Comments on: Generic Wellbutrin May Not Perform as Well as Original

By: SHELL

SHELL — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:13:29 +0000

I am so interested in this. I took the XL NAME BRAND last year and after 1 pill did not sleep for days…..I am now on Generic 100mg SR and gained 6 pounds in 3 days…this has to be water weight….I called pharmacy and they are going to get in WATSON brand. I can not afford 150.00 a month compared to 17.00 for generic but I got off Pristiq due to severe fatigue and weight gain…NOW GAINING on this??? Paxil Generic make me puff up…name brand did not…THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE!!
I want in on the class action law suit!! BYRDLEG@AOL.COM

By: karl

karl — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:10:08 +0000

Generic not as good as name brand for sure. I took name brand sr150 for years. Generic came out and decided to try it out. It made me feel more anxious and kind of spacey feeling in the head. Didnt like it. The generic were white pills. Name brand is kind of expensive for low paid workers like me with no health insurance.

By: deborah

deborah — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:44:05 +0000

yes i take generic wellbutrain. my insurance does not covered brand even if med needed. i deal with C.V.S. and have for years. i’ve read up on this medication brand and generic and that just might be my problem not getting better because im taking generic. i can take some generic but not many. those medications ARE NOT THE SAME AS BRAND. I DON’T CARE WHAT THESE COMPANYS SAY. i would love to be in on any law changes on this matter. THANK YOU DEBORAH. BAYLAKEBCH12@YAHOO.COM. hope to hear from somebody.May 9 2011 9:41am

By: Heidi Malzahn

Heidi Malzahn — Sun, 08 May 2011 16:48:23 +0000

I had the same issue. I took Watson brand for 8 weeks, and had great results. When I refilled my script at Walgreens, it was the green one. The first thing I noticed was that I was really really tired, which is not something that I experienced at ALL on the Watson. I took the whole 3 months worth back to Walgreens and exchanged it back for the Watson brand. They said that they could get it for me for refills, but that I’d have to give them several days notice to order it. (Kind of inconvenient) I feel like that 3 days set me back a bit though, and it’s taken several weeks to get consistent moods again. I am seriously considering asking my Dr. to initial the D.A.W. on the next script. I might not want to pay for the name brand, but I just can’t afford to not feel good, and the inconsistency in brands and the potential lack of availability of certain brands that work, makes me nervous. Name brand will always be available… and is most likely to have consistent results. I also had a friend who was on the green one, and kept saying she was tired. I told her to request Watson next time, and she noticed a huge difference for the better.

By: Vic

Vic — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:41:06 +0000

LET’S FIND A LAWYER TO START A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE MAKERS OF GENERIC WELLBUTRIN — AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT, AGAINST CVS CAREMARK for refusing to cover name brand Wellbutrin at regular co-pays even though a 2-minute google search that the generic is obviously flawed!

Generic Wellbutrin is a joke! On multiple occasions I have attempted to take a generic version when, even though my doctor specifically requested it be filled with name brand Wellbutrin, I received a generic. The difference is always dramatic…even though I hope and pray that the generic will magically work as well as Wellbutrin. It releases in my system way too fast so my heart races and my pulse is way up, and then by early afternoon I am crashing out on the couch, so exhausted I can’t keep my eyes open because it feels like I haven’t slept for 5 days. I never get that response with Wellbutrin.

My father recently went on Wellbutrin and the same exact thing happened, only he has horrible Parkinson’s Disease and isn’t able to verbalize why his personality changed so much. So my brother did a bit of research and, yep…you guessed it…the doctor had switched him to generic Wellbutrin several days before my brother started to notice a dramatic increase in his depression and hours of sleep per day.

I have heard there is a class action against generic in a few states, but it needs to be nation-wide. Any lawyers out there interested? Please contact me at: tvlamb@hotmail.com. I want to be on the list for BOTH of my suggested lawsuits! I think perhaps the CVS Caremark lawsuit would make more of a difference to all generic drug-taking sufferers. I have never experienced this problem with any other drug, but I can only imagine that it is a pervasive problem with many generics and that CVS won’t care they are forcing unusable fraudulent generic drugs down their customer’s throats unless they get hit the only place they can feel the pain—in the pocketbook.

Thanks—-and good luck to my fellow sufferers.

By: Jaymie

Jaymie — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:56:42 +0000

I took wellbutrin xl brand for 2 years before switching to generic. I’ve been on the generic for 2 years now and I’ve basically been miserable (my ins didn’t pay for brand anymore) and sleeping all the time. My boyfriend and I went to Aruba last year and I spent most of the trip in bed napping! I’ve been to the doctor many times for my fatigue and had many blood tests that all came back normal. Then I got a new primary doctor and we figured out that all the lethargy, fatigue, etc coincided with the start of me taking the generic! I started back on brand today and immediately felt better – I was able to stay awake past 6pm and hadn’t even needed a nap! Incredible, huh? My new insurance covers the brand at 50 bucks a month but its MORE than worth it to me.

By: Gay Lynn

Gay Lynn — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:34:32 +0000

I started on generic wellbutrin (Watson brand), and had great success for two months, but the third month CVS switched me to a light green generic. After a couple weeks, I got very angry and went from rage to terrible crying jags. It made me feel worse than before I took anything. What really sucks is that the pharmacist did not believe me and I could not find any more of the Watson ones. This needs to be reported to somebody, but who cares? This green one is dangerous and all CVS stores now carry it.

By: Manda

Manda — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:39:14 +0000

I started using Wellbutrin after an episode I had about 4 months ago. The doctor gave me about three weeks of free Wellbutrin 150. Immediately I felt a difference after 5 days… I felt so happy and that it was not the end of the world for me. After the freebies I was sent to speak with a psychologist and they prescribed me the generic one a day for one month. It seemed okay, until a month later they were out of the generic so I was put on the nonextended release pills – one pill at 8 and another at 2. First of all it’s like taking a shot it reacts quickly and then you take another. I hated the way it made me feel sick. Therefore before my one month vacation over seas- I decided to quite taking them. Just because I was on my own and didn’t want to be in the hospital had anything of happened. Upon my return I started taking them again (the generic 2 x daily). I faced serious depression and had to go to the hospital. After that episode I told myself it was worth taking the real thing! I don’t care how much it is, but it helps me in ways I can’t explain to most people. I do have to admit, I am a bit of a drinker (wine mostly)… And it has helped me reduce my drinking habits. I have also tried to do healing the natural way by eating healthy, organic, and excersicing so I cannot say that my depression and irratabitliy is a cause of just from unhealthy habits. I was even very much like this during times I have quite drinking and when I was younger. Take the real Wellbutrin the generic really is a waste. Since being on the real Wellbutrin 150 I no longer lose control over my thoughts, i feel over all happy, and very very much motivated.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:49:44 +0000

1) Power of suggestion and coincidence needs to be ruled out.
2) BUPROPION IS FINE! It’s just that one brand that may have issues.

By: TEVA Wellbutrin Generic

TEVA Wellbutrin Generic — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:02:03 +0000

It does nothing. Insurance cut out the brand name and gave me TEVA’s generic. It has done nothing, gradually going back to my depressed state… Might as well not take anything. Waste of money.

By: Journeyquest

Journeyquest — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:24:11 +0000

I tried several meds before finding that Wellbutrin SR 150 worked for my depression. Non of the other meds worked and only caused side effects. The doctor would give me free samples of brand name scrip. I took one a day and it worked fine without any side effects whatsoever. I continued this regemine for about eight years without a problem. Finally i heard that a generic form was coming out so i figured on saving some money since my income was low. During the year or so that i took generic i recieved meds from two different labs. Neither worked as well as the Wellbutrin for me and i found myself feeling spaced out instead of alert. And it made me feel irritable also. Wellbutrin was consistant the whole eight years i took it. I stopped taking the meds altogether about a year ago and have gone through some mild to moderate depression. But no severe episodes like when i was younger. I am now 47 years old. I found that a high potancy B complex along with multivitamin helped noticably for mild depression. Exercise helps, but you cant get yourself motivated when your depressed. Theres very little energy. I just picked up three months of Wellbutrin and will take these as needed. Unless somethings changed, my experience is that generic was a waste of money. Its like comparing Coca Cola to some nasty store brand cola.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:52:56 +0000

I tried going off wellbutrin in Dec 07 after being on it for 7 years with great success, but my depression returned so I started back on it Mar 08, however it was the generic brand. My depression symptoms never lifted and got worse. I missed 10 days of work in 2008 and 8 days in 2007 due to my problems, would cry at work most days I made it there, wasted a vacation crying and feeling totally unmotivated to even relax at home, and experienced many relationship and family problems. After trying a combo with SSRIs and failing miserably, my doctor got me to a psychiatrist and she put me back on the real thing. Within a few days I started feeling better and 6 weeks later I would say my depression symptoms are at only about 10% of the severity I experienced in the last year and a half. The government (british columbia) saves money in drug costs when our medical plan automatically switches us to generic brands, but loses money in increased medical visits and decreased work production. Maybe it’s only a small percentage of people who don’t do well with generic wellbutrin, but I can’t emphasize enough the negative impact it had in my life and with my friends and colleagues.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:29:43 +0000

I previously took Wellbutrin to help over the death of a close friend. I found it quite beneficial without side effects. I recently began taking the generic. Within three doses, my resting pulse went into the 100s. I became hypertensive. I had resting tremors, insomnia, and cardiac beat changes. I am a medical professional, so I had access to a BP cuff with that can detect abnormal heart beats. Monitor yourself closely when starting any new medications. Stop them immediately if you notice significant side effects.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:40:01 +0000

I recently discussed my concerns about the generic with my doctor. When she heard what I was experiencing she was shocked (dizziness, tremors, insomnia). She put me back on the brand and I have been back to normal ever since. My insurance requires more co-pay for the brand but the extra money is worth it to me.

By: nikki

nikki — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:09:19 +0000

yesterday I tried generic wellbutrin for the first time and it made me feel really weird and not a good weird. I will not be taking it and I plan on telling my doctor about, I guess I should write to my insurance company too. The price difference for me is incredible 10 for generic and 60 for name brand! sick huh?