Is there a difference between bupropion hcl XL and bupropion XL?

Answer 1

Generic medications are required by law to contain the same ingredients as the brand medication. The only difference would be in price. The company who invented Wellbutrin brand of buproprion has had the right to be the only company making the drug for the past 17 years. Now the patent has expired, and other companies can make the drug, but they cannot call it Wellbutrin - This is all good and well for the technical side of things, but what's the reality of the Wellbutrin vs generic issue?

Add-on:

This isn't exactly true. Once the patent expires generic drug manufacturers can sell the same active ingredient with +/- 20% bioavailability of said ingredient per pill. The weight of the pill, the fillers, and the binders are also different. Overall, this can make a huge difference for people who need a specific dose released at a specific rate to balance their brain. Wellbutrin in particular has been documented again and again to be inconsistent as a generic. Why is that? We're not exactly sure, we just know that many people respond poorly to the generic where the brand name was working.

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2000/04/01/bupropion/

Above are hundreds of complaints people's pharmacy has accumulated over the past 4-5 years from people who were switched from Brand name to generic Wellbutrin. In particular, the manufacturer TEVA puts out a product called Budeprion XL, which has more severe side-effects and less positive medical effects on depression and anxiety. This is due to the fact that, although it is used as a replacement for Wellbutrin XL, the rate of release is 4x faster during the first 2 hours than with Brand name Wellbutrin. This inconstancy has caused trouble for people. See Consumerlab.com for details.

Otherwise, manufacturers Actavis and Watson have generally good reviews from users who have used both the generic and brand name products - the consensus seems to be that they are still not the same, and that the brand name works best, but for the price reduction the Actavis and Watson are worth it.

You can always do research on drugs.com or askapatient.com where people report and grade their experiences with prescription medications.

Answer 2

No, there is no difference.

HCl stands for "hydrochloride", which is the form of salt that is formed with bupropion to turn it into a solid, crystalline form (powder), to be administered in capsules. Many neuroactive compounds are alkaloids, and are, thus alkaline in pH. So, combining them with hydrochloric acid (HCl), or another acid, forms a salt of the drug (base) plus the HCl (acid).

Bupropion HCl is just the generic name.

Wellbutrin is the brand name.

XL indicates that it is extended-release.

Answer 3

The HMOs will tell you that budeprion and Wellbutrin are the same but the bonding agent is not. Thus, if you have been taking the Wellbutrin XL, the Budeprion SR will not release quite the same way. Answer: Well Bupropion is the generic of Welbutrin so the active ingredients are the same just the inactives are different like the bonding agents. The difference between SR and XL is the dose per pill available XL only comes in 300mg and is time released in a 24hr period so you get a constant amount of medicine the entire day from one pill. SR comes in 100mg and 200mg doses and are also time released so your doctor can easily adjust your daily dose by having you take one, two or three pills a day (making sure that they are at least 6 hrs apart form each other)