I am very relieved to have discovered this thread and know I am not alone. Here is my experience with bupropion XL. I took 150 mg for four months, and then increased to 350 mg for the next two and a half months.
I loved this medication. It worked so well with the duloxetine I take.
All was well until 6 weeks in when I woke up broken out in a cluster of mosquito looking bites on my elbow that itched like crazy. This continued in various other areas -- sometimes single bumps in a line, "C" shaped curve of bumps, single spots, giant clusters. All different.
After raiding my room for mosquitoes, then bed bugs, then giving up, I returned to my doctor who diagnosed me with CIU (chronic idiopathic urticaria). I would later find out she had never had a patient react to bupropion -- plus it was a delayed reaction, so we didn't make the connection.
I had never had hives or a rash before.
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I began to notice a pattern. I'd feel a tingle in an area, maybe it was a little red. I knew that would erupt the next day - like a mosquito bite. Scratching them made them worse. Places I have scratched would scab over, and then looked like ant bites. The itching in the old areas would flare up if a new hive appeared near them. It took (takes) forever for the marks to go away. I had discoloration that is taking a long time to fade.
My doctor, not realizing the connection, doubled my dosage at month four due to increasing environmental stressors (family member dying with stage IV cancer). I felt even better. The hives were still relentless, although they did not get worse with the increase in dosage.
Two and a half months later I found this thread and a few others indicating the bupropion was probably the cause. I stopped the medication over a week period, tapering back to 150 and then stopping. The itching immediately got better each day after.
I returned to my doctor who next prescribed Vyvanse.
It has now been three weeks since I have stopped the bupropion. Again, the itching has resided so much. I am still breaking out in hives, but not nearly as often. There have been two larger breakouts (waking up in the morning) that do itch intensely, but it's still different, much less intensity than during the 6 months I endured hives. Yes, 6 months!
I hated stopping bupropion. It worked so well! Now that I have stopped, there is relief. From reading here and at other websites, I'm hoping they will completely go away (i.e. no new eruptions) over the next few months. One addiction website said it is in your system for 90 days. Because I took it so long for a total of 7 months, including doubling the dosage to 350 mg at month 4, I am assuming it will take a while to leave my system totally. Again, there is a difference and a huge relief in the itching and just an overall itchy feeling. That is totally gone.
However, the continued new eruptions of a few random hives is concerning, after reading all of the posts here. Many of you report ongoing hives that have never ceased after stopping the drug.
I will update later as I note any positive or negative changes.
BTW: nothing helped. my. hives. Not Zyrtec (even doubling), not cortisone pack, etc. It was horrible to endure. My doctor even prescribed hydroxyzine 10 mg, which I increased to 30 mg, and that did nothing. All to say, I noticed a huge relief in the itching, and just overall itchy feeling immediately when I stopped.