Genereic Drug Switches, anyone suffer? Please contact me!!!!!

[daisy.girl]

Inaara said, "(took topiramate up there for years for migraines and had very few until my head injury in 2007). "

topiramate is the generic for topamax....This is the one I just had filled yesterday. The script said Topamax and I got topiramate.

 

[seizingbeauty]

Hey Daisy Girl,
I know everyone has different reactions so my problems might not be the same as yours, that being said keep an eye on your reactions to Topamax/topiramate. I had some trouble with the generic and the name brand. Just make sure that if they are giving you generic that its the same one every time. Each one seemed to hit me differently. I'm not on Topamax anymore due to some of the sideeffects.
Good Luck
Cat

 

[lindinig]

I actually didn't consider doing anything, other than switching pharmacies. Next time, I'll have the doc fax me the same copy of the script he sends to the pharmacy. We increased his dose of depakote, so we needed a script for 250 mg to give in addition to the 500mg. Our insurance makes us fill through mail-order, but since he was post-ictal at the time this script was written, I wanted to give it to him right away, and not wait the 10 days for it to come in the mail. Luckily, when we did receive his 90-day supply through mail-order, it was the brand name.

Because of this fiasco, I'm going to a different pharmacy the next time any of us needs medication.

 

[Inaara]

Inaara said, "(took topiramate up there for years for migraines and had very few until my head injury in 2007). "

topiramate is the generic for topamax....This is the one I just had filled yesterday. The script said Topamax and I got topiramate.

Sorry, I use them interchangeably. In seattle, I took topamax but yes, the bottle did actually say topiramate on it, so my guess would be that the pharmacy uses the names interchangeably as well.

Little pink tabs, said topamax right on them, pretty hard to miss. Haven't seen one since I got to Texas. In Texas, every script says topirmate but the pills never look the same twice. Only brand name I ever got here was tegretol and that was a freakin nightmare for me.

 

[Endless]

If you can find a small neighborhood pharmacy, or chat up your big pharmacy's staff so they know you, and care about you. Then explain your problems with generic switching, and ask them to flag your file with the problem. Odds are they will tell you when they switch vendors. Mine are pretty good about it.

 

[Zoofemme]

Topiramate is the generic for topomax. If your doctor didnt check the box at the bottom of the script and you have one of those insurance plans that requires RX fills with generics unless Dr specifies, then you got the generic. Your pharmacy can't do anything about it unless 1) you can find some loophole in your insurance RX plan or 2) you want to pay full cost for the med.

IF your dr or insurance is a pain then definitely do as endless says. I have a great relationship with my pharmacist and he is a big chain guy. I've wiped them out of lamotrigine three times and topiramate twice where they had to order more in to finish filling my scrip. They will give me enough to get by and not charge me for them til the order comes in. Like endless, mine also tells me of any changes and asks me to let him know if I have any problems.