What Is The Best Generic Version Of Wellbutrin Xl - Watson Or Anchen? (Page 39)

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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For many people (myself included), the FDA time release tests are totally meaningless. The FDA pulled TEVA Budeprion XL from the market because it's tests showed that Budeprion XL released a high percentage of it's active ingredient in the first few hours instead of spreading it out linearly throughout the day. And I have no reason to believe that the FDA tests didn't show this. Yet I and many others noticed no difference whatsoever in mood difference at any time of the day even though the FDA testing showed that the release rate of TEVA Budeprion didn't track that of brand Wellbutrin. So what gives? Here's what gives. The FDA time release rate of the active ingredient cannot possibly assess what the end effect of time release is on individual brain chemistry. The FDA cannot possibly know what the effects of the different dyes and fillers used in brand Wellbutrin and different generics have on individual brain chemistry. Anchen and Actavis were mental disasters for me and many others which the FDA did leave on the market for no other reason than they made it through the FDA time release test. Many for which TEVA Budeprion worked well were now forced to make a decision. Pay the exorbitant cost of brand Wellbutrin or live in mental hell by being forced into Anchen, Actavis and other generics which did not work for them. That fraud pulled on these people by the FDA has now gone away with the Wellbutrin Guarantee Program. Anyone who believes that FDA testing means anything in the real world of individual brain chemistry is living in a world of folly. There is absolutely no way to know whether or not a specific generic works for you until you try it. The FDA doesn't know it and you don't know it.

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I don't think anyone was being particularly rude. Their is a great body of knowledge both here and elsewhere concerning the different generics versus the name brand and it just takes a teeny bit of effort to read for yourself. I've gone so far as to start to evaluate the different dissolution rates of the manufacturers, first in water (already done) and then in a solution approximating stomach acid. There are 700+ posts in this topic and I'm willing to bet a 100 of them talk about the discount program. For the record, I'm on the name brand program after having bad experiences with the generics.

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I respond well to the Activas bupropion generic, when available. In most instances, local pharmacies dispense a different generic each month. I am currently cycling three different bupropion generics on thirty-day intervals. Each generic requires a period of acclimation and produces different effects. I feel an undercurrent of fatigue, or mental\physical weakness when taking two of the generics in (par)ticular. My energy returns whenever the Activas generic is re-introduced into the cycle. In fact, I've had insomnia several days after restarting the Actavis generic. I'd rather feel hyped then weakish. According to two pharmacists, Actavis is preferred by many in the area, but the buyer must order whatever Generic has the lowest cost at the time. They will special order Activas, but the demand is so high it sells out relatively quickly.

Several times I, and probably you, have been dispensed the newest (and, therefore, the cheapest) bupropion generic on the market. Those of us who became lab rats for TEVA understand new generics can be disastrous. We deserve consistency in how we feel and should be able to determine and acquire the generic that works on a consistent basis. We should petition for DAW prescriptions for specific generic brands.

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GWK, I'm curious: My local Walgreens has been more than happy to supply Mylan to me upon request. Would your usual pharmacy honor a request for Actavis?

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Thank you thank you Nino for the info on the 50.00 a month I called and got taken care of in minutes to have the brand shipped to my home. I've been on brand and generic for 10 years Brand is better. I can't wait to feel normal again it's been a year on two different generics neither worked very well. In the last 3 months two different generics and a big roller coaster ride. The only reason I stayed with generic is because brand was 450.00 a month. Not to be afforded no matter how I saved. So again thanks so much Nino you've done a huge service for me!!!!

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I just wanted to add my experience with Direct Success Pharmacy. I received my first shipment yesterday and it took 3 business days to arrive. It seems they ship from NJ; I'm in NY. I take 450mg daily, so I got a 30 day supply of 300mg and another 30 of 150mg. Note that they charge $50 for a 30 day supply regardless of strength. This would make my copay $100 a month, but my insurance covers both thankfully, so I don't have to pay out of pocket. Interestingly, my insurance refused to cover name brand Wellbutrin when I requested that a few months ago. Anyway, I started taking it today, and now I feel just as great as I was when I had the generic by Watson. I went on Mylan after that was discontinued, but that didn't work as well. I also had worse dry mouth with Mylan (wonderful, I know) and my teeth have deteriorated a lot since I started taking it last year. However, it was better than the one by Par pharmacy, which flat out didn't work. It's still early, but I hope this whole generic/brand ordeal is over!

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A S, that's great to hear. Why does your insurance cover the Wellbutrin through direct success pharmacy, but not at a regular pharmacy? Is the Wellbutrin through direct success different?

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My bad, forgot to specify, the Direct Success Pharmacy is part of the Wellbutrin XL Guarantee Program that was mentioned earlier. I'm assuming my insurance covers it because they're also only being billed the $100, but not positive about that. Here's the link with more details:

wellbutrinxl.com/savingscard/consumer/guarantee-program

I've never gotten the brand before, but the bottles seem to be official and the pills actually have 'WELLBUTRIN XL' printed on them.

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My insurance does NOT cover it, I have to pay out of pocket. It's worth it, I feel much better. But, shipping takes 5-7 days so I have to make sure I reorder in time.

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AS -- You need to track down what your insurance is REALLY paying, and what Direct Success is telling your insurance company. The way that the Direct Success works when you have insurance is that they charge the insurance company the full ridiculously inflated price, and tell the insurance company that they collected the co-pay from you, and they they just don't collect it. I figured this out when I first started last year, because the phony co-pay generated a check from our flexible spending account. I had to straighten that out, because otherwise it would be tax fraud!

I decided to tell Direct Success to just send me the bill for the $50 co-pay and leave insurance out of it, which they have been doing. Then in February, they billed my insurance by mistake, reversed it, and then billed me for the $50. I saw this as a payment from my flex account, which was then reversed a week later, but I saw the amounts: $773.97 was the total prescription cost, with $232.19 my fake "co-pay" and that meant that the insurance company would have paid $541.78!

And the full price has almost doubled in the last 8 months, too -- the fake co-pay last May was $122.

If you look at the rules, they are not allowed to bill Medicare via this kind of scamish arrangement....

Talk to your insurance company and see if what happens if you pay the $100 up front and then submit the receipt to the insurance company afterwards -- will they pay $70 or $80 towards it? Or even the whole $100?

Also, I think that everyone who took generic should give a thought to this question: did you increase your dose when you were on the generic because the generic didn't work well, and now that you are on real Wellbutrin should you see if you can reduce your dose? Wellbutrin does have risks, and the risks go up with the dose, so it's worth considering whether you are on the minimum dose that works well.

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cf - That's a good point about dosage. I was on 450 mg generic but found that I definitely didn't need that much on the real thing (brand name) and I'm back down to 300mg.

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@cf - Thanks for the tip; I'm sorry to hear that happened. I've looked into it and I don't have any FSAs or similar. My plan just has a 3-Tier Rx copay system, with 0% coinsurance.

About the dosage, I can only say that I now feel the same as I did when I was taking the generic by Watson, which worked very well for me. I went up to 450mg roughly 3 months after I was prescribed Wellbutrin, and I've been taking it (along with 200mg Lamictal) for about 5 years. It is something to consider, though. 450mg generally isn't ideal because the risk of seizure triples.

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Does anyone else have experience with FORFIVO XL 450? I am currently taking 3 150 mg of Wellbutron XL

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So far, water dissolution only over 24 hours. Hope to do with acid solution (stomach acid model). This doesn't mean a whole lot by itself but shows the very large differences in dissolution. It was interesting the number of bubbles generated around the bowl by the Valeant versus the others.

imgur.com/a/9rhqU

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Also here are some interesting notables. Wide disparity in inactive ingredients.

Valeant - Name Brand - Inactive Ingredients

ethylcellulose aqueous dispersion (NF),
glyceryl behenate,
methacrylic acid copolymer dispersion (NF),
polyvinyl alcohol,
polyethylene glycol,
povidone,
silicon dioxide,
and triethyl citrate.
The tablets are printed with edible black ink.


Mylan - 300XL - Inactive Ingredients

ferrosoferric oxide
silicon dioxide
hydrochloric acid
hypromelloses
magnesium stearate
mannitol
methacrylic acid - ethyl acrylate copolymer (1:1) type a
microcrystalline cellulose
polyethylene glycol
polysorbate 80
polyvinyl alcohol
povidone
propylene glycol
stearic acid
magnesium silicate
triethyl citrate

Anchen/Par - 300XL - Inactive Ingredients

alcohol
ethylcelluloses
hydroxypropyl cellulose
methacrylic acid - ethyl acrylate copolymer (1:1) type a
povidone
silicon dioxide
hydrochloric acid
isopropyl alcohol
hydrogenated cottonseed oil

Actavis 300XL - Inactive Ingredients

copovidone
hydroxypropyl cellulose
silicon dioxide
magnesium stearate
polyvinyl alcohol
titanium dioxide
polyethylene glycol
magnesium silicate
methacrylic acid
triethyl citrate
sodium bicarbonate
sodium lauryl sulfate
povidone
water
hydrochloric acid

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Not only the presence or absence of various inactive ingredients, but the quantities, too. Which we don't actually know, since the exact recipes are trade secrets. The history of this drug is fascinating: the theory was that you have to take it for a couple of weeks in order to get a certain blood level, and that it works well after that. The time release mechanism was added later to reduce the seizure risk, and they didn't believe that it would have any change to the efficacy. But then it turned out that for a lot of us we need the drug trickling into our blood stream at a much more constant rate in order for the drug to work right.

Or, shorter form, it turned out that the "inactive" parts of the drug were important to the drug functioning correctly, and these weren't so "in"active after all.

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Can definitely attest to this. Generics are very inconsistent. I've been taking Wellbutrin since Aug 2014, always the Par generic. The past 2 refills have felt like I'm taking sugar pills. And it's STILL Par. You can't even count on consistency between refills from the same manufacturer, nevermind different generics. If I could afford the $50 program I would sign up in a heartbeat. Side note; I know this forum is filled with info, but is anyone taking a generic that is working well, as of April 2015. They're so inconsistent that I can't really rely on the past responses. I apologize if I sound redundant. Thank you!

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I'm doing well on Mylan 300XL. I always insist on this supplier at Walgreens, and they are happy to oblige. I found that my mood was good with the 150XL, but I wasn't quite at the point where I was functioning at my best. Since upping to 300mg, I find that I can keep my life consistently in order too (e.g. pay bills, keep apartment tidy, etc).

I've never tried Brand, or any other generics for bupropion. I'm tempted by the Direct Success program, as I'd probably pay $0. The part I don't like is that it seems like they are milking the insurance company. Maybe I should call them to find out more.

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PS. Turns out that my insurance company requires prior authorization for brand-name drugs that have a generic available. I read further down that Direct Success are charging over $280 each month to another poster's insurance company. I think that's unethical.

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Thanks Eric , I will give Mylan a shot when it's time to fill again. So Walgreens has no problem ordering it? How does that work, they order just enough to fill your prescription, as long as you give them some notice?

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