Generic drugs vs name brand drugs

[Lobouspo]

Hi

I was wondering anyone who has transitioned to a generic drug once available, did you notice any difference from the name brand medication you were taking? Obviously, huge savings in terms of cost, I just wanted to hear people's experiences

[ASG]

Hi

I was wondering anyone who has transitioned to a generic drug once available, did you notice any difference from the name brand medication you were taking? Obviously, huge savings in terms of cost, I just wanted to hear people's experiences

 

I don't have any personal experience, but my dad takes Valium, as a muscle relaxant. He is adamant that generics don't work as well. Whether it is all in his head or not, I can't say. But he much prefers paying the full price and whenever he is in hospital (which is a common enough occurrence) he fights tooth and nail to be given actual Valium, as opposed to the generic.

[HopeForTomorrow]

Hi

I was wondering anyone who has transitioned to a generic drug once available, did you notice any difference from the name brand medication you were taking? Obviously, huge savings in terms of cost, I just wanted to hear people's experiences

 

The FDA makes it very difficult for generics to be approved unless they are extremely similar to their brand name counterparts. This means that they are very similar in how they are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, excreted, etc in the human body.

 

Where it gets a little tricky is in two areas (in my opinion): time-released medications (very hard to replicate to a standard) and medications that need to be regulated for disease states in very sensitive and specific ways. The latter is the more clinically relevant. To give an example, if I start a patient on thyroid medication, I write DNS (do not substitute) on the prescription, and write for either Synthroid or Armour thyroid. I don't want the patient to get switched to a generic at some point, because if the patient is controlled on the medication I write for, switching to a generic can affect the lab results. Same would be true if the patient were initially titrated on the generic, but the odds of the generic company changing are much greater than that of the brand names. So, somewhat more trustworthy.

 

However, for most medications I don't feel it matters, and I take generics myself.

 

If you have a particular medication question that might help. Good luck!

[joystickd]

Hi

I was wondering anyone who has transitioned to a generic drug once available, did you notice any difference from the name brand medication you were taking? Obviously, huge savings in terms of cost, I just wanted to hear people's experiences

 

It depends on what's used in the generic. It contains same med but some people do have allergies to generic med but not brand name.

[Lobouspo]

The FDA makes it very difficult for generics to be approved unless they are extremely similar to their brand name counterparts. This means that they are very similar in how they are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, excreted, etc in the human body.

 

Where it gets a little tricky is in two areas (in my opinion): time-released medications (very hard to replicate to a standard) and medications that need to be regulated for disease states in very sensitive and specific ways. The latter is the more clinically relevant. To give an example, if I start a patient on thyroid medication, I write DNS (do not substitute) on the prescription, and write for either Synthroid or Armour thyroid. I don't want the patient to get switched to a generic at some point, because if the patient is controlled on the medication I write for, switching to a generic can affect the lab results. Same would be true if the patient were initially titrated on the generic, but the odds of the generic company changing are much greater than that of the brand names. So, somewhat more trustworthy.

 

However, for most medications I don't feel it matters, and I take generics myself.

 

If you have a particular medication question that might help. Good luck!

 

 

The specific drug I was wondering about is Avodart (Dutasteride)

[Els]

I've never found there to be a difference - the certification process for generics is sufficiently stringent that they have to be essentially the same. So I always buy generic whenever available.

[HopeForTomorrow]

The specific drug I was wondering about is Avodart (Dutasteride)

 

If I were in your shoes I wouldn't have a problem using that in generic form. Just my opinion though.

[BC1980]

time-released medications (very hard to replicate to a standard)

 

Probably 15 years ago, I took Wellbutrin XL, and the generic form made me have headaches. My doctor told me that was a problem people have been experiencing with the generic form, and he gave me the brand name one. I had no problems. That's my only example. Otherwise, I use generics.

[Penguin_hugs]

I work in pharmacy in the UK (had my pharmacist registration exam today!) and most things given are generic due to cost. There are some things that don't change like epilepsy meds- you need to keep to the same brand as some have different bioavailabilities. But the majority it really doesn't matter.

 

We get a range of people asking for particular versions of generics- but for 90% of people they are just being fussy- very few have genuine intolerances to the bulking agents or colours. Usually we get in whatever the supplier is sending this week!

 

And if people are so fussy with brand and the dr won't prescribe it on the NHS then they can get a private prescription for it. A big one is Viagra. Sildenafil is around £6 as the generic and Viagra is about £25!

[Emilia]

I've never found there to be a difference - the certification process for generics is sufficiently stringent that they have to be essentially the same. So I always buy generic whenever available.

same. I obviously check the dosage, as long as that's the same I've never noticed any difference, except for cost.

[HopeForTomorrow]

I work in pharmacy in the UK (had my pharmacist registration exam today!) and most things given are generic due to cost. There are some things that don't change like epilepsy meds- you need to keep to the same brand as some have different bioavailabilities. But the majority it really doesn't matter.

 

We get a range of people asking for particular versions of generics- but for 90% of people they are just being fussy- very few have genuine intolerances to the bulking agents or colours. Usually we get in whatever the supplier is sending this week!

 

And if people are so fussy with brand and the dr won't prescribe it on the NHS then they can get a private prescription for it. A big one is Viagra. Sildenafil is around £6 as the generic and Viagra is about £25!

 

The two conditions/classes where I really feel it can make a difference is thyroid (what I mentioned earlier) and antiepileptic agents (what you mentioned above). It's really more about consistency than anything else. The differences are small but can become clinically relevant in these touchy conditions. If a patient is dose titrated to a particular brand or generic, it's okay as long as that brand or generic doesn't change. However like you said, there are many different generic companies and it's hard to make sure the company is consistent. Not the case for brand name.