Taking Contrave A Second Time Around
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I recently took contrave for a year and had wonderful success! I had all the horrible side effects in the beginning and wanted to quit. I talked to my Dr and he lowered my dose and the intolerable side effects went away! I originally lost 65lbs now after stopping it, I've gained back 30 lbs. After a while though I reached a plateau and it stopped working my appetite came back and I started to gain. I've been off contrave for two months and was wondering if I restarted taking it would it begin to work once more? I guess my question is how long do I have to be off of it for it to be out of my system so that I can start fresh again?

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Re: Verwon (# 1)

I've been off Contrave for 2 months, as it stopped working. I'm wondering if I start taking it again, will it start working again?

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Re: Sunfungrl (# 4)

When you re-started it, did you start at the beginning dose - where you ramp up slowly to the full dose?

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I have been taking Contrave for about six months. I lost 12 lbs the first month have not been able to lose anymore. The worst side effect I have is the ringing in my ears. I’m not going to take it anymore, and hoping the ringing will stop. Has anyone else had the ringing and how long did it take for the ringing to stop after discontinuing the medicine?

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Hello I've been taking Contrave for about for a few weeks now and I got up to the 2 in the morning and 2 at night dosage and I began to form a yeast infection. is this common? Has anyone else experienced this problem as well?

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I took contrave for nearly two years and lost 85 pounds. I plateaued and stopped taking it so I did gradually gain back 35lbs. I took a break for about six months and just restarted two weeks ago and it is working as it did in the beginning. Hoping to lose the 35 I gained plus an additional 20. Good luck to you!

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I started contrave weeking a half ago and my ear istarting to ring
now that it's over I don't know what else to expect if anyone experienced this please let me know

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I am discontinuing Contrave because it lost all effectiveness for me as well.

Takeda says that users aren't expected to stay on this med indefinitely but don't offer additional information when asked how long it remains effective for most users.

I personally think it's effectiveness lasts about 6 months but for some it may be 8 months... a year... maybe a little over a year, tops.

I lost about 30 - 35 lbs. in the first 4 - 5 months (20 - 25 lbs. in the first 3 months). By month 6-ish I knew it wasn't helping as it had in the beginning but I stayed on it for a year.

By month 8 I gained back 11 lbs. and by month 12 I gained another 8.

Discontinuing the med is for the best and 're-visiting' at a later time - no doubt about that. As far as how long to wait - it isn't really about making sure it's out of your (our) body - I really think it's more complex than that.

The reason I say this is because I have been on Bupropion a few times in the past and each time was the same - at about 6 - 7 months it simply became ineffective / pooped out.

The body becomes resistant to the med. In the past I started taking Wellbutrin (Bupropion) about 6 months after discontinuing it and that seemed to work for me (for another 6 months or so).

Contrave is a combination of Bupropion + Naltrexone so while it isn't exactly like Wellbutrin alone it's similar in its effects.

Here's the scoop on Contrave - it was a med used in re-hab centers for addicts and alcoholics originally. The med triggers the part of the brain that feels pleasure (an addict feels good when he's high or drinking = continues to crave whatever his drug of choice is). Contrave desensitises the feeling of pleasure so the addict would feel nothing if he were to relapse.

At some point the pharmaceutical manufacturer figured this concept would be effective for food cravings and Contrave was advertised as a weight-loss medication.

My Dr. and I have discussed possibly re-visiting Contrave in a few months or looking into Belviq (Lorcaserin HCI) which is another weight-management med currently on the market.

Just a thought... perhaps using Contrave for 6 months and then Belviq for 6 months would work...!?

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Most people do report hitting a plateau point, after being on it for awhile, and it usually takes a few months for it to start working, again. I'm not sure why this happens but many people have been talking about it.

You should be able to try it, again, as long as your doctor approves.

The FDA lists the typical side effects as possibly including nausea, dizziness, insomnia, nervousness, and anorexia.

Is there anything else I can help with?

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