• N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | thegreenhand

Bupropion + Aniracetam

Slave_To_The_Wave

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
1
Recently started treatment for depression and anxiety with 150 mg bupropion XL. I seem to be responding very well to the medication as I have a natural affinity for stimulants particularly cathinones such as mephedrone and the like. They have left me a little drained in some areas (fatigue, depression anxiety) after some sporadic extensive use.

The bupropion seems to work on similar receptor sites and makes many of the symptoms much more tolerable, as well as giving me a bit of energy and mood lift. I will only ever take this medication as prescribed. I was given buspar for anxiety as I have come off a 5 year alprazolam addiction just one year ago today through detox and what not. I have found the buspar to be a really nasty drug, brain zaps and weird stimulation, dulling the effects of the bupropion, etc.

That's a brief background. I used to take aniracetam and I have a history of using nootropics to varying degrees of success, but I do find aniracetam to be helpful and have used it many times in the past, but I haven't used it since i started the bupropion treatment.

Now what I am wondering is if aniracetam has any undesirable interactions with this drug, as i suspect it may based on this tidbit from wikipedia

"aniracetam's anxiolytic mechanism is facilitated by D2/D3, nACh, and 5-HT2A receptors."

Because of the action on the dopamine receptors I fear that there may be some undesired results from this combination, but I do not have enough knowledge about the way these drugs work to make an accurate judgment. So I am playing it safe for now, but wondering if anyone with more expertise could give me a solid assessment of the potential interaction.
 
Well I can't post links with my phone, but I posted a few studies on piracetam's pharmacology and interactions with stimulants in "Amphetamine neurotoxicity and tolerance reduction/prevention II". But the tl;dr: is that it may potentiate the stimulant effects of bupropion but I can't comment on the potential for other types of reactions.

Best,
EA
 
I'd think bupropion would diminish some of the effects of racetams in general.
 
Im debating even taking the bupropion. Ive been using the aniracetam at 1.5g in the morning and .75 after lunch taking fish oil with each dose and a choline in the morning. It has worked very well for social anxiety. I was attempting to get selegiline from the doctor and got bupropion forced on me instead.
 
Bupropion acts as a NACh antagonist, while Aniracetams nootropic effects appear to be facilitated through primarily chloinergic enhancement, so the bupropion may affect it in that respect. The mechanism of these racetams are not very well understood, Aniracetam in particular appears to have robust anxiolytic effects, not seen in the other racetams.
 
If you're taking aniracetam for depression/anxiety, I can't imagine it having any even slightly serious negative effects therapeutically, whether it interacts with bupropion in the brain negatively I don't think many could tell you; However if you feel fine taking them together, I really doubt there is any hidden problem with it. Just know aniracetam can make some anxiety worse in some cases(usually if you take too much or .. idk.. I just know sometimes it did make anxiety slightly worse rather than better). I've never ever had aniracetam have a negative effect on depression, it always kicks slight/moderate depression in the ass for me.
 
IIRC, the racetams' nootropic effects are mediated predominately by glutamatergic and muscarinic receptors - not so much by the nicotinic receptors (especially not the ones antagonized by bupropion and its various metabolites, which are implicated more in drug sensitization and the precipitation of reward-seeking behavior than in cognition proper). See here and here for more info.

However, the anxiolytic effects of aniracetam do indeed appear to be mediated by nicotinic receptors, which may present some difficulties if you intend to combine it with bupropion for that indication. Nevertheless, I seriously doubt that the two are in any way contraindicated; if you do end up using them in combination, I think you'll be just fine - but I can't promise you that the aniracetam will be entirely efficacious, depending upon your reasons for using it.
 
Top