What Is The Best Generic Version Of Wellbutrin Xl - Watson Or Anchen? (Page 35)

My doctor will not prescribe generic Wellbutrin XL but my insurance will no longer pay for brand name drugs. I will have to pay about $7000 per yer for what I am taking now (3 of the 150mg Wellbutrin XL brand name per day). I am reading that the problem with the generics is the time release mechanism and not the drug itself and that some are better than others. Anybody have experience with the generics made by Watson and /or Anchen?

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Hello Geminiguy and thanks for your comments. Since you switched from TEVA XL to brand Wellbutrin XL, have you had any side effects? What do you notice that is the same or different from when you took the TEVA? If GLOBAL continues to leave me tired all the time (but not depressed) I may consider switching to brand XL like you.
I don't understand why the FDA found TEVA lacking in enough of the active ingredients. Some of the other generics are pretty awful! TEVA was great for me!
What dosage of TEVA did you take and what is equivalent for you with brand Wellbutrin? (I took 100mg TEVA XL. Does brand come in that dosage?)
Thanks again and good luck to you!

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Hello Geminiguy and thanks for your comments. Since you switched from TEVA XL to brand Wellbutrin XL, have you had any side effects? I have bipolar disorder and was initially stabilized on Wellbutrin XL 150 mg and Lamictal 100 mg. So I was on brand Wellbutrin XL long before I was on any generic form of it. One day the mail order pharmacy sent me TEVA Budeprion XL 150 mg instead of Wellbutrin XL 150 mg. I noticed no difference whatsoever in effect between Wellbutrin XL and TEVA Budeprion XL. Then one day the mail order pharmacy sent me Anchen Buproprion XL instead of TEVA Budeprion XL. The very next day on Anchen I developed upset stomach and ED. This continued until my pdoc told me to go back to TEVA. I had the prescription written as "TEVA Budeprion XL only" and went back to TEVA with no problems. Then one day the mail order pharmacy sent me Actavis Buproprion XL instead of TEVA XL. The very next day I developed ED. I called the mail order pharmacy and asked why they did this when the prescription was written as "TEVA Budeprion XL only". The pharmacy told me that the FDA had pulled TEVA from the market. That's when I learned the FDA was a complete joke because they had pulled from the market medication which worked well for me and left on the market medication which messed me up. I never considered the FDA to be credible after that experience and completely disregarded anything they published after that.

What do you notice that is the same or different from when you took the TEVA? Everything was the same between Wellbutrin XL and TEVA Budeprion XL. If GLOBAL continues to leave me tired all the time (but not depressed) I may consider switching to brand XL like you.

I don't understand why the FDA found TEVA lacking in enough of the active ingredients. The FDA found that the release rate of the active ingredients in TEVA was different than that of Wellbutrin per it's laboratory testing. I assume that this was the case. But different release rate or not, I found no difference whatsoever in effect between TEVA and Wellbutrin. So the FDA's laboratory testing was totally meaningless to me.

Some of the other generics are pretty awful! TEVA was great for me! What dosage of TEVA did you take and what is equivalent for you with brand Wellbutrin? TEVA Budeprion XL 150 mg was 100% equivalent to Wellbutrin XL 150 mg for me.


(I took 100mg TEVA XL. Does brand come in that dosage?) Wellbutrin XL only comes in 300 mg and 150 mg. But if Wellbutrin XL works for you (and there is no guarantee it will until you try it), I don't believe 50 mg difference between the two would probably have any noticeable effect.

My advice is as follows:

(1) Totally ignore anything the FDA publishes. It is a non-credible government agency which has messed the lives up of many people by pulling medication off the market which worked for them and leaving other medication on the market which didn't work for them. The FDA's laboratory testing is totally meaningless in the real world. Laboratory testing cannot predict the effect on all people and forms no basis whatsoever in the decision to pull or keep medication on the market.

(2) No one can know the effect of brand Wellbutrin or any so-called "generic equivalent" of Wellbutrin on themselves until they try it. There is no such thing as a generic equivalent of Wellbutrin. It doesn't exist, even though the FDA says it does. There is not a single generic out there that hasn't worked for some people and there is not a single generic out there that hasn't been a disaster for someone else.

Hope this helps.

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Hello Geminiguy,
I agree with you completely. The FDA doesn't know what it's doing. I loved the way the TEVA 100XL worked for me. I agree that since every body is different, we have to be human guinea pigs and try different meds to find out what works for us. Thanks for letting me know that for you the TEVA and brand Wellbutrin 150 mg were exactly the same. I hope that some day in the near future, we sill be able to have individual pre-testing to determine which drugs work for us or not. Then it won't be a guessing game any more! Best wishes to you.

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For the record Brand is always the same. Theres never and difference. Theres no variation from month to month. It just simply amazes me why when you know brand works and the worst case scenario is it will cost you $50 per month why are these discussions still going on. Go to Direct Success Pharmacy and have your doctor call in the script for 3 months with 3 refills and you will be perfect for a year. Aren't you tired of being a human guinea pig? do you save that much with generics? and $50 is the worst case scenario.

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Is it the Direct Success Pharmacy in the US or Canada? I live in the US.

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It's in New Jersey, That's the US though some people may disagree, lol. Just do a web search, everything is there, it's the greatest thing in the world. It's not going away and it's sponsored by the manufacturer who wants it to be priced within just about everyones budget. One day it may stop but I really don't think so and if I wasn't on Brand I wouldn't be up now writing you, I would be sleeping due to depression. I also take other meds but this is the main one and the one that is responsible for me being able to function like I'm 100%… If you haven't tried brand give it a try, isn't your life and basically your day to day well being worth that? I have tried all the generics and nothing comes close to Brand and the ones that did didn't the next month. I have had four solid good months since I used Direct Success and it's no accident that I feel the way that I do. With brand out there at $50 a month max this topic shouldn't be continuing anymore, no one has any excuses anymore. No more Canadian crap, no more generics, nothing but the real thing which if you have insurance may be free… There are a few people that I read about that the brand didn't work but that was only a few out of almost 700 posts. I don't think those people really know for sure, it takes time before everything falls into place. I will tell you anything else even if it's good won't be eventually because it varies and must be made differently batch to batch. Brand is always the same and helps everyone who should be on this almost every time. Not everyone needs this drug and probably shouldn't be on it.. If you should be on it, look it up, call them, they are really helpful and will make getting it simple. Since I'm on it I'm a different person, my old self, no problems at all and its definitely brand because I bought brand the month before I found out about Direct Success for over $350 for 30 pills from a local pharmacy and when it came I checked the bottles and pills, 100% identical exactly.

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Corporate office and I believe manufacturing is in Canada but it is shipped from East Coast (New Jersey I think)

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I agree with Nino. Direct Success pharmacy with the name brand is definitely a good way to go.

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Roseposey,

I wouldn't say the FDA didn't know what it was doing. I believe the FDA made the wrong assumption that if a generic passed a laboratory diagnostic which showed that the active ingredient release rate was equivalent to the active ingredient release rate of Wellbutrin, then the generic was equivalent to Wellbutrin. Actual effect on many individuals proves that a release rate analysis alone is not sufficient to show equivalence to Wellbutrin. The FDA failed to consider the effects of dyes and fillers on individual brain chemistry. There's nothing wrong with making wrong assumptions in trials. This happens. But once the data shows that their assumption was wrong, it should be made known to the public. I'm a retired defense industry engineer and I can guarantee that if a defense company pulled something like the FDA is currently doing the company would be heavily fined and someone would have a good chance of going to prison. But the FDA is a government agency and in government agencies cover-ups are routine business.

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roseyposey. You are incorrect about how the FDA went about approving Wellbutrin generic 300XL. They allowed them to use the SR release data and extrapolate that to the XL pills. The 300XL generics were never directly tested for release rates etc until after the fact. Even then according to the FDA the generics can vary by +/- 20%.

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K,

I can tell you that extrapolation of SR to XL definitely did not work for me. TEVA Budeprion XL 150 mg worked perfectly identical to Wellbutrin XL 150 mg for me until the FDA pulled it from the market. They didn't pull TEVA Budeprion SR 150 mg from the market. I tried the TEVA Budeprion SR 150 mg and within a few days I got very irritable. Went back to Wellbutrin XL 150 mg which 100% duplicated the effects of TEVA Budeprion XL 150 mg. The FDA has lost all it's credibility for me.

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Actually, they allowed the extrapolation of the 150XL to the 300XL. This article from the FDA explains the history.

fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm322161.htm

One takeaway is that all the generic manufacturers DID compare their 150XL against Wellbutrin 150XL, and that dosage DID pass those diagnostics. So those of us who take the 150XL and have experience with different manufacturers and have experience with some batches working great and other batches in the same manufacturer not working great -- we are talking about a different problem than the problem you other folks are having with the 300XL.

Having read that, and also this:

fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofMedicalProductsandTobacco/CDER/ucm153270.htm

I am wondering why no one has tried substituting two 150XL per day, taken 12 hours apart, for one 300XL per day. It seems an obvious thing to try.

Another takeaway from these articles is that when the FDA approved each step along the evolution from the 3-times-per-day 100IR to the twice-a-day 150SR to the once-a-day 300XL, they just assumed (as in "make an ass out of U and me" assumed) that they didn't need to analyze it much. That it turned out as well as it did seems to be sheer dumb luck.

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Thanks for all the input re: Direct Success/Valeant "Brand" Wellbutrin. They do charge fifty dollars/month for thirty pills, regardless of strength. I take 450 mg XL/ day in the form of three 150 mg tablets, for which Direct Success would charge one hundred fifty dollars/month. They suggested my dr. write scrip for one 300 XL and one 150 XL to bring my cost down to one hundred dollars/month. Looking forward to getting back on brand, as my generic of choice (Watson) is no longer manufactured due to the the Watson-Actavis acquisition.

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There is a 450mg XL pill made by Fortivo that some insurances treat as generic and many people have had good luck with.

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I tried this exact solution. Problem was, the 300 is not the same as the 150's. At least not for me. I had to go back to 3 of the 150's. Just thought I would let you know what I experienced. Hopefully, you will have better luck than I did.

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Huh? The Fortivo XL is like 3 150s. That is why it is 450 and not 300. Fortivo is not all that common. The fact that you refer to it as a 300 tells me that maybe your mistaken.

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I have taken the name brand sr and xl several times throughout my life when needed. Recently I was put on generic xl and went from mild depression to wanting to off myself in alittle more than a week! This stuff is horrible, don't chance it. I never want to feel like that again. Wellbutrin has never made me feel like that, ever. I have been reading that the closest generic without sideffects is Generic SR. It maybe the delivery system thats the problem. Im presently waiting to get a call about the cost of it. Good luck and don't chance it, no amount of savings are worth your mental health.

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Is anyone else having trouble getting the Mylan 300 XL again, as happened earlier this year? I picked some up on August 17th and today the pharmacy said I got the last of what they had and that they haven't been able to get more Mylan. It's really frustrating since this happened earlier this year as well. Anyone else?

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I actually called Mylan the last time it happened at their corporate offices and it took a week to get back to me but they did return my phone call and gave me an estimate for resupply back in the sales chain.

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Yes, I use Walgreens pharmacy and instead of my usual Mylan bupropion I got Zydus. Within 3 days on 300mg of the Zydus version I've started feeling needlessly angry, irritable and on the edge of crying; my heart is pounding and it's difficult to think straight enough to write this. Now I'm very curious if others are feeling similarly.
If this is all Walgreens will carry then I have no choice but to switch pharmacies (they don't do special orders for Medicaid patients).
I used Anchen bupropion for a few years and have been on Mylan for at least a year now. Those 2 generics worked similarly for me: not GREAT, but no bad side effects.

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