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I wanted to share my experience so far with Contrave, and I'll keep this updated as I go along.
Two years ago I tore my Achilles tendon and had to have surgery, which was debilitating and which sidelined me from my favorite activity (power walking) and my main source of exercise for about six months.
Shortly after the surgery, both my inlaws became deathly ill (they both passed away last year in fact, after a couple of years of very poor health). Not only that, we had to actually file for guardianship and get a court order to freeze their bank accounts and assets because so many extended family members were trying to take advantage of them. This was all VERY stressful.
I found myself doing three things that contributed to a weight gain of about twenty five pounds:
1. Much less aerobic exercise (yoga will keep you flexible but it doesn't burn a lot of calories if you can't do the harder versions of yoga due to disability).
2. Nervous eating and turning more to "comfort food."
3. Unwinding after stressful days (and most days were stressful) with two...and sometimes three...glasses of wine.
Also, I am past menopause, so the weight really seemed to stick to my midsection. UGH!!!! Consequently, I became stressed about that as well, and very unhappy with my physical appearance, the sluggish way I felt, etc. etc.
I went to the doctor for my annual physical this year and for the first time in my life, my cholesterol readings were bad, and of course I was about 35 pounds overweight (I was already 10 pounds too "fluffy" prior to all this stress but it didn't bother me because I am tall and I felt great and so what? LOL)
We tried a diet sort of like the Mediterranean diet for a few months but I could have already told him it wasn't going to work - I was still dealing with stress (now both MY parents are having serious medical issues - it seems it never ends - and my husband got very sick with pneumonia and his BP skyrocketed and I just about had a heart attack myself - figuratively - from all that stress!). I knew that if I didn't take better care of myself, I was going to get sick along with everyone else.
After a couple of months of trying in earnest to lose weight - and losing and gaining the same 3 pounds over and over again - my doctor prescribed Contrave.
Contrave is cool. It combines small doses of two different drugs - Wellbutrin and some drug that people use to help them quit smoking. In other words, a small dose of a mood stabilizer for stress, and a small dose of an drug useful to curb addiction tendencies.
WOW. Long story short, I've been on it a month and I've lost 9 pounds! It IMMEDIATELY worked for me. After one day of it, I immediately noticed that the edge was off my appetite, that I wasn't reaching for food nervously or eating subconsciously (for instance, eating past the point of feeling full just because it was in front of me, or snacking after dinner).
I also noticed that I couldn't care less about drinking wine in the evenings - besides the fact that you're not supposed to drink much on this medication, the urge just wasn't there. That change alone helped me cut back on calories by about 300 calories a day on average.
There are some common side effects from this drug - it can raise blood pressure in some people, it can cause jitteriness or dizziness, and it can cause constipation. There are some other possible side effects, but those are the most common.
I have only had one of those side effects - constipation - which is easily taken care of by "natural means." Fennel, or eating a few prunes. No biggie.
I feel and look better already and I don't doubt that I can continue this to reach my former weight, which I was fine with and felt great at.
KA, I think I want to talk with my doctor about this. I have to keep foods around to help mom keep weight on, and at the same time, I have had to give up going to the gym. I have had binge eating episodes due to stress. I have regained 25 pounds.
KA, I think I want to talk with my doctor about this. I have to keep foods around to help mom keep weight on, and at the same time, I have had to give up going to the gym. I have had binge eating episodes due to stress. I have regained 25 pounds.
Anyone tips for talking with my doctor?
I'd just ask about it. It's fairly new but it's been around long enough for doctors to be familiar with it. My doctor said that he's had several patients use it very successfully. I expect the weight loss to sort of plateau - you know how it is when you first start something, you lose weight faster. But I love it. Besides the fact that my appetite is definitely decreased due to the lack of "nervous" or "comfort" eating, the small amount of Wellbutrin in it has seemed to calm my nerves just a bit. I haven't been depressed, but I've had so much stress for the past two years that it's really been weighing on me and I didn't even really realize how tense I was till this took the edge off.
I think it's formulated to help with that sort of eating specifically - not eating disorders, binge eating, lack of control about portion sizes or stuff like drinking too many sodas all the time. From what I could tell from what I read and the doctor told me, it's pretty specifically for that sort of eating that's rooted in nervousness or tension - which I had a LOT of.
Now I can sit down and relax in the evening with a book or Vikings or Outlander (or - yay - Orange is the New Black!) and I don't feel the need to be eating anything. It's a great relief actually.
KA, I think I want to talk with my doctor about this. I have to keep foods around to help mom keep weight on, and at the same time, I have had to give up going to the gym. I have had binge eating episodes due to stress. I have regained 25 pounds.
Anyone tips for talking with my doctor?
I'm not too exceptionally familiar with Contrave, but I do know that it's a compound that includes bupropion. In Bromocriptine: An Old Drug with New Uses, Lyle McDonald had this to say about bupropion;
Quote:
On that note, I did want to mention a relatively new drug with DA action that has been shown to affect weight loss while dieting. Its called Wellbutrin (aka buproprion) and actually acts as a combination DA and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Wellbutrin is actually used as an anti-depressant and for stopping smoking but two recent studies showed that dosing it at 300-400 mg/day increased weight loss in obese dieters (86a,86b).
Since it also affects noradrenaline levels in the brain, Wellbutrin might actually be a better drug for fat loss and dieting. Stacking it with a serotonin drug (such as one of the many Serotonin reuptake inhibitors) would be similar to stacking Bromocriptine (or another pure DA drug) with Meridia (a serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor). Basically, the combination of drugs would allow all three of the brain's primary neurotransmitters to be controlled during dieting.
I'll tell you something - whatever is in it, it's sure working and I feel great. I wasn't depressed to begin with, but I was stressed (as you know, there's a big difference between the two states of mind). Not being unhappy or lethargic or weepy, I didn't realize just how tensed up my mind and body were. The Contrave has helped in that regard TREMENDOUSLY. I guess just a tiny dose of Wellbutrin does the trick if one is not as much depressed as stressed.
Without that ever present tension, I don't eat for comfort or to relieve stress. Nor do I drink wine in the evenings for that matter (other than the occasional glass when I'm out for dinner with my husband). So those two things alone have helped me cut down on caloric intake significantly.
Funny - I knew I was "stress eating" but I didn't know how to stop it.
I myself am not a drug person, but I am happy this is working for you Kathryn. How long do you have to take it, and did they say if there are any kind of "withdrawal" or rebound effects when you go off?
It sounds like it could help many people.
Sorry for all your troubles. My own in-laws are both having lots of problems now, I dread the inevitable.
I myself am not a drug person, but I am happy this is working for you Kathryn. How long do you have to take it, and did they say if there are any kind of "withdrawal" or rebound effects when you go off?
It sounds like it could help many people.
Sorry for all your troubles. My own in-laws are both having lots of problems now, I dread the inevitable.
Yes, I do have troubles and thank you for your empathy. This too shall pass, I guess.
I think I just take it till I lose the weight I need to lose, or till it stops working, but my doc said it should work for the duration, so we'll see.
There shouldn't be withdrawal effects but I can't just stop taking it cold turkey. Just like I had to ease into it (first one pill a day and then one in the am and one in the pm and then two in the am and one in the pm, and finally two in the am and two in the pm ), that's how I will need to phase it back out.
Oh great!!!! Please let me know what your doctor says and if you decide to give Contrave a try.
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How long do you have to take it, and did they say if there are any kind of "withdrawal" or rebound effects when you go off?
), that's how I will need to phase it back out.
