Budeprion Xl vs Wellbutrin Xl

[jmgjr83]

I went to get a higher dosage of Wellbutrin XL today and they gave me Budeprion xl 300 mg.  They told me they now have the generic form which is cheaper.  I was wondering if this will make a difference compared to taking the brand name?  Wellbutrin 150 has worked wonders for me and now they give me this budeprion.  I just want to know if it's the same thing, more importantly, work the same?

Thanks  :)

[gibsongal]

i just tried bud sr 100mg  last week, gave me heart palapations..tried it for 4 days.. read that years ago it was flagged by FDA..

new script
i got BUP  sr 150 sWatson labs and the t1 dose did not give me palapations..

cross my fingers ..wish me luck as i cry to much and have chronic fatigue due to another illness.

all other AD's made me more tired so for years i have been tired and depressed because i do not get things done or go out much.
maybe i will be more active on this..

it is supposed to help with adhd..which  i believe i have as i can never finish anything..

[constructiongirl]

I have been on 300 mg Wellbutrin for 6 years with no problems. I use it in conjunction with two other drugs and I am free of my issues. Today I went to the pharmacy and was told that my insurance company isn't going to cover it anymore but will cover the buprorion XL. Now I have a full script of a drug I am afraid to take. I have put in a call to my doctor and my insurance broker to have this changed. After reading all the comments on here I don't think I want to travel down that depression, suicidal, anxiety, sleepless, shaking, heart palpitations road again. Thank you everyone who posted on here and for being honest in sharing. Good mental health to you all!!

[crowtalker]

I had horrible results from generics, even after switching to a generic by another manufacturer. Not everyone has a bad experience, but in my case the depression intensified. Teva manufactured bupropion was especially bad, but with both generics I found myself crying for no reason, and the smallest things could spiral me out of control. Switching back to Wellbutrin XL brand name resolved the problem within a few days. As for cost, I suggest you do a search for a Wellbutrin XL voucher. My insurance company charges a higher copay for the name brand, but I am currently paying less for the name brand than my usual co-pay for non-premium drugs.

[zentoro]

TEVA is based in Israel.  I had a manic episode after going on their Welbutrin generic.  This woke me up to the fact that generic fillers can cause more harm than good for those suffering chronic depression/bipolar disorder, etc.  I hadn't really paid attention until I was going out of my mind for no reason - learning later that TEVA is a cost cutting pharmaceutical in bed with the FDA - who doesn't want to listen to the multitude of complaints about TEVA's generics. Ask your pharmacist how the manufacturer is of your generic medicine - and get to which ones are better.  You can specifically request those pharmaceutical generics if they work for you. Only brand name Wellbutrin works and unfortunately it seems the consumer is being squeezed out of buying this as, i.e. Glaxo/Smith/Kline want to sell only the generic.  Canada no longer sells brand name Wellbutrin.  I've been treated for manic depression for over15 years - during which time I've seen the pharmaceutical companies push diluted generics to make more profits - making brand name medicatio nearly impossible to afford.  Being on Social Security Disability makes it more difficult today to stay on a productie treatment regime - given the "donut hole", co-pay increases for "tiers" and dropping medication coverage that adversely affects my treatment regime is a crime against humanity.   Sadly, this a set back in treating menal illness that our state and federal govenment will only window dress as providing assistance.  I was once more stable on brand names in the 90s - but now I have to struggle with finding the right regime that I can afford in keeping myself stable.  Oddly enough, with complaints from governments about the mentally ill be noncompliant, they never address the expensive delivery system that the healthcare and pharmaceutical companies have created for their own greed, making money off of illness.

[coloreddisks]

I feel like my experience was a tease. I tool wellburtrin for 3 months, crawled out of that dark hole and into sunshine! I felt amazing a motivated happy young girl. And then they switched me to buproprion and slowly I spiraled out and fell into a different hole that was much darker. I am hostile, snappy, depressed, suffering derealization, horrible anaxiety attacks, my short term memory is pretty gone, I am exhasuted even when the rare occasion comes that I actually sleep great. It's a mess, it's a nightmare. I am hoping to switch back to the name brand like now. It seems like there is a definite difference.

[bou746]

I too tried to take the generic of wellbutrin sr.  Well it didn't go well i was crying every day and more depressed then before I started any of the anti depressants.  Generics are supposed to be the same chemical formula. Well something was wrong, so I went back on the brand wellbutrin sr.  Flash forward a few years and I purchase my wellbutrin sr from a canadian pharmacy because its so expensive here.  They substituted zyban, I thought ok I'll try it.  Bad reaction to it I was depressed hostile suspicious and I had a dystonic reaction (tightness and uncontrolled movements of the jaw).  Bizarre, I just had depression, how did this get here?  Wow, so I just stopped taking the zyban and will go back to the expensive wellbutrin sr.  I assert that there are chemical differences between these supposed "same" medicines.  Kristin

[rockyroads]

I'm another that started on budeprionXL then got swiched to bupropionXL  I was please with my progress on budeprion, feeling better than I had in years.  The switch to bupropion has be making me feel consistently worse.  I was thinking to myself that something was wrong.  After reading the other comments, I've come to realize how much differently we all react to these meds, and "it's not just me."  I have been devouring all I can find on this topic from both sides of the fence and concluded that the delivery of the active ingredients his variable by manufacturers.  Our own individual body chemistries seem to prefer one over the other.
Thanks to everyone for giving me the ammunition to fight for the drug that works best for me.  I am now arguing this point with my prescribing doc and pharmacy.  I will get what I want, even if this means the inconvenience of changing my medical support team.  I know what is best for me better than anyone else.
Thanks for helping me take control of this problem.

[csb497]

I am having the same problem with the Bupropion, It was Budeprion before and for the last 3 weeks I have been going downhill. Extremely irritable and can not even tell if I take it or not. Call into the doc to fix this. Pharmacy was really no help, said they only carry the Bupropion right now and I would have to get the doctor to request they order the Budeprion. WELLBUTRIN in the brand name form - $240.00 per month.
CSB

[Meegoons]

Frances, I'm having the same problem.  Wellbutrin 150 XL for years, then I switched to Budeprion 150 XL(Teva) over a year ago, with no discernible change.  Last month, a different pharmacy gave me the Bupropion 150 XL made by Mylan.  Within two weeks, I have become increasingly depressed (lethargy, apathy) and I am getting very irritated and angry, feeling jittery all day, trouble focusing my eyes, and more manic behavior (I am also on lamotrigine for bipolar disorder).  From what I have read online and in this thread, I am hoping that a switch back to the Budeprion will bring me back to normal!

[hollyifyaknowme]

I was prescribed budeprion to help with ADHD. I have been taking it for nearly a month, and over the last week thought I was going nuts! I had no idea it was the medication doing this to me though, especially since it was supposed to help. I have had some of the most disturbing thoughts go through my head, i was constantly feeling tired, highly irritable, violent language & actions, headaches (i thought was stress related) blurred vision, increased lack of concentration, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, all this was causing insomnia the past 3 days, panic attacks, and then last night I was afraid to get out of bed because I was so suicidal!! Its been hell & when I contacted my doctor I was told that it takes time for the medication to work & to keep taking it! I was prescribed Wellbutrin xl, but my insurance only covers the generic version. It gave me chills reading all this, because here this whole time I thought something was seriously wrong with me!  I had felt fine before starting the meds, was very happy & active, recently engaged, things were great except for the frustration in dealing with the attention span of a child...lol...I'm glad I decided to google this medicine in search of answers to my problems! glad to hear its working for some but for me this has been a horrible experience!!!

[Mike5709]

I was switched from Wellbutrin to the Buproprion (450mg) more than a year ago without a problem.

I would be cautious of thinking how someone else reacts to the drug is any indication of what your experience will be. I had read story after story of how awful it was to go off Effexor. I was on 450mg a day for two years and transitioned to Pristiq over a two week period without a problem.

Good luck and be careful, how we "think" we might feel often ends up being how we actually "do" feel.

[Drewbie2727]

Hi, there is a class action lawsuit going on right now against the makers of Budeprion XL because the release rate wasn't tested well and is way too fast.  You should google Budeprion XL class actiion lawsuit if you've had problems and are interested in participating.

[sanela999]

I have noticed some difference between budeprion xl and wellbutrin xl as well. I keep thinking that it's all in my head and wishing that it was since there is a big difference in price between the two. There is definitely something wrong with the generic kind...

[sanela999]

I have noticed some difference between budeprion xl and wellbutrin xl as well. I keep thinking that it's all in my head and wishing that it was since there is a big difference in price between the two. There is definitely something wrong with the generic kind...

[mac17]

I have been on Budeprion XL 300mg for 2 months but the first month I was taking it along with Prozac and i was fine, then my doctor decided to take away the Prozac because it was making me sleepy, gain weight and have horrible nightmares every day. The second month I have been under a lot of stress and I was getting super depressed to the point of having hopeless, suicidal thoughts, crying all the time, sleeping all the time, constant pain in stomach with nausea and a knot like sensation, my vision was getting blurry, and i would get dizzy sometimes to the point of fainting. All these things throughout the course of the month until now. I was atributing all these things to the stress and problems Im going through, EVERYTHING i was blaming on the stress except for the stomacache which made me think several times that I was pregnant, until I went to see my gyno and he said it was stress and a stomach virus. This last week has been horrible for me, I could not concentrate at work cause I would have all these stupid tragic thoughts come to my head, they would come and go so constantly thoughout the day, and at moments felt like I was gonna get a panic attack, I got up from my desk several times to go outside and take a breather, but I was feeling so dizzy I felt like I was going to faint so I had to go back to my desk. This whole time Ive been thinking my vision is going bad cause I have never had problems with my eyes before, but now they hurt so much, things get blurry at moments, or one eye will be fine and the other one not...Anyway, where am I going with all this? I was feeling so desperate thinking that my medicine is not working, that no drug was good for me, that Im going to be depressed for the rest of my life, so I just started researching about the properties of all antidepresants until I came upon a description of Budeprion and read about all these side effects people were having, and describing in the forums, everything that was happening to me was happening to them. This whole time I thought I was going crazy, I got so bad I was about to lose my boyfriend cause I was stressing him so much with my behavior that he didnt know what to do with me anymore, like I said its been a horrible week and I realized after reading that forum that all this stuff I was feeling was caused by Budeprion, this medicine is the worse. I was taking Wellbutrin XL before and it was working fine, no problem whatsoever, and then I had to switch to Budeprion cause Wellbutrin was too expensive and I didnt see the harm since generics are supposed to be as effective as brand names...Several times I got so hopeless that I was about to call 911 cause I didnt know what I was gonna do to myself, and all thanks to this stupid medicine. I have made an appointment with my doctor to switch me to something else inmediately cause this drug is like a time bomb. On the bright side, finding out that it was the drug that was causing all this in me, gave me hope again that once I switch to something else, I will be ok and that depression is not gonna run my life for as long as Im alive, as this is my biggest fear.

[frances333]

I started 150xl budeprion and read all the comments about it being worse, FDA approval, more side effects etc. I actually felt high the first week and then I just felt so much better; I didn't realize how depressed I was. Then my doctor and I agreed to increase to 300xl so I took two of the 150xl budeprion in the morning. I felt a little high but much better so I told her to go ahead with writing for 300xl. I got my rx and the pharmacy gave my 300xl bupropion (BUPR) not (BUD). I noticed i was anxious and my heart was racing. I started feeling depressed again and having hopeless thoughts. Now I am waiting for the pharmacy to fill the budeproprion by teva that it seems everyone had such a hard time with. Has anyone else had a better experience on the TEVA BUDEPRION or am I just making it up in my head?

[mommy52]

I've seen no difference in the 2. Well, the only difference I have seen is the price. No plugs, but Walgreen's does have it on their 400+ list of drugs. I take 300 daily . Cash price roughly $20.00 for 3 month suppply. I just have to take twice daily instead of daily. I can learn to make that change.

[ettebette]

I meant to say "generic" version of Wellbutrin.  Sorry about the typo.

[ettebette]

My doctor just added Wellbutrin to my medication regimen: Effexor XR and Klonopin.  I was given the general version, Budeprion XL 150 mg.  Is the generic as good as the brand name?
Thanks.

Ellen (ettebette)

[Rhett123]

Try having your dr. prescribe Wellbutrin XL in the 150 mg strength - only have him prescribe 2 pills a day instead of one 350 mg pill a day.  For some reason, this works for me.  I too was changed from Wellbutrin XL 350 to Budeprion XL 350, and the difference was very obvious.  

Good luck!

[alw155]

I tried taking the generic form of Wellbutrin XL last year and noticed some major differences, such as I was more irritable mostly.  I thought it was my pms, and then I thought it was my work, etc.  After a few months of really noticing a difference in the way that I felt, I contacted my doctor and asked her about it.  She said that some people do have a different reaction to the generic brand.  I would have never thought this since I thought that generics were supposed to be exactly the same thing!  But she said that the active ingredients may be the same, but it's the inactive ingredients that make the difference.  Sometime the generics may dissolve into your body at a different pace or timing than the regular Wellbutrin XL and there are other ways the inactive ingredients can affect your intake of the meds.  Anway, even though the name brand is more expensive than the generics, I switched back to Wellbutrin XL because it works much better at keeping me stabilized.  Hope this helps from experience!

[cheeps]

It has been brought out and the FDA is looking into the generic by one manufacturer NOT being the same as the brand name. It's only half as effective. If you notice problems....ask to switch back.

[Heather C]

No problem, hope it helps

[jmgjr83]

Thank you,

It's made my Teva.  I was just concerned because I've read a lot of bad things about the generic brand of wellbutrin made by that manufacturer.  

Thank you for input.  It is greatly appreciated and makes me feel not so bad after all.

:)