lisa515 Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Hi, I am new here and have been trying to read up on various threads but had a question about a recent change with me. I am prescribed Lamictial, for depression although my doctor suspects I might have some bipolar going on as well. I take the generic and always have since I was first prescribed it almost a year ago. It works better for my depression than anything ever has, not perfect but then again nothing is. I have been realtively stable for the last 8 months or so. Recently I lost my insurance and am waiting to be added to my husband's insurance at work next year. Due to the cost of my medications I started looking around at different pharmacies to find the best price and switched after finding one that had lamotrigine for $3.99 versus the $110.99 the pharmacy I had been with charged. I was very excited because I was so worried about the costs of my medications. I picked up my new prescription last Monday, Oct. 24th, and literally that was the last day I remember feeling decent. I felt a bit off most of last week, but figured it was just some normal fluctuation in my mood, then starting this weekend I have been steadily going downhill, each day worse than the day before. Today I have been incredibly unstable, teetering from somewhat decent to extreme bouts of depression multiple times through out the day. About two hours before my normal dosing time this evening, I felt the worst I have in months. I now feel okay, after taking my Lamotrigine dose for the evening. I have felt so lost not able to understand what has changed with me and then it hit me that I switched generics a week ago from Teva to Dr. Reddy's. Is it possible that this could cause me to feel this way? It is almost as if the Dr. Reddy's isn't as strong and doesn't last as long. But being that they are the same medication, I feel like I am making this up in my head and I can only imagine my pharmacist would feel the same way if I mentioned this, so I thought I would ask for personal experience here. Has anyone else had something like this happen when switching brands of the same medication, be it Lamotrigine or something else? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Yes, generics can differ in both bioavalablity of meds (up to 40% I believe) and also in how you react to them as they have different inert ingredients. You might want see if that pharmacy would be willing to order in the brand you responded well to or if you can find it more cheaply somewhere else. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I've tried two generics for lamotragene and don't know the makers, but one is a huge blue diamond with a really deep score to break it in half and the other is a rather large white round tablet that is just a little bit smaller than an altoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellykal Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 My doctor also prescribed Lamotrigine and found that I was doing great on it but at the cost of $167.00 at Target and with no insurance, I had to changed. Unfortunately, if you've ever switched from one manufacture to another, you can suffer different side effects. I contacted the manufacture and asked them who else sells their brand. The company got back to me quickly and told me they sell to Costco and Walmart. Guess what......Costco sell the same brand for $14.00!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catnapper Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I live in terror of my current pharmacy switching from my current generic large blue diamond-shaped Lamictal to some other brand, which will force me to go pharmacy shopping again. I noticed a big difference in efficacy of generic Ambien. The small oval shaped pill I have now is fine, but I changed pharmacies after my previous one started stocking Teva, which didn't work nearly as well. Based on my experience and others here, yes, a different generic could certainly not be as effective. I know others here have also had trouble when switching from name brand to generic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I live in terror of my current pharmacy switching from my current generic large blue diamond-shaped Lamictal to some other brand, which will force me to go pharmacy shopping again. I noticed a big difference in efficacy of generic Ambien. The small oval shaped pill I have now is fine, but I changed pharmacies after my previous one started stocking Teva, which didn't work nearly as well. Based on my experience and others here, yes, a different generic could certainly not be as effective. I know others here have also had trouble when switching from name brand to generic. I believe that you can request your pharmacy to order a particular generic brand to fill your prescription. I know I did with my pharmacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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