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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by TEM3 on May 7, 2007, at 18:10:07
Lynne Lofton Hi - I'm new on the site. I took Wellbutrin for a couple of years and it helped my depression so much. I changed to the generic Buproprian for insurance purposes a couple of years ago and have felt horrible all this time. I've had some pretty bad personal problems and have chalked it up to that. But I saw an article in the paper where someone said that the generic didn't help them at all. 'Anyone had experience here? Help!
04-18-2007, 01:20 PMConcerned Is there any chance of finding a reference to that newspaper article? Or is there any other information that anyone has found.My wife was started on Wellbutrin 6 months ago. It appeared to help. The pharmacy automatically switched her to Buproprian a couple refills ago. She is now in about the same sad state she was before taking any medication. I told her doctor about the generic and he blew it off as not a factor. But I wonder.....
Any more information please!
04-30-2007, 03:24 PMConcerned My wife started on Wellbutin and Risperdal in the hospital back in October. She was released to a doctors care and showed improvement (from severe depression and phycosis) over the next month or so. Her doctor took her off the Risperdal and, at about the same time, the pharmacy started giving her Budeprion XL instead of the Wellbutin XL. She quickly went down hill to the point that I started to believe she would just stay in bed and die. I recently convinced the doctor that she should start taking the Risperdal again. He prescribed 1 mg twice a day. This reduced some symptoms (main unexplanable/unexplaned anger toward me) but did little for her depression. Last Friday he prescribed Effexor XR 150mg on top of the Budeprion XL 300mg and Risperdal. By Sunday my wife started to look like herself. By Tuesday she was back about 80% (measured from before her problems started). This weekend she was 95%. It's a miracle! She is back from the dead. I could not be happier. I hope it continues and continues without side effect issues.To celebrate I just booked a vacation to Myrtle Beach in a couple weeks. A week ago I would not have even considered doing that (unless I had completely given up and plan to go by myself)!!
04-30-2007, 07:14 PMDeborah Gray I'm so glad that she is doing better. It's very important for people with depression to have someone like you who gets involved in their care. Your wife is very lucky.
05-07-2007, 05:56 AMBarb It's odd that you, Lynne Lofton, say that changing from Wellbutrin to Bupropion made you feel awful. I am the SR version. 450ml/day(3 times/day). A while back I guess about 8ish months ago there was a shortage of Wellbutrin and I was given the generic Bupropion but it was not the Bupropion I am on now. It came in a huge bottle like vitamins come in not a pharmacy bottle. It had those little silicon tablets in it to keep it dry. I WAS A WRECK. I couldn't believe it. I could not believe that a generic could be so different. Anyway the Wellbutrin came in again and I was fine. But finally the my drug company would only pay for the generic. I guess the patent ran out. But this is not the same generic. It looks and is dispensed just like the real Wellbutrin. I am just fine on this. I have no idea what the stuff was that I was on because I just throw out the bottles when I am done. I know technically the generics are the same but why do some of us react differently? I suppose it is just as odd as there are different types of medications and combinations out there. One will work for you eventually. My dr. told me once that if I lived in Iceland he would know exactly what to prescribe because Icelandics are genetically very much alike unlike the rest of the world.
The Wellbutrin(Bupropion) wasn't working quite enough for me so the dr. added Dexedrine. That really helped.
B
05-07-2007, 02:54 PMConcerned This must be documented somewhere. I now believe it to be real....My wife received Wellbutrin while she was hospitalized for two weeks. It did improve her severe depression symptoms. She came home with a couple months supply of Wellbutrin and continued to be, let's say, 70%. When the Wellbutrin ran out a prescription for Wellbutrin from the doctor she is seeing was processed by our local pharmancy. They filled it with Budeprion. My wife questioned me about it and I said it was the same, just the generic version of Wellbutrin. However, after a week or so of Budeprion she started going through symptomatic phases. She went through a couple weeks of crying. Became angry all the time and finally slipped into lethargy (staying in bed, not eating, not talking and she would not go to the doctor). At the time I believed it to be an advance of her depression. Now, looking back (with what I know now), I believe it was all the signs of withdrawal. In other words, the Bupropion was doing nothing or nearly nothing for her! It got to the point where I really believed she would die or regress to the point where I would have to call 911.
Fortunately, it did not get to that point. I talked to the doctor and got her to the office. Three weeks ago she started Effexor XR 150 mg along with the Budeprion XL 300 mg (and Risperdal 1mg X2). It was like a miracle. In 24 hours she looked like her old self (and not like a zombie). By the end of the week she was 95%. Now, except for still being too thin, she is 100% or better. Other then the weight, you would not know she had been (or is) sick!
When I again had the Wellbutrin prescription refilled this weekend, they again gave us Budeprion XL. The pharmacy said they would exchange the Budeprion for the real thing if I brought it back and we considered doing so. But, I told my wife that since the current combo is working so well (maybe it's just the Effexor working), why take a chance of changing anything. I am afraid that the Wellbutrin and Effexor might be too much and cause other problems.
Comments??
Posted by Racer on May 7, 2007, at 20:59:10
In reply to Budeprion XL, posted by TEM3 on May 7, 2007, at 18:10:07
Just a general comment about generics: (Dang, that would make it a generic comment, wouldn't it?)
Generics have to be within 20% of bioavailable drug as the name brand, which means that you can be getting 20% less or 20% more when you take a generic. In fact, it also means that you can get a variation of up to 40% when you switch from one generic brand to another. Aside from that, the binders and fillers used in generics are different from those used in the name brands -- cheaper materials, of course, since that's the point of the generic in the first place. While the fillers/binders are inactive ingredients, some people may have sensitivities to them -- I had an allergic reaction to one generic fluoxetine, when the name brand never caused a problem.
Also, it's always possible that the specific binders/fillers in the generic may interfere with bioavailability for some people, or that the inert ingredients in the name brand may have been boosting the response.
{shrug} The net effect *should be* the same between generic and name brand, but life isn't always as it should be, right? (If it were, I'd be 15# thinner...)
Hope that's helpful.
Posted by Squiggles on May 8, 2007, at 9:43:38
In reply to Budeprion XL, posted by TEM3 on May 7, 2007, at 18:10:07
I hope the word gets around.
Thank you for posting this.
Squiggles
Posted by Terpsichore on May 28, 2007, at 5:39:06
In reply to Budeprion XL, posted by TEM3 on May 7, 2007, at 18:10:07
I have just reported my reaction to the FDA and strongly encourage others who have had a bad experience to do the same. It's the only way to pull bad drugs from the market so other people don't need to go through the same thing.
I have taken Wellbutrin for several years. Buproprion was a fairly close match but neither the Budeprion SR nor Budeprion XL came close. I was, in fact, much sicker on the drugs than I would have been with no medication at all.
My latest experience with Budeprion XL came on so slowly, that it had time to do a great deal of damage in my life. Before we identified what was going on, I had several weeks worth of dishes in the sink, every article of clothing I owned was on my bedroom floor and needed to be washed and I had not arrived to work on time in weeks. I had gone into an extremely agitated depression. I couldn't stand in a store line without becoming angry and combative; I fought with everyone and drove at dangerously high speeds on the highway. Additionally, I have developed some severe stomach problems that injured my throat. While I can't prove it, they came on 4-5 days after starting Budeprion XL.
I am now back on Wellbutrin and have begun to return to a balanced state. My experience is that not only does Budeprion not work; it's dangerous and needs to be pulled from the market.
This is the end of the thread.
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