What Is The Best Generic Version Of Wellbutrin Xl - Watson Or Anchen? (Page 9)

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 had exactly the same experience. Walgreen's switched me from Anchen to Mylan - I soon realized it wasn't working, and found another pharmacy with Anchen. But many people seem to have problems with Anchen. Go figure.

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I was started on Wellbutrin XL 300 over a year ago, the generic that I always had received was by Par Pharm. , a few months back they sent me a new generic via mail order called Mylan Pharm. and it did not work at all, I went through heck trying to make sure to get the Par brand again for certain, with Dr.'s help and so on, but get the fill only to find they sent one made by Anchen, sooo my question is are Par and Anchen sister companies? are they the same basic company? the pills look almost identical, just the font is different, but very slightly. I need to know because I am having shakes and unorganized thoughts, and feeling emotional....like I did with the Mylan brand----ugh, hate this feeling

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There is a company called Intelgenx that now makes a 450mg pill(Wellbutrin XL) called forfivo that is a time release for the whole day. Now instead of taking three 150 mg, you can just take one and the time release is over the 24 hour period.

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I have been taking the Anchen version for a while.. from a small pharmacy... then generic from Mylan.... then generic from Watson. The Watson did not work at all.. it was like I wasn't taking it. I was depressed, irritable, and mean.

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I buy my wellbutrin brand name in Canada. I took my prescription to a pharmacy here in the US and they told me my insurance would not cover it and it would cost me $400. for one month's supply. (300mg/day).
I got a script in Canada for six weeks supply and paid out of pocket for the brand name. Total cost? $70.
Yes, that is right. It is almost 10 x more expensive here in the US.
What is wrong with that?

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I will be aware now of each new bottle I begin taking to keep an eye out for issues. If the manufacturer has changes, I will ask for a 1 week supply. If that works fine, I will go ahead and get the 1 month or 3 month prescription.

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I was on the Brand name Wellbutrin XL for two years from a US pharmacy and experienced no adverse side effects at all. My insurance wouldn't cover it anymore so I had to try the Canadian pharmacy way. I ordered from Pharmstore because they said the manufacturer was Valeant. To my surprise when the pills arrived they were the overseas version GS 5FV and not the Valeant version WXL 150. I took the GS 5FV for a few days and just felt completely horrible. I was tired, had problems with equilibrium and balance when walking, I would try to say something and the sentence would come out incorrect, it was harder to think, I had a tingling sensation in my head, a headache, I was nauseous, had acid reflux issues, anxiety and a panic feeling. Regardless of what anyone says I am completely convinced that the GS 5FV is not the same quality as the Valeant form that we receive in the US and Canada. So now I am going to have to go bug my doctor for another prescription because these idiots at Pharmstore decided to false advertise, I think I will try Big Mountain Drugs next since everyone seems to like that pharmacy on here.

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I wonder if HOW the pill is made makes more of less of the actual medicine your body gets. I was using Mylan and Anchen (same manufacturer) but when I was switched to Watson, it was like using a sugar pill.. took me 5 days to clue in that it was medication withdrawls, even though I was taking the same dose. Some of the other posts have the situation reversed... good with Watson, bad with Anchen. From now on I am going to confirm manufacturer before I actually pay for the meds at the pharmacy.

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There's something to this whole discussion -- the FDA just pulled Teva's 300mg budeprion XL pill from the market because it wasn't bioequivalent. It is also making the other generic manufacturers perform bioequivalency tests on healthy volunteers. I guess we'll know by mid-year 2013. Link below--

fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm322160.htm

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Note that at the bottom of the link posted by Ender, there is a link to report adverse effects to the FDA. If you have had problems with generic Wellbutrin XL, PLEASE, PLEASE file a report, and spread the word for others to also do so!

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I have had disastrous effects. Three years ago my physcaitrist moved out of state and my Primary care prescribed generic Welbutrin XL, to save me money. It did not work for me, depression slide. She then changed me to Brand Welbutrin XL, she then went on maternity leave. Somewhere, my brand XL and generic was switched again without my knowledge. I was without doctors who had seen the results. Alone basically and went into a severe depression with susidel thoughts and plans. Never had my depression been that bad. Thank God a friend and a neighbor I didn't know that well, saw how I was, even I was starting to avoid people and isolate. They both stayed on me and helped me find a physcaitrist. She told me that they see that 50% of their patients, severely slide into a worse depression. Since most primary care docs don't see as many patients, or refer those like me out to the specilist, they could not know. Although I had been on Wellbutrin XL for years with good results, I did not want to change. But to please the Insurance company we played with other Welbutrin sr, as well as other drugs. Not good so we went to Wellbutrin XL. When I had my prescription filled, I went to a different drug store to avoid any mistakes. When I picked up my medicine, it was Welbutrin XL GENERIC, again only I now knew better and refused it. They said my insurance would not cover it even with a higher copayment. After many calls to the company, being told no every time. I found a person who heard me, and had known someone who had been affected by a generic drug vs brand, and he filed the papers with my physicalist to get approval from my insurance co for the brand Welbutrin XL. I then talked to the pharmacy manager I can not take the generic and wanted them to mark my account, "cannot take Welbutrin XL" get this he said it is a law that if doctor does not write "do not substitute " on the prescription" they have to substitute for generic if it exists. Back to my doc to rewrite the script, fill out forms for Insurance. Insurance sent approval right away once they had correct form from me and my doc. I asked the drug store how much. I take two scripts, so it is $92.00 dollars each that's right, $184.00 dollars a month. I am a cancer survivor and on Medicare, so limited income but not low enough to get extra help from Medicare or my state medical department, or the drug manufacturer who cannot help you if your on Medicare. So to be able to write this, thanks to the working help of Welbutrin XL Brand, I canceled my cable tv, Internet and phone, to be able to pay the $184.00 per month to stay alive and have a happy life. Freedom and the pursuit of happiness, it's all re really have. I have worked all my life, paid taxes, paid into social security and am struggling like many others, and not as bad as many and this difficult, but I choose life over death, when my brain is not impaired. I did not choose cancer, or depression but it happened and I do not want someone else choosing weather I live or dye. So to those of you who think or are being told its your imanigation this generic drug is not working, keep fighting and do whatever you have to stay alive, we need you. Sorry this is so long but I had to let you know tha tit does not work for many of us. Also I got an email from a friend that the manufacturer is pulling the generic off the market. Does anyone know about that? God bless.

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Reuters just reported that the FDA just announced that the generic version of Wellbutrin is NOT EQUIVALENT to the brand name:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said new data indicate that the generic version of the popular antidepressant Wellbutrin is not equivalent to the original drug manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
Budeprion XL 300 mg, or bupropion hydrochloride extended-release tablets, are manufactured by Impax Laboratories Inc and marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
The FDA, in a notice posted on its website on Wednesday, said it has changed the therapeutic equivalence rating for the product in the agency's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations to show that Budeprion XL 300 mg fails to demonstrate therapeutic equivalence to Wellbutrin XL 300 mg.
Impax has requested that the FDA withdraw approval of budeprion XL 300 mg extended-release tablets, the FDA said. Impax and Teva have stopped shipping the product, the agency said.
(Reporting by Debra Sherman; Editing by Will Dunham)

This might mean that your insurance companies are going to be forced to pay for your brand name. I would contact your pharmacist and ask about this new decision. (It was only posted on Wed. so they might not have heard of it yet).
Good luck.

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insurance companies will not approve the brand name; they'll simply have you get a different generic manufacturer. I know of two: Watson and Anchen. Sorry.

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If your doctor will mark "Dispense as Written" on the Wellbutrin script, most insurance companies will pay for the namebrand. If not,you will get one of the other 2 generics.

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You have a better insurance company than mine! You're lucky. The only way I can get brand name approved by insurance company is to go thru routine of claiming generic does not work for me, after trying generic for a bit, and with my doctor's agreement. Not impossible, but takes time, during which I have to get generic so ins co.can see that I have tried it for a while.

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Steve, your insurance is better than mine - even after going through "step therapy", having my doctor fill out paperwork, and "dispense as written", I still have to pay the brand co-pay, PLUS the difference between the cost of the generic and brand-name. Works out to about $250/month for me for brand WXL.

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Hope -- I don't know if you have ever tried any of the generics besides the one by Teva -- the 300 mg. size of which is now off the market. I went right from the brand name to the generic by Watson and for me -- I know we're all different -- the Watson worked fine and that is what I still take. So if you never tried any generic but the lousy one made by Teva -- now recognized as no good by the FDA -- my suggestion would be to try one or more of the other generics. You might be pleasantly surprised. I know of Watson and Anchen. Just a thought. If you've already gone thru this with no luck, I'm sorry for the suggestion.

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I have been posting here over the last 6+months- went from Teva (worked great for me), to Mylan - like taking sugar pill, to Watson - worked in some ways, cause more problems in others- caused me to think I might die- nonstop all day! I've never had this issue-ever! Also had strange chest pains. All which completely stopped within a couple days of not taking meds. Thought i'd give it another try though, knowing I need welbutrin. So I tried Watson again, same thoughts & chest pains. No good! So now I am on nothing and trying to look into Canada for brand name as my insurance won't pay.

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I've already taken the generic version of Wellbutrin from 2 different manufacturers with the same dissapointing results. Before I took them I was depressed but I did not have any other major health issues. Now I suffer from seizures and constant chest pains. I used to workout 4 to 6 days a week; now I barely have the stength to get out of bed in the mornings. Simple tasks such as walking up the stairs are very difficult. I find myself taking the escalator or elevator to avoid the chest pains that follow after walking up a few flights of stairs. I also hallucinate alot and forget little things like my 4 digit ATM pin and phone number which I had memorized for years. I know the warning labels tell you not to stop taking some meds without consulting your doctor first but I had no choice but to stop taking my last generic Wellbutrin (made by Mylan). This was after one morning I went to the store and got lost walking back home. This is a route that I've taken several times in the 3 years since I moved to my current address. When I finally made it home I was so exhausted and felt dizzy and dissoriented the rest of the day. I've also gained more than 10lbs. I know that this is normally a side effect of most antidepressants but I understand that the brand name Wellbutrin usually have the opposite effect. This is a major setback for me since I've worked out so hard over the years to keep the weight off. My primary physician is planning to increase my high blood pressure meds due to the extra weight. I had previously contacted my insurance to get a waiver to purchase the brand name with a $15 copay (instead of $300 for the month) but the rep who I spoke to was not very understanding and kept insisting that I have to take the generic or find another brand that cost less. I called back today and spoke to someone else who agreed that I should get a waiver to purchase the brand at the lower cost. I should be getting the form in a few days for my doctor to sign. I'm getting ready to see a neurologist to treat my seizures and I hope it's not too late for me to overcome some of the new health issues that I have to deal with.

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Buproprion XL has disaturous effects on me. I was doing wonderful on the brand Wellbutrin XL 300MG. My company switched insurance providers and the new would not pay for name brand Wellbutrin. I can not take the Buproprion, I feel like i have the flu, ache all over my body, blurred vision, panic attacks, horrible feeling of despair. This stuff should be taken off the market totally.

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