Posted by Caleb462 on June 7, 2003, at 23:45:31
In reply to ? about med chemistry/biology - need help!, posted by Snoozy on June 6, 2003, at 11:09:29
How wellbutrin works is actually pretty simple, but most people don't know about it.
Bupropion itself is a weak drug, with weak affinities for the dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine transporters. However... bupropion has *many* ACTIVE metabolites, that also inhibit dopamine/serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake. These metabolites have a long half-life, which allows them to build up in the body over a period of a few weeks. Eventually, you end up with adequate levels of several different chemicals in your body all of which are weak by themselves, but work well together. This is the theory, and it seems to be pretty valid.
Check out this link - http://www.preskorn.com/columns/0001.html
poster:Caleb462
thread:231897
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/232310.html