Brand or Generic

[Loudmouth]

its surprising but quite a few people can be either allergic or intolerant of the fillers.I've had to stop taking many different types of medications due to it,and its almost impossible to isolate the particular filler you are allergic to.I cant take dissolvable paracetamol of any sort.I'm allergic to the fillers in most antibiotics.I'm having to take my topirimate in conjunction with antihistimines as its the only thing we've found that's almost controlling the myo's,even though i'm allergic to the filler......stuck between a rock and a hard place.....and,as Buckeye? already mentioned,fillers also relase the drug at different rates,and i've kept diaries before that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt (before i knew the difference) that my seizure control was lessened when i was taking a generic anti-epileptic drug as opposed to a brand. I have been told by my Pharmacist that all medicine boxes should have a PL / PLI code on the box,and to keep a note of this as even if you think your drug is being made by the same company,it may be being "outsourced",and if these numbers don't match,then the fillers inside the medications may not be the same.....

[hawke86]

I prefer brand over generic.

[Meetz1064]

I don't have control when I use generic. My body doesn't even recognize that the med is in there....it sounds stupid, but that's how badly I react to the fillers. It's either brand name, or no control.

[Duvexy]

I only take Generic. I can not afford the brand kind of anti-epileptic drug medicine.

[morgan381]

I take brand name Dilantin and generic Keppra - my husbands insurance won't pay for brand name Keppra. There used to be a generic Dilantin but it didn't last and so it's all that is available here (Ontario)

I also work in a pharmacy as a technician. We are required to dispense the cheapest form of a drug that is considered interchangable unless it says "No Sub" or the patient specifically asks for the brand name.

The active ingredient is the same. It has to be. If people have problems with generics, it must be from the fillers.

I've taken generic Dilantin and Ativan (lorazepam). I don't seem to have a problem with the generics and would gladly take generic Keppra and Lamictal if I could get it in the states...my insurance doesn't cover as much of the brand names as it does generic. For one month of Keppra and Lamictal (before my insurance kicked in), it cost me almost $900, which is about the same as my mortgage payment...

[alivenwell]

I can relate to the high cost. My drugs cost about the same amount. Last year when I went on a vacation, I bought an extra supply in case I would lose my purse. I paid full cost. Some lady next in line to me was amazed at the price. I just said this is one month's worth of prescriptions. You should have seen her facial expression. It was priceless.

What a racket!

[hawke86]

If I had to pay full price for my medicine it would be around $2000 a month. I could make two and a half house payments. Good thing about insurance. Without insurance I couldn't afford my medicine.

[Loudmouth]

I suppose in a way i should be thankful that i live in the UK and get the benefit of the NHS and if you have Epilepsy you dont have to pay the prescription charge for your epilepsy medication. I wonder how much my 1200 mg/day TEVA gabapentin and 50 mg (in 25 mg tabs) /day of topamax [BRAND NOT GENERIC] would cost per month in america??!!

[stilldancing_98]

One of my medications has a filler in it that makes a difference in my body. It is an anti-depressant.Generic brand. But they were mixed. My pharmacy has never done that before and I just dont understand why it changed. I will talk to them . I know they will fix it. It is celexa.

[homemom360]

here's a nice switch for you. i live in the seattle area and the hospital i go to has a delt with insurances not paying for scips when they are not generic so whether generic or not they "lable" them as generic, if the name brand is in the bottle though there is a second yellow sticker on it that says so. i think that is real cool of the hospital to provide for the public what the insurance will not. especially when i saw the cost of the new meds i was prescibed. nearly 300$ for 1 mnth. not in my price range....

[Belinda5000]

I can take generic with most of my drugs.
But when it comes to Tegretol it's brand name only.


Belinda

[Mandy]

Hello! Personally i take brand only. My neurologist always wrote "brand necessary" on my rx's. She always felt that with certain generic drugs have a lower potency than the brand. So i feel much safer with the brand only!

[Mandy]

Hello! In case you wanted some help obtaining the brand, most drug companies are helping patients obtain the meds for free or low cost. If you go on to pparx.org, to the right side of the page it says view a list of pharmaceutical companies. Click on that and go to UCB pharmaceuticals,click on the icon,and you can download an app to apply to get it for free. Good luck and take care!

[Bernard]

We have a thread for patient assistance information: When You Can't Afford Medication. It lists just about everything.

[s10sleeper]

I don't care with my meds, I take the generic for Trileptol and for Keppra and Depakote I have no choice but to take brand name. With my sleeping pills I take the generic for ambien. Brand name can just get way too expensive, all I can say is thank god for good insurance at my job along with some of these companies having things they do to help people that can't afford the meds

[stilldancing_98]

Depakote is one that is a bit different under generic brand. This is what I learned from my Doc. and pharm. Now this was a long time ago so I would check it out.

[Kevin]

A preference to generic? I don't get it. I think a more interesting poll would be a survey of those who could afford brand name and those who have to settle for generic.

[ziggidypoo]

I just have to get whatever my insurance will pay for and sometimes if it covers neither, they call the dr back to get a comparable med, Keppra works GREAT for me. I took NEURONTIN for YEARS for spinal pain - come to find out it was treating the then dormant E all along - maybe that's why it was dormant??? lol. My E would come back for 2 yrs gone 20 yrs even w/ no meds, back 2 yrs, gone 20, anyway, it's been back about 3 yrs this time. The Klonazapin I've taken for a yr or so for anxiety, but it too is for E.

I think my insurance gets the cheapest way out - and sometimes the pharmacy gets some from the actual manufacturers I think too.

I don't know. When I knew my memory was affecting taking my meds on time or at all or double - I gave up my self-administration of my own demand - no request on their behalf - I just told them HERE you do it, I'm not capable anymore due to memory loss.


(PS: when there's a long line of messages like this do we click the reply in the box or below the box or go to the end of the line to make a reply????)

[ziggidypoo]

I don't care with my meds, I take the generic for Trileptol and for Keppra and Depakote I have no choice but to take brand name. With my sleeping pills I take the generic for ambien. Brand name can just get way too expensive, all I can say is thank god for good insurance at my job along with some of these companies having things they do to help people that can't afford the meds

TRILIPTAL - hint - make sure you get regular blood sodium levels done - it can cause a drop in blood sodium levels and can bring on non-E convulsions and coma and death if the blood sodium level gets too low - I was hospitalized 3 x with such (not death) and at my last neurologist. appt. I told her about it all and that every time I'm hospitalized my blood sodium levels were low - she promptly weaned me off the triliptel/triliptal(??) very fast. Now, just for safe measures, even though I think I am off of it now, if I am able to think and move during or pre/post seizure, I will swallow a little salt and water. See, I got in such a habit of NO salt diets that I HATE the taste of salt, and I retain water and take lasix for it anyway - and am diabetic and drink water (tea usually) and p alot - so that may also figure in with the low blood sodium levels. Anyway, just posting what my neurologist. said about that med.