Possible adverse reaction to a new generic brand of carbidopa/levodopa. Has anyone else experienced this?

[HeartSong]

Help, please. I take generic carbidopa/levodopa 25/100, 1.5 tablets every 2.5 hours. The manufacturer changes often, but the pharmacy tells me that the pills "should" all be the same. My doctor tells me the same thing. I live in the U.S. I started a new bottle 3 days ago from an unfamiliar manufacturer - Sun Pharma. Since I've started taking it, my stomach has been upset and I've felt jittery all over. I have never felt this when taking any of the other generic brands. Also, the other generic brands have all been round yellow pills. The Sun Pharma pill is an oval shape yellow pill. (I looked up the tablet imprint - 518 on one side and blank on the other. It is the correct type of medication.)

My questions are: have any of you taken the Sun Pharma carbidopa/levodopa generic pill and, if so, did you have any adverse reaction to it? Also, does anyone have an opinion as to the best carbidopa/levodopa generic brand available in the U.S.?

Thank you.

[Sedona]

A friend of mine gets his meds from the VA and they too switch manufacturers of their meds. He has also had issues with one of the brands of Carb/Levo that he received, though I don't recall which brand.

[Bailey_Texas]

Damn right it makes a difference. THey changed makers on me and i did not know it. I suffered for a day with no relief from my meds.

It could not have been me i did not know.

Make them be consistent with the maker i check every time and have refused to take a different maker. Now the pharma only gets the one that works for me. Don.t except anything less than what works for you.

[HeartSong]

Update: I called the pharmacy this afternoon. They will have a replacement refill ready for me tomorrow afternoon. It will be from the previous manufacturer. I still have a couple of days worth of pills left from that manufacturer, so I think I'll be OK. They also marked on my record that I should always get refills from that same manufacturer (the one that works for me).

Thanks, Bailey, for your admonition to get tough. From now on, I'll check the manufacturer before I sign for the refill. I will insist that they give me what they have agreed to give me.

I was so jittery all morning that I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. It was almost as if I was having a prolonged adrenaline rush. That was frightening. However, as soon as I went back to taking the pills from the previous manufacturer, my body calmed down.

I am grateful for my friends at Health Unlocked.

P.S. I wish there was a central clearinghouse at FDA for patients to directly report to themselves about any adverse drug reactions. Does anyone know of such a clearinghouse? If there is something actually wrong with Sun Pharma's carbidopa/levodopa, I hate to think that someone else might take it and have the same "I've got to get out of my body" reaction that I had.

[LTT0019 in reply to HeartSong]

FDA has a reporting system on their web. They request a lot of information. I have reported on it. Someoe told me they do not followup w/o lot numbers. So, guess what - lot numbers are not on your pharmacy bottles. If you call your pharmacy they can not tell you this information. There may be more than one lot number in your bottle (yes they mix lot numbers). So it seems problems may not be looked into the problem. Really bad system. I ask for my C/L to be issued in the original unopened bottle from the manufacturer with visible lot number and expiration dates. I keep track of when I start new lots.

[laglag]

Heartsong,

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. All of a sudden they changed manufacturers of my Parcopa, which is a dissolving on your tongue type of sinemet. They changed it from Mylan to Sun. Don't remember the exact timeframes, but it was within a few days I noticed my symptoms were worse & it wasn't lasting as long. I also had some left over from Mylan so I switched back & started feeling better again. I called the pharmacy (Express Scripts) and they said they would have to start charging me a huge amount to change back. They also said all the "active" ingredients in generics are supposed to be the same, but I knew there was something different because the difference in my symptoms were like night & day. I ended up calling the mfg. and talking to several people and found out that Mylan was the generic. So I talked to Express Scripts again & they checked on it & realized it was the generic so they switched it back & did not need to charge me extra. So stick to your guns and talk them into changing it back. Different mfgs do make a difference. Good luck!

[Beckey]

Yes, yes and no. I quit taking it and started on mucuna instead.

[Beckey]

So what's the most simpatico brand?

[Bailey_Texas in reply to Beckey]

The one you are taking that works for you. Some one here had this problem with the same two makers i did but the one that worked for me did not work for her just the reverse of me.

[M-o-ggy]

As I understand it

The difference between branded and generic is the 'carrier' used to distribute through the body.

NICE advise is that generic should be ok for low doses

[HeartSong]

I just Googled Sun Pharma, the manufacturer of the pills that I had such problems with this morning and with which laglag said they also had problems. My confidence was a bit shaken by statements I read such as "The company's Halol plant has been under the scanner of US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for alleged violations of good manufacturing practices." (economictimes.indiatimes.co....

I think all this reinforces the idea that we should be informed consumers and not just blindly accept and obey everything the medical establishment tells us.

[Hal1]

I have trouble with my pharmacy changing mfg on different meds l take. I keep track of the mfg with each refill because it DOES make a difference. They changed mfg on my Neurontin and all of a sudden my symptoms got worse. When I went back to other mfg symptoms got better. Next they switched mfg on my Detrol and tried giving me generic. My symptoms got worse and my legs started to swell. When I fill my prescription now, I tell them not to change the mfg, and I give them the name of the drug and mfg that worked best for me. Mirapex also worked better than generic for me so I stick with it. But Generic C/L works for me. Mine is yellow tablet, round, scored with 539 on one side and an R on the other side. It seems to work for me. But everyone is different. Try keeping a record of each med you take and how it works. I find for me it does make a difference. It could change the bioavailability from one mfg to the next. When I asked the pharm why they would switch mfg, they told me they just took whatever mfg came on the truck that day. I refuse to accept a different mfg if the one I had already been taking worked well for be me.

[weekapaw]

Most generics are different, not the "active" chemicals but the additives. Many are made in different countries i.e. India. I always check the drug house.

[Lin1950]

I use Sun Pharma cr and specifically ask for it. None of them worked well for me but this worked the best although I take at night so I can sleep through the first 6 hours of side effects. 25/100 once a day. No body is the same. Go figure. 😳