Estratest (generic Eemt) Made By Seton Pharmaceuticals
UpdatedHello: I have been a long term user of estratest HS. It has been the only medication that has helped me completely. I was very happy with it for 7 years with the brand name, then it was switched to generic EEMT made by Amneal Pharmaceuticals and I continued to be very happy with the product. But...once Amneal stopped making this medication and production was made by ANI pharmaceuticals, the medication was just not right for me. Began to have very uncomfortable systems with the ANI EEMT product such as greasy skin, and insomnia and mood changes. I decided to try and use other hormone replacement therapies and nothing helped. Then I discovered recently that the same generic EEMT product by Amneal pharmaceuticals, was being produced by Seton pharmaceuticals. The color of the pill, and the same number is on it as when it was produced by Ameneal. I don't know what relationship they Amneal and Seton have, but its the same product. So I ran to Walgreens and picked it up. I have taken three pills so far and I am back to my old self after suffering over a year to try and find a correct alternative to the Amneal EEMT.
But now I have been reading about Seton pharmaceuticals pulling out of the market of EEMT! and that they will only produce the pill until the contract expires??. I am beyond upset! The only other manufacturer remaining will once again be ANI pharmaceuticals. Quite a monopoly! The ANI pharmaceutical EEMT is just not the same and I am NOT the only woman out there who has realized this. I have read from other sites, of women complaining about the same thing. It is NOT the same product and has caused unwanted side effects in these women. I have no idea why it can be so different. Is it in the types of ingredients that they using? Its just NOT the same, sorry.
I just wanted to let other women out there know about this and hoping that somebody can shed some light as to if its true of Seton no longer manufacturing their version of EEMT. These are my experiences and I hope it helps someone out there.
I haven't received any responses to this post and hoping somebody out there is sharing in my experience. If you are no longer able to continue in estratest because it's difficult to come by, what are you taking in its place? Estratest generic helps me a lot but I feel like I'm the only one out there taking it. Hopefully someone can shed some light. Thanks.
Here's some information that might help you make a decision. Esterified Estrogens-Methytestosterone combinations are made by three manufacturers: Seton distributes EE-MT manufactured by Amneal. ANI manufacturers and distributes EE-MT. Covaryx (Brand, not generic) and TAL distributes EE-MT manufactured by Synthro. I have tried all three. ANI appears to have the highest amount of Methyltestosterone. This is not always a good thing. Not only did I feel bad taking it, my lab values were worse. Covaryx (Synthro) appears to have the most esterifies estrogens. Seton (Amneal) is close to Covaryx in formulation, how I felt and my lab values. ANI ingredients are exactly the same as Estratest. So the choice would depend on what you feel the best on. I had not heard Seton (Amneal) was discontinuing distribution, but if they do then Covaryx would be an option.
Thank you for your reply but I'm having trouble finding which pharmacies carry covaryx. Do you happen to know?
Lucy, please look into Covaryx and EEMT manufactured by Syntho Pharmaceuticals, distribution by Centrix Pharmaceuticals. All generic drugs must contain the same exact formulation of "active" ingredients as the brand by law. Of course, different manufacturers use different suppliers of the raw materials but still, the active ingredients must meet certain FDA requirements. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more info.
Hi. Please look into Covaryx or EEMT by Syntho Pharmaceuticals, distributed by Centrix Pharmaceuticals. Hope this helps.
Krogers carries it. Where are you located? Btw, all these drugs are the same exact formulation as required by law. It doesn't make sense that one would have a higher amount of one active ingredient over the other. FDA requires the formulation of the active ingredients to meet certain criteria and label amount should be the exact same.
Krogers carries Covaryx? I'm in California.
I'm not able to say if all of them do but I do know Krogers, CVS, Target and Walmart had supplies of it before. There were gaps in supply but they should be available more readily. EEMT is the generic name of Covaryx, again same exact formulation so both are the same drug. You can check out the manufacturer cenrx, they should have more information on the drugs and hopefully help you source it. Good luck!
I had been on covaryx by centric since my hysterectomy about 5 yrs ago. Our insurance changed and, so we had new prescription company. They filled it with the Est EstrogenmyestHS Tab ANI. I was on it for a week , and felt like my world was ending. Depression describes it well. I called specialist\womens doctor who prescribed it in the first place and described what was going on. They said "even though mfgs uhave to use same ingredients, this happens to many people. They rewrote script to request the original, Covaryx, I was fine after going back on it. The Dr had said I could take one of the ANI Est pills here and there to use them up in place of Cov. This was all over a year ago. OK, (sorry, for long story, but am hoping this may help someone else make sense of all this) So this year, 2016 Easter week, I took the ANI, vs the, Cov, and, I have been as low as ever. Sad, hopeless, depressed, crying for no good reason, angry, etc NOT WELL. I put it all the info together and discussed with my husband today. I said it's either " lack of the Cov., or, the ANI one is causing it, cause it hasn't happened for a year+. After reading posts above, I'm going to throw away the Est EstrogenmyestHS HS ANI. I believe it could make suicidal thoughts, as it has almost done to me. I'm normally a happy go lucky person & it was very scary being on the Est by ANI. I hope this helps others, as I know all medicines work differently, in different people.
I had been on covaryx by centric since my hysterectomy about 5 yrs ago. Our insurance changed and, so we had new prescription company. They filled it with the Est EstrogenmyestHS Tab ANI. I was on it for a week , and felt like my world was ending. Depression describes it well. I called specialist\womens doctor who prescribed it in the first place and described what was going on. They said "even though mfgs uhave to use same ingredients, this happens to many people. They rewrote script to request the original, Covaryx, I was fine after going back on it. The Dr had said I could take one of the ANI Est pills here and there to use them up in place of Cov. This was all over a year ago. OK, (sorry, for long story, but am hoping this may help someone else make sense of all this) So this year, 2016 Easter week, I took the ANI, vs the, Cov, and, I have been as low as ever. Sad, hopeless, depressed, crying for no good reason, angry, etc NOT WELL. I put it all the info together and discussed with my husband today. I said it's either " lack of the Cov., or, the ANI one is causing it, cause it hasn't happened for a year+. After reading posts above, I'm going to throw away the Est EstrogenmyestHS HS ANI. I believe it could make suicidal thoughts, as it has almost done to me. I'm normally a happy go lucky person & it was very scary being on the Est by ANI. I hope this helps others, as I know all medicines work differently, in different people.
Sorry to hear of all the trouble! I can only imagine how awful you must be feeling and I certainly hope you find relief soon. Why did your doc decide on changing your Rx to ANI's drug? The distributor of Covaryx, Centrix Pharmaceuticals, has programs available if there insurance issues with coverage. Covaryx is back on the market and plans on staying for as long as possible. Good luck!
Tlamia: covaryx is not sold here in California. Can't find it anywhere. Do you take covaryx and in what state are you in?
I'm in NY. Contact Centrix Pharmaceuticals, they are Covaryx's distributor and they may have solutions for you. Good luck!
I take the Covenant & have no side effects from it, & I live in Nebraska
Thank you! Greatly appreciated.
I find its hard enough to GET a DR to EVEN rx it! I had to take the ANI
and I take half of the HS b/c its so expensive.
I just went round and round with a dumbassed doc who basically refused to rx it for me b/c of the T in there!
Found another and she is happy to do it. But ANI is the generic they (Kaiser) uses right now. Its so hard to get B/c our stupid Republican CONGRESS put it on a Schedule b/c of guys who abuse T! That's why its hard to get to get & extremely expensive and the Dr. who wouldn't give it to me said "There is no data to support this" I told her you just go and google it and see how many woman are looking for it and Want their EEMT!!! Until we get a congress with some brains and declassify this drug it will be hard to get and we have to take what we can get.
I'll take ANI over nothing...
Mary, when you say T are you talking about the methytestosreone? Because Covaryx, Estrarest and EEMT are the same exact formula so they will have the same ingredients, methytestosterone and esterified estrogens combo. So it's a matter of which manufacturer you're getting it from. EEMT is the generic and Covaryx is the brand of the distributor but both are made by the same company, Syntho. You can request EEMT or Covrayx from your doc and your pharmacy has to honor that as long as your doc specifically writes it. I hope this helps.
Hi there. Let me respond to this quickly, I too had the hmo that you mentioned above and had to leave because doctors there would not rx me the medication that I was on for over 10 years. The testosterone that these body builders abused was much much higher levels and because of this, menopausal women who will not abuse it suffer. There are plenty of doctors outside your hmo who will be willing to rx this medication to you. I have found that seton makes a decent one and it's sold at Walgreens. I have also heard that covaryx (brand only) is pretty good too but sold only at kroegers which for those in the west would be at Ralph's grocery store pharmacy. If estratest or eemt would have been so horrible, I surely by now would have gotten something. I know women who have taken it for over 20 years.
I have had adverse affects, almost life threatening from estra, more than once, w out knowledge that it had a different name than covaryx, & have never had problems w covaryx. They r not identical.
So interesting to hear that. Though the active ingredients, methylT and EE, must be same in quantity, every company does use different suppliers and different formulas in their "inactive" ingredients. Sometimes, it's possible, that the inactives can cause side effects depending on your allergy, etc. Thanks for sharing that.
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Re: Not well on estrogen by ANI (# 10)
ANI is horrible, l too was doing very well until l was switched to ANI. If anyone is aware of a Pharmarcy where l can get alternate manufacture please help.
Yes, but Premarin has worked better for me than the genetic estratest on the market even though they are very different.
Debbie, the inactives are just that, inactive...meaning not effective. Maybe you're allergic to them? Actives, by law, have to be the same. As I mentioned in my previous post, conjugated estrogens is not the same as esterified estrogens. Also, Creekwood is the distributor, manufacturer is Syntho. Look for any product made by Syntho, esterified estrogens and higher quality inactives. Hope this helps, good luck!
, I started having all the same problems and more. I compared the In-active ingredients in the ANI, Amneal and Seton. Have the pharmacist print that for you. You will be shocked what the ingredients are compared to Seton. I have worked with Walgreens and found another very close match of exact inactive ingredients. The manufacturer is Creekwood. Try that manufacturer and see how it works for you. Unfortunately, my prescription plan stopped covering this drug completely and I have excellent prescription benefits. Sounds to me like mfg. upped the cost and/or they are not going to cover any of them. One other note: The FDA requires a mfg to stay within a certain percentage of Active ingredient. I was told that it was approx. 3% and was increased to 5 or started at 5% and moved up from there. Even the Seton mfg could reduce the Active ingredient and I think they did. I began having major, major hot flashes and other symptoms. I went to Gyno and she told me that she was taking it and had to change. And many of her patients were having problems with symptoms the drug is supposed to fix. She changed me to a new drug called Duavee. I have been taking it for 4 days and I am amazed how much better I feel. So far so good, she wants to check with me in 3 weeks. I think this is a hit! Good Luck to you, keep the faith.
Hi, I started having all the same problems and more. I compared the In-active ingredients in the ANI, Amneal and Seton. Have the pharmacist print that for you. You will be shocked what the ingredients are compared to Seton. I have worked with Walgreens and found another very close match of exact inactive ingredients. The manufacturer is Creekwood. Try that manufacturer and see how it works for you. Unfortunately, my prescription plan stopped covering this drug completely and I have excellent prescription benefits. Sounds to me like mfg. upped the cost and/or they are not going to cover any of them. One other note: The FDA requires a mfg to stay within a certain percentage of Active ingredient. I was told that it was approx. 3% and was increased to 5 or started at 5% and moved up from there. Even the Seton mfg could reduce the Active ingredient and I think they did. I began having major, major hot flashes and other symptoms. I went to Gyno and she told me that she was taking it and had to change. And many of her patients were having problems with symptoms the drug is supposed to fix. She changed me to a new drug called Duavee. I have been taking it for 4 days and I am amazed how much better I feel. So far so good, she wants to check with me in 3 weeks. I think this is a hit! Good Luck to you, keep the faith.
Just to clarify, Premarin and Estratest are not equivalent. Premarin is "conjugated" estrogens, Estratest/Syntest/Covaryx/EEMT are "esterified" estrogens. The estrogens is one of the main active ingredients so that makes a huge difference. They come from different sources and have different chemical compositions as well as unique chemical compounding with other ingredients. It also differs in how your liver breaks it down. Conjugated estrogens have worse side effects than esterified estrogens. Hope this helps.
Lee: have you tried paying cash for a doctors visit and paying cash for the genetic estratest? A doctors visit may be around 100.00 for one time to get a prescription and when I paid cash for generic estratest, it was about 60.00 through an Rx Savings Card. It may be a hardship for you to pay for a doctors visit but it will keep you mentally stable to get your prescription filled. I found a good match with premarin but it's pretty expensive without insurance. I think it's about 150.00 cash.
Thank you for that information. Can you please tell us the name of the drug that is in question? I'm curious as to why the substitution didn't work when they should be the same formula. It will help us determine if there needs to be a change in our products. Thank you.
to set other posts into real life experiences: I had no idea companies had changed, I pick up my med, trust the doc, pharmacist, ....It was my health, mood, reactions that were affected. (placebo effect, as I did not know mfg changed...) Drastic difference, so it is not as easy as it sounds to some of you. Im better off without any of it, than the "supposed equal". Very dangerous substitution. Real life experiences times thousands of women experiencing it, prove the recipe is NOT good for many. I hope this helps those that haven't been thru this understand. Thank you
I have read so many post on here and know what I'm about to go through.. I has a hysterotomy at 25. Totally lost everything and after many tries Estratest worked. Now at 61, I lost my insurance, and can't be covered for a while. Medicare Part D. Guess what they want for the payment on Part D. Just a small $501.00. I get a little over $800.00 on disability. So, I am stuck. no only will I be out, but can't afford it. So now, I'm going to go through that hell I went through years ago until they found a match. My question is this. What is a women to do? Where to turn? Can't see a doctor until July to even help. I know going without this medication will cause the most horrible of thoughts and being sick anyway, is a downward hill for me. How can this happen in this day in time in America? It's not like we women are misusing this? It's hellping us cope, think, and keep us normal. If that's what you want to call it. Cause in about one week, I won't be. Thoughts to any any of you that went of something else and it keep you SANE, let me know.. Good luck to you all
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