What Is The Best Generic Version Of Wellbutrin Xl - Watson Or Anchen? (Page 50)

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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A -- do you take both of the 150s together, 24 hours apart, or do you take one at a time, 12 hours apart?

Given that some of the generic problems seem to be with the timing of how the dose hits your bloodstream, there are some people who might benefit from experimenting with how often they take it...

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I take them both at night. I would experiment though to see what is best for you. It might be one in morn and one in night.

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I know this thread is really old, but I'm hoping to help someone who may be searching this issue still (as I was). I started off taking brand-name Wellbutrin (100 mg. of the SR), and it worked tremendously for me! It seriously helped with my borderline suicidal depression that manifested as severe apathy, lethargy, intense crying, bizarre thinking, etc. It also tremendously helped with my compulsive overeating issues. (Wellbutrin is known to be very effective for the latter.) Anyway, to answer the question on effective generic versions: I could no longer get the brand-name, so I ended up with Bupropion from Sandoz Pharmaceuticals. This kind worked amazingly for me! I noticed virtually no difference between this pharma's meds and the brand-name. No difference for me.
I never paid attention to the generic company until I was given Bupropion by both Anchen and Sun Pharmaceuticals. I do not think these brands are effective at all! I recently was prescribed Bupro. XL 150 mg. (once per day), manufactured by Anchen. This kind worked terribly for me--but it also could've been due to the fact I was accidentally prescribed the XL instead of the SR. I was extremely lethargic, and noticed very little improvement in my depression and motivation issues. I am now on Bupro. SR 100 mg. (twice per day) by Sun Pharma. I've noticed little improvement with my negative thinking and motivation. Also, I think this brand is making me gain weight, whereas the brand-name and the Sandoz brand helped me lose a lot of weight. Personally, I would avoid Sun and Anchen and try to get Sandoz. I know everyone's different though...

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I was having an odd reaction to the glaokline 150sr.I would start coughing if i was in a warm room or if it seemed if my body temp went up. Doesnt happend with the 150 xl. VALEANT... any one else have that reaction? I .I DO KNOW that Valeant 300 xl can affect your sweating during the hot weather..found out one pool party..needed ice packs all over me and a friend alerted me to check my meds. Shur'nuf read PDR

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I hope the Par bupropion works for you. It did not for me. I had been on Actavis previously for treatment of ADHD and it worked great. Due to a switch in insurance, I have now been on Par. It simple did NOTHING for me and it took awhile to figure it out because it coincided with the death of my mother. I thought it was all the stress causing me to feel more ADD symptoms. I haven't had a good night's sleep in forever because my 'hyperactive' brain wakes me up...I take Adderall and then I can go back to sleep. After jumping the hoops, my doctor ordered a different generic...turns out it's the one I was on previously that worked! I took the first dose of it today and can already feel the difference. My brain slows down... in a good way... I am more relaxed, less hyper, less scattered. The Par bupropion literally did NOTHING that I could feel. I read what another poster said about both these companies having inconsistent batches. :( I hope that's NOT going to be what I experience with Actavis. So far so good. Again, I really hope it works for you but if you feel no difference, talk to your doctor. If treating depression, I know it certainly takes longer than a few hours to notice a difference. But for me with ADHD, it's noticed with the first dose and it continues to be more effective until a plateau is reached.

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I have been having trouble with all the generic wellbutrin bupropion for over 6 months now. They have all been buying each others companies up and making everyone sick in the process. If you do get a good batch it will probably be different next month. I have had great success with Mylan pharmaceutical but I haven't been able to get it and I'm not sure if it is still manufactured the same now anyway. I'm giving the brand name Wellbutrin one last chance as I have it ordered from Canada for around 50$ per month. They have been great to work with, don't cha know. There very legit and easy to work with. I should have the brand name Wellbutrin in my mail box any day and I'm very hopefully for the good old days. What they're doing with the generics or making it from is in unjustifiable.

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What's the name of the pharmacy in Canada that you are using?

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I read on the FDA Web page Actavis or Mylan.I am having the same issue with insurance. I am still fighting. Good luck.

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I have been taking mylan bupropion since June 2015 and had the most amazing results...until my last refill in march of 2016. I began feeling "off" and defintely not myself. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. My husband checked my old "supply" with the newest supply and was easily able to tell them apart by the darkness of the printing. I checked with my pharmacist and he says nothing has changed. Sorry, but I feel something was definitely different about this last batch. Anyway, was wondering if anyone else has had this kind of trouble?

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gmbk, that has been exactly my experience -- that some manufacturers have a consistency problem. Add to this all of the mergers -- when 2 generic manufacturers of buproprion merge and are selling pills under their post-merge label, we have no idea which company's "recipe" they are following, or maybe they have a new recipe.

I have a good relationship with the pharmacists at my (small-town, small-business) pharmacy, and we have agreed that every generic that I get has the manufacturer & lot number on the label. This way if I see differences I can report the lot numbers.

But me doing this is highly suspect. The entire system of generic versions of drugs is based upon the assumption that all of the generics are identical to the original patented drug, and are identical to each other. If the copies are identical, the companies don't need to spend tens of millions of dollars evaluating the copies for safety and efficacy, so the generic drugs can cost a teeny tiny fraction of the price of the originals. But if they are not identical, then we shouldn't be allowed to take them, and people who can't afford a drug that costs more than TWO car payments won't have access to the drug.

Everybody needs to understand where this is going. This drug -- the brand name always, and the generics most of the time -- have given me my life back. Where this is going is that all of the people like me who can't afford an $800/month drug will get cut off from access to this life-saving drug.

We better be VERY VERY VERY sure that the generics are really different before going down this road. As opposed to having a quality-control problem with some batches at some manufacturers, which could be fixed easily and cheaply. (Easy and cheap compared to spending tens of millions of dollars on drug evaluations for each individual generic -- in other words, making each individual generic a DIFFERENT full-priced, in-patent, brand-name drug.)

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I take the brand name of Wellbutrin XL, reason - I was told brand name drug maker has a patent on the skin covering the tablet that allows the meds to be released in your system over a period of time ..say 6-7 hours but the generic cannot get the patent and whatever they use allows the medicine to be dumped in your system. The pharmacist might not tell you this or agree. Check with needymeds and you may qualify to get meds from drug company. Good luck

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I read on the website that the consumer had to report to third party commercial insurance company. How can I get the Wellbutrin XL branded and pay the $50 monthly without having to go through my commercial insurance? I'm having all sorts of side effects from the generics. Please let me know. Thanks

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Please ket me know because I am in donut hole and next month will cost me $600 .I will be in the catastrophic part soon.maybe better for this year then ...but next yr will be all over again. I had a bad stint when Teva was mfg of generic Wellbutrin.Thought my shrink was joking when he said to call FDA.

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I haven't had any good luck with any generics lately for many reasons. Go to a canadian pharmacy with a prescription and you can get the name brand for 50$ for xl 300 for 30 pills. Go to check out their pricing and keep the insurance out of it. It's probably best for you to take care of getting them the prescription. Great deal, good people, it's made in Canada where the main brand company is. Good luck. I feel your pain.

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lucy: "I was told the brand name medication maker has a patent on the skin covering the tablet that allows the meds to be released in your system over a period of time"

No, that's not quite it. It's that medication patents don't include the time-release mechanism in the patent at all. Each manufacturer has it's own trade-secret recipe for doing time-release coatings. All of the manufacturers have been tested, and they all do the time release at pretty much the same rate now. When the generics first came out, only the 150mg were tested for dosage over time, but now the 300mg have been tested too. All of the remaining generics have the same release profile as name brand.

Also, IF the very subtle remaining differences in the coating matters, and that's a huge IF, then it's completely possible that one or more generic could be BETTER than brand name.

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In NY doctors must send the pharmacy RX script for all meds. Really ridiculous idea but if patient needs to scout for cheapest place and THEN tell dr. Where to send the RX. Dont know if dr. Can write paper RX any more?

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All that really matters is how you are benefiting from it. If the generic is working, stay with it, esp when your insurance pays towards it. If your doc won't cooperate, find another one. Very few doctors are worth $7,000/year out of pocket. 20 years in insurance claims.

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Myself and my husband had the exact same problem with our April script. My doctor just requested a non generic Wellbutrin XL perscription yesterday, my pharmacy, had to "special order it" she said they do not keep name brand drugs in stock??? Hopefully the real deal will get me back on track. Depression has set back in along with agitation.

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Has anyone taken the antidepressant BRINTELLEX? MY DOCTOR SAID IT WAS A NEW ANTIDEPRESSANT.

I HAVE BEEN ON IT FOR A WEEK ON 2MGS AND SICK AS A DOG , NAUSEOUS, BACKACHES HEADACHES, SWEATS. IT IS AWFUL!!! HAS ANYONE BEEN ON IT AND DOES IT WORK?

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Mine are made by sandoz there generic and I have good luck with them. They are SR 100mg ER. They are blue I take one in the morning and one at noon. I have no insurance and my local pharmacy charges me $21.00 for 60 I'm in Mississippi I wish u luck

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