Klonopin ~ VS ~ Clonazepam

[Panz]

I don't post much right now because I get too neurotic and freaky about my posts...yeah it's stupid.

Last Saturday morning, I had a mix up with pharmacies and my perscription for clonazepam was called in to a pharmacy that I haven't been to for a while. The pharmacist told me that they were all out of clonazepam and that she was gining me Klonopin instead. At the time I thought " What the deal, same thing anyway" I have spent the last three days bombed out of my gourd and having to hold on to walls to get around. I've been trying to get ahold of my doc, but so far haven't managed too. So I cut the 1mg Klonopin in half ( I'm also taking Synthroid for my thyroid, 200 mg of Seroquel and 100mg Zoloft) and I'm STILL a zombie. Is this common? going from the generic to the name brand? has any one else had this problem

PANZ

(fried in Idaho)

[Thomas]

I've taken both the generic and the brand name and have experienced no difference.

Tommy

[realitytest]

Glad you brought this up, Panz. Brand and generic do NOT always work the same, and Klonopin is a case in point.

Klonopin/clonazepam, Synthroid/levothryroxine and Ritalin/methlyphenidate are the three most oft prescribed scripts where there is a recognized difference between the response to brand vs. generic. Yes, indeed they are supposedly bioequivalent but somehow they act differently for many (not all). And wouldn'tcha know it, the brand IS more effective - what you experienced as stronger.

You'd think the big cos could prove this, but no. This is a classic case where big Pharma and the other big medical interest group, Big Insuranco (sorry it doesn't trip off the tongue. I just made that up) , are in major conflict. Big Insuranco won, claiming to represent the consumer as they always do for lower priced goods - sometimes rightly, and sometimes not. (And when it's cancer treatments, being poor kills - but we already knew that) .

In fact, the makers of Synthroid were successfully sued a few years back for claiming (rightfully) to be more effective than generic substitutes, and had to pay out a tidy sum almost all of which went to the class action lawyers. It wasn't a big deal like Phen-Fen or Vioxx where lives were lost.

Unfortunately for me, I take two of the three and have a lousy prescription plan, one feature being a formulary where taking brand (when there's a generic), means you pay cash price. I know many very unhappy parents of ADD kids, fighting to get brand Ritalin as the generic not only doesn't work for their kids - it makes some of them wilder. My kids experienced this difference too (Kids don't know what they're getting so it makes the Placebo effect almost null, though one could argue parental expectancy is still a factor).

Another thing about brand Klonopin is it snaps nicely into halves (or even quarters) which is very economical (a 1 mg tab costs little more than .5 mg.). It also allows you to customize your dosage PRN. Always best to take as little as possible, right? The generic is tiny, round and hard. Haven't found a pill splitter than can cleave it.

We should have a thread about brand generic differences experienced with everything mindly.

rt

PS No, it's not your imagination.

[AirMarshall]

Hi Panz!!!

Sorry your meds are kicking your ass, hope you get it sorted out.

a.m.

[InfoNut]

Klonopin is DEFINITELY stronger than the generics. I liked the effect better too. I could use less, and it was "mellower" than the generica as well.

They taste better too!

IN

edited because I insist on spelling definitely with an "a" for some reason.

[Croix]

Wow I never knew that. I've always taken the generic and that knocks me on my butt. Insurance thing. I'd hate to see what full strength Klonopin would do to me.

Croix

[Breeze]

Try cutting them again, and if that works, take them more frequently.

I was on Gabepentin (generic Neurontin when spelled correctly) and it made me wacky. Now I take the real deal in the form of liquid. There is a difference. I find that Neurontin is easier on my system and makes me more mellow rather than flat out stupid.

Good luck

Breeze