Clinical Presentations of Bupropion Prescription Drug Misuse: A Systematic Review

Among most prescribers, bupropion is considered a substance of low misuse potential, with some studies showing lesser misuse potential than caffeine. However, several case reports exist of recreational bupropion misuse and diversion. This podcast, a discussion by authors of their bupropion systematic review, reports that snorting and intravenous injection of bupropion occur almost exclusively in patients with a substance use disorder history, with a preponderance of patients with stimulant use disorder or multiple substance use disorders. Users who divert bupropion from prescribed use describe a brief cocaine-like high of approximately 30 seconds to 5 minutes. The systematic review highlights the bupropion misuse potential in certain patient populations and serves to increase awareness among clinicians of unhealthy results of abuse. Additional patient screening, monitoring and follow-up, surveillance, and further research are needed to investigate and prevent bupropion misuse in at-risk patient populations.   Sahil Munjal, MD, moderates a discussion conducted with his systematic review co-authors Greg Noe, BS, Kaushal Shah, MD, MPH, and Samantha Ongchuan, MD, on bupropion misuse. The article appears in the May/June 2024 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. The authors are from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the Department of Psychiatry at Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Health, and the Department of Psychiatry at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.