Re: Spironolactone vs. Aldactone?
From: jodi (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu, 28 Jun 2001 10:43:55 -0500 (CDT)
Well... it is true that generic drugs are supposed to contain the same
active ingredients as their name brand counterparts. That is why you
usually hear that generic is as good as name brand.
However, the filler ingredients can differ... and perhaps how the
active ingredient is formulated... like I said, in my own experience,
name brand aldactone did more for me in a shorter time than generic
spiro. i know this book i mention is not the only place i have seen
that name brand aldactone works better - it's just the only defninite
place that comes to mind.
Think of it this way... there's generic cereal and name brand cereal.
Some generics are just as good as the name brands (coco puffs, corn
flakes, rice crispies... these are all pretty good in generic.) some
are just nasty in generic though... ever have generic lucky charms?
most brands are yucky - i have never had a good generic lucky charms.
just because the ingredients are the same... or nearly the same...
doesn't really mean the end product will be as good.
i know that with medicines, there should be more control for
equivalance... but it could be these filler items that make a
difference in the final product. i don't really know... all i know is,
my experience tells me name brand aldactone works better than generic.
this is not true of all drugs, and i would never claim it is.
- jodi
At Thu, 28 Jun 2001, Anne wrote:
>
>I found his on the website for Consumers’ Protection.
>http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/health/generic.htm
>Maybe the author had had something to gain from saying that (endorsement
>of brand-name drug)…
>Or maybe he knows something that we don’t…
>
>At Thu, 28 Jun 2001, jodi wrote:
>>
>>There is a book called "The Good News About Women's Hormones" ... I
>>forget the author. It's kind of old so that a lot of the info is
>>outdated, but only in that it is not the whole picture... it's
>>copyright 1995 or so and you know how far info on PCOS has come since
>>then!!!!!!!! BCPs and Aldactone are the treatments most discussed in
>>this book...
>>
>>ANYWAY it says that the name brand is better because of the formulation.
>>Yes, the generic and name brand contain the exact some ingredients...
>>but according to "Good News", sprio is very hard to absorb... and the
>>formulation of the name brand is more easily absorbed. Since
>>sprio/aldactone can take a while to work, it's best not to fool around
>>with the less effective versionm which means it would take even longer
>>to see (or not see) results.
>>
>>in my own experience... i took the generic version when i was 16 or so.
>>took it for one summer. noticed no effects whatsoever, good or bad.
>>now, i don't recall how faithfully i took it... but i took it.
>>
>>i have taken the name brand twice - for three weeks last fall, and for
>>two weeks this summer. i noticed an increase in skin clarity (my skin
>>is not very bad to begin with...) and a decrease in facial hair in that
>>short period of time. however, i could not stay with the medication,
>>because it makes me bleed... heavily, and all the time. even on BCPs,
>>i had bleeding from aldactone.
>>
>>luckily, met + BCP + exercise has decreased my hairiness by an amazing
>>amount... i am wearing short shorts today and i have not shaved since
>>SUNDAY. so i don't think i really need the spiro/aldactone anyway. but
>>if i were to use it, i would say name brand, in this case, really is
>>best.
>>
>>- jodi
>>
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