Bupropion

Also indexed as: Wellbutrin SR®, Wellbutrin®, Zyban®

Bupropion is used to treat people with depression and to aid in smoking cessation treatment.

Summary of Interactions with Vitamins, Herbs, and Foods
(for details about the summarized interactions, read the full article)

Beneficial May be Beneficial: Supportive interaction—Taking these supplements may support or otherwise help your medication work better.

Yohimbine*
Avoid Avoid: Adverse interaction—Avoid these supplements when taking this medication because taking them together may cause undesirable or dangerous results.

Alcohol
Depletion or interference

None known
Side effect reduction/prevention

None known
Reduced drug absorption/bioavailability

None known

An asterisk (*) next to an item in the summary indicates that the interaction is supported only by weak, fragmentary, and/or contradictory scientific evidence.

Interactions with Herbs

Yohimbine
A 50-year-old woman who was unresponsive to traditional antidepressant therapy was reported to have a marked and persistent improvement in mood when yohimbine was added to her bupropion therapy.1 Further research is necessary to determine the significance of this finding.

Interactions with Foods and Other Compounds

Alcohol
Unlike most other antidepressant drugs, there is no evidence that alcohol causes significant changes in blood levels of bupropion.2 However, people taking bupropion who are also attempting to discontinue chronic alcohol consumption have been reported to sometimes experience convulsions.3

References

1. Pollack MH, Hamerness P. Adjunctive yohimbine for treatment in refractory depression. Biol Psychiatry 1993;33:220–1.

2. Posner J, Bye A, Jeal S, et al. Alcohol and bupropion pharmacokinetics in healthy male volunteers. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 1984;26:627–30.

3. Storrow AB. Bupropion overdose and seizure. Am J Emerg Med 1994;12:183–4.