Generic vs. Brand Name Drugs

Nurses General Nursing

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yesterday, i had my first reaction to the celexa i take for depression. i've been on this med two years now, and no reactions experienced before now. i just had the rx refilled, and took the first pill yesterday. i noticed the med is a salmon pink color, not white, as it usually is, so my guess is they gave me a generic drug.....or a "placebo". :rolleyes: within one hour of taking the medication, i had the same reaction i get with asa...i'm highly allergic to asa and a bunch of other drugs. i quickly swallowed two benadryl capsules (a total of 50 mg) and in less than 45 minutes, i felt tons better....just drugged too much, so slept til ten this a.m. i called my doc...she called back this morning...told me to take the medication to the pharmacist to have them recheck the dosage and the drug for generic qualities, and call her back so she can enter a new rx for me that would be the brand drug itself, and not a generic one. now...i am waiting for hubby to exit his classroom (he's a medical instructor), so i can get him to come get me since i'm still droggy on benadryl...not to mention i had to take allegra and flonase this a.m. for allergy control. now i'm really wiped out. so...here i sit at the puter with my groggy self typing away to you all about my rx reaction.

my question is: have any of you ever had an allergic reaction to a medication and found out you were given the generic brand instead of the brand name drug itself? how many of you have found in practicing nursing that patients often react negatively to generic drugs vs. the brand name drugs? thanks for your input, gals and guys.

Doesn't sound like you have a reliable pharmacist. I thought it was commonpractice for a pharmacist to ask about drug allergies and keep a computerized record of allergies. Whenever a pharmacist has wanted to substitute a brand name for a generic they have checked with me first. I usually decline, in case I react to the base. Prescribing a placebo and lying to the patient by telling them it is a medication, is not acceptable practice a pharmacist who would fill a placebo order is behaving unethically.

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

I think Pharmacists should be required to keep a list of a patient's allergies on hand in the patient's file at the pharmacy...you know...like a kardex file. With all the mistakes going on in medicine today, it sure wouldn't hurt for the "double-check" standard to be in place.

What kind of pharmacy are you going to Renee? My pharmacy knows all of our medications. They caught it once when my son's pediatrician called in an antibiotic for him that was a PCN combination (he's allergic to pcn). When I showed up to pick it up, I had to wait because they were calling to clarify and get a new order from the doc.

They also warn me whenever I'm on an antibiotic that it will interfere with my bcp's. It's all cross checked in their computers. I just love my Kmart pharmacy!

Heather

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

Thanks Duckie! BTW: Do you think the pharmacist would have told you the truth if the pill was a placebo? Maybe they aren't suppose to tell the patient cause if the patient knew, they wouldn't take it??? Just wondering. :)

That is an excellent question but in my case I have to say without any hesitation on my part I trust this man with all my heart. I have know him for 7 years and then started using him as he delivers many drugs to the facility I work at. In order to save me money on my Paxil, he took 40 mg. tabs, cut them in half and the cost for 20mg tabs would have been $75.00 a month but by doing it this way, it only cost me $45.00. Since then the Md has lowered my dose and he says he will cut the 40mg. tabs into 10mg to save me money. I aslo trust him because he is a good Christian man that goes out of his way to save all customers money, even to the point of calling MD's and asking to use a different medication that would be more cost effective. I have no health insurance and I cannot ask for someone that goes out of their way more to give me the best in advice and costs, PLUS, all my scripts are delivered right to my floor at work. I couldn't ask for better service and care.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Yes, I did have a reaction to generic PCN. I took PCN for years when needed for strep throat infections when the pharmacy gave me a generic I had SOB, tachycardia, dyspnea. I called my Dr and never took PCN again.

Isn't it scary that the generics can be so different from the brand names. If they are putting fillers in that can cause allergic reactions, the manufacturer should have a responsibility to let the consumer know! The FDA takes a thousand years to approve drugs in the US and then they are so lax about the generics?? What is up with that?? I have also heard of not going between brand and generic for seizure and thyroid meds but now I am starting to think you should stick with your brand for all meds!

Hope you feel better Cheerfuldoer! Keep that benadryl handy!!!

I dont think celexa has a generic yet.

Check with the pharmacist. You may have got the wrong Rx.

I tend to agree with andrewsgranny.

I think that someone at the pharmacy probably screwed up and gave you the wrong meds (It happens). I'm just hoping it wasn't fertility pills!!

-Russell

I have to agree with heather that it would be highly unethical to give patients placebo medications for what ever purpose. It undermines the physician patient relationship and I would question anyone who would participate in such a practice. As for the white Xanax. Our hospital pharmacy uses the generic form and they are white. The color can vary on the manufactuer of the pill. The Xanax that I have are a light peach color.

Cheerfuldoer, I hope that you feel better. I would be interested as everyone else to hear the actual content of the pill that you rec'd

I thought that a medication needed to be on the market for a few years before they were able to issue a generic version. Isn't celexa fairly new?

Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

I agree with Heather, too. I may be wrong, but don't you have to sign a consent or something to be part of a study, and wouldn't that be the only way to be put on a placebo?

As far as I know, UNETHICAL if patient not informed.

Originally posted by adrienurse

I thought that a medication needed to be on the market for a few years before they were able to issue a generic version. Isn't celexa fairly new?

I thought it was 7 years. :confused:

Sounds like the pharmacist has been sampling the product...

Heather

Originally posted by OBNURSEHEATHER

Perhaps I'm just speaking out of my a** here, but wouldn't it be HIGHLY unethical to be changing around a patients meds who hadn't previously consented to being part of a blind study?

Heather

and illegal

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