Question about Wellbutrin
 

All,
ive recently been diagnosed with sever clinical depression and was prescribed 150 mg/day Wellbutrin XL (name brand) It worked GREAT, at first....... now we just upped the dose to 300 mg/day, and i went to the pharmancy and the name brand Wellbutrin was like 70 bucks MORE than the generic...... so i went with the generic... i was hesistant to do so..... has anyone had any experiences with the generic wellbutrin vs name brand? Exact same effects?? Less effectve, more side effects? Anything? i wish i had asked my psychiatrist before agreeing to the generic........
So far, wellbutrin has been a godsend (oh! and that fact that it killed my appetite? not such a bad thing :)

Thanks all

meghan

Last year I was on Wellbutrin SR and always got the name brand. Then I stopped taking it to kind of detox for a while and started taking it again after six months but this time I got the generic. For some reason and I know it sounds insane but the one from CVS (generic form) did nothing! It had no side effects, did not help me in any way. My doc suggested taking it from a different pharmacy and so I switched to Walgreens. Wow what a difference, I immediately started having side effects like no appetite, loss of sleep etc.
The price was an issue for me too, the generic costs me $10 as opposed to $100 for name brand.
I can't speak for you but for me there is no difference in the generic form from Walgreens, CVS is another story!
Try it out but trust your instincts, if you feel that its not doing what it should speak up.

I've only taken the generic kind and it works for me.

I went from brand name to generic, and can't tell the difference. I sure wish it killed my appetite, though!

thanks for the input guys! so far ive just been dooing 2 of the 150s name Brand together.. was going to do that till theyre gone? i wont be afraid to switch to my walgreens generic though :)

My pharamcy sometimes gets different types of generic. I had to ask them at one point for a specific generic because the other generic didn't work as well.

go to www( dot) consumerlab (dotcom) for The FDA's investigation of the 300mg generic wellbutrin ( budeprion) Time release is considered inadequate


very interesting and unfortunate.

Can yo help me out unglued? i dont want another subscription site..... it said some brans (generic) were better than others? perhaps i just need to fork over the 70 bux for thename brand prescription?

Mkroyer,
I have taken both the generic 150 XL as well as the brand. With the generic I was getting a headache, palpitations and a little nausea exactly 5 hours after taking it. When taking the brand those effects were not there. I also went back and forth a few times between the brand and generic and every time I took the generic it happened. I have to pay out of pocket $50.00 every month, but for me its worth it.
The FDA apparently did not test the efficacy of the time release 300 mg dose. Hundreds of people have submitted complaints about worsening symptoms after going to the generic 300 mg. It apparently releases to much medication at once instead of a slow steady release. I personally think they are hiding information from the public.( Imagine the financial losses)
There have also been problems with other generics, notably blood pressure medications.
google it, see for yourself.
Good luck

I am also on Wellbutrin but I just started it and im trying to get fully on that one and stop my other one. I hope that whatever you take, generic or name brand, it helps you!

I've been on the generic (not the extended release, I take it twice a day) for about 3 months now, never did the name brand. For me it's worked well. The first 2-3 weeks it totally killed my appetite but it's come back, no worse then it was before though.

I started taking it to quit smoking and help with depression issues. It totally helped me quit smoking. The medicine as well as lifestyle changes has really helped with the depression as well.

Sometimes I wonder if I still need it as I mainly was taking it to quit smoking, which I've succeeded. But I'll definatly stay on it until the spring at least ;)

Ultimatley you need to do what you feel comfortable with, you could always try it and if doesn't work go back to the name brand.

If you do find a generic that works as well as the brand name, make a note of the manufacturer which should be on the bottle. My doctor told me that she could write the script daw for a specific maker because sometimes pharmacies change suppliers.

The generic XL works fine for what it's meant to do for me but I also tried the SR form and it felt like I was taking nothing at all.

It seems like peoples' sensitivities vary quite widely with this drug and all of its different versions.