I use the injectable and have had it from a few different manufacturers. Never noticed any difference. Most generic drugs are fine, although anti-seizure drugs and thyroid replacement meds are notorious for the generics acting differently. Another problem can be if you are allergic to colors, fillers, etc., in one that are different in another. I've never heard anyone here say that they do better with one than another.

A friend of mine is a senior Rep for the company that makes Trexall. After I was dx'd we had a chat and she says there's absolutely no difference with the brand name vs generic. It's been on the market so long that the bugs have been worked out with the formulas and they're identical. If it were a newer med/mfr there can sometimes be issues with different fillers & dyes used in the generics. (Im running into that with a mfr change for one of my meds now)

I've never tried plaquinel so I can't speak for that one but it's also another older drug so I would hope the generic formulas are pretty close if not identical.

Every body reacts differently to meds. I would start with the generic myself and see how you feel. You won't really have a point of reference one way or another, but you could always change to brand name if you needed to. The maker of Trexall also makes generics so you could see if the mfr of plaquinel makes a generic too under one of their affiliate companies.

Sometimes dyes/fillers may uncommonly affect people differently and cause some issues. But the active ingredient in generic/brand is the same. My doctor feels there is no major difference between brand and generic, and will always start people on generic first. As Emerald said, try the generic first and, if needed, move to the brand. It will likely save you a lot of money this way!

I'm not sure about these meds but I know for a fact generics can work much different then the name brand with other types of meds.
Pain being one, blood pressure. Anti seizure to name a few.
Some pharmacists are honest & will tell you. Others maintain there's no difference.
Both my doctor & pharmacy told me. Took asking a few pharmacists though. Some put complaints on line about certain generics.
Good luck, hard not knowing.
Sammy

Thanks for the info. I may ask to try the generic first and then switch to the brand name if I encounter some side effects.

With these drugs do side effects always occur?

I take generic plaquenil....taken for about 7 months now. I have no side effects and feel the medication is working as it should.

I've been on the generic for Plaquenil since November. I haven't had any side effects. However, it doesn't seem to be working for me either and so in March we added MTX. I also take the generic of that. So right now I'm taking 400 mg hydroxychloroquine per day and 10 mg methotrexate per week. I also take 200 mg Celebrex daily and 2 mg of folic acid per day. When I first started on the MTX, the next day I was feeling even more fatigued than I normally do. I also had a mouth sore for about two weeks in the beginning. My rheumy upped my folic acid from 1 to 2 mg per day and that has helped a little bit with the fatigue, and I haven't had any other mouth sores. I also haven't noticed any hair loss, which can be a side effect with both drugs.

I'm not on the full dose of MTX yet. My doc said that's usually 15 mg per week, but I know some people take much more than that. I see her again next week, so I think she'll probably increase the dose since the folic acid is managing the side effects and my current dose isn't really helping too much.

All of that to say, I haven't had any problems with taking the RA generics. I also have Hashimoto's and I do only take the brand name thyroid meds.

Whatever you decide, I hope it works for you!