What Is The Best Generic Of Lamictal? (Page 7)

I've been taking the generic for Lamictal for about five years. Recently I've been feeling different at about the beginning of the year. I use to take the white ones but now I am taking a generic by Taro. What is the best generic for this drug? I never really payed any attention until I started getting this crazy migraines. If anyone has any insights it would be much appreciated.

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I still cannot claim the Taro is as good as Teva but it has been a large improvement over the unichem.

Aside from therapy years back and medication, weight training has made the largest improvement to my physical and mental health. Assembling a home gym has been the best investment I have made. Unfortunately feeling depressed doesn't make one want to pick up heavy things and put them down. But I lifted today and I have a meeting this afternoon. So overall not bad.

" I'm stronger now even after everything that you did. Still alive and kicking. "

Keep on swinging yall and please dont settle.

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Hi guys, after my horrible reaction to Cilpa, bad reaction to Taro and bad reaction to Unichem I decided to try Alembic before purchasing the brand name Lamictal. I am feeling good on the Alembic. I've been taking it for about 7 days, had a little nausea first couple days and that went away. I don't think it's as strong as the Teva so I bumped up the dose a little last 2 days and feel ok so far. I still feel a little different but I'm not super sick like the others. I've never been on brand name so I don't know how it feels compared to the Alembic. Anyone else tried Alembic?

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Re: Melissa (# 119)

Do you have any Teva left? I started Unichem & slowly taking it with Teva, instead of switching it all at once. Get my body use to it. I take 700 mg per day 300 morning & night & 100 mid day. I started switching by 100mg per day. 5 days later another 100mg, I just started my 3rd 100mg this morning. I counted my Teva pills out, had 63 & made up a schedule. I am terrified of having breakthrough seizure.

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I am here to say if one generic is better or worse than another or from the name brand. However, what you stated is absolutely wrong information. Generic companies don't just lower the dose by 80% and sell them. To be FDA approved, a given dose of the generic drug must produce at least 80% of the blood level of the name brand drug in people. But to put this in context, if two people take 100 mg, a person who weighs 180 lbs and a person who weighs 145 lbs, the 180 lb person is only getting 80% of the dose of the 145 pounds person on a mg per lb basis. The very, very large majority of generic drugs are within 5% of the brand name (95-105%). You are right, the fillers and binders are likely different but this generally has no effect.

This is not to say there are never differences. In general, generic thyroid replacements are not as efficacious. In addition, an exception might be for a very few extended-release pills. This was the case with a specific dose of generic Wellbutrin that has since been removed from the market. After that issue the rules were modified so that each dose on the extended-release tablets must be evaluated. This is one reason why these once-a-day formulations often take longer to become generics.

Often even physicians don't remember the details of the approval process, only the 80%

Source: I have Ph.D. in Pharmacology and have taught Pharmacology to medical students. I don't work for a pharmaceutical company that produces generics or name brand pills.

Editor's note: We do not verify the credentials of our users and nothing stated in our forums is intended to be taken as medical advice.

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Re: No Really You Can Trust Me (# 124)

Nevertheless, if generic #1 is 95% lamotrigine, and generic #2 is 80% lamotrigine, when you switch from generic #1 to generic #2, you are taking 15% less lamotrigine, (no matter your weight), which for some people, can create a real problem. If I am wrong in this thinking, please explain to me.

Is there any way to find out exactly what percentage of lamotrigine the different generics contain? If there was a way to find out that information, it would be very helpful.

The problem is patients being forced to switch from lamotrigine manufactured by Teva to a different generic, and the fact of the matter is that a lot of people are having problems with lamotrigine manufactured by other companies.

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Re: No Really You Can Trust Me (# 124)

Hey there. Listen, I appreciate what I think and hope was well-intentioned contribution to this strand.
I am not sure it's relevant to our purposes here, however. I'm not sure your info was an answer to a current question or solving a current quandry of anyone.

We are here as a group of individuals working together and collaborating... sharing information as people who are dealing with the same or similar disorders.

As you can tell, most of us are in the process and pursuit of finding the best support for our treatment and diagnosis. Most recently, a main topic has been the pursuit of the best replacement generic brand for Lamictal now that Teva has discontinued production of lamotrigine. Your information did not help us with that.

I can honestly say that, for me, it's frustrating when people hop on and share info like that, preaching to us, schooling us, and educating us, without giving us info that actually gives us the direction we need.

Now, if you've got some info on the best replacement for Teva, we'd LOVE to hear it.

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I tried the Alembic for 10 days and started to get very down and want to run away from everything!! I have tried 4 other generics and they have all been bad for me. I have 4 Teva pills left, took one today and feel better already. Anyone can say generics are the same but unless they experience what we are going through they really have no idea. I'm going to try brand name and hopefully that works. I hope Teva decides to make the lamotragine again. If anyone has a good experience with another generic please keep me posted!!

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Re: Dwight s (# 121)

Dwight that is so great! Self improvement is never a waste of time. I was thinking Taro would be the next best thing to Teva since that’s who acquired them I think so maybe they kept the same formulation. No idea. Are you on the same dosage you were as on Teva? You mentioned tapering down on Unichem? I’ve been thinking about talking to my doctor about trying the extended release form if still available from Teva. I’m not sure which pharmacy around me has Taro actually...
Keep on keepin on!

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Re: Lisa k (# 127)

Lisa I am so sorry alembic didn’t work out for you either! I hope you find the right combo to get you stable and feeling well. <3

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Re: JR (# 116)

Sorry I confused part of your post with Dwight. I tried increasing my dosage on Unichem to equal Teva but it was too much so I get what you’re saying about Unichem being a bit more potent. I wonder if I should cut mine down too. I’m only on 100mg/day as with Teva before though, so I guess I’d go down to 75. 50 was definitely not enough. I hope your current regimen is working out alright. :)

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Hello everyone! I am so sorry I just fell off this board for a while...and have now replied to a bunch of posts, haha. I’ve had a serious case of the “can’t even’s” lately. If anyone remembers me I had switched from Teva to Unichem (since Teva discontinued Lamotrigine and Unichem is what my Walgreens has now), and I think I’ve been on it long enough to give my overall feelings on the matter, just shy of 1 month now. So, I swear this stuff is different, or rather, my body absorbs it differently than Teva? I started out pretty unnerved having to switch my meds at all, and I still have fleets of aggression I didn’t have before. My boyfriend has also noticed I’m a little more scattered than before and I am like that more often than I am irritated. As far as the highs (hyponania) and lows (depression) go, those are thankfully still manageable or not even noticeable just as with Teva (yay!); it’s more the emotional side effects that I really don’t like now and I wish I could switch back, buuuut that is not possible. I guess Unichem is pretty good as long as you can control your emotions?? I had some headaches during the initial transition but not too much else physically. Gaaaah after having something that worked so well, finally, after years of trial and error, now it seems I’ve taken two steps back and this is still so frustrating. The struggle is real y’all.

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Re: Ashlie (# 128)

I wanted to update my previous post about d/c Teva and starting a new brand. I have been taking TARO from Costco (pretty cheap if you don’t have insurance) for about 3 weeks now. I honestly don’t feel any strange side effects and I actually like this brand. I don’t feel a mental change since switching from Teva and I am very pleased with this new brand. Keep in mind everyone’s body is different and I am sure this brand doesn’t work for some, but I have tried other brands and had issues before and I am not having those issues with TARO. Good luck everyone!

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Re: Linz (# 132)

I too am doing pretty well w Taro. I'll report if I have issues down the road.

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Re: Ashlie (# 128)

I do not believe there was any sort of merger or acquisition. The only commonality I am aware of is that both companies are based in Israel. I will say the Taro tablets resemble the Teva ones in everything but shape.

My dosage is the same and it is every bit as good as the Teva for me. It is only $16 for 30 200mg tablets at Costco. I would buy a Costco membership just for the Taro. I was within 2 days of buying the name brand for $560.

No tapering. I picked up the Taro and tossed the Unichem.

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Re: Dwight s (# 134)

Anyone can use the Costco pharmacy - you don't need to be a member (just tell the door person). I believe this is by law.

Taro is working fine for me too btw.

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Is anyone having good results in shifting from teva to unichem lamotrigene for seizure control?

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Thanks for the input everyone! I’m strongly considering switching to Taro as well. After being on Unichem for over a month I’m starting to see previous mood swings and slight mania I didn’t have while on the Teva Lamotrigine but did on Paxil and especially Wellbutrin and I really don’t want to go back there. I need to schedule an appointment with my psych first so I’ll see what she thinks we can do. Good luck to you all. Also I’m on Lamotrigine as a mood stabilizer for bipolar II not for seizures so I’m not sure how each generic varies for those I’m sorry!

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Walgreens switched me to UNICHEM and it is TERRIBLE. ALL of my symptoms are back. Additionally, I'm so fatigued I can hardly stay awake sometimes. It is by far the worst generic version of lamotrigine I have ever taken. I've been on lamotrigine for a decade, so I've had quite a few. I do remember having Zydus, Northstar, Aurobindo and others. Those also felt inferior to Teva, but nothing like what I'm going through with the Unichem version. From reading through this, it sounds like Taro might be okay, so I'm going to call around and see who has it.

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Re: Laura (# 138)

Walgreens can get Taro, but may have to order it in for you - just ask them if they can get it in your area.

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From Teva today:
Thank you for contacting Teva Pharmaceuticals Customer Service. Teva Lamotrigine 100mg Tablets are temporarily unavailable at this time with no release date. We apologize for the inconveniences you have experienced with the availability of this product. Please contact your pharmacist or physician’s office for an alternative product. I hope this information has been helpful in addressing your concerns. Thank you for contacting us and enjoy the day.

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