Medication switch?

[CallMeSam]

I just moved towns and had to switch my medication to a new pharmacy. At the new pharmacy(walgreens, actually) they gave me a different Lamotrigen then I usually get. Normally it's Northstar 150 lamotrigine tablets, but now I've got TEVA brand.
The TEVA ones are colored different and in an odd shape, but they're the same dose it says.
Do you think there could be an issue with this?
I've not found a neurologist down here yet, but I do have to visit with the Doctor before I can refill next time, I just haven't yet because we're still getting set up around the house.

 

[KarenB]

OK, here's how it works with generics -- they have to have the same ingredient as the brand name, but the AMOUNT can differ by 20% of the active ingredient. It could be 20% more or 20% less.

So...let's say you're on 1000 mg a day of a med. A difference in 20% could be the same as reducing your meds to 800 mg a day (or increasing to 1200 a day). j

So...yes...it CAN be an issue.

We were having trouble awhile back with our son maintaining therapeutic levels, even when getting the same dose for months. Our neuro started ordering the brand name (for the reason mentioned above). It's a pain in the butt working with the insurance company on this, but a lot of neurologists believe in sticking with the brand name, especially with patients who are fragile and have a history of status.

If you stay in the same town, with the same pharmacist, it shouldn't be a problem using generic (esp. if you have a pharmacist who can give you a head's up if they happen to change suppliers).

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

I've had my pills switched several times, for instance when my doctor first prescribed my asthma medicine, it was name brand singulair and Walgreens recently changed it to the generic brand. Before I switched to Walgreens pharmacy, I had Walmart pharmacy and I had my pills switched to a different brand or different name. Walmart pharmacy sucks by the way. lol They've screwed up my medications so many times it's ridiculous and always blamed the doctor or the insurance. So I switched and so far, Walgreens has been perfect.

Insurance likes to pay for generic brands but not name brands if they can get away with it. And I haven't been in a hospital yet that gives you generic brands when treating you.

 

[KarenB]

There was one study on Dilantin -- using healthy volunteers -- those taking the generic phenytoin (Dilantin) had average drug levels 13% lower than brand name Dilatin. (Wilder)


In a recent survey, two-thirds of doctors treating epilepsy linked new seizures in their own patients with a switch to generic drugs. The American Academy of Neurology issued a position statement in 2007 against forced switching to generic drugs for epilepsy.

 

[KarenB]

Angel -- funny about Walmart and Walgreens -- I heard somewhere (neurologist??) that Walgreens tends to stick with the same supplier, while Walmart often switches supplier based on cost.

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

Hmm, would figure. Walmart used to constantly give me some song and dance when I ran out of refills and would tell me either They were waiting to hear from the doctor, The insurance doesn't want to pay for it (Same meds they've been covering for over 2 years), your prescription needs prior authorization (when one is already in place), or we can't get a hold of the insurance.

They did it for the last 3 months I was with them and the last time was the last straw. I was out of refills for my anti-seizure meds before my last visit with my Neurologist and he said he'd authorize for 6 more refills and sent it in that day. Well, I'd just gotten the last refill so I knew I couldn't get another for a month so I waited. Then when it came time, I called Walmart and told them my doctor called in refills for the medicine and they first told me that they'd had it ready but put it back cause no one came to pick it up but they'd have it ready that day. So I go in to pick it up and they told me that it needed prior authorization and it was the weekend and I couldn't get it. I got mad at them and told them I was sick of them screwing up my medications. I had also told them that this has happened several times lately and that I talked to my doctors office and several times my doctor has said they never got the request. The lady said "I find that hard to believe" Ticked me off. I turned around and left and went right to Walgreens which happens to be right across the street. They said they'd have my prescriptions transferred immediately.

So Monday I went all the way to my doctors office to talk to him and he was on vacation. So I told them the problem and they said they'd have a doctor call me to help me get my pills. Right after, I called my insurance and told them what Walmart said and they said the authorization was already in place and they should have called them. I told them I switched to Walgreens and after hanging up, went to Walgreens and they were ready in 15 minutes.

Walmart was constantly doing this so I switched after telling them I was sick of them screwing up my medications. And so far Walgreens has been right on the ball and if I'm out of refills, they contact my doctors the same day I call in the request and my doctors are always on the ball and as long as they are there the day Walgreens contacts them, they are ready that day.

 

[KarenB]

We had EXACTLY the same experience with Walmart! Exactly!!

At any rate, we finally started getting his Depakote at Walgreens -- it was so much nicer -- they'd even send a text message when the meds were ready.

Forgotten about that, because we had a blissful 8 months without meds. Now in Bangkok, and have been buying (name brand of course) directly from hospital pharmacy, but will probably eventually switch to a local place (as long as they carry the name brand -- especially don't like getting generic drugs in Asia because some of the factories can be a little dicey, and the government controls aren't as strict). Plus, the name brands are cheaper than USA anyway (did you know that in America you pay up to twice as much for any given drug than in just about any other country -- for the same exact drug -- not generic)??

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

I signed up for text & e mail alerts for Walgreens and they send me texts and e mails to say my prescription is ready and texts and e mails reminding me of a prescription that needs to be filled.

I had someone that "WORKS" at Walmart tell me to switch pharmacies and that she's heard a lot of complaints about the Walmart Pharmacy. You know they suck when an employee tells you to switch pharmacies. lol

 

[valeriedl]

Any time I'm in the hospital I'm given a different brand of medicine than I get from the pharmacy. Sometimes it will take 3 pills to add up to 1 pill that I take.

There have been a few times that I've gotten a different brand of medicine from my pharmacy too because they were unable to get the brand that I normally take in time. They've always told me about it when they've gave me the pills.

With my insurance they pharmacy has to use generics unless the dr says on the pescription form that they MUST be name brand. My husband has had to do this a few times with meds that he's taken and luckily our insurance has never given us any problems about it.

Also at my pharmacy once the pescription is filled and it stays on the shelf for over a week they take it off. They've always called before they do this as a reminder that it needs to be picked up.

 

[Bobbi]

Hello. I've been reading your posts about the prescription drugs and I have a question regarding Singulair. Singulair just turned to generic in 2012 and in December 2012 I experienced status epilepticus for the very first time. I'm 57 years old. Since then I have been on Keppra and I have slowly increased my levels. I will be switching to the time release version next week. I too used to get my prescriptions at Walmart but now I did switch to Duane Reade which is affiliated with Walgreens. Seizures is listed as a side effect on Singulair. I put a call into my allergist to find out if I could stop taking the Singulair and of course he wants me to come in to see him. Do you know of any other seizures that may have been caused by Singulair I have not seen any other posts specifically about this. My other thought was if Singulair has a side effect of seizures why would a person who has seizures want to take a medication that could increase the threshold for having seizures? Thank you for any insight into this as I am trying to now get off of Singulair and before it and any other anti-seizure medications I wanted to see if eliminating the Singulair helps clear up my EEG.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Bobbi --

Singulair lists seizures as a side effect but only in very rare cases. At this point, it's not considered a direct seizure trigger the way certain antihistamines are. However, it is associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric side effects including agitation, aggression/irritability, anxiety, vivid dreams and hallucinations, depression, restlessness, and tremor. Those kinds of stressful side effects could affect seizure threshold -- have you experienced anything along those lines?

 

[Bobbi]

I've been taking singulair for many years and have experienced bleeding, anxiety and tremors. I'm sensitive to keppra too where my WBC lowered since I started by 2 points lower from 5.7 to 3.6. It's now back up to 4.2. I found out the manufacturer of the generic is Teva who is also the same as my new time release keppra.

 

[Flustered]

I recently called in my Rx for my Lamotrigine 100mg tablets (2.5AM and 2.5PM) I was doing fine, seizure free for a long time. Now that I have been on my refill for 3days I have been feeling what I what I call "off". RiteAid switched the generic brand from Aurobindo to Northstar. I had to stay home from work today; wondering if anybody else has experienced this with Northstar too.