[Bewolf]

Looking through the boards, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that people react badly to generic Wellbutrin XL, but not nearly as many for the generic SR versions.

Any guesses why is this? Is it the formulation, manufacturer, timed release technology, because the SR version is simply prescribed less, or an incorrect observation on my part?


(asking because I'll probably be bumped to 450mg shortly, which means adding 150mg SR to my name brand 300XL script and generic SR is much cheaper under my insurance (unlike generic and name brand XL thats costs me the same, go figure)).

This post has been edited by Bewolf: 26 September 2007 - 10:20 PM

[Jerod Poore]

Bewolf,

Bewolf, on Wed 26 September 2007 22:58:26 GMT +0000, said:

Looking through the boards, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that people react badly to generic Wellbutrin XL, but not nearly as many for the generic SR versions.

Any guesses why is this? Is it the formulation, manufacturer, timed release technology, because the SR version is simply prescribed less, or an incorrect observation on my part?

The problem seems to stem from the manufacturer: Teva. Teva is the only generics manufacturer so far given approval for an XL version, which they produce under the name Budeprion, and there have been a lot of reports that Budeprion sucks ass. Crazy Boards, Depression Forums, Dr. Bob and various other sties along those lines. Plus the big medication sites with boards, and fora that have absolutely nothing to do about medications, people are bitching about Teva's Bedeprion all over the place.

Complaints were filed with the FDA, as expected the FDA's response was, "You people are crazy. All American generics are fine and dandy."

Yet the complaints keep coming.

I don't know why Teva can't get it right. All I can gather is that a much higher rate of people who have switched from brand-name Wellbutrin XL to Teva's Budeprion XL have complained, and their complaints are more intense, than people who have made similar changes from other brand-name psychiatric / neurological medications to their generic counterparts.

[dymphna]

loonybean, on Thu 4 October 2007 20:39:47 GMT +0000, said:

Due to financial problems I am going to have to switch back to generic WB. Right now I'm on 200 MG SR. the Generic just didn't seem to want to work or stay in my system. Doc has suggested that we now try 300 mg XL and I'm concerned about how it will or won't affect me. Has anybody made that jump and lived to heppily tell about it?

I take a generic benzo and it works fine.

It depends on which generic. There have been a lot of complaints about the one made by Teva (as Jerod mentioned) - it actually has it's own name: Budeprion.

I could only find one other extended release 300mg:

BUPROPION HYDROCHLORIDE TABLET, EXTENDED RELEASE; ORAL 300MG BUPROPION HYDROCHLORIDE IMPAX LABS

You won't know how it will affect you until you take it. Most people don't have problems as long as they aren't co-morbid for something else weird. YMMV.


Dymphna

[toe]

Watson makes one.

[jenleigh]

For what it's worth, at least one major news outlet has picked up on the "Hey, now, generic Wellbutrin really does act differently - a LOT differently." story. Link's here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21142869/

[remote_swimmer]

jenleigh, on Fri 12 October 2007 17:55:44 GMT +0000, said:

For what it's worth, at least one major news outlet has picked up on the "Hey, now, generic Wellbutrin really does act differently - a LOT differently." story. Link's here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21142869/

My girlfriend said there was a study on NPR about this topic on Friday, Oct 12. I can't seem to locate it though.

Well, maybe this will put some pressure on the FDA to change the standards and review of generic bioavailability vs. their name brand counterparts.

[jenleigh]

I found the link to the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=15218354

I'm hoping this'll put some pressure on the FDA, too.

[Jerod Poore]

remote_swimmer, on Sat 13 October 2007 6:54:46 GMT +0000, said:

jenleigh, on Fri 12 October 2007 17:55:44 GMT +0000, said:

For what it's worth, at least one major news outlet has picked up on the "Hey, now, generic Wellbutrin really does act differently - a LOT differently." story. Link's here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21142869/

My girlfriend said there was a study on NPR about this topic on Friday, Oct 12. I can't seem to locate it though.

Well, maybe this will put some pressure on the FDA to change the standards and review of generic bioavailability vs. their name brand counterparts.

1) As usual mainstream media has to speak with people who don't have brain cooties about the actual issue instead of us who do have brain cooties. They interview some of us about the experience, but not the issue. There's a huge difference. About everything we are the sane man's burden, too stupid for our own good.

2) As I point out on the Brand vs. Generic page neurologists have bitched about the FDA standards because the difference has caused breakthrough seizures. Little good that has done. Then again people with depression are far more acceptable than us sub-human epileptics.

3) As I wrote in the second post of this topic, as well as on the above referenced page, the FDA has already given its ruling on this matter.

It takes something like a bunch of grieving mothers in front of a congressional committee to get a change made. E.g. the suicide warning on antidepressants, when misdiagnosed bipolar 2, inconsistent med compliance, and far too potent drugs were far more likely elements than the actual meds. There's a reason why Prozac is the only modern antidepressant approved for kids.

I don't see a similar warning on anticonvulsants, but suicides are reported in the epileptic community because meds don't work as expected, depression hits hard, bizarre thoughts hit, or it's just the 13% death rate of suicide in the epileptic community blamed on the meds. But no warning label.

Oh, wait, we don't count. Never mind.

[Jerod Poore]

I just got a copy of Mosby's Drug Consult 2007. Generics tested as equivalent to brand are listed for a buttload of medications in this huge book, along with those where the bioequivalence is not known.

Teva's immediate-release bupropion tests as bioequivalent. Neither its sustained release nor extended release forms are reported to do so.

Silver mentioned that Roxane's versions of lithium were never a problem. Mosby's source reports Roxane's lithium products as being bioequivalent to brand.

It's a sad state to report that far more generics fall under "equivalents unavailable" than "therapeutically equivalent" in the Mosby book.

[crazyinct]

Just to throw my two cents in, I was on the brand Wellbutrin XL at 300mg for six months and it worked wonders. I didn't think anything of it when they gave me the generic. The pill was a lot bigger, but I took it. Within a month I would say I didn't feel nearly as "well." My depression returned somewhat and I was constipated. My doctor added 100mg of the SR to combat the depression more. I noticed a difference with that, but I never got the same effect as I did in those months on the brand drug. I'm off it now, but that's my small insight. I really would like to see the generic withdrawn from the market and reformulated.

[roxyhead]

From another thread...

Quote

I'm not sure what they've done lately about generic Wellbutrin up here - last I was dispensing it, we were giving it out in the stock bottles (large bottle, 30 pills, lots of customers on it...gaaahhh! Blister packs, anyone? Nice square boxes?), and it had an expiry date on it of about a month or two. It's got to have improved a bit, but one of the other big generic company up here still isn't making it, another seems to be, but stock bottles are only in 30s and 60s, according to the site.

I just googled the first company mentioned (Novopharm up here, Teva for the rest of the world, or at least the US and Israel), they still seem to only have the 150mg SR available, stock bottles of 30, so they may not have fixed their stability problems yet. They don't seem to have an XL equivalent here...maybe it's just as well. The SR's showing up as approved interchangeable in most provinces, so the government doesn't believe there's anything wrong with it...not that it'd necessarily bother them too much if there was, I don't think.

ETA: Never dispensed the other company's generic, don't know about the shelf life.

This post has been edited by roxyhead: 22 May 2008 - 12:26 AM

[creepy]

I have SR100mg generic wellbutrin which is made by sandoz I think. Ive never taken the name brand drug but I have taken the teva one and I can tell you I had a much different reaction this time around. I gave up on wellbutrin for about a year since all it seemed to do was make me feel odd, but I went back on it about 3 months ago. This time it works well when I raise the dose and then poops out after a few weeks.

[cherries]

It is not a crazy med, but I took a generic thyroid ( said it was equivalent synthroid) from walmart-$4. I started out with a TSH of around 2 (OK) and after 2 months on this my TSH had doubled-4.1. that is high. So I won't be taking any generic thyroid anymore. I called my psych to tell him b/c he was the one who suggested I use generic. I called walmart and talked with the pharmacist and she said that can happen.( whatever "that" means. ) my new doc said walmart meds are from India, "so you might be getting twigs and leaves for all you know."

My husband was on wellburtin XL and was switched to a generic and it never worked the same. He got stooped taking it. His doc kept telling him they were the same but not for him.

[roxyhead]

bodhicitta, on Tue 27 May 2008 17:24:58 GMT +0000, said:

It is not a crazy med, but I took a generic thyroid ( said it was equivalent synthroid) from walmart-$4. I started out with a TSH of around 2 (OK) and after 2 months on this my TSH had doubled-4.1. that is high. So I won't be taking any generic thyroid anymore. I called my psych to tell him b/c he was the one who suggested I use generic. I called walmart and talked with the pharmacist and she said that can happen.( whatever "that" means. ) my new doc said walmart meds are from India, "so you might be getting twigs and leaves for all you know."

That's not a Wal-Mart thing, that's a thyroid thing. Thyroid meds are one of those things that you just don't switch brands on, you stick with what the doctor started you on, unless you've got a really good reason to switch. The name brands (in Canada, at least) are not even interchangeable with each other. Wal-Mart probably gets its generic drugs from the same manufacturers every other pharmacy gets them from. What is a pdoc doing screwing around with your thyroid meds? Shouldn't that be your endocrinologist's job?

[Jerod Poore]

bodhicitta, on Tue 27 May 2008 15:24:58 GMT +0000, said:

my new doc said walmart meds are from India, "so you might be getting twigs and leaves for all you know."

That was damn white of him.

India manufactures all sorts of medications for south and southeast Asia and east Africa. If their meds were counterfeit then people would be dropping dead of malaria left and right. People would be dropping dead of all sorts of stuff.

[cherries]

Quote

my new doc said walmart meds are from India, "so you might be getting twigs and leaves for all you know."


That was damn white of him.

India manufactures all sorts of medications for south and southeast Asia and east Africa. If their meds were counterfeit then people would be dropping dead of malaria left and right. People would be dropping dead of all sorts of stuff.

I thought the same thing, all the blood pressure meds, you could kill someone. but i have noticed among a few of my docs the tendency to feel exactly as this doc .
My pdoc likes to tweak or change other docs meds. He has a narcissistic personality and can't stand anyone seeing other docs. It is a control thing with him. I am not letting him manage my thyroid anymore. I have my new doc.

This post has been edited by bodhicitta: 27 May 2008 - 05:12 PM

[grendella]

Hi,
I switched over to Cymbalta from brandname Wellbutrin SR(see posts by Grendella) and am now back on Welbutrin but the generic Teva brand BuproPON not BuproPION which is their WB-SR or really their version of Zyban.
I take 150 x 2 daily and while I had some issues with it the first couple of months such as INTENSE hot flashes at the teensy-est physical exertion, my period went away(close to losing it anyway-no complaints here! Happened when I was on the brandname WB, as well) and a few blues(crying and the like); most of that seems to have gone away. Still don't have my periods(Yay! But I take a p-test each month to be safe) and I get a few blue days but the hot flashes are mostly gone and it's getting really hot outside now and I think I'm perspiring like a pretty normal human.
I'm quite pleased with the head benefits, too. As I said, some blue days-really feels more like PMS than anything else-and very few angry outbursts. And I'm pretty sure that they are "normal" reactions to messed up crap. FUBARs, SNAFUs, Cluster Fucks-things that I think anybody would get pissed about. And to tell the really truth, I think I might be over-reacting to some stuff but have been able to keep things in check. Am mostly able to "catch" myself before an outburst and process it before making a teensy scene, if I think its the right thing to do. Oh yeah, extra bonus! I'm feeling very randy again! YAY! Extra, extra bonus, I'm not hungry ALL the time anymore and I've lost 15lbs-although I still crave the sweets.
The bad thing about the TEVA Bupropon is that it is considered Zyban and my P-doc can't prescribe IT because my insurance may not cover it. The the lucky part of this is that my Pharm gave me the Bupropon for my first script back on WB-SR and I found out it worked soooo much better than WB-SR-BUT I have to ask the Pharmy to give me the Teva brand and he said for as long as my insurance will give it to me that is what I'll get. I'm always worried that the next script will be something different though and haven't figured out a way to get the "right" stuff if that happens yet.
It happened with Vicodin in a similar way. Even though the Vikes worked so much better for my RA and Fibro pain and, sort of, unfortunately didn't get me buzzed at all; docs are so scared to give them out for fear of the dreaded "addiction" and "drug seeking". I wasn't addicted as far as I could tell and I didn't have one little itty bitty withdrawl symptom when I was forced to go off of them. The doc gave me Utram instead; which in my humble opinion, is dog crap! I have to take Tylenol and Flexeril plus the Utram to get any relief. Again, in my opinion, taking all of those pills to combat pain the way Vikes did is lunacy.
So, to end my little note, I have to say that the Teva Bupropon is the BEST anti-d I've ever been on! So far, so good! Hurrah!
Grendella

This post has been edited by grendella: 28 May 2008 - 10:35 AM

[canderson]

I have to agree with not using generics for hypothyroidism. The pharmacy would sometimes fill my script with a generic and I wouldn't notice it (I check every med like a hawk now). Then my levels would get out of whack, the doctor would have to put my back on Synthroid and check my blood levels again 6 weeks later to make sure the dose was ok. It literally would end up costing the insurance more in the long run. Another problem is you might get one generic thyroid medicine one month and a different one the next. Brand medically necessary is the only way to go for thyroid.

As far as Vicodin goes, I believe the potential for abuse is way overstated. Once I injured my middle back pretty badly. The pain was horrible. When my doctor finally prescribed Vicodin, she did so for 5 days only and then switched me to that Ultram crap stating potential for abuse. I had to take Skelaxin 3x a day (at first she said one at bedtime) and then eventually had to go to physical therapy - which should have been prescribed from the very beginning, not a month later. I changed PCPs shortly after that.

My other experience with Vicodin was for post surgery pain management. I was on it for probably 3 months. Then one appointment my surgeon said you need to start weaning yourself off this. I immediately started cutting them in half and was off completely in about two weeks. Piece of cake.

I checked my insurance for Brand WB SR and it's $150.00 for a 30 day supply. So if my pdoc decides to go with that we'll start with the generic.