question about the new GENERIC Keppra (Levetiracetam)

[maureen]

As someone who works in a pharmacy....XR is not generic because the manufacuterer still has patent protection, once a day dosing is great in terms of less likely to miss a dose, but it is non formulary because there are other, cheaper things - not extended release out there....

[stilldancing_98]

Your proof of a seizure is enough to me. You can do that being on generic for a long time and then going to brand. Some people need to stay on Brand. Would he have such a have such a hard time if it were the other way around?

[Loudmouth]

It's not Keppra but my gabapentin I can toletrate only the brand, any other manufacturer My seizures get a lot worse. My GP now states it on the prescription, and my (small independent) pharmacy orders it in on a speial order for me. My Keppra that I've just started on is brand as well. It's only been a week, the only thing I've really noticed is that my temper's a bit shorter, and I'm getting 'trolley rage' in the supermarket today...

[Bobby]

I was on generic keppra in the spring, when my insurance just automatically switched me! I didn’t even know it was the generic until I got home! I kept having these arm twitches on it and after 4 months, the dr. switched my back to the brand name. Now I am having 50+ myoclonic jerks a day and I don’t know if thats due to the generic keppra a while back or a bad batch of meds….basically I don’t know what the hells going on!

Maybe it didn’t work so well for me because I am on 5000 mg a day, such a high dose. The generic isn’t as potent as the brand name and the manufacturer usually changes with the generic so maybe that’s what has been causing me all of these problems!

I am trying to switch to the keppra xr, but its so expensive so we'll see. I don't think they should make generic anti-epileptic drug at all, just messes up everything!

[danndann]

I have been on Keppra now for 6 years....started having tremors and auras when I was a teenager. Now I am 35 and the birth of my children 6 years ago brought on more frequent tremors in the extremities. Dr put me on keppra...MIRACLE. no side effects at all....no tremors/auras either. Started the generic about 3 months ago. everything was fine at first, but now I am experiencing headaches and general 'fuzziness' in my head. also breakthrough tremors and 'flashes' (technical term???). I upped the dose, but that just makes the headaches worse.

someone said that taking vitamin B would help.....anybody else heard that?

[maureen]

I take B50 complex twice daily, I don't know that it helps a lot, but then I'm afraid to stop taking it - the side effects might be even worse then while taking it! Give it a try, I've heard that B vitamins are quite useful for just about everyone. Good luck!

[smiles3]

I have been on generic Keppra for a couple of months now & off Dilantin. I have had a couple of Tonic Clonic seizures but they werent as bad & didnt last as long as the other ones did before when I was on Dilantin alone. As for the generic Keppra all I know is that so far it has been doing ok for me. My doctor thinks I will have to be on an additional medicine but so far the seizures are less severe and less intense as they were otherwise. The tonic clonic ones are the only ones I seen to notice now since the generice Keppra. I had originally started out on Keppra XR but couldnt afford it so went to generic. So far so good.

[smiles3]

tell your doctor to write "do not substitute" when writing prescription

[jbrown314]

Wow - a lot in common...I have the same issue with generic "Keppra" and I am a big time Buckeye fan! My insurance actually changed to where they will pay more dollars toward generic than Brand Name --- yes it sounds crazy. I am going to have to pay approx $60.00 for generic v. $540.00 for Brand Name! They will pay $86.00 toward generic and about $70.00 for Brand Name. I see no logic, but, my doctor wants me to stick with the Brand Name as there have been few studies on the generic. Her comment goes something like 'when you switch to generic and have a seizure and end up in the CCF for tests and whatever else is needed they will pay much more!' I don't think I have a choice though...I am new to the ability of communicating with others whom have similar challenges in their lives!

[stilldancing_98]

Keppra made a difference in me to. My doctor wrote No Sub. for me.

[Brent]

All I've ever taken was a generic levetiracetam, so I don't have anything to compare it to. It works great for me though. I have the occasional breakthrough seizure, but they are by far less frequent and severe.

-B

[stilldancing_98]

My son was on a behavior med. and the Dr.s put him on generic. Later they put him on brand. I thought Oh this is good. But it was not good for his behavior. So I asked the Dr. to take us back to generic.I spoke to the Dr. and since he started out with generic it was what his body was used to.He was kind of surprised to. My son is not on that drug any more. I dont recall what it was.

[Endless]

Good resource as far as price goes. Lamictal (lamotragine) is really cheap on there too. It's only $40 for 90 100mg tablets. Usually it's about $400 for 100-100mg tablets.

But do you trust the manufacturers? And/or that the site is telling the truth about the manufacturer? It does give the manufacturer's names, but I couldn't find the pharmaceutical manufacturer that was listed for the Lamotragine (Protec).

I did find a Protec that makes things like skin adhesives but they don't make drugs. There is also a packaging company, but they don't make any drugs:
http://www.proteclab.com/custom.htm

There is a pharmacy chain named Protec in Russia. But no manufacture. http://www.marchmontcapital.com/stor...story_id=14279

I did find Torrent, the manufacturer which was listed for a different dosage.

I'm a bit leery.

[SCRobbins]

Hey Buckeye Fan, I was just prescribed generic Keppra from a doctor that has opposed generics for 30 years now. He still insists that I stay on brand dilantin and lamictal (actually went to bat with my insurance company on this one) so I feel comfortable with the change. The only concern that I have is the substitution of another generic down the road and have told to watch for this.
So far it's all good.

[ColmanMac]

I'd be interested to know more about the generic variation. As I had a he'll of a time with the other type & was taken off it - Col

[Brent]

The last time I posted on this thread was a year ago. At that time, everything was going well on generic levetiracetam. Since then, I have had the manufacturer change about four times. (This is due to changing pharmacies and each of those pharmacies changing manufacturers once.) Here's my experience:

Each time I switched I went through a period of kepprage, headaches, and other side effects similar to when I first started taking levetiracetam (though not as severe or long-lasting.) I might be inclined to chalk that up to psychological factors - just expecting symptoms, so getting symptoms.

However, I just had the manufacturer changed on me in November to one that I had never had. The side effects were awful. I had a headache almost 24x7, frequent bouts of kepprage, an eye twitch that was nearly incessant for a month, and some concentration problems (possibly just due to the other symptoms). What's more, while I was up to about 4-6 weeks between seizures, under the new manufacturer seizures increased in frequency until I was having them every few days (which is about what I experience without meds).

So, of course, I spoke with my doctor. We got back on levetiracetam from another manufacturer (one I had taken previously). This was about a week ago. Within a couple of days, the headache was gone, the eye twitch is only occasional now, kepprage is infrequent and milder than it has been, and I haven't had a seizure in a week.

This is just anecdotal, and your mileage will vary. But, I can say pretty conclusively that all generics are not created equally. I don't know that any one is better than any other, but I do know that at least one effects me very differently from at least one other.

As far as the overall effectiveness of generic vs. Keppra, I don't know that there is any strong evidence. There are stacks of people that do well on one and not the other. I think it really comes down to the fact that there is variability between manufacturers, and that UCB (the maker of Keppra) is just one of them.

-B

[ColmanMac]

Thanks for the feedback, Brent. It seems to be a bit like "horses for courses" @ your end?
Look after yourself
Col

[shannanc1]

My daughter is on Keppra and trilipteal. Our insurance would not pay for the keppra and she started have more partial complex and had a tonic clonic which she had not had one in over a year. it took two months before we could get back on the name brand.

She was in both FDA trials for children under ten. She has been having some odd episodes. they are like a petitee mal that lasts along time