Posted by Squiggles on March 1, 2007, at 9:26:23
In reply to Re: Drug manufacturing and quality control » Squiggles, posted by laima on March 1, 2007, at 9:12:27
> Well, whatever the reality of the laws and inspections turn out to be, the fact is that for this particular case, this particular generic does not behave like the original it is supposed to be interchangeable with, and I can't exagerate how frustrating and upsetting it has been to have umpteem pharmacists roll their eyes and insist I'm wrong.
I can understand your frustration, and any pharmacist with an open mind should be able to imagine that both generics and brand-name drugs can go off for some reason (the lab, the country of import, the storage conditions, the ratio of filler and active ingredient, etc.).
And part two of the upset- I go through hours of traipsing around the city to find what has worked for me- only to discover when I got home that the particular generic company I didn't do well with took over the brand version. Will that mean some minor tweaks will happen that add up to it no longer working out for me?Possibly-- if generix x is weak then adding to it will help, if brand-x is too strong, then taking away-- but here we are entering a chemical wonderland. I think you need a chemist at this point.
I guess there is no way to know at this time, logically. I know other generic versions exist, but in practical terms, I might have a hard time getting my hands on them since Barr has an apparent monopoly with the pharmacy my insurance requires me to use. Besides- now I can't help but wonder if they are all different too! So it's been frustrating.
It's so complicated, that I would ask my dr. if there is an equivalent drug to Adderall that you can take. Also, take a look at the FDA or CDER to see if there any reports on your drug being off.
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> In another thread, someone offered an amazing insight. He actually prefers Barr, and explained he's got a theory or suspicion that Shire's version either contains more dexedrine or releases it differently- and he doesn't like dexedrine. I've done well with dexedrine in the past, and liked it a lot. He feels Barr contains either more l-amphetamine-or releases it differently- and he feels l-amphetamine agrees with him better. Perhaps that's part of what I reacted to, should there be anything to this theory. So I found it to be very interesting. I'll see how the month goes, if I still think I have a problem by the end of the month, I may ask my doctor about dexedrine. In fact, the dexedrine I trialed in the past was a generic version-not sure the brand- and it agreed with me very nicely.The variability proves that not all generics are likely to be weaker or brand-name ones to be stronger.
Just was too much stimulation in combination with welbutrin, but that's another story I won't get into here.
Wellbutrin itself is a stimulating AD-- why do they use this drug without a sedatory one, i can't understand.
I still believe for a number of reasons that the fda is paying more attention to brand name new drugs than to generics, which have been turning out their products for years, but I can't offer you any proof, and to start digging for irrefutable proof will ultimately only end up taking loads of time and upsetting both of us-and I see no value in that. Wouldn't be useful in any practical way anyway.
I agree. Experience is probably the best thing to go with.
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> Yes- I am all in favor of generics that help patients! I've used many generics myself, and have never had an objection about one ever before. This particular one didn't help me one bit, and I've been very dismayed to find it doesn't behave like the original version. The other poster loves Barr version, so perhaps "bad generics" isn't even a good term to use. In my ideal world, the drug descriptions would be clear and open about that this version is like this, that one is a little more like that.Well, as the post i sent says, many of the drugs people get ARE generics and they are not even aware of it-- not recognizing the brand and non-brand names on the pill or cap.
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> Well, thank you for your reply, too. I don't wish to be argumentative- and I always enjoy reading your thoughtful posts. I've had a difficult time not feeling defensive just because I've been (generally speaking- not specific to yourself) encountering an awful lot of skepticism over my experience. Ie- "no-no-you're not feeling that, see, the chart here says it's impossible for you to feel that", etc. Enough to drive the most sane and stable person absolutly nuts.
> I hope that makes sense.
>I understand. I can't say that I have not experienced a weak generic. But many of the drugs sold now are generic. Some old ones with expired patent, are nothing BUT generics.
With the trouble you describe, I would ask my dr. if there is an equivalent *drug* to Adderall. It seems that we have too many drugs on the market and this has caused a lot of confusion. That is a profit-motivated market in the pharmaceutical companies-- does not profit anyone but them. I suppose this may be an exceptional case.
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:735309
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/737293.html