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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by PeterMartin on April 22, 2018, at 0:04:30
Lamictal seems to be one of those medicines where some generics work better than others for different people. I've always used TEVA brand and the few times I've tried others (aside from brand) I've had problems.
Turns out from mid-December through Feb of 2018 TEVA brand lamictal was on shortage and not available. In the US I believe Walgreens commonly carries Teva brand (diamond shape w/ 93 463 for 100mg etc). Most people don't keep track of the generic manufacturers but if anyone who takes lamictal has been having issues the past few months make sure any recent refills are the same type you're used to using.
Luckily I have a pretty large stockpile of Lamictal due to a dose decrease so this issue didn't affect me. That said if you have been a longtime TEVA Lamotrigine user and refilled w/in the past couple of months be aware any recent onset of depression/instability could be due to the switch in manufacturerer.
Read through the comments here from some people who were trying hard during the shortage to figure out what was going on:
https://www.medschat.com/Discuss/What-Is-The-Best-Generic-Of-Lamictal-244558_p2.htm
BTW it seems as though TEVA is in big trouble financially. As a result this issue may come up again or there may come a time when they are bought out or go bankrupt. (talked about in that thread also).
Posted by SLS on April 22, 2018, at 7:54:04
In reply to Heads up for those on Generic Lamictal (Teva), posted by PeterMartin on April 22, 2018, at 0:04:30
I found TEVA to be satisfactory. I found Mylan to be inferior. I needed 500 mg/day of Mylan to produce an improvement compared to the 300 mg/day of TEVA or Lamictal name brand. At 500 mg/day, the degree of improvement I experienced with Mylan was less robust and produced brain-fog.
- Scott
Posted by bleauberry on April 23, 2018, at 11:06:40
In reply to Heads up for those on Generic Lamictal (Teva), posted by PeterMartin on April 22, 2018, at 0:04:30
I find it rather terrifying that as we regular folks in the real world experience very clearly the inadequate control of generic formulations, that establishment folks in positions of power snub their noses and look the other way.
People suffer needlessly because of it. People miss out on an otherwise good medication for them. People waste their money on inferior goods. People risk relapsing.
We've got some pretty obvious problems in the generic markets but nobody cares. That's kind of scary if you ask me.
Why don't they care? Why do they leave it flawed? They really don't care one little bit that you or me have any issues with generics.
Not cool!
This is the end of the thread.
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