Watson Vs. Mylan Generic Lorazepam Side Effects. (Page 3)

Been on Sandoz mfr. lorazepam for 10 years; no problems; no need to increase dose. Sandoz stopped mfr. Now, can only get these generic's & Actavis. Having lots of troubles getting results; either nothing or zonked. Anyone else w/any experience which mfr. is closer to Sandoz (since FDA approves up to 2% differences in generics). Thank you.

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It seems like it depends. In my experiences many drugstores carry only one brand. There is also the issue of the insurance being willing to refill it early. I was lucky, because I take 1 instead of te prescribed 3 per day. So by the time I realized the problem, I was able to refill.

I would call your doctor (I know it sucks) explain it, and hope that he will call in a new prescription. Of course before you so that, call drugstores and see who has mylan. I'm still astonished that its mylan you need, but everyone is different. Good luck. Keep us posted!

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Swag, good news. I was getting so sick and the Watsons didn't seem to be working. I read where some generic companies put less medicine in the pill so instead of taking just one pill I took two. They are only 0.5 mg anyway. Took them at 2 pm and it is 5:30 pm now and I am still calm. Real calm, LOL. Tomorrow I will try taking 1 and 1/2 at a time twice. I have Lunesta to sleep which works good. Now that the Watsons are working at a small higher dose I think I like the Watsons better too. Thanks for your help. I called the drug store and my doctor which didn't help. I was freaking out there for awhile. Necessity is the mother of invention. Blood pressure down too. When I was withdrawing it went to 180/110 and b/p medicine wasn't doing anything. I take b/p medicine and it is back down now. Thanks again for answering my post here.

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Most generic presecriptions are only 80% of the brand and the other 20% can be what they want. It does not have to contain what the brand contains. If you have been on a certain brand it will take for your body to adjust to a change. Believe me. I know how bad it can me. I thought I was losing my mind. My doctor told me it was the generic meds that were causing my problem. My body is finally used to the watson and I am okay.

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No problem Nora :)

Good to know.

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Mary, thanks for the information. Swag, thank you again. Doing OK now. Just took 1 & 1/2 of the 0.5 mg Watson lorazepam and it is working good. It wouldn't do me any good to try to ever come off of lorazepam seeing my normal state is a constant panic attack. This all came about after my parents died and then my younger sister died of cancer and my younger brother shot himself. I have an older brother who had cancer of the liver, but he is doing good now after surgery. Glad I found this place and had somebody to talk to while going through this experiance. Thank you all again.

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I've got something to tell you all. The brand name you guys are paying for from biovail is no longer making it. And they turned it into a generic. There is another company that took them over. It starts with a V. But the the dog shape houses you think are brand name is not. I called them back in 2004 when all my troubles started. Pure pack is activists. Same company. I've tried them all. Mylan is the only one that works for me. And now the darn VA went to Watson. Makes me sick and freaked out. Same as actavis.Teva really stinks! Now I have to fight with the VA to get my Mylan back. A foot note. The reason why so many of you are having troubles is how the medication is being released into you system. Some are fast and some are like ya what's up with this. Each drug has a key component that releases the drug in Ativans case in your liver. Trust me I've been on them all for over 30 years. The fellow that talked about the percentage generic companies have to put in the drug is the truth. Many of you like me maybe allergic to the fillers, which also with make the drug not work and make you sick. I speak the truth here folks. And your getting ripped off paying for brand name! There is no longer a brand being made. Research on google or call Biovail. They if they are honest will tell you what they told me. Sorry to break the news gang. As like many of you I had my holidays ruined because one jerk ordered a different brand. I'm a 50+ year old veteran that doesn't care to be schooled by some GS worker that never served anytime in his life. Good luck guys. Will pray for you all. GBU!

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Wyeth was the original maker of brand named Ativan. When their patent ran out they sold it to Biovail which they are now hooked up with. Biovail Corporation (has merged with Valeant Pharmaceuticals) They are both a Canadian pharmaceutical company And they're making what many of you think is brand name Ativan. There are other companies that have produced the same dog shaped A on the front. But like I said nobody is making a brand name any more :( Its amazing how companies will throw away a good drug that helps many..... there ya have it gang. What we've all been through for 8 years plus.The main problem is how the drug is made. Please dont shoot the messenger k. Just trying to help. Good luck folks! GBU all!

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Lastly if you google Biovail vs Wyeth you'll many threads on their blog. I know I get all worked up over this. I'm sure many of you feel the same way. I have major anxiety disorders, along with major depression. What was odd when I took Wyeth I never needed a anti -depressant. My pdoc thought I was nuts till he asked other patients if the had the same effects. Plus it works for IBS and many other medical problems. I really hope this helps you guys. The fact we need to sound to the drug companies and FDA would be a wise idea. Warm regards Joe

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I've used 2mg. Ranbaxy for years and they seemed to work fine. This last year I was switched to Mylan & they don't seem to work as well. I can switch Drugstores, but I not sure if I want to go back to Ranbury or try Watson which seems to get good reviews. What"s the general consenses?

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Cazzy,

I know what you mean, but just go with what works :) in my experience, Ranbaxy and Watson are about equal.

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Cazz I'm with Swag on this one. Use what you find works best. Everyones body is different so we'll all react to meds differently. Some folks just take another brand and they see no change. I wished I were one of them. Again I can't stress this enough. The brand name you all are buying is a generic. On the pill you'll see BPI. It used to say Wyeth. If it works for you and you don't mine paying the price all is well than. As for me Watson made a mess outta me took it for a month. I'm still battling the side effects. I had to buy Mylan outside the VA. Not happy, but you do what you have to. As always God Bless! Joe...

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Kitty,

Hey! This is only a personal opinion that comes from personal experience. From what you have said and if it were me, Watson would be my first choice, and ranbaxy would be my second choice. Ranbaxy is so reliable for me, but I have heard that Watson is great for people who took sandoz. Good luck! Remember, be strong every day. YOU are in control of you. I know this is so hard for all of us sometimes, but no struggles. We will win!

Let us know how it goes!

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Replying to the comments our Veterans have posted. My husband has PTSD. Been on Mylan for several years. In Dec the sent him some tiny little pills that they assured me were 1 mg generic lorazapam. He had a really bad time of it, Jan got Watson brand. He did a little better for about a week, then started to get more and more anxiety. Now he can hardly sit still. This is just heart breaking. When is the VA going to stop experimenting on our Vets! What a same this is on our country. I have called several local pharmacies to buy it ourselves, but not much luck. We have had this problem with VA before with WelbutrinXL. Guess I will have to fight with them again! We had to buy it ourselves for about a year and a half, then magically one day the VA got it in. ( the phyc pharmacist told us that it was not in her budget to get the XL). Come on, she old not spend an extra $20 a month on class A -100% er? Thanks to this forum for letting me vent!

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Yes I feel for you. Its a terrible situation. I had that happen to me when I was on Lorazapam 1mg for 4 years made by Sandoz and then they stopped making it and I was switched to Activis. I thought I would die and no one really listened to me even the doctors that this can happen but one doctor listened and said yes your body gets used to a certain compound that is in the pills because believe me they are all different and it does not work right. Fortunately I was able to buy the brand for awhile which worked great but I had to pay out of pocket but I was able to get off Ativan for about 6 months and take it now just to sleep and the Watson works great for me.

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I actually have done best on the generic brand ativan called Milan. The biggest mistake I made early January was switching from CVS to Walgreens because Walgreens was closer. The Sandoz from Walgreens was about 1/2 as effective as the Milan brand. I went with a new prescription because I was experiencing more anxiety and went from 3mg to 4mg and got it refilled with the Sandoz brand and I am actually counting down the days until I can get my prescription refilled from CVS with Milan. I am very sensitive to medications and the sad thing is that the generics can be 80 to 90% strength while the real thing is often 100%. I am disgusted with Walgreens. They gave me a generic brand of my depression meds called TEVA and after a week I was very depressed. I immediately went back to CVS and transferred all my prescriptions back. CVS is the best pharmacy that we have, in my opinion. I issued a complaint with the FDA about the TEVA manufacturer. There are hundreds of complaints about that manufacturer. That has to be a law suit waiting to happen, but I digress , all generics are not the same if your pills look different just make sure you can handle the different generic brand.

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Frenchorn,

Great addition! Unfortunately, you are correct. Actually, generics just need to be within 20%. This could be in either direction. Thus, Generic A could be 80%, Generic B could be 120%, and the brand name could be 100%. Thus, if you switched from generic B to generic A, you would be suffering a 40% reduction.

Unfortunately, there is no brand Ativan anymore. I'm glad you found a generic that worked. Mylan was horrible for me, but everyone is different. It's great that so many people have posted their input, because so many people will read this in times that they're struggling. Thanks again for the great post!

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It is worthless, doesn't work. I have the 1mg tablets. It is like you have taken a placebo. It's made in India likely with very little reguard if it works or not.

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Dr wrote prescription for lorazapm, pharmacy filled with Teva brand, does not seem to work at all. Anybody have experience with this brand. Going to ask the pharmacist to refill with another brand, I hope and pray another brand works.

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Try Watson. It worked for me not at first, but then it did. One of the worse ones is Ranbaxy and activis. I had to buy the actual brand for awhile but it is way too expensive. Like I say try to be patient but after being on Sandoz for 4 years and then having to change brands was not easy. Try the Watson. Good luck

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Sally,

Many factors are involved in regards to the medication working during a first try. I've had teva, and had no strong opinion relating to its quality. I had better and worse. I would first discuss the dose with your doctor. Also if its a higher dose (1-2 mg), I found that taking half in the morning and half in the evening worked for a while. I just take .5 though so I just take the whole thing at night now because its fine for me. I'm not saying you should do that, just what I've had success with. I would say make sure the medication and dose work for you before worrying about manufacturer.

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