Public Service Announcement

[puppie]

When you take a prescription for hormones (thyroid, adrenal, menopause, etc) or a brain med (antidepressant, sleeping pills, epilepsy, etc) DEFINITELY insist upon the brand-name. You may also want to consider it for other meds as well.

So now I'm getting some outside confirmation of what I've felt was true, and what I've experienced personally.

Comments

[faesdeynia]

I have rarely had an issue with genetic medications, except when I was attending PSU and had to go to the infirmary. It does NOT take 3 rounds of 10-day antibiotics to kill a UTI. It takes 3 days of Cipro. Which of those is more cost effective, HMM PSU?

I have a friend who is severely diabetic and will NOT accept a generic Rx for anything - but doubly so for anything endocrine-related.

[cyros]

I had read about wellbutrin XL generics a long, long time ago. Time-release medications in particular seem to be particularly scary.

[shonao]

It varies from person to person.
I take levothyroxin for my thyroid, and it does just fine, the same as I had on the name brand Synthroid. No differences. But that is for me. However, with that said, the generic Zyrtec doesn't do crap for me, where the name brand does wonders.

I understand what the article says, but it's not always true either way. It's the individual.

*shrug*

[crackedmyself]

I've never had a single problem with any generic drug--and I've probably taken over a hundred different drugs since high school. All different types, for a variety of illnesses. I'm suspicious of FDA regulations in general, but I'm not any more suspicious of generics.

FWIW, if the thyroid medicine you take is Synthroid/levothyroxine, it seems to me that it would be one of the safer generics, considering how old it is. Even the name brand didn't go through FDA testing; it was grandfathered in. Which would make Synthroid scary if it hadn't been working so well for so long.

[puppie]

The problem is in the fact that hormones require delicate and precise dosing, and generics are allowed a ridiculous amount of variance in the amount of active ingredient -- both as when compared to the brand name, and as when compared amongst pills from the same generic manufacturer.

[crackedmyself]

All true. But I think the commenter above was right when she said it's an individual thing. I've taken a LOT of drugs, and not only have I never had a problem with a generic, I seldom to never have side effects. (The one drug that gave me EVERY side effect was a name brand. You've heard of it, I'm sure: Pureevil. Or Diamox. It varies from country to country. ;)

My body is just weird. I would not recommend anyone using me as a standard for, well, anything.

[antiquehighheel]

I knew it! Generics never do anything for me! (Okay, yes I agree, it's an individual thing...but still!)