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Mental Health Generic vs Brand name

maniquan

maniquan

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
73
Location
Hollywood, Florida
I have a question regarding prescriptions. I currently have a prescription for tramadol hcl 50mg for a bulging disc in my lower back. For some reason I have always found the brand name Ultram to work slightly better than the generic tramadol. Recently my Dr. wrote me a new script for Ultram. My current prescription for tramadol was for a month and it has not yet been a month....will I be able to still fill the Ultram since technically it is a "different" medication. Also, although the Dr. corrected the name from generic tramadol to Ultram, the prescription still says "substitution ok", which he obviously didn't think about.

I know this was sort of a long drawn out question but basically I'm asking: Will I be able to fill my Ultram even though it hasnt been a full month, and will they force me to take generic since it doesnt state that it is medically necessary?

Thanks
 
If you have insurance it will reject for too soon as they are considered equivalent. Most states allow a patient to request brand name if the doctor didnt specify so ask the pharmacist when it is due.
 
Kittycat5, thank you for your response. So even if I was prescribed the Ultram as a substitute for the tramadol (meaning I will not be taking any more of the tramadol, instead of I will take the Ultram), they still will not let me fill it? And yes hopefully they will allow me to choose the brand name. I may possibly just have to pay cash I guess.
 
How long ago did you fill the tramadol? I ask because if you have more than three or four days left on that script, most pharmacists will be hesitant to have a patient pay cash for a controlled substance that is technically early.
 
I was fairly sure that unless it was run through insurance they would not have a record of the medications I'm on or when I get them filled..? They never ask for insurance info or ID when payed cash. I called and they do not carry name brand Ultram, and it's like 200 dollars anyway.
 
Well I lost my prescription riding my bike to Walmart and now the office clerk is saying that it's against their policy to re-write for "narcotics". I stated that all they had to do was call it in and they would see there is no record of me filling it. It was an honest mistake, I simply can't find it. Their advice was to "go to the emergency room". Fucking ridiculous.
 
There literally is no difference between generic and brand-name. It's all just chemical. Only difference is the name lol
 
It depends on the med. Years ago when I was on Depakote and it came out in generic, I was forced to go on the generic. (State law requires generic substitution. Only exception is for medical reasons) After a couple of months, side-effects, blood draws, and fiddling with dosages, my pdoc and I realized that I couldn't maintain steady therapeutic/safe blood levels on the generic.

He had to write to both the state and my ins co to get them to authorize my getting the name brand Depakote, as opposed to sodium valproate.

This is also a big deal with neuroleptics and biologicals.
 
There certainly can be differences between generic and brand name. Usually, the generic will work well enough, however, the are insta ncea where the generic will use different active ingredients than the brand name, and sometimes those ingredients are not as bioavailable. I can't think of generic prescription medication right now that does this, but look up magnesium suppliments - there are five main types of magnesium compounds that can be used for the suppliment, and one is only 20% bioavailable. Generic prescriptions can also use an inert version of the main ingredient in the brand name, so essentially it's not doing much. Do your research before choosing generic.
 
I can't speak for the scientific side, but when I was on Citalopram... I used notice a difference between different brands of generics.

Often when I got a different generic brand, I would usually have a return of the nausea I got when first starting the medication for a couple of days.

Overall, it made no noticeable difference to how effective the medication was though.
 
x_benzo_girl said:
There certainly can be differences between generic and brand name. Usually, the generic will work well enough, however, the are insta ncea where the generic will use different active ingredients than the brand name, and sometimes those ingredients are not as bioavailable. I can't think of generic prescription medication right now that does this, but look up magnesium suppliments - there are five main types of magnesium compounds that can be used for the suppliment, and one is only 20% bioavailable. Generic prescriptions can also use an inert version of the main ingredient in the brand name, so essentially it's not doing much. Do your research before choosing generic.
Click to expand...

What does inert main ingredient mean? If you mean a substance that somehow is the same as the active ingredient but somehow chemically inactivated, that is plain wrong. If not, I do not know.
 
Kittycat5 said:
What does inert main ingredient mean? If you mean a substance that somehow is the same as the active ingredient but somehow chemically inactivated, that is plain wrong. If not, I do not know.
Click to expand...

Some generics use a form of the active ingredient that is completely unusable by your body. Technically they contain what they say they do, but are going to receive benefits from taking it. I guess semantically inert was a poor word choice.
 
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