Transcript for:
Understanding Bupropion Medication

Bupropion is a medication used to treat depression and it can also help with smoking cessation. In this video, I will give you an easy visual way to remember all the important information you need to know about bupropion. In today's scene, the police officer here was outside of a construction site, casually patrolling and smoking a cigarette when all of a sudden he heard what he thought was a machine gun. Without a second of hesitation, he saw a gun. The police officer pulled on his bulletproof vest.

Don't want to take any chances. By the way, this bulletproof vest is our symbol for today's drug, bupropion. Bulletproof for bupropion? Get it? You may hear bupropion called by its brand name, well, butrin, but the NCLEX will use the generic name of bupropion.

So just remember this bulletproof vest. The police officer is running full speed into the construction site. The sight of a fully armed officer running at you is enough to make a grown man cry. And hey, that's exactly what's happening here.

The construction worker is so frightened by the police officer in the bulletproof vest that he has burst out in tears. You know, this crying man reminds me that bupropion is used to treat depression. Because this guy definitely looks pretty depressed, if you ask me. Bupropion is in a drug class called atypical antidepressants.

and it works by blocking serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine receptors. As with all antidepressants, bupropion can initially cause an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior. This happens because improvements in energy levels tend to happen before improvements in mood, creating a window where patients have depressed mood but high energy level, leading to high suicide risk.

This usually diminishes with time as the drug reaches a therapeutic level. But as the nurse, it's important that you monitor the patient for worsening depression or sudden and unusual behavior. This is a nursing priority, as it has to do directly with the patient's safety. Bupropion also has another common use besides treating depression. So let's talk about that next.

The police officer really shouldn't be smoking, especially while on patrol. At the sound of a machine gun, the officer quickly threw down his cigarette. This throwing down of a cigarette reminds me how bupropion is also used to help with smoking cessation.

Bupropion mimics the effects of nicotine in the brain to help people taper off smoking and minimize withdrawal effects. Now let's move on to the side effects seen with this drug. False alarm.

That sound wasn't a machine gun after all. The construction worker was just using a jackhammer, which does make a loud sound similar to a gun. Take a look at how much the jackhammer shakes while it is being used. This shaking jackhammer is our symbol to help you remember that bupropion can cause seizures. You know, since jackhammers cause your body to shake, kind of like how seizures do?

One of the major side effects of bupropion is its ability to cause seizures. Specifically, bupropion lowers the seizure threshold, and the higher the dose given, the higher the risk of seizures. An important point of patient education includes advising the patient to stay away from alcohol, as this lowers the seizure threshold even further, increasing the risk.

The medication should also not be crushed or chewed. We don't want to increase the rate of absorption, because that can also increase the risk for seizures. Everybody back to their stations.

This was a false alarm. Before you go, though, let's quickly recap what we've learned. Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant.

used to treat depression and help with smoking cessation. The biggest adverse effect is that bupropion can cause seizures. The patient should avoid alcohol as well as crushing or chewing the pills as both of these things can increase the risk of seizures. I guess we didn't actually need the bulletproof vest this time, but it's good to be prepared. And now that you know everything about bupropion, you'll be prepared for test day.

See you next time. Thanks for watching. For more videos like this one, subscribe to our channel and check out our newest lessons. For more resources on this topic, including fact lists and interactive review images, click the image next to the More Here arrow. I'll see you next time.