Posted by bleauberry on July 15, 2009, at 17:45:07
In reply to Re: Nortriptyline Generic or Brand Favorites?, posted by linkadge on July 15, 2009, at 15:29:42
> You never hear of patients doing better on a generic than they did on a brand name do you?
>
> Linkadge
That is not true.The physician I mentioned has discovered through trial and error over 25 years a particular generic manufacturer of a popular pain medication that is BETTER than brand. He won't use brand with that prescription.
Just to put his reputation and expertise in perspective, I drive 3 hours oneway to see him. You know how picky I am and my general disdain of doctors. A voluntary 6 hour roundtrip drive speaks volumes of this particular physician. As I was leaving, a family in the waiting room spoke French. I asked where they were from. Canada. A 6 hour oneway drive. Surely there are closer doctors at home and in USA? A family flew in and lived in a motel for a couple months to be treated by him...from Alaska...about 2000 miles away. These examples put this doctor's experience and reputation in perspective for this particular topic.
I agree with you patients are not as a group reliable or stable. But 25 years does a lot to work out the biases and wrinkles of that variable. That kind of timeline and experience allows legitimate trends to show themselves. Observant humans notice trends. They are not facts, but they are enough evidence to take a closer look and issue some respect to that trend. When that is done, the trend is either proved or disproved. In this doctor's office, it has proved itself reliably enough over time often enough that it is mandatory procedure to respect the trend and guide one's behavior based on that trend. It was proven to not be fluke, random, disease fluctuation, or placebo. It is a real trend seen by observant eyes, but most definitely experienced by countless patients, SLS and myself and probably a hundred others in pbabble archives. I don't think they all imagined it and I don't think it was a wave in their illness. The timing and was too suspicious to rule it out.
25 years is enough time to challenge a trend through real live trials. That has been done. The results are predictable. Randomness and placebo would not be that predictable.
I can tell from your comments several things:
1. Everything I wrote was not read. Or, it was read by the eyes, but was instantly zapped from entering the thoughts.
2. The above comment from a poster concerning Pamelor and Teva was not read and absorbed or contemplated, nor were a hundred others on these pages of pbabble.
3. Some people take the stance of a neutral judge, that is, they gather evidence from defense and prosecution without any preconceived idea of where things are going, and then render a decision after putting oneself in the defense shoes, and then in the prosecution shoes, and then weighing the balance between the two to come up with a decision. This judge is fully capable of taking the stance of the defense, and is fully capable of taking the stance of the prosecution, seeing both sides of the fence completely. This judge hunts for ways to disprove both sides. This judge hunts for ways to prove both sides. Then there is enough evidence to render a personal decision.
4. Some people take the stance of making a preconceived decision based on emotion or linited presentation of evidence without considering any particular evidence or by quickly discarding any evidence that puts their own stance in question.
I do love your posts here and I click on every Link post that ever pops up. You've got some great stuff and awesome ideas. We can agree to disagree on this particular topic. I think in time, a couple or a few years, you'll see more of the "trend" to take a second look. For now, all is cool.
I just wish my thread would stay on topic. I'm looking for people's opinions or experiences on different manufacturers of Nortriptyline, not a debate on generic versus brand. We can do that on a new thread.
Nortriptyline. Bring it on.
poster:bleauberry
thread:906750
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090709/msgs/906924.html