What Is The Best Generic Version Of Wellbutrin Xl - Watson Or Anchen? (Page 51)

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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I am having the same problem. I was originally taking an older bottle of Mylan which made me feel energetic and much better spirits than I've been in quite some time. When my doctor recently prescribed the same prescription I feel totally out of sorts, agitated easily, headaches, dizzy and tired. Not sure what has happened but it's not good.

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I wonder what's going on? May I enquire as to what area you reside in? I did calm Mylan but of course they claim that no one else in the history of the world (besides me) have ever had this issue?? I offered to send them some of the pills for testing, but they weren't I interested, claiming they had left the pharmacy and I could have "tampered" with then in some way. My chance do you know the expiry date on the bottle yours were issued from?

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I just found out the very hard and deathly scary way that the generics of Wellbutrin XL are not the same. After being prescribed this i began taking it 10 days ago with horrible side effects, the main one seriously contemplating suicide along with every other side effect listed. It dawned on me to do some research. Come to find out the brand I was taking has had multiple legal suits against them for claiming to be the same as Wellbutrin. There are 4 brands that passed the FDA inspection and only 4. Please be careful with which brand you are using. My negative effect came from Teva. Google Teva legal suits. It's very alarming and whats more alarming is that this medicine is coming from a major pharmacy chain.

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I have tried the genetic & it did not work for me. I also am paying thousands for the brand name drug although my doctor has documented that I need the brand only. What will it take for we users to get the drug we need at a reasonable cost?? People who "can't afford" insurance get melds free while we who pay for insurance pay outrageous cost for our badly needed ends.

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wonder what's going on? May I enquire as to what area you reside in? I did call Mylan but of course they claim that no one else in the history of the world (besides me) have ever had this issue I offered to send them some of the pills for testing, but they weren't I interested, claiming they had left the pharmacy and I could have "tampered" with then in some way. My chance do you know the expiry date on the bottle yours were issued from?

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I have been dealing with this issue since I started taking it in July. My first batch was from Sandoz/Eon labs (the purple one). It was horrible. My fatigue increased so much, I could barely get out of bed. And add despondency to that....not the results we were looking for.
My next refill was from Watson labs and it was like night and day. I started to understand why they put me on the stuff. I have worked with my pharmacy to make sure that I only got the Watson labs one and not the Eon.
Well, this last refill they said they can't get the Watson anymore and gave me some from Sun Pharmaceuticals. It is just like the first one. I could tell two doses in. It is like being on a sedative and my mental state is shifting to a worse state.
I have a message into my doctors to see if they can convince the insurance company that I need to be on name brand. I can't go chasing all over every month to find a pharmacy with the right brand.

This is so frustrating and having a serious impact on my life.

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I sincerely hope you don't have the same experience with the brand name Wellbutrin XL by Valeant in Canada, that I had. I also ordered through Canadadrugstop. I got my first 90 day supply in February. The first 6 weeks were fine, then things started going downhill for me. This was exactly what happened to me with a couple of generics I tried.

I called Valeant here in the US and told them what was happening with the Wellbutrin by Valeant in Canada. The representative transferred me to a complaint department. The person asked me a LOT of questions - how long I had been taking Wellbutrin, other meds I had tried, exactly how I was reacting to the Canadian version. The markings on the pills are different from the Valeant pills from the U.S., but I never questioned that. She confirmed to me that the pills from Canada ARE brand name, but the regulations for drug manufacturers there differ from the US, so the medication very well could be different. Let me tell you....IT IS DIFFERENT! Additionally, when you order Wellbutrin from there, they do not guarantee where it is manufactured or from what country it could shipped.

I am not sure WHAT I am going to do now. I have about 30 pills left and I am taking one every other day until I dan figure out my next step. I may be better off to quit cold turkey, but not sure that would be safe. I guess I will start making some phone calls and see if I can find some generics I have not tried. I don't think I could be any worse off than I am right now.

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My experience with generic Wellbrutrin XL is the delivery method. I have tried it twice with different generic manufacturers and both times the results were the same- does not work for me. I learned when my local pharmacy switched to generic without telling me so I had to figure out what was going on. I figured it out with the help of the pharmacist & my behavioral health dr. My insurance has a high copay 200-$300/month. I take 1-150 & 1-300mg tablet per day. I found the Wellbrutrin XL Guarantee Program and have been successful with branded because of the support of this program. May 27, 2016 I was told my insurance is not participating with Direct Success Pharmacy -which means: Direct Success Pharmacy is not "an approved" pharmacy within my plan. My medication actually was coming from Total Health Pharmacy which I understand IS a preferred pharmacy in my insurance program however Total Health Pharmacy can no longer run my RXs using this program. I am confused but left to either pay $50 copay per 30 pills/month = $100 copay or go to a local pharmacy within my Preferred Pharmacy list and pay $200-$300/month. I have contacted my HR & will continue to make appropriate phone calls in order to understand if there are any other options available to me for $100/month I can not afford-particularly when a second medication vyvanse was added ($50/month) to my medication mix.

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I have the same issue. I have been taking Wellbutrin for 15 years. Over the years I have attempted to take the generic and have had very bad results. It makes me very agitated. In January my insurance company started charging me the $7,000 annual price. I can't afford it. I tried generic again with the same bad results. I called Doctor Radio and they confirmed some people do have a differential response to the generic. I really am struggling.

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Debra, before you give up, go talk to your pharmacist. There are more than one generic manufacturer, and they are as different from each other as they are from brand. Also, I have found that some manufacturers have quality control problems -- some batches work as well as brand, some don't.

If you and the pharmacist work together, you can work on out a plan:

-- Make sure you have the manufacturer, lot number and expiration for every pill that you try. (If they give you the original bottle that helps.)
-- If you have a particular manufacturer & lot that is working well, work with your pharmacist to get more of it.
-- When you try out a particular lot, give it a week. Although I can usually tell in about 3-4 days, I'm only confident after the longer time.
-- If you have a good lot, don't use it all up before starting another. (Of course you need to keep track of expiration dates and use it before the expiration.) Your life will be much less stressful if you know you have a couple of weeks worth of a working medication if you end up having a run of stuff that doesn't work.
-- Report your experiences to the FDA at: fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
-- Report to the manufacturers. If they have a problem with different batches working differently, they have a powerful financial interest in fixing it. But they need to know that there's a problem.

Try to be positive! Taking some control over the process should help to keep some of the feelings of doom at bay.

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thank you for posting for all posts really help to solidify to me this issue is unacceptable. For me I have a professional challenging job that I can not afford to figure out over 3-5 days if the generic is working or not. This is my dilemma. I am forced to pay the high price and then figure out how to pay my daycare summer bills that begin now. I didn't report my situation with the generic with the FDA however I will make a point to call about it.

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This is PATENTLY false. The generics do NOT have the same release profile. Not even close.

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NYS docs can mail paper script outside New York State. Computer just mandatory within the state.

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I also had a bad experience with Mylan. It makes me jittery and anxious.

The Actsvis version just doesn't work for me. I'm going to try the Par brand next.

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You can call and leave a message but I wasn't able to speak to a person. They will send you a form, but seeing that it took a year for the FDA to take the gen Wellbutrin 300 xl from TEVA company. Even though it was written up in the WSJ

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Are you talking about gen wellbutrin? Plz be more specific and about dose.
I take brand due to bad reaction to the generic. I recently took brand 150 and did not realize nor I was I told by pharmacy tha t it wasn't Valeant...because Glaxco Kline makes a brand 150 SR. NOT 150XL

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Be sure & notify your U.S. Congressman & Senator about this! It's time our government does something about these ridiculously high drug costs! I was getting Wellbutrin SR through the drug company ;;;;Glaxco Smith Kline....free due to low income! They stopped sending it, saying it's generic now! Guess what? I cannot afford the generic or the 2 other meds I was getting from them....one for my asthma & one for my heart! They, just, don't care! I am retired & cannot work due to health problems!

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I have been getting the brand drug from Direct Success for about two years, but I got the call saying they aren't working with my insurance now. I can pay the $50 cash price going forward, but I thought I would try another generic before spending the extra money. Watson worked so well for me, but it was pulled because it didn't meet the standards. I guess they didn't ask my opinion. I took Actavis for several months before I figured out that it just didn't work. Then I tried the Mylan, but it made me more nervous. I've never tried the Par version of XL 300. Any comments on Par? Or any others?

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Glaxo can no longer be sold in Canada.. I had been getting Wellbutrin XL 300 mg from Canada Pharmacy. And then they didn't work. They were made by Biovail. They LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE THE REAL THING. Counterfeit pills. I had a devil of a time getting my money back.

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Yes I've tried both and both did not work. Devliery system is different and for this medication it makes a difference in my body. Sucks for I, too am in the same boat as you yet I take 450mg so I have a $100 payment now.

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