Contrave And Vomiting

I have been on Contrave for 3 months. I have battled nausea all along, hoping it would go away. I've lost 15 pounds. The pill seems to make everything taste bad. Coffee, spicy food, even just scrambled eggs taste bitter and gritty. I didn't have any other side effect. This past week, the nausea has moved on to vomiting. I've used Tumms and Dramamine as well as a prescription anti nausea med on and off for all three months. I truly feel poisoned. I feel ridiculous that I have used this knowingly for 3 months and endured feeling sick. I've spent a lot of money and feel terrible even a week after stopping the drug. Please don't take this. I feel that fairly soon enough folks will complain enough to take it off of the market.

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I dont feel that it should be taken off the market. Many medications that bring amazing results have terrible results for some people. These people should just not take this drug. I happen to have been on it for 3 months and it has changed my life. I am sorry your exeperience was not pleasant but it does not mean the medication should be discontinued.

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Even though it’s a stomach-churning feeling, feeling queasy is actually because your gut is paralyzed to prevent further ingestion of any poison.

Occasionally, you feel nauseous because your body senses chemical changes in the blood and assumes it’s due to a toxin.

I made the first post so that some people who had the reaction as I did, would not feel alone or crazy.

I'm glad you had no side effects. That's cool. It must be so great!

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Hi Susan,

Sorry to hear about your reaction to Contrave. Something I just wanted to point out for other readers (and perhaps shed some light on your experience as well) is that NIH.gov lists the following symptoms as side effects of Bupropion (one of Contrave's active ingredients):

nausea
vomiting
constipation
diarrhea
gas
stomach pain
change in sense of taste

Naltrexone (the other active ingredient in Contrave) also carries the following side effects:

mild to moderate abdominal or stomach cramping/pain
nausea
vomiting

I mention this so there's no question about whether this drug can really cause the symptoms you reported and that there is documented evidence that it can. Patients just have to do their own research & due diligence to find answers. Hopefully you've gotten around to feeling better since stopping treatment, but I would encourage other patients who may be battling such side effects to contact their doctor and consider alternative options.

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I feel alive again. Many of my friends have also commented on how my personality had flat-lined. There are so many symptoms that were listed. Some where that you could get seizures if you eat something too greasy and of course suicide. How terrible.

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I have been taking Contrave for 3 weeks...that is until my bf found it and threw it out bc he was worried about the side effects. I'm glad you mentioned how it makes foods taste bad. I thought I was crazy and the nausea is terrible. I like Phentermine much better but for me, I could easily become addicted. I hope you feel better.

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It's been a month now. I still have no appetite in the morning and I always did before. People say I seem a lot brighter and happier. It's weird to be slowly poisoned like that and not really notice it.

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I have been on Contrave for about 6-7 weeks. I was previously on phentermine and had lost over 70 lbs. Phentermine quit working, so I switched to Contrave. I have gained almost 50 lbs back, I am always hungry, never feel full and am nauseated all the time. I exercise regularly, and eat a low calorie diet. I have also noticed that I have tremors as well now. I have no energy as well. I have noticed I don't crave sweets anymore, which is a bonus. I think I am going to talk to my Dr. again about trying Belviq, my wife who is also having weight issues. She recently switched from phentermine as well, as it quit working for her. She didn't see as big of a weight loss with phentermine as I did, but she didn't work out as much as I did while on the medication. I actually had energy and was motivated.

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Again, the point if the medication is to "assist" in weight loss. Taking it you shouldn't even be eating a greasy, fatty cheeseburger. The answer to that is yes you can. The welbutrin which is in the contrave can have potential suicidal tendencies but normally in children, teens and young adults. Not everyone will have this. People who do start to have suicidal ideation should contact there doctor immediately. You can also have seizures if you drink alcohol. All of which my doctor warned me before taking the medication. All medications have side effects and some people have side effects and some do not experience anything.

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Hello, just wanted to add my 2 cents: I am now on second bottle of 120 tabs. I was relatively symptom free while building up to 2 x 2 a day. The 2nd of each increase is when I would feel like I was going to pass out, nauseous to the point of actually vomiting after having a sharp pain in belly. But fine a few hours later. The only lingering side effect was fatigue. Like passing out after work and still feeling tired the whole next day. That all being said: this past week if I try to eat a normal me size portion of food I become absolutely gutted. Sweating, bloating, backache, headache, actual vomiting. The actual cravings disappeared about 3 weeks ago. I feel like I've had gastric bypass surgery, can't eat more than 1 cup of salad w/o feeling horribly full. The insert says to get full effect must be used for 4 months, and that's all I planned to. I also question why I'm doing this to myself, but then step on scale, have labs done. And for 4 months?!? I can take it. I had 1 friend & 1 co-worker who agreed to monitor my moods & behaviors and so far they agree all good, except for the fatigue. I do understand my side effects have not been bad, but seriously, all meds say 3 months to reach full effectiveness.

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I have been on Contrave 1X1 for 3-months with weight loss and no side effects. My doctor said as long as the lower dose is working satisfactorily then continue with the lower dose. Recently the 1X1 has slowed down as a appetite suppressant. 3-times I have tried to increase the dosage to 2X1 and every time by the third evening I become nauseated and then vomit. The next day I feel lousy. I'm back to 1X1 pills. I am hoping that along with the lower dosage and exercise I will continue to lose weight. My question is: Why am I able to tolerate a low dosage of Contrave, but not a slow increase in dosage. What ingredient is causing these side effects?

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The first day was today that I use con trave and I sweated so bad I literally was dripping sweat from my head in the floor and then I got really nauseated and then I vomited twice so do I keep using this and try again or should I stop.

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I’ve been on Contrave for about two months. I’ve lost 20 lbs. Yay! At first, I had terrible dry mouth and that’s about it. That went away after a few days. Now I seem to have slight nausea but that just started recently. I’m hoping my body adjusts and it also goes away. I drink a lot of water. I crave water and enjoy drinking it whereas before it was a task to drink enough water. Aside from the recent nausea, I feel better than I have in years. I hope they don’t take it off the market. I don’t notice food taste changing at all except I don’t want coffee as much as I used to. Coffee tastes fine but I can take or leave it whereas before, I wanted 2 cups and had to make myself not drink more. Mostly I think it’s helped my will power. I can easily say no to unhealthy foods. I’m more decisive in general I think.

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I took my first Contrave pill last Friday morning and after lunch I started with nausea. It progressed over the next 3 hours to severe nausea and I had 2 violent vomiting episodes. I took Dramamine and while it took the edge off slightly, I was still miserable!!! It is not worth this feeling!!! $99 wasted!

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I have tried everything from Whole 30 to Paleo, Weight Watchers, you name it with little to no results on weight loss.

My daughter is getting married in February and I want this weight gone! I have at least 50 pounds to lose. I have been on it for 2 days. No nausea yesterday but today has been horrible! I took Dramamine and it helped a little but only added to my sleepiness. Once I threw up, I felt 100% better. I have noticed a huge decrease in my appetite already. I want this to work and can only hope the nausea stops. I want this so badly, I am willing to put up with it until I get this weight off - not only for a wedding but for my overall health.

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Re: Pam (# 14)

This is a really old thread just FYI hard to find newer threads with info. But, I was reading thru and wanted to tell you that I tried the Bonine 24 hour anti-nausea medicine once a day and I have had zero nausea. Been on the contrave 10 days. Do have crazy dreams and not deep sleeping anymore like before.

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Re: Pam (# 14)

I too wanted to lose weight but I just couldn't bare the nausea. I was considering taking Wellbutrin (bupropion) for my anxiety but thought Contrave would be good since it is basically Wellbutrin plus Neltrexone. I thought "Cool, it would help the axiety and help me lose weight. I can kill two birds with one stone!" Well, it was horrible! I couldn't enjoy my family, I felt so bad. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I only took Contave for 1 day and got sick that afternoon & evening. I took a non-drowsy motion sickness pill...nothing. Then took Dramamine because we were on our way out of town. Unfortunately I didn't make it out of our city. My husband had to pull the car over for me to vomit. I immediately felt better but the nausea came back about 20 mins later. We had to turn around and come back home. I felt like I had a lot of gas on my stomach and would often burp. I threw up once again. I slept well that night but it was probably because of all the Dramamine. I did not take anymore Contrave, but unfortunately the nausea returned 2 days later. The pharmacist said the Contrave would be in my system for a few days. I asked my Doctor to switch me to just Wellbutrin (bupropion) because I wanted to try it for my anxiety. I still battled the nausea, along with dizziness for 5 more days leading me to believe it could have been the bupropion in the Contrave that was making me sick. Regardless, I stopped Wellbutrin also and switched to Prostiq (for my anxiety) and the nausea, vomiting and dizziness have completely gone away.

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Re: David (# 3)

I took one pill and was vomiting all day so I’m afraid to take anymore. I had to leave work because of it.

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I took my first Contrave pill with my breakfast this morning. Within an hour I started to feel bad. I was dizzy, shaking, sweating and sick at my stomach. Next the violent vomiting started. I will NEVER take another Contrave tablet. I am weak but happy the vomiting finally stopped. I called my doctor and I will report this to the FDA. I felt like I was poisoned.

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Re: Margo (# 18)

OMG. I feel everyone’s pain. I took Contrave yesterday and it was the worst feeling ever. Luckily, I work from home so I was able to get in the bed immediately. I was nauseous and vomiting. I don’t want to EVER feel like that again. 1 and done. I vow to just do better. I have to have the discipline and will power to lay off the sweets and fatty foods and work out. I was so hoping that contrave would assist, but it’s not worth it and I paid full price. $298 dollars down the drain. I could have spent that on 3 weeks worth of veggies, lean meat and fruits.

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Re: Maya (# 19)

I filled out a report to the FDA about Contrave yesterday. I think this medication is dangerous and needs to be taken off the market. You can contact the FDA at 855-543-3784 or fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

This drug should be pulled and people ought to be reimbursed. The reimbursement probably won’t happen but it should. I felt like I was poisoned and I am not real happy with my doctor who told me there were few side effects if any. There were brochures and posters all over the office. My doctor is uninformed pushing this drug. I will be letting them know.

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Re: Teri (# 11)

No don’t try again because I lost 54lbs. On contrave I gain all my weight back so my doctor gave it back to me again and the 2nd week I was vomiting so bad that I couldn’t work or lift my head up please don’t take it again your body will reject it

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I found it very helpful to take with a 1/2 slice of bread or a cracker or two and some protein like chicken breast or such. I "sandwich" the pills: I eat the bread and a little protein or just the bread and protean alone drink some water, take the pill and drink the 12-16ozs of water and then eat the rest of the bread and chicken. I had tried an avaocado toast and that did not work well because of the fat in the avo. Eggs and toast seem to be good but honestly it's the combination of the bread/cracker and a protein that works for me with lots of water.
And most importantly - DRINK WATER. not soda or high sugar juices. 12-16 ozs when you take it and thereafter drink water. I find this method has cut down on the uncomfortable feelings like nauseau and headaches.

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Re: Margo (# 20)

Everyone’s different and reacts to meds differently. Just because you had an adverse reaction to Contrave doesn’t mean everyone will and that it she be taken off the market. There’s always a risk of an adverse event from a drug. You should read the product insert you’d see that the FDA is willing to accept some risk if the there is a tangible benefit. Vomiting and nausea are generally benign and so is fatigue and not a justification to remove a drug from the market especially if it is helping people lose weight. The benefit of even moderate weight loss has a high impact on Quality of Life and metabolic disease like T2 diabetes, insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia etc. Nausea and vomiting are no doubt uncomfortable but typically transient side effects however getting dialysis 12h/week forever for renal failure from uncontrolled diabetes is far worse. BTW I don’t work for the company that makes it nor do I prescribe it.

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Re: David (# 3)

I agree! I too have suffered from the stomachy/ nausea & cramping side effects & found it is FAR more exacerbated after I stupidly eat something too fatty - lesson learned... smaller, heaththier choices thru the day works better for me.

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I ended up having to go off of this pill. The headaches were UNBELIEVABLE. I was popping migraine excederen, aleve and ibuprofin constantly. My teeth were also hurting and so sensitive on this. As soon as it got out of my system (three days) i was back to normal.

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