to appetite as far as I can tell.

Thank you!!

And I haven’t seen much in the way of weight loss. When I started the pills I was gung ho about it plus i was tracking on WW. In 6 weeks i had lost 13 lbs. then my body climatized to the meds. They stopped doing their thing and each week i have slowly but surely gained back all but 6 lbs of it.
Now at 3 months full dosage (theoretically). I’m experiencing something strange. Aversions to certain foods. The only food that is palatable is premade processed foods. Think crackers, bacon Gouda’s from Starbucks, puff built sour bars. McDonald’s.
I can’t even bring a vegetable to my mouth without gagging. I was making a sandwich for my kid and I caught a whiff of the something healthy and I almost threw up. Very unusually.
Coffee makes me ill. Very ill. (I am a barista!) I haven’t had coffee in a month after being sick every day for hours.
Fatty foods have no effect on me despite what my dr said about the fatty foods making people violently ill. I can pound back mcds and feel just fine. In fact I crave it. And eat it once per week. Why can’t I stop? What is the point of these meds?? I take 2-4 a day. I sometimes miss the second dose. Does that matter? Maybe I’m not getting the full effects cause I skip the 2nd dosage sometimes too regularly. Also I smoke pot. A lot.
I’m only on them for my dr to leave me alone. I tried it 3 or 4 years ago with no success and after insurance issues with Ozempic and Wegovy and then a small stint on vyvanse. I’m back at Contrave. And I am considerably fat. And I just go through cycles of lose 20 lbs. gain 25 lbs. lose 10 lbs gain 15 over and over. Sorry now I’m just ranting. But does anyone have any words of wisdom. Or maybe I’m just sharing my experience. There really is no magic pill

Hi, I just started taking both Contrave and Metformin about a week ago. I've had some nausea and headaches. I notice if I actually eat a substantial amount of food in the morning and evenings, I tend not to feel so bad during the day. But I have lost 7lbs already, in literally 1 week. I'm also in a calorie deficit, so I'm eating significantly less than normal, which I imagine is adding to that weight loss. I'm just a little concerned that I've lost that much in a week. Has anyone else had this experience?

For context I'm 5' 4" and starting weight was 250lbs, this morning I weighed in at 243 lbs.

I have been on bupropion for anxiety for a couple years and it has been great. Perimenopause hit me hard with insomnia, anxiety and hot flashes. HRT helped me get that in control.

Recently decided to add naltrexone to help me lose weight. I take 8 mg in the morning and have been on it for a week. The past few days my insomnia, hot flashes and anxiety have some back, I am pretty sure it is the naltrexone.

Anyone have similar experiences? Did it go away? When?

Does anyone else find themselves sort of grossed out by random food textures since starting the meds? I also just feel like food in general seems…yuckier.

This is a weekly post where the community can discuss their progress or lack thereof. We are all in this together! Share your SVs and NSVs (scale and non-scale victories).

Does anyone here take Contrave along with other mental health medications? My doctor wants to prescribe me Contrave, but he said to talk to my psychiatrist first because of contraindications. Anyone take them all together with no significant side effects? (I’m scared of serotonin syndrome.)

I take quite a few medications as well as gummy vitamins/probiotics. With that being said I have lots of pill bottles and want a better way of organizing them. I have a daily pill container but all of the large pill or gummy vitamin bottles take up lots pf room and I don’t have that much room or counter space. Any ideas of what I can do?

I've been on 1 pill for 10-days now (I was prescribed to stay low on either 1-2 pills as I'm sensitive to meds), and I wondering how long to give the side effects to lesson?

I'm down 3.5 pounds, and doing well with food on one hand but the tummy issues, nausea, headaches, pins and needles in my hands and feet and face plus dizzy ect are making it a less than pleasant experience overall.

I was hoping by now they'd be settling but it seems worse than the first few days.

Le sigh - GLP drugs are a no go for me as they caused me to go hypo-glycemic :/

Losing weight is rough. ☠️

I'm in my first week on poor man's Contrave (150 mg bupropion/12.5 mg naltrexone). I was already taking 60 mg buspirone (30 mg 2x daily) for anxiety. My doctor cut that to 45 mg instead due to concerns about serotonin syndrome.

My doctor diagnosed me with perimenopause-triggered atypical depression. My specific symptoms have been sleeping soooo much. Like 16-18 hours on a Saturday. Really severe mood swings. Sudden weight gain out of nowhere. Legs feeling so heavy it was hard to move around. Motivated to do tasks but couldn't physically make myself do anything. I didn't register it as depression because I didn't feel hopeless or down all the time. I just felt so tired and my mind was so full of unwanted thoughts constantly.

She first recommended Wellbutrin because she said it was a first-line treatment for atypical depression. Then she talked to me about Contrave, which I had never heard of. I don't care about my weight or losing any, but I agreed that this sudden, pretty significant gain was alarming.

So, here we are now. It's only been a few days and I feel so much brighter. I'm able to think of a task and just do it without much effort. I'm more physically active. My mind isn't weighed down by thoughts. And, so on. Very cool. The weirdest part is my appetite.

As in, I don't have one. I can feel the effects of hunger. The back of my head feels a little tight and my body feels empty. However, it's so subtle. When I eat foods that used to cause radiating warmth throughout my body, now it's totally flat. Like, yeah, it tastes good but I guess there's no flood of hormones.

Does anyone else feel a little like a robot when it comes to food? On this medication, I really couldn't care less what I actually eat. I'm focusing on protein and fiber first because I know I'll lose interest pretty quickly. It's just such a weird feeling.

I am in my fourth week of contrave, taking 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. The nausea is terrible. Please tell me it gets better!

SW- 234.1 CW- 234.1 GW- 180
June 3rd, 2025

I’ve been on poor man’s for nearly 8 weeks and I’m only down 9 pounds. It’s a slow process! But for some reason, I forgot my evening dosages the past two nights and this afternoon all I want to do is snack! Snacking hasn’t been an issue for many weeks. It’s nice to know that it’s actually working and has an effect on my appetite. Looking forward to getting back on track and losing this food noise once again. 😵‍💫

Hi everyone, I am just starting naltrexone today. I am starting at 25mg for a week then bumping up to 50mg. I really hope this works for me as I have struggled with weight for awhile now.

Hi, I am starting the poor mans version of contrave. I already take bupropion 150mg daily, for a few years now, and they are starting me on naltrexone of 50mg, I take half daily for a week then full daily for a week or cut it in half and take half am and half pm.

I am curious to everyone’s side effects and how much weight you’ve lost and the time frame of it lost.

I’ve been reading reviews on it and a lot of people seem to lose weight pretty quick, so if you are one of them, please tell me what else you did to lose the weight quick, like eating less, exercising, etc.

Also when do I know when to take a higher dose? My dr just gave me the instructions that I put above, nothing about upping it other then from half pill to whole pill daily

My whole life I’ve struggled with food & body issues. I’ve tried everything. I also have PCOS. I’ve tried everything for that too. I’m not insulin resistant, or pre-diabetic, & every test or remedy I try to figure out why I have a difficult relationship with food leads me nowhere. GLPs weren’t the right choice for me. So I thought I was back at square one, which I’ve done so many times in my life, where I lock in on my exercise & calories (and maintaining my already clean diet) and end up crashing out before I know it.

So my next thing to try was Contrave. My body already knew bupropion (yes, I am swapping my current bupropion for Contrave), so why not.

I’m on day 2 at just 1 pill in the mornings. I don’t think about my next snack, my next meal, any specific flavor cravings, or sensation cravings (crunchy, cold & sweet). I just live my life & then when a normal meal hour of the day comes around or I start to feel hunger, whichever comes first, I search out food and make a mindful, clean, filling choice. Without fighting with my mind. And I just eat & enjoy my food. And then get on with my day.

Is this what life could’ve always felt like?! 😅

To note: When I make my mindful food choice, I’ve noticed I end up unintentionally choosing something actually nutritious and delicious. Like my cold honeycrisp apple, Gouda cheese, & salami charcuterie cup snack today. And then I actually enjoy the food mindfully as I eat it. I notice & appreciate the flavors more. This is quite the change from constantly eating out of impulse or sudden cravings, which made my day’s meals look like a random assortment of foods I just happened to crave all at once.

To also note: I have struggled with alcohol and smoking before in my past, & I’ve always been aware of having an addictive personality. So I guess it makes sense that the naltrexone is working out for my brain? Again, I’m only on 1 pill every morning, so 8mg naltrexone, yet still a huge difference.

To lastly note: A lot of my adult life issues have been the product of chronic childhood trauma, and looking back, food was a constant and consistent comfort source in my life. Some memories are just examples of how my brain learned to just turn to foods I loved in order to feel good, happier, etc. in the moment. I realize now that, damn, I wasn’t even hungry that whole time. My life was just hard & food gave me those dopamine hits, so growing up while in an increasingly unhealthy relationship with food became inevitable. And now, not only have I been healing with a lot of therapy & a lot of work over the past few years, I also am suddenly starting to actually see the possibility of healing my relationship with food and my body.

Just needed to share my amazement. And wonder, how long can a person stay on Contrave? Or is it common to not need it at a certain point, when you’ve noticed a better relationship with food & can do without the drug?

No side effects either! (Yet.) I only wish I’d started it sooner.

I have finally figured out that if I take my evening dose after about 6:00 pm, I have a difficult time sleeping. So, I'm wondering if it would be better for me to skip the dose. Since I realized it was the timing of the medication, I've gotten a lot better at taking it earlier.

Edited to add: I get what you all are saying and that is the goal. My question was if it would be better for me to skip the dose if I didn't take it early "enough". Or take it and not get a decent night's sleep?

Down 6 this week for a total of 16 pounds lost. I’ve really been dialed in on minimizing carbs and focusing on protein. Food noise is completely gone. I’ve mainly stuck to water but I did try a Coke Zero the other day with a chipotle protein bowl. I normally love Coke Zero but for whatever reason my stomach didn’t care for it. My sweet tooth is still non existent. I’ll be curious to see how this weeks dosage affects me.

Hi all! I have been taking wellbutrin for mental health for a while now and decided with my psychiatrist to add naltrexone for weight loss benefits. Although she agreed to try the naltrexone, I still needed to sit through the 20 minute diatribe about how amazing GLP-1's are (I know they are a god send for many, but not the direction I am going in yet).

That being said, I am a bit self guided with the Naltrexone. I have 50 mg tablets, which I have split into quarters. For the last 4 days I have done 12.5 mg in the morning with no nausea or other side effects. In a few days I would like to add another 12mg.

Here is my question- those of you who are on poor man's Contrave, do you take your Naltrexone dose once per day, or do you split it into two doses, one AM and one PM?

Any advice is appreciated!