What Is The Best Generic Version Of Wellbutrin Xl - Watson Or Anchen? (Page 31)

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 called in the first week in April to Mylan and asked what was going on. It took a week to hear back but they called back and mentioned production issues and that it would be released again to distribution on April 25 and to retail a couple of days after that.

I would ask your pharmacist to order it or call another Walgreens. The one closest to me didn't have it but the 2nd closest one did.

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Did any of you pro Mylan users take the name brand at one point and not see results? I took PAR/Anchen for a month, had 4honeymoon days, rest was awful. 1 month on name brand now and not feeling anything. Wondering if I should try Mylan down the line, add an SSRI or what.

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The brand has worked wonders for me. I was on Watson and the Actavis (they merged after I switched) and I didn't do nearly as well as I am now. I really don't know what to say for any kind of recommendations. I like crazymeds for info and the user forums.

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Josh,
It seems there are real variations in the generics as far as the "extended release" aspect goes, where some release perhaps too much at once in the beginning then fizzle out. Just according to what I have read on these boards. I am still taking the 150 brand name as I had gotten a 90 day supply. I think it is keeping me from sinking too low but not really "Making" me feel good. I just want to be sure I am acclimated to it before I up the dose, I have read that if you go too much at once it can be a shock to the system. So I really have nothing to tell, I am new to the drug, just started my third bottle/month. I would actually like to feel that "honeymoon" phase others have mentioned - but perhaps as with any "feel good" drug, the brain quickly acclimates to it. Sorry I don't have anything worthwhile to add at this point. I will ask my doctor to give me a new prescription for the 300 and see how that works out. I hope you find a dose that works for you!

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Josh, I don't know if you have ever done what we shall call scheduled drugs. They like all drugs are the same! It's a sad but true fact that regardless if its Wellbutrin or Xanax or anything else, at first you get a euphoric rush, I'll call it that because maybe some can relate. After just a few days that rush becomes the norm… You have to take yourself past what we normal folks call mental illness and fight it and just keep taking the pill! In the drug world this is known as the point where you either do more because it feels so good or in our world hold out and fight the fact that you want to feel as good as the first few days because they are gone forever. By taking the one Brand you are fighting back, you will not over medicate yet you know as far as medical science has projected Brand is the best they have to offer. Do two then you'll need three! This is a sick cycle that I hope you can understand. There is no end! Just stick to the one, it's the best they have and you will adjust, I promise you even though you want to search for that miracle week or few days that you can say you felt alive, we are alive, we are taking our meds according to the instructions and all those things in your head that say you feel great and take more or this is not right are wrong! Just take it and you will adjust, I promise. This is a glimpse into the world of other drugs that it's okay and more acceptable to keep taking more but end up at this same crossroad. We get there fast, days, go with it and know that if you fight through what every cell in your body is telling you is not enough drugs you will be okay. Take my advise, I speak from knowledge and knowing the evils of addiction. There is no safe drug! There is only what they tell us to take and how much and they know nothing… Listen to the label, fight your way through this and you can be happy once you reach your plateau and adjust to it. You will be where you're intended to be. The first time I did an opiate, every problem I had from anxiety to depression went away. Three days later that same dose wasn't enough! faster than you can say more I needed more to sustain that feeling, the same feeling that Wellbutrin initially gives you. Unlike other drugs where the doctor who knows nothing about what he/she is doing to you with pain meds, with this there is a limit thank God and adhere to it, it's a blessing. You will feel better, don't go chasing a high, because thats all it is. Man up and deal with what we have been given and we will make it!!! Sorry to take this off course a bit but it's all the same crap. I really do know what I'm talking about and that most of you are smart enough that you will get my message and realize that the first few days or week is nothing but a jubilee of endorphins invading our brains, raising our levels and making us feel like I wish I could tell you you will always feel but unfortunately you won't. You will sink back, but don't sink too far because we are better than we were with nothing! let the meds carry us to the place where we have to belong and have to make it work. Regardless if it's Brand or generic, whatever gets you to that place where you at one time felt good for most of the time stay there or find it again. IMO Brand is the answer and it is by far the most powerful of everything on the market so just settle in, don't over medicate like we are on opiates which our doctors would be feeding us more and more of to keep you at that first weeks level. That's not the answer, its the beginning of the end. Take your dose, think nice thoughts, no one is committing suicide or doing what they claim they want to because they just want to and they won't and they will be with us at the end with our specified dose and nothing more and feeling like they will make it through another day, I'm sure of it!!! Also don't be afraid to speak with your doctor and tell them how you feel. That you want to be high like you were the first days/week. They may have the answer and work with you and keep you on track and where you will be and have to be, or maybe chances are they don't have a clue and we are all on our own and are smart enough to get our pathetic doctors to give us what we know is best for us and we will make it with their so called help but we all know we are the ones in charge of our destiny....

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I started the generic 150 from Ach/Par and I felt good for the first 4 days and then started to feel down with a lot of side effects. Nausea being the worst.That was for the first month. So I started getting the name brand hoping for less side effects. Which worked for that but I still wasn't feeling like happiness was going to happen. That was month 2. I then went up to 300 and like before I felt a little better for the first few days and started feeling more down again with the addition of axanity. I feel like this med can't do it all for me. I feel better in some aspects but I just can't get out of feeling down. I just went back down to 150 and am now adding a SNRI. Do to a little less sexual side effects then an SSRI. I just started it this week and I do at least feel like happiness could be achieved over time. It hasn't been enough time to really tell yet but the hope is there. I would try to add something because you might like me and need that serotonin reuptake that wellbutrin doesn't cover. If your nervous about adding something I hear lexapro has very little side effects and works the fastest. I added cymbalta to mine because I was on it before and it helped.I sometimes think I should of stayed on that and just went up on it. I was on a low dose for having depression and axanity. But this is all based on my experiences and opinion. Hope it was helpful.

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Hi Darla.

Two months on the 150 should be long enough. As long as you don't have any serious side effects there is no reason to not go up to 300.

However, I am a little concerned that you say taking two of the 150's made you feel very sleepy. That is not a typical reaction to Welbutrin. It normally does the opposite. I think you should mention that to your doctor. It could be an indication that the medication is not right for you.

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"The reason why Canadians don't pay a high price for Wellbutrin is because they are being de facto subsidized by Americans who are. The Canadian government negotiates drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies. The American government does not. To make up for their profit losses with Canadians, the pharmaceutical companies stick it to Americans with higher drug prices. Nothing wrong with the pharmaceutical companies doing this. If they are able to buy off the American government, it's simply business and part of the free enterprise system. For some reason, they are unable to buy off the Canadian government."

Geminiguy, I don't know where you get your info from, and I don't know how correct it is, but this sounds like a made up reason to blame Canada for an American problem. IMHO

The main reason you pay more is probably because you live in a country where everyone thinks it's okay to make healthcare available only to the rich and leave the poor to suffer. The drug companies get away with charging outrageous prices because no one tells them they can't.

If you really want a shock, next time you're at a hospital ask someone how much they pay for tongue depressors. Anything that is related to healthcare is always ridiculously overpriced. It's just plain and simple greed.

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"The drug companies get away with charging outrageous prices because no one tells them they can't." I think that's what I said.

"The main reason you pay more is probably because you live in a country where everyone thinks it's okay to make healthcare available only to the rich and leave the poor to suffer." The American poor who qualify for Medicaid get the best deal on healthcare than anyone in America, rich or poor. They pay absolutely nothing for healthcare. The American working poor who don't qualify for Medicaid suffer the most. As your income rises, you can afford healthcare but you're income is bled to subsidize the poor on Medicaid. Not only do you pay taxes to support the poor on Medicaid, but you pay higher insurance premiums to make up for the losses the doctors and hospitals incur as a result of the American government underpaying them under Medicaid. The poorer you are in America, you get a better deal on healthcare than any other American.

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I had serious depression for years and it was Budeprion SR 100mg (generic Welbutrin) made by TEVA that worked like magic- no depression now for 4 years! Unfortunately, they just stopped manufacturing it in Dec. 2013 (I called the company). Now I need to find another generic that works well for me, similar to TEVA generic.
Does anyone know which generic is similar to the TEVA generic? Any suggestions besides trial and error? (the Sandoz gneneric made me ill). The brand name will cost me 3 times more (insurance won't pay for it) than the generic!
I would appriciate your input if you know about this! thanks!

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I'm not that familiar with SR's but I found Anchen, Now Par, to be very good and as close to brand as I have ever felt. I'm not so sure what you were taking was anything like brand but what you were taking was found to be not equivalent to brand and thats why they pulled it if that means anything at all. I think that these are all just trial and error until you find the one that works best for you. Also I think it's only fair to give a product that seams ok when you start it at least a month to start working and let your body adjust and keep an open mind and not let yourself be determined that it won't work. There are only a few to try, I found after trying brand that's whats best for me so I would say try Par if it's a money issue as I found that close to brand as I stated. Please read the following closely and maybe you can find what you are looking for.

fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/postmarketdrugsafetyinformationforpatientsandproviders/ucm322161.htm

Good Luck

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Mylan worked very well for me and is also very much like brand, if not identical. Can anyone compare Mylan and Par? Im wondering if Par works as well as Mylan?

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Geminiguy:

Well, of course, I only know what I hear in the media and from friends I have met online who live in the states. One woman told me about how she lost everything she owned because she was in the hospital for 2 months. But from the way it is portrayed on TV, I wouldn't say being on Medicaid is any picnic. If there is any truth to the stuff they show in American medical dramas, like hospitals "turfing" people because they find out they're on Medicaid and they don't want to treat them.

As for the "loses" to the hospitals and doctors from treating people on Medicaid....

I don't know about you but I've never met a poor doctor. Or even a "middle class" doctor. And the amount of money hospitals charge for services I would imagine far exceeds the actual cost of the service. Not to mention the amount that is wasted, and the amount that gets pocketed by greedy administration people. Don't ever believe they can't afford to take a cut.

In Canada, I can tell you from experience, it is no fun being in the poorest class. People say all the same things, about how people on welfare and disability get a free ride and the working people pay to support them....blah blah blah. The truth is that living on welfare/disability is horrendous. I can't imagine anyone doing it just because they are "lazy", as all the rich people like to say. It's even worse when you have a disability that people don't understand or accept, like depression. The therapist I saw last year, for the grand total of 8 sessions that I was allowed, told me that he has never had a patient who applied for disability get approved. I never had the chance to find out because I inherited some money and was automatically disqualified. In order for me or my husband, who is also disabled, to qualify I have to spend every last cent of the inheritance money, and keep all the receipts to prove that I spent it on living expenses only. Then, after we are completely and utterly penniless, with nothing but the clothes on our backs and the one vehicle we are permitted to own, then we can get just enough to pay the rent and buy food, if we're lucky.

Oh yeah, we're living the good life now!

But this is getting way off topic and I am sure that is frowned upon here, as it is in most forums.

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I too was having a lot of success on Bupropion XL 300 mg a day. But over the course of the last 6 weeks I've noticed it slowly was losing potency to the point where it is now clearly not working. I asked my pharmacist if there were any changes made and alas they switched my generic brand from Par Pharmaceuticals to Actavis. I did a bit of research and found Actavis used to be Watson Pharmaceuticals which was mandated by the FDA to take their generic version of Bupropion XL 300mg off the market due to lack of efficacy. Hmmmmm... I have spent hours on the phone and internet trying to track down my original version and finally found it at Costco's Pharmacy. Moral of the story - be aware of changes made with your generic meds by your pharmacist because they are not all the same regardless of what the FDA claims. Don't let your doc or your pharmacist say it's all in your head. You know your body so fight for the medication that works best for you!

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Just wanted to say that the Wellbutrin assistance program is still around. It's called Wellbutrin XL guarantee program. You can google it. You can get brand name directly from them for much less.

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Mimi and Others -- If your doctor will not write you your requested brand drug, I encourage you to seek a new doctor and request that they indicate "brand medically necessary" on your Rx prescription, if your insurance does not allow for the brand. The RX will have to be processed as the "brand" by the pharmacy ... it must be filled as written by the Doc, unless you the consumer request that the 'pharmacy' to fill it with a generic. You must educate yourself and maintain control of your health and drugs prescribed! Do not let insurance and doctors dictate your standard of care!! Even if your insurance tries to "force" or "encourage" cost savings over to the generic, when a doctor writes "brand medically necessary" on the RX, you are the only one who can decide to change or replace the brand with the generic. If you get your RX from outside the country, be sure to read forums like this one to ensure you do not encounter a bad drug distributor. We are fortunate to have found "jandrugs", in partnership with "canadadrugs", where we order brand name Wellbutrin XL and receive the pills from Valeant out of Canada with the marking "WXL 300". Good health and wellness to you all!

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Anyone who has not tried brand or can't afford brand you're doing yourself a disservice by not looking up and at least trying brand. For $50 or less depending on your insurance you will receive up to a years worth of brand from direct success pharmacy in NJ. Three months with three refills. Chances are brand will be the best for all but a small portion of you who may never find what you're looking for because it doesn't exist anymore. Give direct success a call and buy brand and see what it's all about. These other generics taken off the market were found to not be equivalent, that's why they're no longer available. Brand is best and now there is no reason at this pricing structure that you shouldn't have the best. Don't talk yourself out of it, just do it now or next doctors visit. He can call it right in while you're there with him or her in less than five minutes. Have no reservations, this is brand, exactly nothing but brand so don't think it's a scam!

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I thought I would share my experience with generics in case anyone is still interested. I was first on Wellbutrin (brand name) about 6 years ago, and it changed my life. I came out of the depressive fog I had been in, started eating healthy and exercising, and lost 40 pounds in about six months. I maintained my new mental health (and kept the weight off) for a couple of years. Then my insurance decided not to pay for brand. I could not afford it on my own, so I switched to generic. I don't know what maker it was, but it was definitely not the same. I descended into depression again and gained the weight back plus some. I thought the generic was the problem, but everyone acted like I was crazy. So a couple of years ago, I decided to go off Wellbutrin and try other anti-depressants. They ALL had negative side effects for me. I tried a LOT of them.

Finally, in January of this year, I asked my doctor if I should try the Wellbutrin again. Of course, my insurance still wouldn't pay for it, so I got the generic. At the time, I had no idea about the generic recalls from the past couple of years. The first month, Walgreen's gave me the Anchen generic. It was only meh. Then they gave me Mylan, and it was better. The month after that, they told me they were experiencing problems with their manufacturer (Mylan) and gave me Actavis instead. I was dubious but tried it. And for the first time in years, I started feeling healthy again. The effect was noticeable after only a day or two. I lost about 15 pounds in two months, and my life was finally starting to look up.

Then, AGAIN, Walgreen's switched manufacturers on me, going back to Anchen. That's the one I described as "meh." It just confirmed for me that none of this was in my head. I suffered it out and renewed the prescription as soon as possible, making sure they didn't give me the Anchen again. I asked for the version they gave me in April, and they said it was Mylan. I knew as soon as I picked it up that it was wrong (the Actavis and Mylan look similar but not identical), but they insisted it was the right one. So I took it for a week and called them last night to ask AGAIN which maker I got in April. They finally told me that it was Actavis. Now I am stuck with three weeks of a generic that is not fully effective for me and am waiting to be able to get the Actavis, which is the only generic version that seems to actually work for me.

The good news is that Walgreen's said although they "usually" carry Mylan (they could have fooled me), they can order the Actavis for me if I give them enough notice. You can bet I will be doing that.

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For $50 per month, you can have name brand Wellbutrin. Google Wellbutrin and sign up with Direct Success pharmacy.

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Do they take medicare or medical?

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