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Re: Budeprion (Generic) vs. Wellbutrin

Posted by GregS on June 8, 2008, at 0:48:54

In reply to Re: Budeprion (Generic) vs. Wellbutrin » grey, posted by yxibow on February 27, 2008, at 0:21:34

Whatever you take(generic or brand names), there is a small chance that it may not be quite right and if I found that there is a major change in how I was feeling I would report the results to my doctor. Opinions between physicians still differ but there is strong evidence to suggest that most doctors will try generics first. I've talked to a fairly large number of physicians and pharmacists who would agree that medications like bupropion would be safe to try in generic form.

Over 30 years ago, it was found that forms of digitalis(a heart medicine) and thyroid hormone were more consistent in the branded form rather than the generic form. Another study more recently reported that the generic form of a certain hormone was more consistent than the brand name.

There is very little testing that goes on after the medication is produced and it is really quality control of the process and the quality of the initial quality of the ingredients that are more important manufactured medications like those that are measured in mg.or gm.. Buproprion falls in to this category.

There are a few important exceptions. Medications that are measured in units, frequently written
as I.U. such as insulin, heparin and a few others are not measured in weights but in units of biological activity. Testing of lots after the production is essential to quality control.

The second exception that has been already mentioned is time release medication. Although a generic would have the same amount of medication in it, it might not be released at the same rate as the brand name. The difference is likely to be negligible but possible. So a switch from a generic sustained release to a brand name or visa versa may be noticed.

This whole phenomenon doesn't mean that one is better than the other; it just means that they are slightly different. If a generic is available, myself, would try the generic and see if it agrees with me. The drug companies make enough money anyway, and I don't have money to throw away. If on a generic delayed or sustained release or long acting medication I would stay on the same generic. If the pill looks different I might ask a physician about the advisability of taking the new pill or capsule. If you disease is poorly controlled, you and your physician may want to keep everything exactly the same.

Another consideration is "counterfeit " drug. A "counterfeit " drug is a drug that look like the real drug (whether it be generic or brand name) but has less or none of the actual medication in them. The concern about such drugs may be more of a concern lately (and this is only my opinion) due decreased funding of the FDA are more of the government's money is being spent on the war effort. The manufacturing, distributing and dispensing of such drug is heinous and criminal. When medications can cost up to $1000.00 and more a dose the to motive to profit is great. Too often these problem go unpunished. Ask your doctor if anything seemes to be wrong.

Finally there are tainted medications. By tainted I mean that the medicine may not be what they say it is but it may be toxic to the point that it may cause illness or death. Here again the FDA does not have the teeth to control this problem and distributors buy medication from producers that are substandard. Here to motivation for a quick profit is high and the ability to protect you or me is left on primarily our shoulders. One lesson is clear any company has no business buying any medications from China.

There is no government agency or private entities that has the ability to protect us from counterfeit or tainted medications branded or generic. As they say, let the buyer beware. It is up to the patient to inform the doctor of any significant problems.

So those are the exceptions. Totally unrelated to the quality of the medicine is the response of you and me to what we take. First if the tablet or capsule looks different, tastes different, or has a different name on the bottle relatively 30% of those taking the new form of the drug will report a difference even when there isn't any difference to be found by legitimate scientific methods whether the change is from generic to branded or visa versa. The physician can reduce these concerns to less than an estimated 5% if the patient is informed and reassured beforehand. The other factor are the "true believers," those patients or doctors that have strong or fixed beliefs about the superiority of generic or brand name medicine. In such cases, the chances are much greater that the patient you or I might experience a preference for one over the other.

I myself would not hesitate to take the generic buproprion and believe that I have in the past. It worked very well for me.



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