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Re: Generic vs NameBrand
From: anon_44 (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue, 24 Jun 2003 17:44:48 -0500 (CDT)
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to add my thoughts/experience on this issue. I also had
been on Glucophage name brand for about 4 years when the pharmacy
suddenly switched to the generic, my insurance refused to pay for the
name brand when the generic came out. I immediatly began seeing a
recurrance in symptoms, gained 40 lbs back, started losing head hair
again, noticed more hair growth, etc. I told my doctor and he said that
the generic was EXACTLY the same as regular Gluco and that the generic
had nothing to do with symptoms returning. so I let this go for about 6
months. Finally, I asked a different doctor, who happens to be a woman
and a bit more sympathetic to my pcos and she said she has had numerous
complaints about the generic Met! So, she wrote my script for Glucophage
ONLY due to medical reasons (just like Char's dr did) and I have been on
the "real" thing again for about 6 weeks. I have already lost 7 lbs!!!
So, I just wanted to let anyone that is going thru this and has a doctor
that will not listen...go to another dr & get a 2nd opinion. Many of us
here have gone thru this! It is so annoying when a dr won't listen to
his/her patients! I am so glad to be back on the real thing and it seems
to be working well for me again! Take care everyone.
At Sun, 22 Jun 2003, Char wrote:
>
>I was on Glucophage for about 6 months. I loved it. My list of 15
>symptoms of IR and PCOS began to disolve within 24 hours of my taking
>this drug.
>
>Then one day my pharmacy gave me Metformin when this generic version of
>Glucophage came out. I thought, what the heck, I'll try it. Within a
>week I was freaking out. All my symptoms started coming back. I felt
>sick, horrible, miserable.
>
>I called my doctor immediately. She wrote a note for me and the
>pharmacy switched my Rx back to glucophage right away. Now my doctor
>writes "glucophage only, medically necessary" right on my Rx when she
>renews it, and I have not had trouble obtaining it from the pharmacy. I
>have to pay a higher co-pay for the original brand, but that's ok, I
>don't mind, as my health is more important to me.
>
>At Sat, 21 Jun 2003, Maureen wrote:
>>
>>At Sun, 24 Nov 2002, Sonnet wrote:
>>>
>>>Jumping into this conversation again -
>>>
>>>I had my first appointment with my new doctor here in MN on Friday. I
>>>was nervous because I'm now stuck in an HMO and thought I might have
>>>trouble getting some decent treatment! My doctor, btw, was *wonderful* -
>>>knew ALL about PCOS, immediately agreed 3g / day Gluc. was what worked
>>>for me, immediately referred me to an endo and a reproductive endo if we
>>>want, etc.
>>>
>>>When I mentioned that the generic hadn't worked for me, he smiled and
>>>said, "Yeah, all my patients report that!" So, it can't be just us. He
>>>spent 10 minutes on the phone for me and made sure I left with a year's
>>>prescription for 3g of GLUCOPHAGE a day, dispense as written. And he
>>>pre-approved it for me, so my insurance will even cover it! A big *phew*
>>>from me!
>>>
>>>If you're on the generic metformin, AND you're seeing fewer results than
>>>you did when taking the brand name, it's so worth a try to see if there
>>>is a difference for you between the two. Doctors all over the place are
>>>agreeing that the generic affects their patients differently. It may
>>>work just fine for you, of course - but if it's not, that might be
>>>what's going on.
>>>
>>>--
>>>email always welcome: sonnet_fitz@hotmail.com
>>>
>>it's not working for me either.
>>
>>--
>>Maureen
>>
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