Watson Lortab Formula Change (Page 2)

Does anyone know what Watson did or why they changed their formula for Lortab 10/500? It used to be blue and when I picked up my refill today they are now white. I still have a few days of my blue left but I swapped a few so I can try the white. I'm waiting for it to start working and I took it over 2 hours ago. My rx is 1-2 every 3 hours not to exceed 7 in a day. (my pm dr wants me on a stronger med but anything above hydrocodone makes me euphoric and I can't function) The blue color lortab starts to work within 15 mins. I took my first white color lortab 2 hours ago, waited an hour and took the 2nd and nothing. I will wait 30 mins longer and switch back to the blue until I run out. This sucks. I'm a full time law student, disabled, single mom and can't use my dominate arm because the pain level is too high. (My shoulder dislocates every time I move my arm, even after 3 surgeries the last one being a bone transplant to the shoulder.) Sorry about any typos, I am typing with my left hand and don't have the coordination in this arm/hand that I do with my right. Thank you for any information that you can provide me.

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I thought it was just me! Mine are usually pink BUT I have white ones now and they do NOTHING for my pain...Pharmacy didn't even explain why there were different or tell me they were! Call in my doc AND the pharmacy tomorrow.

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They will just tell you that they are the same that all they did was take dye out. Just saying cuz I have already called mine.

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I read on another forum that Generic Manufactures are ALLOWED A 20% MARGIN OF "ERROR"! So, a 10/325 norco could only contain 8mg of hydro, and there's nothing we the consumer can do about it!!!! Thi s discussion was mainly in regards to the M367 as people who have taken generic and namebrand norco for years can tell a DEFINITE difference in the strength! I assure you this is NOT IN ANYONE'S HEAD as some people love to speculate!!! If you have taken m367 you will notice it falls apart in your mouth before you can even swallow it! The person who posted about this was also shown by his PHARMACIST the bottle straight from the manufacturer which had an * next to the 10mg explaining it could be less than 10!!! I'm sure since its not regulated or checked the GENERIC Drug Companies do this to TONS OF MEDICATIONS!!!!

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Wing chun is a good system to learn and will help you reduce the number of pain meds you depend on. Anyway many pharmicutical companies change formulas for one reason. Money, or maybe problems with certain aditives that are used to bind these tablets together. First of all you should know better being a lawyer if 1 tab doesn't work call your DR and explain what is going on. Never take a extra dose. I feel for you with your shoulder problem but like you I had surgery on my brain, and back I understand what you are going through. Advise about medications. You can ask the pharmist what generics come in those Name Brands. You are a consumer and have rights. Feel better..

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I have to agree with you and they are also making spot checks to patients to make sure they are not abusing there pain medications. I was told by a patient who sees the same dr as me that he had a knock on his door one evening and they were asking him why he needs to take these medications. First off the Government should mind there business and leave the patient alone and go after the real problem. The companies that cheap there patients (Consumers) out of there medications. This is beyond pain Meds.

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DONTLIKECHange

What are the changes in 2014? Someone told me that they are trying to ban many of the Hydrocodone and Oxycodone products. If true what will happen to people like you? That would include me to.

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Hedda1227,I agree with you completely.I called the FDA and there are numbers they will give you so you can file a complaint.I'm calling first thing in the morning.There is definitely something different with the white one's.They are weaker and take longer.My pain level has been off the chart since being on the white 10/500.The more people complain the the more attention this will receive.Something needs to be done.

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They have also changed the norco from yellow to white. I found out this month when I got mine. Those deff. dont work the same. :(

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I have taken the generic Watson Norco for years due to a severe chronic pain condition.Just a couple days ago I got the ones that are white and they don't work for me, either. In fact, they come on very strong at first, giving me a headache and making me feel messed up for about an hour but not giving any pain relief. Then it is as if I have taken nothing for very long time. I see I am not the only one. Now what do we do?

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Yes I know this is not in my head. I was also very upset becouse my prescription I picked up today was exactly twice the price of what I have been paying. So now they dont work and rob me blind. I think if everyone started complaining to the manufacturers they would be forced to do something. I am not in as bad of a boat as some of the others on here becouse I get Oxycontin and Loratabs and I am thankful. I think doctors are going to be forced to switch more people to stronger meds due to this dye nonsense

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I called FDA and filed a formal complaint. They said that anyone who has a problem with it should do the same. A person at Watson (Activas) told me DEA is responsible and that the formula changed more than just dye and that they have had a ton of people complaining. So please file complaints with FDA so they can look into this.

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I feel sorry for all of you. My wife has been complaining about the new white ones also. I believe the recent comment about the DEA is accurate. I'm sure that there is a little bit of truth in most all of the comments. Fortunately for me, I stopped taking 20 or 30 lortab 10's per day and changed to 12 methadone 10's per day. This was a nice change that has worked well for me for over ten years. My head is much clearer now and I feel pretty much normal. However, the last two months, I have had a difficult time filling my script for 360 methadone 10's. My regular pharmacy has not "had enough" and I got the same story from twenty different locations. So CVS can stick it up their ass. I changed to a new pharmacy that manufactures the pills on location. The name of it is Precision Specialty Pharmacy(in Las Vegas). I recommend that all of you try to find a pharmacy that makes the pills on location. Once again, I would like to say that the DEA has a hand in all of this, because my Dr. told me that he was getting government pressure, and I know several other DR's that are cutting their patients back for the same reason. They(DEA) arrested a few Dr's here in Las Vegas. Good luck to all of you with the new weak white lortabs, and don't be afraid to try methadone. I swear by it.

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Martie, it IS NOT mind over matter. I use to get the yellow Norco until I went off meds for months. Recent Watson script was white, I paid no attention and yet I got no pain relief and was made extremely ill. I am so sick of people claiming mind over matter just be ause they work for them. There are more complaints to the contrary! I'm sorry, but tons of people who don't know eachother and coming from all over the states yet having the same complaints DOES NOT sound like a mind over matter thing to me!

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You are absolutely correct. I took have stayed with Walgreens for the specific purpose of getting the blue watson 1-/500. A few days ago I picked up my new script and see they are white. They are NOT the same formula and dont work any where near the original blue ones. It sucks.

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I meant 10- 500 strength

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By 2014 Lortab 10/500 will not exist. Everyone on it will be forced to a 10/325. TheFDA has lowered the max amount of tylenol to 3000mgs from 4000. Also, because too many users of Lortab 10/500 are also using OTC products containing tylenol on top of the Lortabs hence causing major liver damage. I have already been switched to Norco which sucks but he also put me on a fentanyl patch which I refuse to use. As I mentioned in my original post, I cannot handle anything stronger than hydrocodone. Fentanyl is 100x stronger than morphine. The 7 lortab a day worked just fine. My pain was minimal. Now it's out of control. When he put me on that patch he cut down my dosage of hydrocodone from 70mg per day to 40mg without weaning me down. So the first week not only did my pain level go nuts I went into withdrawal as well. He is a new pm doctor for me and doesn't believe in using short acting medications as a primary source for pain relief. To me you don't fix what's not broken. I wasn't broken before and now I am. I had to drop my classes when he did this because my pain level is too high. He said I had a choice between that patch and methadone. I refuse to use methadone. Id rather suffer with this pain. Btw, qualitest 10/500 works great. It's pink in color. They also make norco 10/325 which are yellow. If you have a cvs by you, most of them carry qualitest. Do not use anything made by mallinkrod chem. Worst ever.

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Please let the FDA know about these problems! FDA is not making anyone change these drugs. DEA is not making anyone change these drugs. If a doctor wants someone on a lesser amount of something it isn't because FDA is making them do it. If your new white pain meds do not work, please, please report it to the FDA AND to Watson. This is the only way these companies will have to answer the question why are so many people having problems with the new stuff.

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dontlikechange...give the 10/325 a chance, as long as they aren't Watson brand. I was switched to the Norco as well before I went off narcs and after the first month they did work just fine. Mind you that was before Watson change. But if you can find another brand, say Mallincroft or Qualitest, I think u will find they do work. I've had to go back on them now and my husband gets Qualitest and they work great...so, I switched to his pharmacy. Good luck. I got extremely ill, not to mention the lack of pain relief from the new Watson whites!

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So I've been taking the new white ones for over a month. Still having problems with them. I have to take more and the relief wears off faster, plus I feel drugged. I've been trying to take the least amount of medicine possible to feel normal and function. I used to take a half four times a day of the orange ones and I was fine, now if I take a half these don't work at all, and the whole one wears off within four hours and my neck, shoulders and back hurt. Not as bad as when I had no medicine, but not good. I also have to take muscle relaxers, too, as these do not help much. I hate feeling drugged. Don't pharmacists know anything? I called the pharmacist to complain and they said the only change made was taking the dye out. Well, I can tell they did more than take the dye out because they do not work right! Another thing is the white ones feel addicting.

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I have an idea; send samples of the different pills to a private lab for testing. I believe that the binders they are putting in with the active ingredients might not be so benign as "just" being a binder! Everyone commenting as if they actually have a clue as to what is in each pill needs to get a clue!! You have no idea, and won't until you have taken them to a lab for testing!! Then you may find that it is time to run these companies out of business thru litigation for poisoning you?! Just a thought!! Oh, and why would acetiminophen(?) be in there in the first place? Does anyone really believe that this helps the pain in any way? People need to quit falling on their knees just because someone puts on a white lab coat and uses a couple of three or four syllable words!! That doesn't make them your friends and automatically mean that they are doing what is in your best interests!!

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