Looking for people who are trying out Contrave? Thoughts? Is it working?

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  • gibor05
    gibor05 Posts: 1 Member
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    I have been on Contrave for a little over a month now. 19 pounds down. At first, I had slight dizziness as I increased the dose to the recommended amount. Now, I have no symptoms as far as I can tell. I have definitely lost a lot of the 'love' I had for food. It's more like, 'oh, right, I have to eat now' rather than 'when is the next time I get to eat delicious, delicious cake?'
  • cmick53
    cmick53 Posts: 3 Member
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    Ok. Here goes. I have been taking Contrave for one week, not enough time to assess if it helps. I am 60 years old and have a high trig level and I need to lose about 70 pounds. I exersize about three times a week, more if I can find the time. The first day I took it , it made my head a little fuzzy and I was really tired. But I took it on an empty stomach. I fixed that the next day. I have had no nausea or lasting or really bad headaches. Advil took care of that and I cannot attribute it to the Contrave. I have had flushing similar to a Niacin flush. That would be the only bothersome side effect I have had. I know this stuff is supposed to work in the brain somehow. I believe this stuff has a thermogenic effect ,thus the flushing. I have not had any trouble sticking to my diet this week but I am very determined to be succuessfull. Only time will tell, I hate the side effects of most medicines because I always get them. If after a month on this and I don't lose much more than if I took nothing I will not get it again.
  • cmick53
    cmick53 Posts: 3 Member
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    I wonder If anyone had the flushing?
  • Mandi5Dogs
    Mandi5Dogs Posts: 17 Member
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    cmick53 wrote: »
    I wonder If anyone had the flushing?

    I found I start flushing when I start exercising. It's weird because my whole body turns red and I haven't started to exert myself.
  • missbeachlvr11
    missbeachlvr11 Posts: 1
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    I've been on Contrave for about 10wks. For the money you send on it I'd say its not worth it. I've lost 8lbs and that is with changing my diet and going to the gym at least 3x a wk. I seem to go up and down on the scale which is irritating especially when they want you to weigh daily. I've had horrible stomach pains since starting contrave.

    To me its not worth it, I've not been happy for the money.
  • darcyelise
    darcyelise Posts: 5
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    I started week two pills yesterday. I lost 10 lbs the first week. I do have a strict calorie counting diet. Exercise is really minimal except working in the garden. The 2 a day pills are horrible but it's only been 1 day. I'm trying to push through it. If anyone wants to add me and support each other thru the contrave , that would be awesome!!
  • atritto922
    atritto922 Posts: 2 Member
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    How is it going? Started contrave 3 days ago horrible nausea from one pill for about 2-3 hours- does this stop?
  • atritto922
    atritto922 Posts: 2 Member
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    I was so excited about starting it but am not sure if I can tolerate it- am going to try some otc medicine- this am I'm taking a spin class but am going to wait to take the Contrave until after or I fear I will hurl my breakfast in class!
  • Stark0621
    Stark0621 Posts: 2 Member
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    I started in Contrave last Wednesday. No change in appetite yet. Only side affect is hot flashes. More after I start my next dosage, which I'm going to step up a day. Starting on 2 pills Tuesday vs. Wednesday.
  • RehobothBayLady
    RehobothBayLady Posts: 1
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    Day two of Contrave. I started on a Sunday just in case the side effects were bad, only thing I have noticed is I didn't sleep well. I didn't think I slept at all before 3 a.m. (went to bed at 9 p.m.) and now I am not so sure if I wasn't sleeping after all, it just wasn't a sound sleep. I just remember I kept looking at the clock all night. I am not overly tired now though. Will be very interesting to see if this really can control cravings.
  • amberly006
    amberly006 Posts: 12 Member
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    Hello all. I am new to the group and happy to have found others using this. On 04/19/15, I started week three of Contrave. So two in the morning, one in the evening. I have noticed dull headaches from time to time and some stomach cramping. I cant say that Contrave has yet to curb my hunger or take away cravings. I take that back, I had one day with no desire of food.
    When I first started this, my doctor told me not to have any expectations until week 4, when it is two in the morning and two in the evening. Im going to have faith and keep going. Week four will start on 04/26/15.

    I began the Scale Down program. Since starting Contrave, according to Scale down's scale, I have lost 16lbs. However, I have started a exercise routine and have taken myself to a 1200-1300 calorie diet. I went from completely not active to active so Im sure that has the weight loss booming at first. (I have tons to loose) I am not sure how confident I am with Scale Down's scale. Guess we will find out whenever I go back to doctor. *Crossing my fingers it's right!*

    Anywho, great to find you guys and I hope you keep posting your journey.

  • mdarlingaz
    mdarlingaz Posts: 2 Member
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    I have been on contrave since November 18th and lost 30 pounds...:) I love it and has helped me so much.
    P.S. You can be on Contrave long term as it is safe and obesity is a chronic condition.
  • dennie05
    dennie05 Posts: 2 Member
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    I just started my second week of contrave. Nausea was eliminated by not taking it in an empty stomach. Extreme fatigue for a few days, at first but now that has gone. No desire to eat. No desire to have a happy hour drink. Lost 5 pounds!! I have been keeping to a 1100-1200 calorie diet. My problem is now that I am taking the evening dose, I don't sleep. Has anyone just taken 1 pill in the morning with success and not graduated up to the recommended dose? The 1 pill a day is working. Any feedback is welcomed! Thanks!
  • amberly006
    amberly006 Posts: 12 Member
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    I am now on week four of Contrave. I had an allergic reaction and stopped taking it for a few days until I ruled it out. Thankfully it was just my shampoo that I was allergic to LOL. Ok, so week four and I FINALLY have noticed cravings have gone away. The thought of breakfast this morning repulsed me but I forced it down. My doc told me not to expect much until week four so those who had earlier results...congrats!

    Side effects: Week 2: Dull headaches Week 3: Stomach cramping but it did go away. Week 4: Since doing the two and two I have noticed a little Nausea but took a motion sickness pill and it wiped it out. I hope this will even out in the next few days.

    Results so far: I am down 21 pounds since starting Contrave. Along with the med, I have cut calories to 1200-1300 per day and an hour of cardio.
  • amberly006
    amberly006 Posts: 12 Member
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    dennie05 wrote: »
    I just started my second week of contrave. Nausea was eliminated by not taking it in an empty stomach. Extreme fatigue for a few days, at first but now that has gone. No desire to eat. No desire to have a happy hour drink. Lost 5 pounds!! I have been keeping to a 1100-1200 calorie diet. My problem is now that I am taking the evening dose, I don't sleep. Has anyone just taken 1 pill in the morning with success and not graduated up to the recommended dose? The 1 pill a day is working. Any feedback is welcomed! Thanks!

    Hi Dennie, I have seen some people said they spread their pills out throughout the day. I take my 2nd dose around 5p-7p and haven't had any sleeping issues...thankfully. That's awesome one pill is working!!! Keep tabs on your desires though. I have read that people lose desires to do a lot of things they use to, good things. I asked my friends to let me know if they notice a difference. So far, they just ask why Im happy all the time. Ha, Im loaded on bupropion!!! Sorry I couldn't help much and rambled on.

  • Nursecutie67
    Nursecutie67 Posts: 5 Member
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    Hello! I just started CONTRAVE this past Monday 5/4/15. The first thing I noticed was a definite decrease in my cravings and my stomach growling. My stomach hasn't growled all week!! That's the nice part. The other nice thing is that I used to have to take Trazadone to sleep at night and now I'm off of that! And I haven't had much of a need for my prn Ativan so backing slowly off of that as well! All good things :smiley: Buuuut here it comes! A HUGE BUT! The waves of nausea and getting used to this medication comes all throughout the day...uuuugh. I am on Zoloft 25 mg as well and I find the nausea is worse when I try and space those two meds out. So this morning (Happy Mommie's Day) I took both medications with my surprise breakfast in bed (from my three grown children!) and so far no headache nor nausea. Yesterday...day 6 was horrible. Nausea all day with headache. Checked and my pb was normal but the nausea felt like morning sickness! The only thing I can gather is that I smoke an ecig since 8/13 and although have decreased my nicotine level to 8 mg I need to go ahead and reduce it to 0 mg and still smoke it for the flavor for now. I'm thinking that it's the nicotine reacting with the Wellbutrin in the CONTRAVE that's causing so much "ickyness"? I haven't vomited yet but felt like it. I have lost a few lbs...which is good thus far but I also have changed my diet to fat free since the risk of seizures is greatly increased when consuming a high fat meal with CONTRAVE. Has anyone experienced this type of nausea?? Also at different times the cramping us horrible! But never lasts long....also Ty to StephElizabeth for the advice on OTC antiemetic's. May need it this week!
  • Nursecutie67
    Nursecutie67 Posts: 5 Member
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    StephElizabeth88 wrote: »
    I haven't weighed recently but my clothes are fitting better. I do have an update on the side effects. Most of the people trying it are experiencing the headaches and extreme nausea and I have too. It was so bad yesterday afternoon that I left work and felt like I needed to go straight to bed but instead I stopped by Walgreens. Let me tell you, if you are experiencing the terrible side effects you need to get some Bonine motion sickness medicine, Dramamine and Aleve. I took a Dramamine last night and it completely wiped out that terrible sick feeling but it also made me very sleepy. I chewed the Bonine this morning since it's non drowsy and it kicked all those symptoms. Fatigue is gone, headaches are gone, nausea is gone and best of all, cravings and hunger is still gone too! Just wanted to share the wealth :)

    Thank you for the advice!!

  • firefly4477
    firefly4477 Posts: 1 Member
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    I just finished week 1. Didn't change anything and lost 3 pounds. This week I will adjust my diet and add exercise. I must say, adding that second pill is a doozy. Zero appetite, lil dizziness, foggy and a bit of Nausea. I'm normally hungry all the time. The psychological aspect of not being obsessed food takes some getting use to.
  • amberly006
    amberly006 Posts: 12 Member
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    Nursecutie67 wrote: »
    Hello! I just started CONTRAVE this past Monday 5/4/15. The first thing I noticed was a definite decrease in my cravings and my stomach growling. My stomach hasn't growled all week!! That's the nice part. The other nice thing is that I used to have to take Trazadone to sleep at night and now I'm off of that! And I haven't had much of a need for my prn Ativan so backing slowly off of that as well! All good things :smiley: Buuuut here it comes! A HUGE BUT! The waves of nausea and getting used to this medication comes all throughout the day...uuuugh. I am on Zoloft 25 mg as well and I find the nausea is worse when I try and space those two meds out. So this morning (Happy Mommie's Day) I took both medications with my surprise breakfast in bed (from my three grown children!) and so far no headache nor nausea. Yesterday...day 6 was horrible. Nausea all day with headache. Checked and my pb was normal but the nausea felt like morning sickness! The only thing I can gather is that I smoke an ecig since 8/13 and although have decreased my nicotine level to 8 mg I need to go ahead and reduce it to 0 mg and still smoke it for the flavor for now. I'm thinking that it's the nicotine reacting with the Wellbutrin in the CONTRAVE that's causing so much "ickyness"? I haven't vomited yet but felt like it. I have lost a few lbs...which is good thus far but I also have changed my diet to fat free since the risk of seizures is greatly increased when consuming a high fat meal with CONTRAVE. Has anyone experienced this type of nausea?? Also at different times the cramping us horrible! But never lasts long....also Ty to StephElizabeth for the advice on OTC antiemetic's. May need it this week!


    Welcome to the Contrave family lol. Around week 3 I had cramping. A weird cramping at that but it did go away. I am now on week 6. It took me until week four (four a day) to notice my cravings diminish. I get it works on everyone differently. The start of week four and five were hell with the nausea. It was to the point Id rather carry my weight then feel ill all day. I am happy to say week 6 and the nausea has lessened greatly! Thank goodness. Its funny you brought up smoking. I have noticed after I smoke, usually later in the evening, I get that icky feelling. Hmm. I just assumed it was the contrave. I ll have to start paying more attention to the correlation of smoking and icky. I have also noticed that I smoke more out of habit now than cravings. I keep saying that Im going to only smoke when I have a craving but Im a sucker for going outside with my coworkers. I notice I eat out of habit too. "Oh look, its noon, lunch time, time to eat. Oh its 6pm, dinner time, time to eat." Today I have started the eating when hungry and not out of habit. I ate at 9a because I was hungry (seems to be my hungriest, is that even a word, time.) I just had a handful of trail mix and water and Im good to go. No hunger. Now if I can implement this all the time...

    I have lost about 24lbs. The past two weeks I have slacked big time on exercise and counting calories. It is so easy to fall off the wagon than to stay on. Hopefully with the new eating when hungry and not out of habit will help. Keep documenting the journey!!!

  • Nursecutie67
    Nursecutie67 Posts: 5 Member
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    Hello Amberly006! Congratulations on the 24lb loss in week 6!!! WOW! I'm now on day 10 and the nausea is getting better! I discussed it with my pharmacist and I'm going to take the one pill for two weeks then in the third week start the 2 pills. I had so much nausea in the beginning that easing into the 2 pills I think will work better for me. I am so anxious to start the 2nd pill, 3rd pill etc. and see the weight come off! I'm so happy I helped you regarding the smoking. Yes, it makes a huge difference with the nausea...or ickyness. :wink: please keep me posted about you! My stomach still has not growled...that was my problem....I was hungry all day and night since I started taking SSRI's last year. I'm currently not working which is why I'm taking advantage of my time at home to do this. I feel for you at work!! Coworkers are hard to say no to when you are used to bonding thru food/smoking. I understand completely!!

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