Posted by bleauberry on February 3, 2010, at 17:19:33
In reply to generic lithium is making me sick!!, posted by Roslynn on February 2, 2010, at 15:44:45
> I thought the generic version would be okay, but it's making me nauseated and dizzy with a horrible headache. I feel like I have poison running through my veins. Is there anything I can do, other than take it with food? I'm doing that already and it's not really helping.
>Why would the generic be so different from the brand?
Excellent question. The person who writes a book on this will make a million dollars.
We've seen the generic vs. brand thing here so many times it is impossible to count any more. I think this is the first time I've ever seen it reported with lithium.
Skeptics would say it's all in your head. Placebo. The poison running through your veins feeling is purely imagined.
But, you know it's real. And so do a whole lot of other people. One of my doctors hardly ever prescribes generics. He personally battles with patients' insurance companies to get approval for brand. He has just seen too many failures on generics, successes on brands, and relapses when switched from brand to generic, to be a hoax.
FDA requires generics to be "bio-equivalent", which in no way can be reasonably assumed to be "clinically equivalent". Yet that assumption is made. We also have no clue how different people respond to the various supposedly neutral fillers, how those fillers impact the absorption process, or how they might interplay with shuttling to the brain. On and on. So much we don't know, yet we assume we know everything.
Not much you can do about it except pay cash for the good stuff. Nothing is worth it more than your own mental health.
poster:bleauberry
thread:935763
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100122/msgs/935876.html