Posted by bleauberry on January 18, 2011, at 17:43:51
In reply to Generic Lamictal (lamotrigine) experiences?, posted by BetweenDreams81 on January 17, 2011, at 15:57:34
One of the examples of generic lamictal that stands out in my mind is that of SLS, which he commented on in this thread. Over the years there have been multiple examples.
One doctor I know will not even prescribe generics at all. He has seen enough troubles, failures, bizarre side effects, and relapses with them that he does not consider them reliable in the effort to move progress forward. Most doctors I think do not have their eyes fully open to see the clues and trends that are right in front of them every day. They assume what everyone else assumes, that is, generics are equivalent to brand. They aren't. Different is different, in SLS's own words, and I agree.
You know the old saying, "you get what you pay for." I personally believe with maybe 70% of meds on the market, that is true. $4 fluoxetine is NOT the same as $100 prozac. Even the claim that the active ingredient is identical is misleading.
My doctor did actually have one generic pain killer he preferred over brand because he got better results with it. He didn't have any bias one way or the other, he just watched for consistent trends. He was much more of a medical detective with his patients than most doctors are. Generics didn't provide consistent trends except in the disappointment department, most of the time. Not enough observed consistent performance to be first line anyway.
The topic spans many drugs. It isn't just lamictal. I've noticed the difference myself several times. Twice I didn't even know I had been switched, so it was truly a blind experience. Even for a common headache, I find brand Advil to be much better than the generic. The generic works, but not with the same oomph.
I think a wise strategy is to begin any treatment with the expensive brand. Assuming it does well, which it may or may not, then try switching to generic and see what happens. It might stay well, or it might fall apart. If it stays well, then you can save a ton of money. If it doesn't, go back to brand. For someone to start a treatment on say, example, generic lamictal, and then fail that trial, well, they never really tried lamictal, so they can't say lamictal didn't work for them!
To me, the following meds in generic form were absolutely horrible experiences: Lamictal, modafinil, prozac, xanax. I did fine on brand prozac, brand xanax, and brand modafinil. Lamictal just wasn't for me no matter, but at least the brand version was tolerable. Generic not.
Odd, but just as my doctor found one generic to be more reliable than brand, I too found that generic Ritalin is much better for me than brand. The real stuff just feels aweful to me.
poster:bleauberry
thread:977183
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110115/msgs/977347.html