Posted by catesfolly on May 1, 2007, at 12:55:51
In reply to Re: Budeprion (Generic) vs. Wellbutrin » Arlene223, posted by kingcolon on April 22, 2007, at 12:51:23
Dear friends,
I just had a nightmare experience switching from brand name Wellbutrin 300mg to the generic "wellbutrin" called Budeprion 300mg (manufactured by Teva), both extended release. I wanted to add my voice to this long list of others...
I have no history of suicidality, but a day after switching I went into a week of steadily rising panic state. Then I hit rock bottom this last Saturday. Like some demon took over my body. I wanted to die, felt like someone was holding me by the throat and pressing me against the wall. I was psychotic, self-loathing way WAY beyond anything I have ever experienced.
I made it through the worst of it, called a suicide hotline, took two Ativan, and didn't take any more of the budeprion. The next day I felt much better and today I'm back to my normal self.
I just saw my psychiatrist (who didn't know I'd been given the generic and hadn't heard of this one) and he says it was almost certainly from a toxic dose of the generic wellbutrin building up in my body. He says many of the generics are not absorbed or metabolized at the same rate as the brand names, so you can get unpredictible effects. This unpredictible effect damn near killed me.
The pharmacists and the drug companies are adamant that the generics are THE SAME. This is, I believe, a bit fat lie. And I think we need to do what we can to expose this big fat lie. I would love to send these budeprion tablets I have to a lab to see what's actually in them and how they might be absorbed the same or differently from the brand name -- anyone have any leads for that? And what's the FDA link for submitting a complaint, does anyone know?
There are enough stories like this out there now that real studies should be done!??I gather I may be a slow metabolizer which may make me more vulnerable to these toxic effects, so it's possible the higher dose of wellbutrin might have been too much for me anyway, but the psych seemed sure it was because of the generic (this psych is my second one, is one of the best in our city, and has apparently had a lot of similar stories from patients about generics).
poster:catesfolly
thread:397165
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070426/msgs/754922.html