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Re: feeling freaked out that Barr bought Shire's A » med_empowered

Posted by laima on February 24, 2007, at 8:08:32

In reply to Re: feeling freaked out that Barr bought Shire's A, posted by med_empowered on February 24, 2007, at 4:50:08

The difference between Barr generic and Shire brand wasn't potency- it was the actions. If I took extra Barr, I'd fear for feeling jittery, fear pounding heart, getting flushed. And I am on Emsam- don't want to mess around! More than once I ran for my blood pressure reader to reassure myself I was ok. Barr's version made me feel jittery if I took it on an empty stomache, and even with food, I definately felt it kick in, or should I say, almost throttle on, and later, sink off. When it sunk off, I was emotionally volotile, even fragile. I was in a hurry to take my afternoon dose for this reason--but with the brand version, it is so smooth, I sometimes forgot to take the afternoon dose on time. Had to pep-talk myself out of a mood sink each evening with Barr-sometimes successfuly, sometimes not. After about two weeks I was feeling quite certain it was the wrong med for me. I sunk into a deeper depression when I took it, just about immediately after it started to work-all day and evening. I asked my doctor to switch me to dexedrine- but he's not big on sudden switches of meds, and I ended up trying the brand version instead. HUGE difference in my case: no jitteryness as it kicked in- or ever. No mood sinks, ever. No evening troubles at all. No temptation to ever take more to postpone a crash- no crash to postpone. At most- I get tired in the evening- but I think one is supposed to get tired in the evening after a full day. Just very smooth, very mood brightening. I don't feel like I am even "on" anything with it.

As for generics- well, I do consider my doctor's views to be credible, because he's a professor of psychopharmacology, and in the prime of his career. He also acts as consultant to some drug trials and studies. He wasn't at all surprised when I reported the difference between the two versions, and said indeed, generics are not under the same kind of fda scrutiny as brand name version drugs are. Sometimes it's a matter of varying quality of raw ingredients, or the amounts used, or manufacturing differences. Sometimes people don't absorb one version or another well. He even said that the fda gives generics extra lee-way for the specific purpose of enabeling them to cut costs. Forgive me, I can't remember if I already said this or not- but it also kind of reminds me of giving a number of people the same recipee, and yet each of their souflees turns out differently, despite same list of ingredients in the recipee, same instructions.


Meanwhile, most pharmacists insist there is no difference between brand and generic- except for one assistant who quietly told me that yes, loads of customers at her store insist on brand version adderall and don't care for the Barr. I said, "I thought they are the same?" She answered, sarcastically, "Supposedly!" The pharmacist overheard her, and she got in trouble.

Barr's famous, or notorious per some, for specializing in generics. They are still making generic "adderal" despite acquiring the brand version. So, they themselves concede a difference? Or will this devolve into two generic products, one being considerably more expensive? I know a lot of pharmaceutical companies are accused of all kinds of tricks and schemes, but I found the news articles about them practically bullying Shire to give up their patent on Adderal XR several years early to be distasteful. Will such practices end up meaning it becomes less attractive to develop high quality new drugs? I mean, why spend millions to do so, if some generic company bullies you out of your patent before you ever turn a profit, or much of a profit?

But my biggest fear is simple: I found my miracle med combo, and do I end up losing it now, just a month after getting it right?

Who exactly is actually over-seeing the "brand" adderall manufacturing now? Will they be pressured to cut costs, etc- possibly altering the product as result? Will they get the same raw ingredients as Barr generic?

If things do go downhill for me, I'll ask about dexedrine again- I'd rather not have to make changes now though, because this past month has been the best in a longtime. Oh sure- I still have lots of problems to sort out in my life, but I actuallly finally feel capable and optimistic to do so- that's a BIG deal! Before this month, I was resigned to being always depressed, dysthymic at best.

I used ritalin in the past, and both brand and generic basically agreed with me, but both lacked the mood brightening effect at low doses, and I could definately feel both versions kick in and fall off. I felt like I was "on" something with both. I'm on Emsam, so how high I can go is limited. Higher doses of ritalin always made me feel speedy, unnatural, anyway. I always had some temptation to up the dose, too- to avoid any crash, and because it wore off so quickly. A colleague of my doctor consulted on my case, and reported that he's been noticing a number of people are "doing very, very well" by combining their Emsam with adderall, that the two seem to work synergistically, prompting the switch. I ended up not so sure he was right until I got my hands on the brand version.

If anyone is doing great on Barr generic- I don't mean to insult.
Please don't misinterpret. It just wasn't a good med for ME- it seemed to be at first, but this depression came on early during the first month I used it, then I took a two week break, felt better (though deflated), and then the pattern repeated itself the following month. No issues, no problems from a full month of Shire. Just excited optimism- which is now feeling in jeopardy.

But thank you for your thoughts- I'm taking note of your suggestions, in case I have any issue and end up needing to monkey around with changes again. But I still hope like you'd never believe that they just "bought" it, and are not digging in to the manufacturing process. Fingers crossed big time!

> hmmm...I dunno. I think the fda allows up to a 20% variance...the problem, I imagine, would be potency--I mean, you're getting amphetamine salts, but the generic may have less active stuff per mg than the brand. So maybe upping the dosage? Or you could switch...Desoxyn, for instance, is only available in brand, and if you cut your adderall dose in 1/3 (I think) thats about the equivalent..at least that way you could be sure of quality...you could also switch to brand name dexedrine ir tabs.


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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/735664.html