Inactive Ingredients Of Qualitest Or Leading Pharma Lorazepam (Page 2) (Top voted first)

What are the inactive ingredients of Qualitest lorazepam or Leading Pharma lorazepam? Does anybody know?

It seems that its formula might have been changed because I feel 1mg is less effect than before or does not work. I used to take Ativan 1mg before abroad and one month from Kaiser in the U.S. but they gave me refill as generic lorazepam (Qualitest). I felt 50-60% effectiveness compared to Ativan(brand lorazepam). I can't take Watson lorazepam as it does not work for me causing side effects (rapid heart beats, sweating, anxiety, dehydration). Qualitest has less side effect (less dehydrated than Ativan) I did not have physical dependence on Ativan for long time and quit too. But this generic lorazepam is getting less effective over a few months.

Also my pharmacy had changed Qualitest to Leading Pharma without notice so I had to get new transcript for new pharmacy for qualitest (I transferred once).

I did not take it for mental problem (anxiety or panic attach) but for side effect of levothyroxine (I should take it as I got my thyroid gland removed). Ativan has calming effect and reduces heart beats, sweating, and stiffness and helps sleeping a little as I suffer from some pains. It does not fix my problem but reduces temporarily. Zanax does not work. Cymbalta does not work. All depression medicine does not work. With Cymbalta, I became unconscious and was hospitalized. I almost died taking Prozac due to side effects and worsened my symptoms. Ativan only helps a little.

I called most pharmacies in LA but many of them sell Leading Pharma lorazepam and some sell Watson. Most pharmacies do not receive return once it is opened (only one pill is taken) while Rite Aid does and during the period of medication, patients can't buy another lorazepam even with new prescription so if the medicine cause side effects or does not work, customer have to wait until refill period comes.

I found only one pharmacy selling Qualitest lorazepam but most others sell Leading Pharma, I don't know why but maybe because of their marketing. So I may change to Leading Pharma but am worried that it does not work like Watson.

I wonder if anybody tried Leading lorazepam and if it works, though effects are different according to each individual. Ativan in the U.S. is very expensive ($2600 for 1mg 30 tablet) and most doctors do not prescribe it and insurance is mostly not covered or do not want to pay for it. That's why Kaiser gave me brand Ativan only once and changed it to generic.

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Re: Richard (# 16)

It is worthless for me ! Please contact the fda ! They need to get this garbage out of the pharmacy . It’s so unfair that we have to suffer . Mylan was the very best for me . It worked fine ! Go to the fda drug page . Anyone who has more anxiety like I did / withdrawal symptoms . Fda is the only who can do something !!!! They need reports !

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So....what i’m taking away after reading this forum is:

Watson is/was good until it was taken over by Actavis and now does nothing for some people but good for others..

Mylan is good for many but for some people it’s awful giving really scary side effects or is not strong enough.

The brand name Ativan is great but unaffordable.

Sandoz was good for some but not for others.

Qualitest worked for some but not for others but it’s not available any more anyway.

And Leading is hated by all because it isn’t affective.....did I miss something? Is it possible that some generics work (like Leading) for many people but people who are happy with a generic and its available don;t write to this forum? Just wondering ...I know I dreaded changing from Watson and now I have to.....and reading this forum I find what i’ve Been taking for years is the ‘dreaded’ Actavis version...good grief......

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Hi, so I suppose diff drugs could be more effective for some then others. My sister was put on leading brand. I did not know this. Many things she takes seem to be more effective for her and she rarely has any side effects. She took the leading brand and has been on a low dose for about a year. She took a leading brand and felt like she took zero meds. I had withdrawal symptoms three days into my change. The lorazepam and any other benzo can have a 20 percent either way diff in active ingredients. My husband called to see how we could have it evaluated and the lab told him the same thing, that it could be less active. The lady also told my husband that the fillers they put in the drugs depending on how much of each can change how or if it’s absorbed properly into ones body and therefore could change the effect of the drug.

I was on Watson brand for years and I thought it helped me as well. I did have a lot of jaw pain and thought it was break through anxiety. Once I changed to mylan that went away. Watson was stronger or diff then the Actavis. You mentioned mixing the leading with your other manufactured brand. I think the real test will be once you are on it only. Our tissue in our body’s absorb the med and it takes several days to completely get out. So you may have enough of what you had been on in your system still. You could do fine with the leading brand. I think it depends on how bad your anxiety is. Thank you for Saying the pharmacist says it can take a few days when you change a manufacture to adjust. I believe that’s what you meant? I never had a major issue up until now and where I live they only have two brands leading and Actavis. Leading did nothing for me and Actavis made me feel very uptight. Thank you for replying!

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I’m not sure if taking benzodiazepines for 50 years has screwed up my mind/body judgement but Leading Pharma not only seems as good as the Watson I was taking (it might’ve been Actavis Watson in disguise but it still said “Watson" on the pill and bottle)....in fact it seems Leading is a bit stronger and lasts longer.....am I the only one to find this? I’m taking 2mg 3x a day.....same as when I started on Ativan/lorazepam in 1983.

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Re: Richard (# 20)

I took leading pharma and it caused bad side effect with no desirable effect. So I could not take it any more.

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Re: Richard (# 28)

Sorry, I just saw this. Leading brand did not work at all...

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Re: Richard (# 27)

I hear you! I always give any new brand a chance. I think I put too much faith in the manufacture companies. The way I look at it is the companies compete for contracts with the pharmacies. In order to have a lower price for a pharmacy to accept your brand they have to be cutting somewhere to have it low. That’s my belief anyways after my experience with leading brand. I also think that a company can have a batch that’s up to par get it ok with the fda rules and maybe change the values of med. I’m just stating this because we see this with many products not just meds. They want to save a buck. Once put in the brand Ativan it was very strong. I’m taking 1 less pill a day now...

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Re: Savannah (# 43)

After 15 years on Valium (10 mg 4 x day), 19 years on name brand Ativan, and 6 years on generics (Watson) (2md 3x day)...and now mostly Leading Pharma......my experience has been at LEAST 50% of a drugs effectiveness is what we believe it will do. Many times I thought I forgot to take my meds....got really anxious..near panic only to discover I had done so without thinking.....amazing how quickly I calm down......not that anxiety from skipping a dose doesn’t exist-it does.....a couple of times I ended up in the ER with outrageous bp and severe anxiety only to discover I THOUGHT I had taken a dose but there it sat in my pillbox...I’m sure companies try to make as much profit as possible.....but to jeopardize their entire line of lorazepam by cutting back or purposely cutting out ingredients....not a good business plan......again...I stress it’s important to believe a drug, particularly a psychotropic one...works......I swore by Watson when I first went on generics when I retired...when I saw it changed to Leading I got very concerned...I wanted my Watson that worked! Then I find out the Watson (that worked) probably hasn’t been made for years.....and I was taking the Actavis version which many find to be as useless for them as Leading....but I didn’t know I was taking non-Watson “Watson”. I was just lying here in bed....feeling hot and anxious..awaiting my 8 am ‘fix’......when I thought of how even yesterday morning I noticed how calm I got after 20 minutes or so when I took it...then it dawn on me...wait..I’m taking Leading in the am now...not Watson......why am I feeling calmer? I immediately got more anxious about it....then laughed silently how much my belief is controlling how I feel. I’m guessing there are many out there that find Leading (or Actavis) work just fine..so they wouldn’t be writing on this forum.....I’ve also spoken to some who didn’t find brand Ativan didn’t work at all for their anxiety....they moved on to Xanax ..or something else....I guess we are all different-and along with that have different beliefs on what works and what won’t.....I tried an experiment with my wife.......I had some unused Watson and some Leading tablets. I gave her the two bottles....she kept records of which one she chose, then crushed it between spoons and added a bit of strawberry jam (like moms used to do for kids to take aspirin)..but it disguised any taste/form (Leading is thicker than Watson)...we did this for 4 days....sometimes I “knew” it was Leading as I felt less calm...it wasn’t it was Watson.....and vice versa.....all in all I was right about half the time.....this convinced me it’s what I believed would work...would...what I believed wouldn’t - didn’t. Personally I;d love to see brand name Ativan become affordable again but then....I heard Wyeth doesn’t make it any more..and those taking it by the new manufacturer feel its not as potent.....(sigh)....

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Hmmm...interesting response from a Costco pharmacist: Per the information on the current Actavis bottle, it states that the product is manufactured by Watson and distributed by Actavis. The manufacturer has remained constant, only the distributing company name has changed. Watson chose to adopt the name Actavis after the merger in 2012. The tablet with the imprint Watson 242 / 2, is, and always has been, in your words, "the original Watson." From what I could find, Watson has used these markings since at least 2013. Watson drugs are no longer distributed under a Watson label, only under the Actavis label. Actavis' lorazepam, prior to the merger, was a round white to off-white tablet with a logo and 063 on one side, and a score line on the other side.

If the Watson product had different markings on it prior to 2013, Watson may have made a processing change which necessitated them reissuing the drug under a different NDC (National Drug Code) and resultant change in tablet imprint. My drug identification resources in general show current and recently available products. Actavis US at 888-838-2842 may be able to help you with information on how long the lorazepam has been manufactured using the current markings.

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Re: Dianne (# 38)

I haven’t been on here in a week or so as I had no new info to pass along. I did read today about someone trying the Watson and it wasn’t nearly as effective as in the past and I found the exact same thing a few months back. Then when I did the research I found out that the formula was changed to the new owner, but they were keeping the Watson markings. If we don’t complain to the companies, they will assume nobody is noticing a difference and they may keep lowering the main ingredient. When this started happening way back when Qualitest Stopped making it I was told Actavis is allowed to decrease the main ingredient with fillers at least 20% and that’s exactly why everyone feels like they’re having withdrawals, it’s exactly what’s happening. My advice is we need to all complain to the companies making this crap!! Leading is actually made by Rugby/Major and their phone # is 866-209-0991. Is there anything other than the Leading or Actavis on the market right now?

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Re: Judy (# 6)

Hi- I was given Leading Pharma and took it for a week. Thought I was getting sick (Well, yeah...but not from a virus but from the pills) and couldn't sleep at night and felt more anxiety and had panic attacks. Went back on the pills I still had of Sandoz and all symptoms disappeared. I like Sandoz. Was on 1 mg for a long time and just last few refills had to increase dose. But can't seem to get Sandoz from caremark CVS mailorder backordered they said. I filled a complaint with the FDA today about Leading Pharma Lorozepam.

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Re: Savannah (# 13)

I did file an FDA complaint today on LEADING Pharma. If I didn't have some of my other pills left I would have been in the emergency room. Now I still don't have a replacement and down to 5 days of my Sandoz.. Dr back and forth with CVS caremark trying to get either Ativan (without having to pay the difference) until they can get the SAndoz

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Re: LadyGreenEyes8 (# 48)

I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart issue after starting Leading's product. My pharmacy switched to Leading.

I complained to pharmacy and ended up talking to a quality control gal at Leading. They wanted me to mail them some samples. They called about 2 weeks later and said their lab found nothing wrong with their drug. My feeling is a person just starting to take their drug may not have a problem. For me being on it for so many years experienced withdrawal because they put more fillers in it and it's not as strong as what I had been taking. I can take Watson and Sandoz with no problems.

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Re: Cindy (# 62)

I’m curious......when you (or anyone else on this forum) say Leading is not working.....do you mean ‘not at all’ or just ‘not as good’......I know when I go without a dose I end up in the ER....it’s not just high anxiety or a panic attack...another question.....has ANYONE found a generic they are happy with and can currently obtain? I wonder if this recent scare with Valsarten will get the fda off it’s butt and get meds made in the USA again and oversee their content continuously....clothing requires a label where it’s made..why not our medications?

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Re: Richard (# 63)

I ended up in the ER as well because I thought I was having heart issues. I would say it was not working at all. It was a week after starting Leading I ended up in withdrawal. I can get Sandoz and Actavis. I take both each day and feel fine. I'd like to really cut down but have been on for 24 years. We shall see how it goes.

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I see someone is making the rounds again stirring up the pot after she's got her brand name. Some of us are hurting really bad and I'm not sure what your two cents are worth to us right now. You've already made your case about what Leading brand did to you.

Deedee I'm on Sandoz right now and it's not working well at all. It's worst then Leading was for me. The above comment isn t talking to you. She knows who she is.

Richard don't mean to come across harsh dude but alot of your post are confusing. Sad thing is brotha it's not all in our heads that many of the different brands just don't work. What I read from your posts that you actually had troubles like us and now you don't.

Deedee someone posted a website from the FDA says Mylan is truly done. I took my last pill yesterday and I'm on the roller coaster ride now.

Glad you and Jamie were able to get the Mylan stocked up for the time being.

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Gabby (# 69) --

The English woman....do you mean Claire Weekes (who didn't feel benzos were a big deal..)? She was wonderful...anyway..... I was told in 1967 that I would probably be on them (at the time- valium) the rest of my life. In 1972 I tried to get off it....back then they believed in Cold Turkey.... I agree with you...THE WORST period of my life.....imagine being a zombie in pain with panic attacks.....and btw...after one month the craving was just as strong....got a new doc at the clinic and he immediately put me back on Valium (benzo of choice back then)...within that day I was human again...went home the next week.....switched to Ativan in 1983 when my shrink was retiring and he didn't want his patients on an addictive drug like "Valium"......showed me a pamphlet about Ativan....it stated that is didn't remain long in your system and was not addictive like valium.....(sigh).....they were right ...its MUCH more addictive!

Anyway....I agree....for some its utterly necessary......much like Metaformin is for diabetics, heart drugs for those with heart issues, valsartan (well....um...something like valsartan) for people with high blood pressure...many conditions require drugs for life.....and I believe benzos are one of them for people with panic disorder/severe anxiety....yeah...its addictive....but try ripping a heart medication away from a heart patient or like my wife who is on valsartan for BP.....she will be on it most likely the rest of her life.

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Re: Richard (# 20)

Pharmacy changed manufacturer from Sandoz to Leading Lorazepam. Within five minutes I reacted to it badly. Twitching, nervousness, diarrhea, itching, insomnia. Never had a problem with Sandoz or Watson.

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Re: Cynthia (# 76)

Well, the good take from this rapid reaction is your reaction was more likely psychosomatic.... absolutely real but produced by your body not by the meds... I only wish Lorazepam (made by anyone) worked that fast..... fastest I ever had it work was 20 minutes and that's putting it under my tongue that hastens it a bit...lol...no wait... insomnia in 5 minutes? You must mean the first day, not 5 minutes literally... even so, that's REALLY FAST ... it takes the body/mind a little while to realize things aren’t the same......but I think for what’s available now-Leading and Actavis......I think they are pretty much equal....both poor.....it took a while for the 'old' Watson to get out of my system.....I'm done with Leading, but Actavis is no better...I asked the pharmacist...what happens if Actavis stops making it? (Costco won't deal with Leading because Actavis is offering cheaper deals).... He said there are several companies waiting in the wings for FDA approval to start marketing it. Whether that's true or going to happen, I haven't a clue...but if it's true I hope they are aware how dissatisfied we are with the two current products.

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Re: Charlii77 (# 80)

Hello, I am happy to hear that it’s working for you . Many people have not been as fortunate as you are. I actually had a lot of issues when I was forced to change brands. No longer making brands that worked. I gave plenty of time and I was miserable. I ended up on brand name and take less of it then a generic. They are full of fillers, brand is not. So I think people were having major issues. They were wanting to know, and if they are having problems then it should be addressed.

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