My experience is very similar. I was 125 lbs when I started taking Paxil for anxiety and gained about 40lbs over the course of 2 years. I started on Wellbutrin at the suggestion of my Dr. when I advised that I no longer wanted to take it due to the horrible weight gain. Wellbutrin received an overall rating of 6 out of 10 stars from 1367 reviews. See what others have said about Wellbutrin, including the effectiveness, ease of use and side effects. DESCRIPTION. WELLBUTRIN (bupropion hydrochloride), an antidepressant of the aminoketone class, is chemically unrelated to tricyclic, tetracyclic, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, or other known antidepressant agents. Wellbutrin SR vs Wellbutrin XL. Feeling sad is natural for most people especially when there is good reason to be. Some things might not go the way we originally planned them. Doctors' Answers to Frequently Asked Questions - Wellbutrin. These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. Wellbutrin (bupropion) is an effective antidepressant (Thase, M 2005). It exists in instant release (IR), sustained release (SR) and extended release (XL) forms. Major Depressive Disorder. Wellbutrin XL ® (bupropion hydrochloride extended-release tablets) is indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Wellbutrin (Bupropion) is a drug that is used for the treatment of depression as well as to help people quit smoking. It has become a very popular medication to treat depression because it is considered to have a minimal side effect profile compared to many other drugs. I've been taking 10mg of paxil for about a month. I'm formerly anorexic and am scared to death of weight gain. When I told my doctor he thought prescribing 100mg of Wellbutrin SR along with the paxil would be a good idea to counteract weight gain. Yes. Wellbutrin has given me much more intense dreams -- not unpleasant, but as you say, intricately plotted and very detailed, more like movies than regular dreams.