I take Wellbutrin XL 300 mg. When I was switched from Brand name Wellbutrin to Par, Anchen, & Actavis generics I became more depressed, and had adverse reactions like unexplainable weight gain, Rashes, allergies, contact dermatitis to products that I had never been allergic to before ( I had never even had contact dermatitis to any thing for that matter before being switched to Wellbutrin XL Generics) I'm sick of not feeling well, and receiving different generic brands every time I pick my medication up. I want to be able obtain the name brand Wellbutrin XL 300 mg even if I do have to pay $50.00 for it. It would be well worth it If it works The same as it used to for me When my insurance did pay for it. I have been taking Wellbutrin XL for 8 years now, and there is NO DOUBT that the generics are horrible And do not work for me. Thank you all in advance for taking your time to respond. :-)
Thoes taking name brand Wellbutrin from Direct Success; How's it working? Are you Feeling better?
Question posted by RichMich on 24 Jan 2015
Last updated on 16 September 2020 by ametzdaniels
30 Answers
I am going through the exact same thing right now!!!
My insurance forced me to leave Walgreens for Cvs, and it has all been downhill from there. After getting the NDC# from Walgreens, CVS advised me they cannot/willnot order it. I found myself so deeply depressed, I had to stop the medication. In the last 4 fills, CVS has given me Par and Actavis, when in the past I had likely been given Teva until it was recalled.
I dropped down to 150 mg with no improvement and have since submitted an exemption to my insurer. Of course, I do not anticipate success, ( if you were successful please help me with the verbiage) and I am just curious... where do I go from here? I honestly do not want to take any other medication. I love what Bupropion does when it works, and nothing else will work in the same manner.
Hi All, I am new on this site.
Does anyone know if there is any specific generic or brand, Wellbutrin XL or SR, that does not cause hair loss? I have tried a couple (I have to check what they are), but while they are working great for me, I am shedding quite a bit.
Any inlut would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Interesting to hear about the fillers. And I’m sorry this is incredibly late, but I think it’s important.
My physician said generic manufacturers are only required to have 80% of active ingredients to be considered equivalent. That means a possible 40% spread between generics, so dosing need adjustment.
If a generic doesn’t work, I ask my pharmacist to order the old one - or order brand.
I go to a neighborhood pharmacy where they know me and are willing to do more. They give other patients feedback if I ask.
First 3 years great I was on 500mgs generic
But it stopped working with excruciating migraines however nothing else worked like that did before it wore off with sickening headaches
I have been taking the generic bupropion XL 300mg made by mylan for some time now. I decided I wanted to try the name brand as I heard that there is a big difference between the generics and name brand. Even though I live in Canada and have good prescription coverage, the name brand is not covered and I was going to have to pay the price difference. After some research online, I found a free program called innovicares that covers the price difference between the two so I will be able to get the name brand at no cost to me. I am picking up my new prescription this afternoon and will post any difference I notice in the next month
I am prescribed this medicine mainly for depression. I've never taken the name brand Wellbutrin xl but I was taking bupropion xl made by Actavis (which seemed to work just fine for me)but for some reason my pharmacy said they can no longer get so now I have to take the bupropion xl made by Anchen. I just found out my body isn't able to dissolve the coating on the new pill so for the last several weeks I haven't been getting my medication because of this. I'm not sure if it's a defect on the manufacturers part or just my body. Maybe try a different brand if it's an option. I'm calling my doctor tomorrow to see what our plan is for this, I've already talked with my pharmacist.
Hello RichMich - I understand your pain. The generics are horrible! I wanted to respond to let you know of a solution that worked for me. Just last week I was able to get the name brand for $5! I used the Wellbutrin patient assistance program through its manufacturer Valeant. Go to wellbutrinxl.com to sign up. I'd seen this form before and had doubts about it working; so I called Valeant directly at 1-800-321-4576, option #2, then #1 for the patience assistance program. I called to firm that the program was still valid and active (the form online may say that it expired 12/31/17, but I called in January 2018 and the rep confirmed that it is still active). You can also try calling 1-855-330-1963, but I recommend calling Valeant directly.
I gave the forms (from wellbutrinxl.com) to my pharmacist and it worked!! I was so grateful because the generic brand from PAR had me more depressed and I gained almost 30 lbs!! It's worth a try because I know how hard it is to find something that works for you and Wellbutrin XL has worked great for me over the last 10 years. (Side note: there is a Netflix series called "Dirty Money" that talks about how Valeant had SEC issues for jacking up the price on prescriptions, making them unaffordable to consumers. Many people may have already known about it from the news (years ago), but I had no idea.) Anywho, good luck!
RichMich
I’d gladly pay $50. I’m so desperate that I paid $190 for 100mg at Costco yesterday! I’m used to taking 300mgs but even at Costco it’s well over $1000. Have you tried the $5 coupon? I used the Valeant coupon twice but now they won’t accept my insurance.
So, Wellbutrin is manufactured by a Canadian company call Valeant (a subsidiary of GSK I supoose) and I have my script sent to a pharmacy in Canada that ships me a three month supply for $197.
I tried my cheap insurance option instead and got hives from one generic (Mylan) and minimal effectiveness from the next, Anchen — widely known to be the least effective. So before riding yet another dip on the roller coaster I’m going back to CanadaDrugs.com.
Once your Dr. has called in the RX (or emailed it), You have to follow up to make sure their customer care person talks to their patient rep who talks to the pharmacists, or theball could drop causing delays; and you will invariably wait up to 10 days for tracked delivery, but it’s worth it to me, ultimately.
Barring that, tell your pharmacist which brand generic you prefer and they will order it consistently for you. Unless they suck. CVS would do it.
This is a very late reply, but I’m compelled to share my experience taking Wellbutrin. First, I’ve been taking antidepressants for nearly 25 years and nothing worked better than brand Wellbutrin brand. But when prices went through the roof several years ago, I had to switch to generic. I tried just about every brand out there and nothing worked. I don’t care what anyone says, genetics don’t come close. Latest generic is Cipla and in my opinion should be removed by the FDA. It gave me (and many others) severe headachs, bloating, stomach cramps, weight gain and did absolutely nothing for my depression. Now, my insurance won’t let me use the Wellbutrin coupon. My depression is effecting every part of my life. Please don’t listen to people who say generics work. They are not the same.
"Do generic medicines work the same as brand-name medicines?
Yes. Any generic medicine modeled after a brand-name medicine must perform the same in the body as the brand-name medicine. This standard applies to all generic medicines. A generic medicine is the same as a brand-name medicine in dosage, safety, effectiveness, strength, stability, and quality, as well as in the way it is taken and the way it should be used. Generic medicines use the same active ingredients as brand-name medicines and work the same way, so they have the same risks and benefits as the brand-name medicines. The FDA Generic Drugs Program conducts a rigorous review to make certain generic medicines meet these standards, in addition to conducting 3,500 inspections of manufacturing plants a year and monitoring drug safety after the generic medicine has been approved and brought to market."
That was sarcasm, right? Because anyone who has had generics switched on them know that it ain't so.
No, it wasn't... it was factual. Do your research instead of relying on subjective social media.
Relying on personal experience.
Take the real stuff. Noticed several of my drugs that are generic dont work well. Many companies endangering our well being and making money off us at the same time!!'
Ditto. My insurance company says they approved it, the Wellbutrin butt I have to pay around $2000. Yes! Only in the USA.
Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents about the Cipla brand and their 300mg xl pills. I had first started out on the 150mg dose of their pills with great success. After about 3 weeks the results started to fade a bit (kinda expected as body adapts) so I requested with my Doc to go up to next level, 300mg pills. Right after I started the new dose I started going downhill. Its like the 300mg's were barely working at all, maybe at about 50mg level or so at best, IMO.
So since I had such good results with the 150's I called my Doc and got the Rx changed to 2x150mg pills. In other words I take 2 of the 150's instead of 1 300mg. You would think the net results would be the same, but there is no comparison. So more/less seems like the 300's are not at all up to snuff/poor quality, even though same generic brand.
If you are taking the Cipla brand of 300's and not having much improvement or problems, have the Rx changed to 2x150's. The 150's seem to perform as advertised.
This is all as of July 2017, started on generic Wellbutrin xl (Cipla brand) 2 months prior.
I was getting the brand name Wellbutrin XL (300mg) from Direct Success for $50/month and yes, it is the only one that has worked for me. I have tried several generics and been bounced from generic to generic month to month or every 90 days through mail order. It was horrible. Each generic had its own set of side effects in addition to being less effective or flat out ineffective for me. A while ago, I found Direct Success and was able to order it from them, very successfully, with great customer service. Here is the reason: The insurance companies were still being billedmore and more for the direct success prescriptions even though we paid higher copays. As the use of generics became the norm, the Brand manufacturer started to lose the large profits. Their answer was to flood the market place with brand meds to get us back on them and all the while, they raised the prices. I used to pay out of pocket from brand and paid about $160-$180 for a 90 day supply.
All of a sudden, they started raising the price with each order: $220, $250, $280. After a while, I started the generic circus. Now, it costs around $1,400 because they intentionally raised the price in order to maintain the same income stream by selling less medication. You can find the articles about this via Google (see "How Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc tripled prices, doubled sales of flatlining old drug Wellbutrin XL" from Financial Post and "Valeant's still raising prices on long-generic Wellbutrin XL. Who's paying up?" from FiercePharma). Early this year, Direct Success informed me that the Wellbutrin program I was on ended (abruptly, with no warning) and my copay was almost $1,200 for 30 day supply and they could transfer my Rx elsewhere if I needed. So now I ask: Is anyone still receiving brand Wellbutrin XL from Direct Success or any other "specialty pharmacy" at a low or halfway reasonable copay? I'd like to remain a functioning member of society.
Related topics
wellbutrin, wellbutrin xl, depression, weight loss (obesity/overweight), seasonal affective disorder, major depressive disorder, weight, generic, brand, actavis, reaction
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