[Maven]

Has anyone here tried both the generic and the brand-name versions of any drug for any mental problem, and found one to be better than the other? Some doctors say they work the same, but I've read about patients who felt one worked better than the other. I was wondering if anyone here had this experience?

[Amazonmom]

I personally have only taken generics. I have heard from so many people that there is a real difference between brand and generic on a lot of drugs. Especially the anticonvulsants. The crazymeds site says a lot about this subject.

[thinker22]

I have both generic bupropion and name brand Wellbutrin. I can't say if one works better than another because I only tried the lower dose (100mg) of the generic for a period of time. However, I think I'm allergic to the generic's blue dye as I broke out in hives one time for a solid week when it was re-introduced to lower my pm dose. So there may be differences like that. I prefer the name brand in 150s, but only for the lavendar coating, which tastes kind of like butter, oddly. The white generic 150s, which I only tried once doesn't have a nice coating like that.

[ECHOES]

When I switched from brand name Prozac to the generic fluoxetine, I thought it didn't work the same. My psychiatrist said others had said that also. But I stayed with it and it was fine; it was just in the beginning it didn't feel the same. Maybe it took a bit of time to get used to.. or maybe I expected it to not be the same.. I don't know.

I guess we each have to see how it goes for us individually.

[AAAAA]

I think it varies upon the person. There are certain meds that I have to have the name brand of although they do not pertain to mental health.

[Maven]

Thank you. I'm on the generic Clomipramine, and when I was on Anafranil years ago, that helped me at 150mg, and right now, I'm on 200mg of the generic, and it's still not doing all that much.

[possum220]

Years ago I was on Xanax and was crying a lot. I then, by mistake was given the generic form Kalma and the crying was much less.

I dont know why but it did make a difference to my body.

Possum

[smiley1984]

The active ingredient in therapeutic drugs is strictly monitored by the FDA or similar body in different countries so they legally they have to be identical. There can be differences in the binding agents and I imagine perhaps technical stuff that is difficult for me to understand like the mode of drug delivery or how much or when it is absorbed in the gut. Conversely I have also heard of people preferring the generic over the brand name.
Personally I always take the generic if it's available and never the brand name so I can't comment personally but have heard of people having allergies to binding agents.
My opinion; there probably a few drugs and people who notice a difference but there is also probably a placebo like effect for some people since it is a very real and recognized phenomena. If anyone knows of any large cohort studies comparing generics and trade names could they let me know? I would also be interested in investigating whether these concerns are more often reported in psychotropic meds or whether generics cause different numerical values in say cholesterol or blood pressure.

[Rhapsody]

I have both (what ever my insurance covers) and I have no complaints.

My mother on the other hand can only take brand name medicines as generics do not work for her. (her insurance covers it with doctors approval)

[Liberada]

I found an old post of mine. Currently I take only the name brand WellbutrinXL since the pharmacy refills with whatever generic they have on hand.

Originally Posted by Liberada

I take wellbutrinXL (450mg) and geodon (120mg). I believe it has helped me and I do notice a difference between taking WellbutrinXL and the generics. My last refill was Budeprion made by Teva. The refill before that was BupropionXL made by GlazoSmithKline. I could tell a difference between the two generics. My body told me there was something amiss before I realized the labeling was different.

As a side note: my pdoc says there is only one generic for wellbutrin. Also my pharmacy screws up regularly (shorting me on pills..even giving me someone else's heart pills in place of birth control. Idiots. I know everybody screws up but they messed up my last five refills. I'm in the process of changing pharmacy's.

Sorry for rambling

[AAAAA]

Smiley I've been out of the medical field for about 7 years now so perhaps things have changed. At that time there was the 75/75 rule. The generic had to work on 75% of the population 75% of the time.

When my son was on Ritalin he had to take the name brand. The psycho effect could not be a factor there are he took what I handed him and never knew what it was. I wanted the generic whenever available because our co-pays at that time (and are again) so much higher on the name brands and you have to jump through hoops (Dr. vs. Insurance company) to get the name brand. I have no doubt some people have a mental adversion to the generic meds.

[Maven]

Thanks, everyone, for your input. AAAAA, thanks for sharing your personal knowledge. I just Googled for some information, and apparently, the 75-75 rule is no longer used. Here's an article, but to read specifically about the 75-75 rule, scroll down to "Generic Drug Product Equivalence":

http://www.ajmc.com/media/pdf/AJMC19...r1183_1189.pdf

Or, Google the following terms and click on the link that says, "* * * CONTINUING PHARMACY EDUCATION" and "View as HTML" if you'd prefer HTML to PDF: generic brand drug "75-75 rule"

[AAAAA]

Thanks so much for the information! When I saw the date on the article I thought "how can that be?" but apparently the days have gone more quickly than I thought. We've been in this location for 11 years and so I've been out of that field for 11 years. Where has the time gone?

[celexaman]

I've always taken generics, though their isn't one for Seroquel yet. Qualitest clonazepam works great. There really is no difference.