Tuesday, April 20, 2010 akb asks

Q: Are there any generic brands of topirimate that "do" seem more effective than others?

Recently numerous migraneurs have told stories illustrating that the generic forms of Topamax is simply ineffective and has caused their migraines to recur after being forced off the Topaomax brand meds due to insurance needs. I am facing the same problem.

One of the generics I recieved was totally ineffective but I switched to another which seemed to do an okay job (more noticeable side effects though). Now this generic is no longer available. I know that getting the brand name through insurance will be like getting a key to Fort Knox. So, I willl have to choose from the bevy of available generic options. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

I am scared to death of going back to every day gut-wrenching wanting to blow-my-brains-out daily migraines.

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Answers (2)

Teri Robert, Health Guide

4/24/10 5:57pm

By FDA regulations, the bioavailability of generics can range from 20% below to 20% above that of the brand name. That's up to a potential 40% difference. You can read more about that in Topamax or Topiramate for Migraine - A difference?

I don't really know of any way to tell which of the remaining generics is closest to the brand name. Your doctor or pharmacist may have suggestions for you.

Good luck,

Teri

vikkimel

4/22/10 3:00pm

I have been through this myself in the past, and I know what you mean. Definately not a position any of us want to be in, anymore than we already are. I do not know the names of the companies of the makers of these generics and of course they all say Topiramate substitute for Topamax. The pills that I receive from Rite Aide are oval shaped. Other pharmacies I have when to in the past were round and I had many problems while on them. What I had read online was the makers of the drugs are allowed to be within 20% of the actual dosage amount ( I guess that is how it is described) so you can take the pills from one distributor and have them be 20% over and another and be 20% under and thats where the big problem comes in. You can ask your pharmacy to see if they can switch to another supplier, or talk to your doctor and maybe have your script changed to straighten things out to get you back where you need to be. Good luck.

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Q: Are there any generic brands of topirimate that "do" seem more effective than others?

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