I will have to look into this. I use Percocet but it is not time to refill yet. I am not in the mood for a sugar pill.

Sorry this has happened to you. I would check other stores. Hope it is just that store.

Let us know if you find it elsewhere.

Prayers and positive energy for lower pain and better answers.

Hugs-RJ

My last refill looked different & said AMN as the maker not Watson. It was so weak that I looked it up on the pill identifier to make sure I wasn't going crazy. I assumed my pain was stronger or the pill was weaker. So now I guess I know why. This month he changed me to plain generic oxycodone without acetaminophen for breakthru. But the mfr does say actavis-just looked. They're about half the price of generic percocet too. Had to take one in the middle of the night and no complaints. How can they charge twice as much for tylenol anyway??! Ugh!

This makes no sense. Watson pharmaceuticals is now called Actavis. They have always been divisions owned by the same company. Now they have merged Watson into Actavis.

If you have a prescription for Percocet it has a dosage. That is what you get in the name brand or a generic. The how affective it is should not change. The only difference might be in the source of their ingredients which can cause a reaction. Many people find generics work better than name brand.

Well, I was told by the pharmacist that they are using a "different" manufacturer Actavis. That Watson is no longer available. It was on "back order" for 4 months and now gone?
Theoretically with the dosage being the same it should have the same effect. I used to take a half a pill and get relief. So far I've had to take double or more to get pain relief. We will see.
I have a friend who works for a pharmaceutical company. She said she would NEVER use any generic drug. She always gets name brand. I asked why. She said that generics have much lower percentage of active ingredient. I think she would know, she sells the stuff. Generics are cheaper for a reason.

Just a note to add that my wife just picked up her new Percocet Rx at a Target Pharmacy here in Houston an hour ago and it too is the new Actavis. She has not tried it yet, when she does I will report back if she can tell a difference.

Would you try to look at these 2 different articles on brand name vs generic drugs? The first one says there is NO difference.
The second one says the active ingredient can be less strong.
Now I am confused.

My experience is that I have never noticed any difference in one or the other. But I have heard that others as some here are saying YES it does make a huge difference.

Thanks!

http://www.healthsmart.com/SmarterHealth/GenericvsBrandDrugs.aspx

http://voices.yahoo.com/generic-drugs-not-same-as-their-brand-name-5777440.html

Here is the link to Watson's homepage. If you think there is a difference call the number.

http://www.watson.com/

Paulina, I am with you; confused! I did extensive research on this subject a few weeks ago and I found numerous artiles , studies, writings, etc., that totally disagree with each other. I know that my PSY knows generics are not the same as their brand clone. He described in length exactly what one of the two articles said, no way identical. In my case he has had trouble with a specific generic Ambient ER working poorly vs other generics. He has asked me numerous times which generic I was taking and luckily it was not the bad one.

IMO, as an engineer not a pharamist, I do not believe for a second that manufacturers in different locations, and countries, all make identical clones of a drug (not including fillers) especially since they have to reverse engineer it (they are not handed the exact formula from the brand manufacturer). I can believe the -30% to +25% (or close to that range) is reasonable. For most drugs, the user would never be able to tell the difference with that range except if they moved from end of the range to the other one day. (BTW - - I am not specifially commenting about the drug mentioned in this thread.)

The generics aren't as exact as the brands. For example if a brand has 10 mg of an active ingredient it has just that 10 mg. But, if it is generic and it is 10 mg, it can have anywhere from 8 mg to 12 mg of the active ingredient.

Itsjustme, I agree with what you say, but can you provide a link to a site, or law/rule that agrees with us? Even the FDA's site say over and over that generics are identical to the brand. Naturally, we all know how reliable the FDA is......

This specific issue has been discussed and cussed numerous times in the past few months just on the few broads that I follow. It sure would be nice to get something in writing to put this issue to bed for good.

I spoke with a friend tonight who's a territory mgr for one of the big 3 pharm co in the country. Her company also dabbles in generics but name brands are their main product. She said that generics are equivalent but not identical. They use different fillers and dyes which can effect the way the body processes the drug & as you said they have to reverse engineer the formula because they aren't privy to that info. There's room for a slight variance in the final product from different mfrs.

Just looked at my last bottle and it s Actavis too. I have not felt like it is working as well, but I thought it was ME. It never occurred to me that the medication could change. Are there other manufacturers that make the same drug?

According to Webmd the generic MUST have the same active ingredient at the same level. The only allowed difference is the inactive ingredients. Often people have reactions to the fillers or dyes.

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/guide/generic-drugs-answers-to-common-questions

This is from the FDA website

Understanding Generic Drugs
Generic drugs are important options that allow greater access to health care for all Americans. They are copies of brand-name drugs and are the same as those brand name drugs in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use.
Health care professionals and consumers can be assured that FDA approved generic drug products have met the same rigid standards as the innovator drug. All generic drugs approved by FDA have the same high quality, strength, purity and stability as brand-name drugs. And, the generic manufacturing, packaging, and testing sites must pass the same quality standards as those of brand name drugs.

I really like the generic brand of cymbalta. It is really good.