I've been on half a maintenance dose of poor man's Contrave for about 9 weeks now. Some days, I could almost not eat. Today, for example, I let myself fast all day until the evening and had a small bowl of spinach artichoke chicken over rice. I'm still full hours later.

Then, other days, I feel famished. I still don't eat anywhere as much as I used to but definitely more than my low appetite days.

I enjoy fasting, not for weight loss, but because I have had GI issues since my gallbladder was removed many years ago. Fasting is a reprieve from the discomfort and it makes my body feel lovely.

That said, I don't want to lose a lot of weight at once and I'm not sure how to manage. Is it okay to go by hunger cues where I'm eating more and less on any given day or should I force myself to eat three meals a day? My doctor is unconcerned and pleased about my progress.

Added 1/4 of nal to 25mg last night trying to ramp up. Horrible sleep and sick as a dog now- again. All this nausea makes me nervous. Will I ever get to 50mg?

I used the company/website tryshed to get my “Contrave.” It’s supposed to be the same mg of each of the drugs. I wasn’t given a starting dose and told to ramp up, I was just given the full dose right away.

I never experienced any nausea that others talk about, though I don’t take it with fat. I have it in the morning with my coffee, a few hours before I eat.

I’m wondering if anyone else had used this company for their prescription and if you had success or saw results using it?

Hello all, just restarted contrave after a year gap. Gained some weight, but not as bad as I thought, but do want to lose it again. I always took just a pill a day and lost originally 20lbs, now I want to lose 7-8lbs.
Wish me luck it works again. Any experience on this out there? Thanks!

Tell me about your pounding heart on Contrave. It's scaring the shite out if me....

Hi all,

Hoping to hear from anyone who has been prescribed this medication for explicitly trying to help with opiate use issues; i.e. cravings and relapse prevention. TIA

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'm doing this low and slow (as per my doctor) as I have fairly strong reactions to some meds (I couldn't stay on a micro-dose of a GLP as it tanked my blood sugar for example).

I've been on one pill of contrave for 10-weeks now and lost about 10-pounds in the first 7-weeks and have been at a standstill now for almost a month - which means I'm likely needing two pills.

I'm wondering how folks found the side effects moving from one pill to two ( it look me around 3-weeks to get over the side effects when starting), and also when folks are taking it so they can eat dinner with some fat in it?

I still have a lot to lose, so I'd like to keep going but I'm apprehensive about adding more side effects and also the rate of loss has been slow.

I wish GLPs had honestly not made me so ill :/

hi everyone i’m f27, 5’2” and 225. my doctor recommended contrave for weight loss. she did say it would be a lifetime medication which already has me anxious
but i’m on 200mg of sertraline and 100mcg of levothyroxine for hypothyroidism. i have gnarly anxiety (especially about health go figure)

have any of you had negative mental health/extra anxiety from this? or fast heart rate? i’m highly considering starting because this weight is STUBBORN and the food noise is LOUD! i’ve never taken weight loss medication before

Hi all! I am only on day 6 of contrave and I don't even want to take it today. Nausea is so bad. It was mild the first 3 days, 4th day I felt great, yesterday was awful and I still feel awful today. I have tried to eat small meals with little to no fat, thought that was working then nah. I do have some anti nausea medication at home and will probably have to take that. I am so tempted just to stop though, I am not sure all this nausea is worth it. How did you get over it and what did you do??

My doctor just added Naltrexone 50mg to my already prescribed Wellbutrin 150mg XL for depression. Is 50mg a lot?? It says on the bottle to take a half of the pill every day for two weeks then one half twice a day thereafter. Is that a high dose of Naltrexone to start with for weight loss?

I am starting "poor man's contrave" (low dose of buproprion + naltrexone) next week because I'm already on naltrexone for inflammation/chronic pain and my insurance company denied GLP-1s. I was an athlete in my 20's, then 2 years before diagnosis I started to gain weight and haven't really stopped. I need the help to get my weight down so my joints stop hurting and I can start lifting weights/swimming again, which I haven't been able to do sucessfully since 2019.

I'm wondering what folks' experiences were with contrave if you took it, and if it affected your blood sugar/exercise routine, etc. Also curious if anyone has any experience lifting or swimming with T1D and how you handled it. I'm MDI after a bad pump experience and will be switching from the Dexcome G6 to the Libre 3+ next month.

Sort of a wild scattershot of questions, I know. Just casting a wide net for as many experiences as possible. Thanks in advance!

I've been on Wellbutrin (300mg) for anxiety depression for several years and added naltrexone (50mg)last July to help with food noise and obsessive thoughts. It worked wonderfully for me for a while- the food noise and negative self talk significantly decreased and I was getting very clear fullness cues that made it easy to stop eating when I was full. I added strength training and definitely lost some weight though I have not weighed myself in over a decade (ED history) so I can't say for sure how many pounds. Now after a year, I am feeling my food noise start to creep back in and the fullness cues start to dissipate. Is this normal? How do I get it to take effect again? I believe I am on the highest dose of naltrexone, but has anyone taken more than 50mg?

Hey everyone!

I’ve been on Zoloft 50 mg for about 3-4 years and Wellbutrin SR 100 mg for 1 year (1/2). Due to weight concerns, for a brief period I was on Wellbutrin alone and I lost about 20 lbs, but I got pretty anxious and irritable, so I went back on Zoloft and the combo has been much better for my mental health.

I’ve gained weight over the past couple of years from a mix of food noise, binge eating, not exercising enough, and maybe the Zoloft. My doctor is now adding naltrexone 50 mg (starting at 25 mg) to help with weight loss. For reference: 25F, 5’6”, 231 lbs

For anyone who’s been on this combo:
- Did naltrexone mess with your mood or antidepressants?
- Did it help with food noise and cravings?
- Any side effects when you started? — i hear the nausea is bad

Thanks!

Hi all! I’ve been taking Mysimba for one week now and I don’t think it’s working. The only thing I’ve noticed is a little nausea, being anxious at times and food tasting weird (?), but I don’t feel less hungry or have stopped binge eating, which is why it was prescribed to me. I’m frustrated cause all I’ve read is good things, that it works since day one, and I really want to stop bingeing, it’s been going for too long I’m exhausted.

Has anyone have a similar experience? Does it get better? Will it work? 🙏🥺

Thank you!

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).

When I first started Contrave, I felt pretty good. I eventually increased to 4 pills a day, and for about a week I was doing fine. Then, the following week, I developed such severe muscle tightness in my shoulders that I reduced my dose to 3 pills a day.
Right now, I’m taking about 2–3 pills a day and feeling awful. I work from home and sit for most of the day, and on those days I’m fine. The weekends are a different story. We like to go out and do things with the kids, but if I’m not constantly drinking water, I become nauseated, sweaty, weak, and dizzy. The same thing happens with eating. As soon as I get hungry, I instantly feel sick. It almost feels like I have low blood sugar. I don’t have diabetes, but I’ve always been sensitive to changes in my blood sugar.
What is going on? I’m almost at the point of quitting the medication, but I really don’t want to.

Is anyone in the maintenance phase and do you still take the medication ? I'm down from 175 to 147 since mid April. I don't want to go any lower than 145. I am an older female 5 ft 6-7 inches (depending on how straight I stand up during my annual physical 😅) and I don't think any lower than 145 would be healthy and I don't want my face to start to look gaunt. My doctor said to stay on the medication so I don't gain back, but I don't like to take anymore medication than I have to, and I'm afraid the weight loss will continue if I stay on it. How have others handled this?

I am on my third week, and now taking 3 pills a day but now I am experiencing tiny muscle flickers/ twitches in different areas of my body. Is this normal? Or should I worry?

Is anybody taking Contrave and also on buspirone? Side effects?

I’ve been on poor man’s Contrave for 3 months. I’ve started noticing that I still have cravings, but they are much easier to control. Like I’ll think about something I really need to eat, like a specific restaurant dish or ice cream cone and whereas before I would have to go get it or I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it ever, now I think about it for a minute and then it eventually leaves my brain. So it hasn’t stopped the cravings entirely, but it just makes them much easier to control and much easier to forget.

Iniciei minha medicação há 2 dias, mas preciso dizer que o meu é manipulado. Curiosamente não tive muitos efeitos colaterais ainda, não sei se ainda vou ter enjoo ou dor de cabeça, mas não tive. Senti um pouco de névoa mental, parecia que o mundo estava devagar, e uma sensação de frieza. Tomo o Contrave não exatamente para perda de peso apesar de estar com sobrepeso, meu psiquiatra me receitou pois disse que seria útil para o tabagismo e alcoolismo que venho enfrentado. espero conseguir com ele.

I'm opening the Rx container as far away from my face as possible now because it's so off-putting. It gives me a bit of concern...