Concerta vs new Generic Concerta

[Anonymous]

Has anyone made the switch and found they are having problems? Each day my son has taken it he has been weepy, emotional and seems too sedated.

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[turbo]

I believe Dr Jain has mentioned that the generic version is NOT equivalent to the real deal with this med. I believe there is a campaign underway to get the generic de-approved or something.

Was your son on the real deal before?

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[Anonymous]

My pharmacist switched my Concerta to the generic brand earlier this year. At the time I didn’t think anything of it, other than the fact it was cheaper. It took me a few months of taking the generic version to realize it was not working as effectively as the actual Concerta. I remember being more emotional too and my memory was really bad.

When I went and saw my Dr., I made sure to tell him to write “no substitutes” on the prescription. I am now back to taking Concerta. I noticed a difference right away. It is working way better than the generic version.

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[Anonymous]

Wpgmom,

I know one thing that was told to me by my psychiatrist to watch out for a couple of things, even with the brand name Concerta. She mentioned that should I start to experience bouts of anger (out bursts and sudden) without any provocation and the other thing is depression or extreme bouts of sadness. I would say that you might want to go see the doctor soon or in the very near future. To convey this to the doctor/psychiatrist that prescribed the medication. That way they will either do one of the following; reduce the dosage or eliminate the medication all together and try another medication.

Based on what I know, I would suggest seeing a doctor or psychiatrist very soon to get him evaluated. Don’t go into panic mode but just keep a eye on him.

Distracted66

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[turbo]

The problem with the current system, as I understand it, is that even if the Doc writes “no substitutions” on your script the pharmacist can still substitute and doesn’t have to tell anyone about it.

If you pay for your own meds, getting the real deal shouldn’t be a problem. If a medical plan is involved, they may not allow it though.

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[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that it becomes a legal issue if the pharmacist or pharmacist’s technician make that call in substituting it one drug for another, especially in light of the fact that the doctor expressly wrote, no substitutes. As well, industry standards ensure that ‘generic brands’ are to be the exact same structure chemically speaking as the brand name products.

As I mentioned, it is highly advisable to see your doctor immediately to ensure that there isn’t some negative biological or chemical reaction occurring that needs to be addressed. I might be that this particular brand of medication may not be the right one for his biological make-up.

Distracted66

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for your advice! Concerta 36 mg worked really well for him. Generic Concerta… terrible! Thank goodness the pharmacist only had 10 pills in stock so they owed us the remaning 90. I have gone back to the pharmacy and asked for the prescription to be filled with true Concerta.

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[Anonymous]

I just called Sunlife and luckily my husbands drug plan will cover generic 100 % and name brand 90% so I will just ask for the real stuff and life should be back to good. On a side note….I am currently not on meds but have had prescriptions before for Concerta. I took one of my sons generic pills this morning and I feel terrible. Jittery,anxious, etc. and I can’t wait for it to wear off! Poor kid having to go through 3 days of this.

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[turbo]

DIstracted66 said: “It is my understanding that it becomes a legal issue if the pharmacist or pharmacist’s technician make that call in substituting it one drug for another, especially in light of the fact that the doctor expressly wrote, no substitutes. As well, industry standards ensure that ‘generic brands’ are to be the exact same structure chemically speaking as the brand name products.”

DISTRACTED-

From the information Dr Jain gave in his sessions, I believe you may be wrong on both counts.

In fact, I specifically recall him saying that (at least in Ontario) pharmacists can substitute generic drugs for their brand name equivalents and do not have to tell either the patient or doctor it has been done EVEN IF “no substitutions” is written on the prescription.

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[Anonymous]

Turbo,

Thank you so much for correcting me on this! Greatly appreciated!

My thought was if the doctor had expressly wrote ‘no substitutes’, I automatically figured that were anyone took it upon themselves to over-ride or alter what the doctor has directed, that there maybe some legal repercussions.

Once again, thank you and for all others, my sincerest apologies.

Distracted66

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[Anonymous]

I absolutely found a difference between brand name and generic. Each day at around 3-4pm it would be like my son’s generic pill would wear off. It took a few months before I could piece this together because my Dr. never told me to look out for this. Apparently the brand name has a laser drilled hole in the end(s) of the pill and a far more even and longer lasting delivery system of the medication where as the generic we were prescribed just looks like compresses pills. It makes sense now why the pill wore off at 3pm. In the evenings he was very sad and weepy. Once we switched back it was a huge improvement. Generic might work for some but it did not in my case.

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[Anonymous]

Im glad I read this post. I just started taking Concerta a month ago and the pharacist told me right off the bat they were giving me the generic. I will talk to them the next time I need my prescription renewed to tell them not to substitute.

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[caper]

For myself, I find Concerta lacking. In adults taking Concerta, blood levels typically drop to half of the peak 9.6 hours after taking it.

http://www.janssen-ortho.com/JOI/pdf_files/concerta_E.pdf

I got my doctor to switch me to Ritalin-SR, and I bought the generic APO 20mg SR.

Based on the APO product monograph, taking 2x20mg followed by a single 20mg 5h later gives a higher maximum concentration than 54mg Concerta (14ng vs 12), a flatter peak (more even levels), and doesn’t drop off to half (7ng) until 12hrs after taking the first 2. taking another 9hrs after the first two sustains the drug above 7ng until 16 hrs.

The cost is also a fraction of Concerta (25c per 20mg pill).

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[wolfshades]

Fortunately, the doctor I see works closely with a pharmacy in the same office. The pharmacy told me about generic Concerta, and said it was NOT the same as the name brand Concerta, and they found a way to ensure I got the latter.

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[Anonymous]

Caper, don’t forget that everyone of us have a unique body which means we all metabolize our meds differently than one another. When my son used Ritalin-SR, I found myself questioning if I had even remembered to give him his meds. I finally started writing down the exact time I had given him his meds to reassure myself (brain-addled ADDer) that I had indeed given him the stuff. End result? Ritalin SR was as good as giving him a glass of water to drink. Did diddly squat for him.

So some of us need brand name Concerta while others may manage with the generic and still others like you will do even better with Ritalin SR.

My psychiatrist told me he was going to write “No substitutions” on my scripts because he had been hearing a long litany of sad tales from his other patients who had been given the generic version. He was not ‘amused’ with their reports of problems being experienced. I didn’t even have to worry that I would have to give the generic a try- he brought up the topic of the generic and declared it a NO.

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[Author]

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