Wellbutrin and afib

For many years I took a small dose of name brand Wellbutrin, stopping it after being diagnosed with paroxysmal afib in 2015. Sometimes I miss the extra energy it gave me, and today my cardiologist emailed that he'd approve a small dose prescription if I want to go consider re-starting it. (I wanted his input as to whether he thought it's a good idea with a afib diagnosis). Am still considering whether to go ahead with it. Does anyone have a comment? (I'm aware the med raises dopamine and norepinephrine). - I did a historical search on both forums for 'Wellbutrin' with no results. Thanks for any input.

I think taking a drug like Wellbutrin would be more of a concern for someone who had AFIB, and then started the drug and ended up getting their NT levels too high. It could cause an elevated HR by over activating the CNS and indirectly contributing to AFIB. Since you are already familiar with the drug and how you respond too it, it doesn't sound at all like you were getting too much Norepinephrine or Dopamine in your system. Perhaps keep a log of your HR/BP along monitor your pulse for PAC's before and after starting the drug to see if there are any changes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2022 10:25PM by The Anti-Fib.

I don't know of any concerns with that (except maybe the reason Anti-Fib mentioned, but that doesn't apply to you).

There actually have been studies of antidepressant use with afib. An example is here. Although the abstract starts off sounding kind of alarming, you need to read the whole thing. Down near the end of the abstract they conclude this:

Quote

This again indicates that antidepressants are unlikely to directly predispose to AF.

I don't think there's anything to worry about.