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Unpopular opinion: the generic version of my thyroid pill hit different and nobody warned me
Three weeks ago my pharmacy in Tucson swapped me to the store brand because the name brand went on backorder, and by day 10 I was falling asleep at my desk by 2pm. Same dose on the label, but my levels came back off at my checkup last Friday. Has anyone actually gotten a straight answer from a pharmacist about why this happens?
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anna4915d ago
The "same dose on the label" part is the trap, because the pill can say 50 mcg and still not act the same in your body. My pharmacist explained it to me once: the FDA lets generics be a little different from the brand in how much actually gets into your blood, like 5 percent either way or so, and for most drugs nobody notices. Thyroid stuff is on the narrow end though, so even a small shift can show up as the 2pm crash and messed up labs. What helped me was asking the pharmacist to check which maker supplies their store brand and whether it changed, since they switch suppliers a lot. Then ask your doctor to write "no substitution" on the script so insurance has to cover the brand, or at least so you stay on one maker. I'd also call around to other Tucson pharmacies and ask what maker they stock before you move your script, because the store brand is not always the same pill from one store to the next.
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