generic Ambien not the same as the real thing

[Skittles]

my pharmacist says anyone who has tried it says the same thing

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. doesn't do anything for me anyway.

[flamingyouth]

2. I just got a prescription for it but haven't tried it.

It's a helluva lot cheaper.

[Skittles]

3. it ain't the same

when I told the pharmacist that he said EVERYONE says that

[Richardo]

8. Yes but what did HE say?

He's the one that knows the chemistry. Is it literally true or some kind of placebo effect?

[Skittles]

11. he said it is supposed to be the same

but he suspects it is not based on the sheer amount of comments he has received

[Richardo]

13. It works for my wife, but on a time-delay

She takes it.....nothing.....then three hours later she's out for 8 hours. In a way, it's good to see others having 'issues' with it.

[Skittles]

14. it works as far as inducing sleep

but leaves me feeling hungover....I took half and woke up in three hours - it is terrible

[SPKrazy]

4. well i've never tried the real deal

but the generic didn't do much for me

except make me forget that I'd been on DU posting things.

didn't make me sleepy though

:eyes:

:hi:

[Richardo]

12. .

responded to wrong post :blush:

[johnnie]

5. That's why you have to snort it

It works better.












:P

[Generic Brad]

6. You could say the same about generic Brad

I'm not the same as the real thing either.

[Thirtieschild]

7. Ambien CR and I didn't find out the next a.m. that I'd gone on e-bay

Ordered the world's ugliest turtle box (green, glass), paid $68 for it too. So surprised when I saw the message I'd won. Didn't know I'd bid.

[musette_sf]

10. CR's not on generics yet

but sorry for your sleep-Baying :-)

[musette_sf]

9. no, it is not!!!!!

sorry for all the (bangs) in the subject line... but i got the generics once, just once.

they made me feel completely dopey the next day if i took more than 1/2 of a 10mg tablet. i felt as if i had taken a 10mg with my morning coffee by accident.

i've been taking Ambien for a loooooooooong time now (years) so i definitely had a point for comparison.

i demanded my name-brand back. fortunately the name-brand is still covered on my insurer's formulary so right now it's all good. but if they ever took the name-brand product off of the formulary, i would gladly pay full price for the name-brand product.

there was a discussion on this topic on DU a few months ago and there were ppl who insisted that generic IS THE SAME as the name brand for any drug. i'm so glad to see someone else notice this. it has to be something in the inert ingredients and absorption factor.

[Skittles]

15. when I asked for the original

I was told it would be 131 bucks (used to be 30) - so f*** that, now I'm just back to insomnia again

[hedgehog]

18. I would say most generics are the same as name brands, but some are

not.

Another case in point : the generic for Synthroid (thyroid hormone). Whenever I am handed the generic, my blood rests go all over; I'm either under dosed or overdosed. I asked the pharmacist about it, and the gist of what he said is that the required dose accuracy on a generic runs at +/- 10. This is fine for most drugs since the prescribed doses may run 1000 to 10,000. However, the dose range of thyroid hormone is say from 1 to 10. Thus, a given generic pill labeled as 5 may be any where from 1 to 10. Those aren't the actual numbers, but you get the idea.

[Deja Q]

16. Scary

:(

One would think that the active ingredients would be the same in both generic and name brand; the inactive ones being whatever they wanted to use...

[musette_sf]

17. the active ingredients may well be the same

but the inert ingredients and the aborption factor must be terribly different in this case. after seeing Skittles' message yesterday i am now going to write to the company that makes the generic version and tell them something is terribly wrong. it may do nothing, but at least i will have let them know that the generic Ambien is NOT absorbed and processed in the body the same as the name brand product from Sanofil.

[Connonym]

19. I'd have to agree

I've been taking half to a whole 10 mg generic and maybe sleep 2 hours. With Ambien I would get at least four or five. I agree that it must dissolve differently. I've also had more episodes doing stuff in my sleep as well as headaches the next day and weird speech patterns the next day where I mix my words up. I didn't used to believe there was a difference between generic and brand name meds but I'm convinced there is with this one.

[musette_sf]

20. what can we do about this?

should we contact the FDA and complain? Ambien was just approved for generics in April of this year. it seems that it was not properly tested, if several people in just this one thread in one discussion group notices a problem with this ONE drug.

this is incredibly dangerous! there are going to be some bad accidents as a result of people taking the generic, that knew well how they performed on the name-brand. it would be wrong for people to get hurt because a generic has unexpected side effects that the name-brand does not have.

[Wapsie B]

21. I actually like the generic better.

I only take it once in a great while but when I do it works like a charm. No hangover effect at all.

[Ratty]

22. Lunesta

Haven't tried Ambien but I'm pleased with Lunesta (I have to take it occasionally to counteract something else I'm taking). The instructions warn you to take it right when you go to bed, it works very fast it says. First time I took it, I didn't go to bed right away. I stayed up and waited to get drowsy but I never did. Then when I finally went to bed POW! I read it has something to do with how your eye works with light. Your eye produces a sleepy chemical when it's dark and Lunesta enhances its effect. So when I take it as directed, turn out the lights and lay down in bed it works as advertised, but it's weird that it never makes me drowsy.