Wellbutrin Program Discontinued At Direct Success Pharmacy (Page 2)

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I've been getting name brand Wellbutrin XL 300 from Direct Success Pharmacy for several years, but I just found out yesterday that the cash program is no longer available as of October 31, 2016. So, I will be forced to switch to the generics again. I have had side effects from three of the generics on the market. I've tried Actavis, Mylan and Par. The best of the worst was probably Actavis so I guess I will try it again. Any advice? I am not eligible for any of the other patient assistance programs for the name brand drug.

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21

Holy crap. I just got my coupon card in the mail, activated it, and had my pharmacy run the prescription, and it came back as $15 for a 90-day supply! If I they had run it just a minute before applying the coupon, it would have been around $1,500 just for a 30-day supply. I have no idea what kind of game Valeant is playing with this drug, but I guess as long as they continue to provide weird secret loopholes like these, we'll all just have to play along and try not to think about it too hard.

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22

Dave, what pharmacy did you use? How did you explain the whole thing to them --was it straightforward or did it require a lot of walking them through it?

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23

I use Target/CVS. I had gone into the store the other day to have them run the Rx with the card to check the price, but I hadn't activated the card yet, so they put it on file and said I could just call back after I activated the card, which is what I did.

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24

Dave, Do you have commercial insurance? I took the coupon to walgreens today and was told this coupon only works with commercial insurance.

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25

Yes, I have insurance through my work.

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26

Thanks Dave! will take a short term health insurance and give a try,not sure whether it will work.

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27

Did you order from Canada? If yes, would you mind sharing your experience so far? Thank you!

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28

I did originally order from Canada prior to learning about this new coupon, and I just recently got a 90 day supply, so I have not yet actually gotten a script filled with the coupon. I will definitely update this thread with my results once I do.

As for the experience with Canada, the mail order process took longer than I expected, mainly due to technical glitches trying to submit a scanned copy of the Rx, which I uploaded several times, then faxed, then emailed twice, and I came pretty close to running out of pills. So don't wait until the last minute if you're like me and your world comes crashing down when you miss a single dose.

I was also unpleasantly surprised when the order finally arrived and the pills looked like knock-offs. The ones I'm used to are stamped with "WELLBUTRIN XL 300" in black ink, while the ones I got were the same type of pill but stamped with "WXL 300" in gray ink. I freaked out at first, because my last experience with generic Wellbutrin actually landed me in the ICU, but then I found an image of the same pill on Valeant's own website (here: wellbutrinxl.com), so I felt more confident that this is just the Canadian version of the brand name stuff, and indeed I experienced nothing out of the ordinary when I started taking it. In fact, after doing a deepish dive to find out about the legitimacy of this weird Canadian pill, I'm pretty sure now that ALL brand name Wellbutrin is produced in Canada, and it's actually the US version of the stamp that's different from the standard.

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29

I took Canadian name brand Wellbutrin for 7 weeks this year. It's ineffective just like generics. There were pretty serious side effects like stomach problems, cough & breathlessness.

If you would like to try, I suggest you order the supply for one month. I filled my prescription from a real pharmacy from Vancouver for $30 (CAD 40 for 300 mg *30 tabs) plus $10 for shipping.

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30

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. Do you mind telling me what website you went to? Or the name/number of the pharmacy?

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31

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. Do you mind telling me what pharmacy you used?

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32

I used Canada Drug Stop.

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33

I had ordered wellbutrin xl from Kripps Pharmacy.

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34

UPDATE and CORRECTION; I posted back on Feb 14 about the Valeant replacement program after I had called Valeant after finding out the Direct Success program was canceled. Now this is an update and correction to the post I made on Feb 14. Now that I have gotten the coupon, run it, read the find print, etc. I understand how this works. It is the same coupon on the website called the Wellbutrin XL Savings Program website. (Now the website is confusing because it's says 'up to $200 savings per 30 day supply' so I took that literally and assumed that program pays very little towards the thousands the med costs. Not true.) 1. You have to have commercial insurance 2. If your insurance would NEVER PAY, regardless of copays and deductibles, anything towards brand Wellbutrin XL (it's not on their formulary) it will cost you $100 for a 30 day supply. 3. If your insurance will cover or pay brand Wellbutrin XL, again regardless of copay or deductible situation, it will cost you $5 for a 30 day supply. Now using my situation as an example. My commercial insurance does cover brand Wellbutrin XL if my doctor says I have to take it over generics. But I have a very,very high deductible that I have to meet before any prescriptions, generic or brand, are paid for. I have not met my deductible. So with the coupon I only pay $5 for a 30 day supply. Basically my insurance paid nothing this refill but I only paid $5. On the Direct Success program I was paying $150 for a 3 month supply. Now it's $15 for 3 months! I am much happier! Any questions ask me. Oh by the way, in the fine print on the coupon, it does say Valeant can end this program at anytime without notice. That is what they did with the Direct Success Program. So enjoy the savings on these programs while you can. And if they end the program, call Valeant and ask. They may just have a new program starting. I was told on the phone this one is good for 2017 and for up to 12-30 day refills only. And the coupon says that also. For those without commercial insurance: call Valeant at the number in my Feb 14 post and ask about your situation.

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35

I used it too. I paid 5.00 for a 30 day supply. I actually filled it at Direct Success again for 5.00. Since they had my prescription, it was just easier to fill there. My commercial insurance is BC/BS.

Here's an interesting twist though. I think I like the Actavis version better! After all of the talk and trials of different generics, I have concluded that I am going to continue on Actavis' XL 300. I noticed some additional side effects while on the brand drug that I don't seem to have with Actavis.

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36

I just did the same thing - calling Valeant and telling them about the discontinuation of the Direct Success program. They will mail me my $100 copay coupon in 5-7 days. It is NOT the same coupon as online - the representative emphasized this!
This is GREAT news and beats spending $1,300 monthly. I am speechless. I have been forced to take the generic, which I am not loving, so I also ordered the brand name from Canada. So I was going to switch to the Canadian version...but would much rather stick with the U.S. made version that I have been taking for years. The coupon is good for 12 refills.

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37

Does anyone have an update on whether the Valeant coupon mentioned above -$100 for 30 days of Wellbutrin XL- actually works? What if you have private insurance that doesn't cover the brand name?

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38

I too cannot take generic as it makes me feel worse actually. Teva is the worst but my experience with Watson brand became negative as well. Generics are usually NOT equal to their brand equivalent, in spite of what they try to tell you. The rate of release is usually different. I think it is a CRIME that mental health medications are priced so exhorbitantly!! Really, the people with suicidal ideations are the ones who have to suffer?!!!!

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39

I just tried the new coupon, and it worked for me. $15 for a 90-day supply!

It wasn't completely without a hitch though. First Target/CSV mistakenly entered the Rx in the system without the "brand only" designation, so they wound up filling the generic at first. Then when they tried to rerun the brand through the insurance (CareFirst), it came back as over $4,000, again because the Rx was entered without the "brand only" box checked. Once they verified that the doc had written it as "brand only" and checked that box, it came back as $15.

P.S. Sorry for the delayed response on this. I've been working my way through a 90-day supply from Canada, so I haven't needed to refill until now.

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40

Hi Dave. I know this is a few months later. I called them to find out about the coupon you mentioned in one of your posts. They claim it's for $200 of savings off the co-pay that I would generally pay and it's the same savings program that they show on their wellbutrinxl.com/savings.

Is this the one you tried? I saw that you wrote that it's a different coupon but it seems to have the same savings information.

Thank you for the help.

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