Posted by ravenstorm on August 25, 2004, at 10:53:34
OK, I started on generic WB SR (bupropion Sr) 100mg twice a day for about four weeks. I was really tired at first but that seems to have mostly subsided. Depending on the day, however, I do seem to have different reactions to the medication!
I tried switching to the brand WB XL 300mg but had much more stomach upset with the XL and had to switch back to the SR. The interesting thing about that whole experience is that I had more energy on the XL than I have ever had on the SR. I don't have extra energy on the SR, I just don't feel as horribly sedated as I did in the beginning.
I was wondering if the difference in reaction was due to the generic versus the brand name? I have a friend who is in drug research and he said that some drugs, such as ADs etc have a narrow therapeutic index (NTI) and that the brand name is required to do in vivo (or vitro) studies (?) that generics aren't (OK, obviously I don't know what I'm talking about at this point--but he said for some people this can make a difference. He thought it would be worth trying the name brand. Then I saw this on another website:
"For medications classified by the FDA as
having a narrow therapeutic index (NTI),
Blue Cross of California discourages the
use of these generic substitutions."Hmmm that makes me wonder. According to Blue Cross, not all generics are the same as thier counterpart name brand."
OK, me again. I felt ready, after four weeks, to up my dosage to 300mg (150mg SR x 2). I was going to ask for the brand name, but then decided to stay with the generic on the rationale that my body had pretty much adapted to the generic version of the coating/fillers and that if I switched to the brand, maybe I would have to go through even more adjustments.Well, I picked up my prescription and brought it home and discovered that the 150mg pills are a totally different generic, from a totally different company! (100mg were from Eon, and the 150 are from Teva and aren't even called bupropion!!!!) If I knew I was going to have to start over with all new fillers/coatings etc etc I would have switched to the brand name. I called the pharmacy and they said they don't usually stock the Eon version of the 150mg, and that I should just try the teva and if I had a problem they would special order the Eon version.
Anybody heard of this NTI and how it affects generics? Should I just call my doctor back and get the brand name? Anybody done better on a brandname than a generic?
HELP!
poster:ravenstorm
thread:382111
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040825/msgs/382111.html