Lexapro Brand Versus Generic Escitalopram (Page 4) (Top voted first)

I have taken 30mg of Lexapro for past 4 years. After the deaths of my son and his wife in a plane crash the depression and anxiety were more than I could bear. This past May I was changed to the generic escitalopram. God Forbid!!!! What a nightmare. Within three weeks I was suicidal, I was going through SSRI withdrawals which are vicious. I am now paying over $225.00 per month for Brand Lexapro as my insurance will NOT cover it even with prior auth or any other reason. My Medicare Advantage plan leaves a lot to be desired even though I pay a $152.00 per month premium. Has anyone else had problems with the generic Lexapro? My pharmacist said I am not the first.

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I swtiched to the generic of Lexapro because the co-pay was much less money. I noticed no difference with Escitalopram so I was happy to save the money. This was at least a year ago. Gradually my trigger level for anxiety became lower, and I started to have loud outbursts with others. I didn't connect the dots until these became more frequent. Depression returned within a few months, and finally I read a depression forum post, that the generic was hit or miss for effectiveness. After reading this topic I am picking up the brand name today. How can drug companies distribute a generic that will unleash dangerously violent anxiety attacks. In my case I could have hurt myself or others.

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Hi,

something similar happened to me. I'd been on brand lexapro for several years and somewhere along the way, I was put on a generic. I had no trouble. then, I changed jobs which meant a change in health insurance plans. I got a Teva generic with my new insurance company and after about 4 days, started feeling a terrible withdrawal. Before that I think it had been a Mylan generic. Anyway, it took me about a week to figure out what was going on, but once I got back onto normal lexapro and I felt a serious "adjustment" occur. If the drugs were the same this shouldn't occur. It took about a month to get back to normal. Since then the Doctor always indicates that I need the brand.

Even so, last week I filled the prescription again before grabbing a flight, and it wasn't until I got to my destination that I realized that they'd done it again...reverted the to the generic, this time by Camber. Of course, I'm going through an adjustment all over again as I revert back to brand.

ugh.

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Iskander, you're absolutely right about prior authorization. I went down that path almost two years ago and my provider made it impossible to get my drugs. Every time they came up for renewal, they would "reject" it, insist that I call in and engage in a high-pressure sales pitch to accept the generic, require me to get my doctor to submit a new authorization, shuffle me around different departments, etc. It would literally be weeks before they'd fill the prescription. I actually agreed to pay the outrageous $300+ per refill and they STILL made it almost impossible to get my meds.

So, the path of least resistance was to just keep trying generics that didn't work, caused new problems or actually turned my anxiety into full-fledged depression.

Luckily, my doctor took another kick at them this year and managed to get my Lexapro back (at least for one refill....keeping my fingers crossed that it sticks). It took about 5 days to kick in, but I'm happy to say that the issues that I thought were potentially permanent, aren't.

For the vast majority of people, generics will do the trick. But it's pretty obvious that this isn't true for everyone. The drug companies, health insurance companies, etc. need to acknowledge this.

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Hi All, I was on Lexapro for about five years when my mail-order pharmacy switched me to the generic without my knowledge. I'm not saying they didn't notify me, but if they did, I didn't see it.

One day I realized I had become anxious, irritable and depressed, thinking of quitting my job, leaving my husband, moving out-of-state, or maybe just ending it all. When I became suicidal, I realized something was terribly wrong. The next time I took my "Lexapro," I noticed an "M" on the pill, checked and realized I had the wrong med which turned out to be the generic. I arranged to go back to Lexapro and all went back to normal.

I am now 10-weeks post tapering off of Lexapro (one mg per month), I think what I might have been experiencing were the evil Lexapro withdrawal symptoms. Any thoughts? Do you all think the generic may have been the problem?

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I have had problems with TEVA myself. its is most likely the junk, u get when u make a drug. There are a lot of other stuff made. depending on the purity of the basic components, and how the steps are done, can be huge difference. The FDA does not have the funds to analyze drugs. They get a trial going and then run into huge problems, even many deaths, so the drug will not be tried again. drug companies need to pay the FDA to randomly run diagnostics, every year or so.

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Yes. The generic did absolutely nothing for me. When I brought it back to the pharmacy--they said a number of people had the same complaint. When I told my MD he said generics only have to be 70% the same as brand name products. Since then I have taken only brand name antidepressants / anti anxiety meds and have had no problems.

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Absolutely not effective as the brand Lexapro, for my husband generic is as though he has taken no Lexapro. We pay $21.75 for 3 of the brand Lexapro
Can not afford, we are seniors but necessary for him to take.

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The generic is just terrible. I tried it and IT IS NOT THE SAME. Now I just have to pay the high price. Screw the cheap generic maker with its subpar manufacturing process!!!

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I was on Low dose of lexapro for years to treat panic disorder then it was switched to generic when it became available 2 years ago. I began having headaches, GI issues, and random suicidal ideation. I've never experienced suicidal ideation and it was incongruent with my life circumstances. I asked my doctor to switch me back to brand Lexapro and while I pay over $200 a month all of those crazy symptoms went away. I can't believe the pharm companies are allowed to make these drugs. Thank goodness I recognized my symptoms early but I've heard other doctors just continued to increase the rx not trusting client report as a side effect to the generic drug. How much is this actually costing insurance companies in psy hospitalizations? Very scary.

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Headaches & mild depression (feeling lonely) were the 2 main side effects I had with Generic Lexapro. I would ask your doctor to change the script to read dispense as written. Many doctors are aware of this,but won't do anything unless you tell them. You might have to pay more. Lexapro 30tabs@10mg runs close to $300. w/o insurance. I pay pay $60. with insurance. You can also see my response from TEVA pharmaceuticals in this forum.

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Interesting I also recently changed from Cipralex to a generic and then started to notice I just did not feel right. It was like the generic was not doing the job and I was experiencing some side effects. Initially, I thought it was just in my head so to speak lol. Then I did some research and discovered some of us do not react well to generics. A little disappointed my pharmacist never informed me. So my initial joy at the relative inexpensive generic has turned to disappointment over the fact I will be paying more to return to Cipralex

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Sorry Steve and welcome to this depressing club, lol. :)

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Thanks for posting. Please keep us updated how this works. Possibly, it will help others, such as myself, who continue to pay outrageous out of pocket costs for brand Lexapro.

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I cannot believe what I am reading. I really thought it was all my imagination that the Lexapro wasn't working this time and wondered (and panicked) why! I have been on the generic for 6 months and still not feeling better yet, when in the past, I was much better by now. My dr moved me from 10mg for two months, 15 two months and now 20 for almost two months. I have taken Lex in the past four times before and it worked each time, so now at least there's a possibility it may work again, but I just needed the brand name like last time. I went to brand a few days ago, and felt horrible this am. My pharmacist said its probably my body getting adjusted to the new medicine again. I feel I probably didn't need the 20 mg and now that Im on the brand, maybe its too high of a dose. Time will tell. But its just great that after 6 months of anxiety, I now still have to re-adjust to the lexapro again.

I went to the site provided and filed a report, but please know I am in if you guys file a group action of some sort. I have two little kids and a job and cant afford to feel like this any longer. That's terrible they don't tell people.

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When I went back on Cipralex (uk version of Lexapro) after being unknowingly switched to generic I experienced side effects as if I started from scratch again. 20mg could be too high for u maybe u should consider going back to the dose of Lexapro that's worked for u in the past? Otherwise stick it out for a week and the horrible side effects should pass.

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Thanks very much. I suspected as much, but it's nice to get reassurance. I would go down but at this point don't want to create more than one variable in case Im having trouble- won't know which was the culprit. My plan is to get back to 10 or 15 once I stabilize anyway. Thanks so much for your reply. It puts my mind at ease. Take care, Maria

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I can't disagree, Amber. But I do think that they tend to disregard our arguments and complaints when we go down the "generics are evil" path.

I wonder if the situation would be different if they had to do the same rigorous clinical studies for each new formulation. (of course, that would drive up the price of generics and kind of defeat the purpose. But...)

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I took generic Lexapro for 1 month and all I did was cry. The generic is NOT the same.

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Everyone who has had a bad reaction to the generic versions of Lexapro needs to register this with the FDA via a simple phone call to 1-800-332-1088. This is the best way to push back.

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Here's where to go and the response I just received:

Dear Reporter:

Thank you for submitting your report to MedWatch, The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.

This acknowledgement confirms that your report was received. Reports are added to a post marketing safety database with similar reports and reviewed by the FDA's post marketing safety staff. Voluntary reports are essential for ensuring the continued safety of FDA-regulated products. One or two well-documented case reports may provide an early signal of unexpected problems and lead to
additional evaluation. This may result in FDA regulatory actions that improve the safety of the products used in patient care each day.

You will only be contacted for follow-up by FDA if additional information on this report is needed in our evaluation process

Again, thank you for taking the time to submit your report.

Please Do Not Reply to this email as it is a send account only. If you have any questions, please send them to: [email protected]

Sincerely yours,

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