Re: Generic Metformin
From: cat (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu, 14 Mar 2002 22:42:33 -0600 (CST)
Wow! You pay a lot for your met! I buy mine online (can't find a doctor
who will prescribe it in the UK!) and it costs $34 for 500 500mg tablets
(with free shipping). So I work that out to be about $6 per month if
you take 3 per day, quite a big saving! (a 3000% saving from gluc I
think, if my maths is right!)
Why is it so expensive in the US? Do they add some special tax to the
price of medicines? Or is it just the manufacturer you have charges
obscenely high prices?
I was also wondering who is the manufacturer of glucophage? And is the
generic metformin you have there made by the same company?
--
Cat xxx
At Thu, 14 Mar 2002, Sonnet wrote:
>
>Okay guys, I got my refill in generic form on Friday, the 8th. If
>you're considering or facing the switch, here's what I have experienced
>so far:
>
>1) The price was not the savings I had pictured. I pay $180 for a month
>(no insurance and a high dose) of Glucophage, and I paid $130 for
>Metformin. My father, a pharmacy manager, says Met costs him now less
>than half what Glucophage does, but each pharmacy sets their own price
>to sell it on I guess.
>
>2) I read some of you guys thought it smelled worse - I think the Gluco
>smelled like death and this one, in contrast, smells and tastes vaguely
>like vanilla. Sweet and kinda creamy. Much better than rotting fish /
>wet dog!
>
>3) By Sunday, I was noticing my hair was falling out again. And I don't
>know, but I think I've gained a little weight, my tummy feels saggier!
>(Saggy-er? I made up a word!) I was annoyed.
>
>4) Today, Wednesday, I took a PB&J sandwich to work because I haven't
>gone grocery shopping in ages and that's what we have! Sugar, I know,
>but I have eaten sugar before, pretty much daily, without problems. Well
>about an hour after I ate, I was so sick I went home! I was nauseated,
>dizzy, seeing things, heart pounding, flushed, and my heart felt like it
>was quivering. I was sure I was going to pass out. I made it home in
>about an hour (YAY California commutes!) and tested my blood sugar. I
>was feeling MUCH better by then and it was still up over 150mg/dL. Mine
>usually runs low, between 60 and 90. This is way out for me. I only
>wonder how high it was earlier!
>
>So now, I am annoyed AND scared. I can't pass out at work. They'd send
>me to the hospital, if nothing else, and we have no insurance!! I don't
>want to be quasi-diabetic. Stupid Metformin. How can a drug that is
>EXACTLY THE SAME MEDICATION causes such different symptoms????
>
>--
>Email always welcome: sonnet@pcosupport.org
>
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