I noticed there are several different manufacturers for the valacyclovir antivirals. I am on my first prescription and it is manufactured by Mylan. Has anyone used the Mylan product? Should I try to get a different brand? I know Valtrex is preferred by some and Northstar I believe is another preferred product. But if those are not a possibility is there another manufacturer that I should request? Thanks in advance.
There have been several reports of that generic not working. And they are not limited to MM patients. Herpes and shingles patients have reported the same. I do not know which work the best, and so I went straight to the name brand. I hope you find relief.
Thank you, Scott Tom. I will have to stick with the Mylan product for the near future since the price differential is astounding. I have to admit I do not understand the generic shortcoming. I guess Juliet was wrong when she asked doesn't a rose by any other name smell as sweet.
The FDA is not nearly as strict as people think they are, and rarely, if ever, check the generics after the initial review. Even then, a 20% difference is allowable. Many folks have found that pharmacies will fill the northstar generic if asked. Should be the same price.
Teesdale, my generic valtrex was manufactured by Northstar when I started. Did great on it. Then when I had a refill it was filled with Mylan. Didn't think anything of it since I thought all generics were the same. Within 24-48 hrs I was back to the beginning with all symptoms. Next refill was Northstar and immediate difference. One other time since I received Mylan product and had issues. I am fortunate that my pharmacy will fill with the generic Northstar at my request.
Yep yep.. in the blood stream from 80% to 120% of the actual name brand... I had real problems on this with heard medications.
For generics the FDA requires far less testing than the original manufacture had to do. Also they just measure peak blood level concentrations of the drug at given times after taking it. The FDA says the generic has to fall between 80% and 120% of the blood concentrations of the name brand. Though chemically identical. The active ingredients are bonded with other inert substances that can cause absorption problems or even enhance absorption. Such as taking calcium with a lot of medication decreases absorption.... So a lot of times it is in the inert substances in the pills that cause the difference to absorbing. So in a perfect world you take 1000mg of a name brand and 800mg absorbs into your blood. So next refill your pharmacy gives you generic A and it is 1000mg pill but only 640mg absorbs into your blood.. You just lost 20% effective and FDA says that is perfectly acceptable. Then next month you get 1000mg from generic company B and peak blood levels are an astounding 1000mg complete. Well you just jumped dosages from 640 to 1000 which could cause side effects. Dealt with this a lot with my heart medication where when concerning drugs with a "narrow therapeutic index" where a slight increase or decrease can cause bad problems. It seems on the antiviral the increase might not be that bad unless you are at the highest allowable safe dosage or you have an underlying health issue with kidneys or something. But to be cruising along with a good dosage and then be switched to a generic that might cost you 20% in your blood stream could allow the virus IMO to take hold. Off topic but.I know with my anti-arrythmic .. When it went to generic my insurance refused to cover any cost of name brand which was cost prohibitive for me at the time at $300 a month. I ended up in the hospital on the generic and diagnosed with flecainide toxicity as it has a narrow therapeutic index. Not to scare you as I am talking about a Class A anti-arrytmic not anti-viral meds. But yes for a lot of drugs from antibiotics to pain pills generics and their fluctuations are not a serious health risk. Maybe not for anti-virals either but when you steady the ship. You don't want someone rocking it 20 degrees either lol
^^ That is all true. A lot of people refuse to believe it because they desperately want to believe that the FDA is smarter and tougher than that. An additional problem is that the FDA rarely, if ever, checks twice. Once they do their initial review, they tend to ignore it again unless there are complaints. Thus, you might not even be getting anywhere close to 800 mg on a 1000 mg tab. There are a lot of people who have a hell of time weaning off of benzos because of the generics and the uneven dosages between tabs.
Phooey I just bought 2 bottles of mylan Valtrex here in canada. But I’m at the beginning if the Gacek protocol so high dose, and am doing lysine and vitamin c so hopefully I’ll have some positive magic. Maybe on my next refill I’ll splurge for brand name.