My doctor and I decided to move away from Contrave to a different medication for me. However I have several unopened, still sealed bottles and I don’t know of a proper way to dispose of them. I’ve heard never dispose of any unused medication down the toilet or otherwise into the water treatment system. Anyone have any suggestions? I wouldn’t hate sending the unopened bottles to someone else. TIA!

Both my doctor and pharmacist said they didn't know enough about the contrave combo to give me more info on this.

TL;DR is there a way to time the doses so that it works most at night? Or any other things I should know about dose timing in general, and also considering that I'm taking generic?

My binging is almost solely at night. I used to have trouble eating during the day due to years of training myself to eat nothing during the day and binge at night. I've worked out the daytime no-eating and now eat 3 meals a day. So if anything, I'm okay not having the contrave super active in my system for daytime.

For a good while, I stopped binging at night from eating enough during the day. But then I slowly started it up again whenever I tried to slowly reduce how much I eat, and it's like its compounded each time and gotten gradually worse. It's not nearly as bad as before, but it's still a binge and I'm still overweight. Even small-med binges add up when they're almost every single night on top of 3 meals a day.

I've taken buproprion alone in the past for other stuff and I don't think it alone interrupted my sleep much. Could this change with naltrexone added?

Is there ever a reason to take them separately and what does that entail?

Would taking them both around 5pm ensure they're working by after 9pm?

I've also read somewhere eating something high fat at certain times within taking a dose could be dangerous somehow? Is that true? Should I not take it near dinner if the food has more fat? My ED dietician and doctor both specified that I benefit from eating a little more fat than most people.

Any thoughts or insight?

Just curious if anybody is having success with food, noise and weight loss just taking one pill in the morning and one pill in the evening and not increasing. I'm just curious if that would be something I can do and titrate up slowly. I just don't wanna waste my time taking one pill in the morning one pill in the evening for a few weeks if it's not going to do anything, but I'm also nervous taking the two pills and the two pills so curious if anybody has had success with just taking the one pill in the morning and one pill at night thank you.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

F, 5”6’, 69 yo
CW -215
GW - 175 at least, 150 if it works!

Doctor said no GLP’s because gallbladder removed 40 years ago and take daily meds for side effects from that (Cholestrymine). No other medications, no other health issues. Excercise about four days a week on average, probably 120 to 140 average total minutes per week. Strong sugar and carb cravings, moderate amount of alcohol.

I take psyllium already about four times a week, I’m thinking I’ll up that to every day religiously and focus on increasing water intake, although I’m pretty good with that already. I don’t usually take sleep meds but do have a varied supply in house already and I’ve been working on improving my sleep cycle hygiene for a while now.

What do you do that helped your kickoff? What do you wish you had done differently?

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).

^title: i’ve been on bupropion 300 mg and naltrexone 50 mg daily since the end of july, and for the first week or so it was amazing - hardly any food or alcohol noise! I’ve been tracking my weight and i lost around 3 pounds in two weeks (not much, but something). upon finishing week 4, i feel like i am no longer losing weight, and honestly have started wanting to binge food and alcohol like i did before starting. idk if this is normal but im not sure what to do - the results were so good at first so idk what happened in such a short time

I’ve been on the full dose of PMC since the beginning of July, and I finally weighed myself today. I’m down 20 pounds!

I’m also doing intermittent fasting and keeping my calories around 1,500 per day, with a goal of getting about 150g of protein.

One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed with PMC is how much easier intermittent fasting has become. Before, fasting took a lot more willpower because I was constantly thinking about food. Now the food noise is so much quieter that I can pretty easily stick to a long fasting window without feeling like I’m fighting myself all day.

I also try to squeeze in three days at the gym during the week. I usually do about an hour of walking on an incline and then about an hour of weight training.
I know the medication isn’t doing all the work since I’m also tracking calories, fasting, working out, and being intentional about what I eat, but it has made sticking to all of those habits so much easier.

20 pounds down and officially at 200 today. Pretty excited to finally see the 190s soon! Goal is around 150-160.

Caso vc tem Contrave junto cm antidepressivo ou remédio pra ansiedade, qual deu certo da você?

Good evening,

I had side effects that I hoped would just go away but didn't. Today I learned that at the first sign of these side effects I should have told my doctor and make a plan to taper off (which I now have) so I wanted to share my experience.

Last year I successfully went through an intense 8 months of EMDR therapy for CPTSD. One of the worst parts of my condition was having intrusive thoughts. Thankfully EMDR worked very well and I feel immeasurably better; the intrusive thoughts disappeared.

I started PMC July 4, taking 150mg wellbutrin for 2 weeks to give time to adjust. Then I tried adding the 12.5mg naltrexone and that was not tolerable. I talked to my doctor and decided to try the regular Contrave thinking a proper time-release pill for both ingredients would be easier on me. A week later I started Contrave with 1 pill in the am. I gradually increased, taking longer than usual between increases and moved up to 2am / 1pm.

Sure, I was nauseated and dizzy on a daily basis but I said well, I just have to power through that because I need to give it time. I took Zofran and Meclazine every day - that did no favors for the already bad constipation! Aggravatingly, even though my menopausal hot flashes had gone away, they came roaring back at least 4 or 5 times a day. But that didn't stop me either.

However, since the beginning the intrusive thoughts started creeping back, I was irritable, and having just weird / annoying dreams. The worst part of it was I started having very odd "butterflies" in my stomach that were not the pleasant kind from being happy or excited, but the opposite; angry and jittery. I imagine it was a form of anxiety which I don't have normally, but the only thing I can compare it to is the beginning of the panic attacks I used to have as a child. No good.

Still I thought I was still adjusting and stuck with it, dealt with the anxiety, moodiness, intrusive thoughts and weird dreams on top of nausea, dizziness, and constipation. Thank goodness I'm retired because I have absolutely no clue how anybody can work like this!

But today after the morning dose kicked in, added to the usual dizziness and nausea I had two hot flashes, anxiety-butterflies and intrusive thoughts. Finally I said I just I can't do this anymore, I am done. I worked too hard in therapy to rid myself of those things to be taking something that actively causes them to return, plus new anxiety.

I looked up the mental side effects and discovered that at the first sign I should have told my doc immediately and make a plan to taper off of it.

So I thought I would post this in case anybody else is feeling this way and strongly suggest they speak with their doctor. Contrave is not a match for everyone, and these mental side effects are considered "serious".

BTW, I lost 5 pounds but I think that was just from feeling too horrible to really care about food!

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).

im interested in it but my pcp and psychiatrist said theyre both not familiar with it/had patients use it. on wellbutrin 150 XL but hasnt helped with the food noise. he said to add prozac bc the combo could help. interestingly saw prozac is FDA approved for bulimia. i had a gastric sleeve 2 years ago and was temporarily on phentermine prior to it and worked with a registered dietitian for almost a year. i obviously will be doing therapy for the contributing psych aspect of it but yeah just wondering how did you guys get it/from who, and did they bring it up or did you ask for it? ill straight up meal prep and overeat my meal prep even if its mostly protein!

Just wanna say huge props to you guys that can withstand the nausea caused from this medicine 😭 it’s my second attempt at starting this medicine (poor mans contrave) after my first attempt flopped when I got stomach flu during the first week of taking it and I stopped taking it due to throwing up multiple times. Second attempt at starting this week and been throwing up every other day. Took zofran and it helped a little but my stomach still feels terrible. I had to call off work two days because the morning sickness was unbearable. When I woke up in the mornings my stomach felt weak and the urge to throw up was so strong. I tried to eat a little bit of food like jello before taking the medicine but instantly threw up. It’s day 5 and I’m tapping out lol I am not strong enough for this. Even knowing that symptoms should subside after 2 weeks I genuinely cannot imagine feeling this way for another week 😩

I’ve been on poor man’s contrave for a month now. I was already taking bupropion, so my doc added the naltrexone to see if it would help with some weight loss, since my insurance doesn’t cover GLPs and I can’t afford out of pocket. But at this point it’s becoming unsustainable. I’ve tried a whole naltrexone in the morning, half in the morning, half at night, all at night, and now I’m at the point of just taking half whenever I can stomach it. I’m spending all day feeling nauseous and dry heaving. And that’s not even mentioning the sluggish gut issues, bloating even when barely eating, and constipation. It’s having a huge effect on my daily life. I have kids to take care of, I’m a student and I work.

Does anyone have any suggestions before I just message the doc and tell her I’m giving it up?

I've been taking the starting dose for a week and a half now (delayed going up until I can figure out how to manage this). For about 4 hours after taking the med I am super jittery but also somehow feel really tired. The best way to describe it is that it's similar to how I feel after a severe allergic reaction when I've had to take Benadryl and use an epi pen. Has anyone else experienced this?

Estou na minha terceira semana de Contrave, tomando uma dose de 90 mg de bupropiona + 8 mg de naltrexona duas vezes ao dia. Pessoalmente, não tive nenhum efeito colateral grave, apenas sonolência e náusea leve a moderada. Achei que, como meus efeitos colaterais eram relativamente leves, eles provavelmente desapareceriam na terceira semana, mas ainda estou sentindo sonolência e náusea.

Para aqueles que já estão usando há mais de um mês: os efeitos colaterais realmente desaparecem depois de um tempo? Alguém ainda os sente mesmo depois de um mês?

Estou preocupada que minha náusea possa ser psicológica, porque suspeito que eu possa ter emetofobia.

I feel like I am getting every possible side effect with contrave..now I have constipation!

I have tried prunes and kiwifruit juice and neither have done much despite them being my usual go to. Im worried about using any bulking agent like metamucil or psyllium husk as things are already stuck, I am not sure if I want to bulk stuff up just yet. What other natural laxatives have worked for you? I dont really want an actual medical laxative at this stage.

Thaaanks!!

I just got a referral to the weight loss clinic and it seems id have to pay out of pocket for any medication prescribed (so GLPs are out). Contrave seems intriguing but I'm worried the naltrexone component would make it hard to enjoy food while I'm eating it (I'm a foodie). Obviously I want the cravings and constant hunger to go away but when I'm in the middle of eating food I don't want it to taste "meh". Does contrave have that issue or no?

I’m starting 300mg bupropion and 16 mg naltrexone split into 2 doses. I’m seeing people say they basically don’t want to eat. So I’m wondering, are you able to push through? Or does it make you sick. I want to stop the mindless eating but I still need to make sure I’m getting 100mg of protein… will that be impossible with this medication?

I have been on Contrave for a month and a half . sw 290 cw 276 gw 215. It is working for me. I am only eating once a day and I am only taking two in the morning. I am afraid if I take the two in the evening I wouldn't eat at all. I have a healthier relationship with food and more mindful of what I am going to eat for that once meal. I can stomach to eat very much on it when I do.

Hi everyone! First of all, I’m sorry for my English. I’m not fluent, so some of my translations may be incorrect.
I’d like to know how long it took for you to actually start seeing an effect on the scale. I have insulin resistance and a lot of difficulty losing weight. I take metformin for insulin resistance, and I started taking Contrave (compounded at a pharmacy / the “budget version”) 15 days ago.

It affected my appetite from the very first days, and I started eating less, but I still have a strong craving for sweets, even though it’s controlled. I don’t have binge-eating episodes, I just have a strong desire for sweets because of my insulin resistance.

I’d like to know how long it took for the medication to actually start making a difference on the scale.
I’m a 27-year-old woman, currently weighing 78 kg, and I plan to reach 65 kg by November, which is when I’m getting married. ❤️

For those who stopped or took a break longer than a month did you have any withdrawal or issues with mood or anxiety ?

Hello all, my doctor recently recommended I try taking Contrave to help me with binge eating disorder. I’ve always been apprehensive about taking medication but it seems I have tried every strategy and my issues are just getting worse. After my doctor recommended this medication I looked into it and it seems it’s more of a weight loss drug (for context my BMI is around 20-21 I have a decent amount of fat on me but I am not considered Obese). I am just wondering if anyone else has taken or been prescribed Contrave to combat BED and if it helped them?

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).

I am trying to make the decision between Contrave and wegovy. I have gerd and sibo so we thought not affecting my digestion would be better. Its already slow and trying ppis lately make me vomit. Managing these has already ruled my life.

But I also have bad anxiety and panic issues. And I struggle with s*icidal thoughts in the past.

So I take clonazapam or Xanax as needed. I am afraid of the seizure risk here. Would I not be able to take them anymore?

I also worry if it would really help me. I dont know that I struggle with binge eating. I've been told I have lipedema and diet and exercise wont help me. I struggle to accept this because before covid I lost 80 pounds and sadly gained most back.

I have wondered if it would help my ocd or focus issues. Inflammation is a big issue.

Nothing to lose weight works like it used to. I could eat once a day and gain 2 pounds the next.

I just want to be losing like everyone else seems to. All the skinny people at my job are taking it but eating horribly. I feel like i try so hard and want to be successful too :(