Health question

[amalthia]

If you don't want to read about birth control pills skip on to the next LJ post on your f-list.

Basically, I've been taking Ortho-tricyclene for the last 4 years, I'm not sure if it really cleared up my acne or not...I still sometimes broke out before periods but for the most part it wasn't that bad.

Anyway because my insurance only covers generic birth control pills I switched over to TriNessa and well this month I've really broken out in the worst acne I've had in a year. Normally, I get one or two pimples and now it's like 5 or 6 and not the small ones either. :(

Does anyone know if the generics are completely identical to brand name?

I was reading this one site and there were all these horror stories about what happened to people when they switched over to generic pills (and well I'm suspicious that most of the people posting there are sockpuppets). I looked at the drug information at both sites and they look identical.

So I'm figuring either I broke out more this month because of stress from holidays or it's because I switched to a new type of birth control. :(

I haven't had acne this bad in a long time and it just sucks and besides not getting pregnant the main reason I don't want to stop taking bc pills is because it has been helping my acne. Anyway, I guess I just have to give this a few more months and see how it goes. Maybe it's just the weather. :(

Comments

[the-muppet.livejournal.com]

I think when you try new medication for anything it's always a good idea to give it two or three months to really judge the effects. It may just be a coincidence.

[amalthia]

I'm going to take the pills another month or two and see how that works out. :) Hopefully the bad acne really was just a coincidence.

[(Anonymous)]

Just wandering by on minnow1212's flist...

No, generics are not "just like" the proprietary formula. (If they were, likely they'd cost just like the brand name.) Not only are there differences in manufacturing processes, there can be differences in sources of materials and concentrations, all of which can have varying degrees of effect. For the most part, they are, and FDA rules are such that, in most cases, the result for the primary effect of the drug is the same. (In your case, that would be control of the ovulation cycle, with acne control being a side effect.)

Ask your doctor if she/he knows anything about reported effects with your new and old drugs. That would be your best source, as (as you have noted) the websites seem to be slanted.

In addition, each person is going to respond a little different to each drug, and with thousands of people on a drug, it only takes 2-3% of the population having a "weird" effect for that to mean a fair number of people reporting odd side effects.

I hope this helps, and I hope you get the acne thing sorted out again.

- hossgal

[amalthia]

Yeah, it just sucks that most insurances don't seem to cover the brand name and there is such a big difference in the price tags. :( I've decided to take this pill for another 2 or 3 months and see how that goes. thanks for stopping by. :) I appreciate the advice.

generics

[annieglennie.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere that there can be a 10% + or - difference in concentration between generics and brandname drugs. that is not gospel just dragged up from memory, I personally cannot use a generic of my arthritis medicine, for some reason it just does not work for me and the doc. has to mark the scrip "no substitution" or guess what, generic! I think you are wise to try it for a few months in addition to talking to your doc, and good luck. Annie