Watson Vs. Mylan Generic Lorazepam Side Effects. (Page 9)
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Been on Sandoz mfr. lorazepam for 10 years; no problems; no need to increase dose. Sandoz stopped mfr. Now, can only get these generic's & Actavis. Having lots of troubles getting results; either nothing or zonked. Anyone else w/any experience which mfr. is closer to Sandoz (since FDA approves up to 2% differences in generics). Thank you.

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It is absurd, annoying ambulance chasing, greed and nothing else motivated case. This is utter BS. These losers go after products many of us need. I do not abuse benzodiazepines, and have successfully done so for panic attacks and anxiety. What is so fun about amnesia? So many people live and die in pain because of this avaricious, opportunistic bulls***. There are people who turn to the street and suffer greatly while they slave away at demonizing our medicine. Ativan is quick acting and great for panic attacks. The horrendous shrinks I've seen prescribe far less benzodiazepines and offer Ibuprofen for gunshot wounds around here in DRUG WAR USA.

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I had same problem with Actavis. I now have Walgreens order Greenstone brand ONLY. All Actavis/Teva meds are fillers. I reported complaint to FDA, Teva, Doctor & Walgreens. I have been on med for 20 years and all generics are 20-30% less actual drug, rest are fillers, and getting worse as competition with generics, you would be shocked. Having said that, go to Walgreens and have them special order GREENSTONE brand.
Good luck, Sunset

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Re: Henry (# 365)

To follow up on my post #365. I just spoke to Sandoz and then my CVS pharmacist. Sandoz confirmed they are manufacturing it and have stock on hand. CVS are going to try to order the Sandoz 1mg lorazepam for me. She said on her computer the order looked fine, but I would get a call tomorrow letting me know if there was a problem or if received.

The behemoth company Teva Pharmaceuticals bought Actavis and Actavis bought Watson, so everything under that umbrella is junk. I have never tried Sandoz generic lorazepam but doing some research on the web and this site it seems the responses are mixed. Some say it works great for them, others had problems, so im not sure what to expect. I will post a follow-up when I (hopefully) receive it.

[1] Sandoz Lorazepam 1mg. Has Anyone Tried The New Version??

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FYI, I just received a call back from Mylan after my phone call a couple days ago. They confirmed they are discontinuing lorazepam.

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Re: Henry (# 361)

Henry, yes, do you have caremark? Cvs? That’s who I have and my dr filled out paperwork and told them I had to have brand only. He told them how the leading brand made me sick with the fillers and not helping me at all. Valeant is the brand I have that’s the actual Ativan name. My rx is 66,000 a year. I think to the pharmacy it’s cheaper. I am a write off for them I’m sure. Unless they get it for way cheaper. I do not know how that works. I know that people on medi-cal can get Ativan through Ativan. If you go to Valeant's website you can fill out paperwork to see if they will approve you for a discount or free rx. Just thought I would let you know.

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Re: Savannah (# 362)

You've been through a lot. I'm glad that you've been able to work through your experiences. I like you have extreme anxiety problems. I don't know if you've ever heard of free floating anxiety but that's what I'm diagnosed with. It's like being plugged into-220 watts all day.

I also have drug-resistant depression. The options that I have to take care of that are not something I care to do which is ECT. There are many other options but the military and the Veterans Administration don't want to pay for them.

My questioning about the amount you take wasn't as I told you before trying to be nosey. It is as I expressed in another post my experiences with benzodiazepines have not been good. When I was on 4 mg of the brand name Ativan made by Wyeth as I posted in another thread I was on that mount for numerous years without any drug increases or drug tolerances. As I stated once I got on generics my life fell apart. I've only had two doctors in my years of taking lorazepam that had absolutely no trouble with me being on the doses I've been on. When ssri's and snri's became available I was forced to take them and ended up with serotonin syndrome. This is with my current doc.

Anyrate I'm glad you were able to get your insurance company to pay for brand-name. Disclaimer to whoever reads this as I've been saying I still won't believe there's an actual brand name Ativan until I've tried it. Don't take that personal it's just me. The reason why I say that is Valeant makes the BPI generic and their so-called brand name. Again Savannah do not take what I said personal has nothing to do with you. I just don't believe they're making a brand name and if they are I don't believe it's the same formula. But I could be wrong. The important thing is that is working for you.

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Re: Henry (# 365)

Don't know if you've ever used Klonopin? My son takes it and it works really well for him. It's longer-lasting but it's not fast acting like Ativan is (i.e. lorazepam). Xanax took care of my panic problems, it was fast acting but had a short half-life. Gave me terrible headaches at the base of my neck and skull. Tranxene didn't do anything for me. Librium same thing.

I've taken Sandoz, Watson, Actavis, Ranbaxy, Purepac all of which didn't work. Cause worsening panic and inability to sleep along with a host of other side effects.

My understanding is and I could be wrong Purepac markets Watson and Actavis. Leading is made by Major Pharmaceuticals. I've seen a host of other companies making lorazepam but I don't know if they're available. My pharmacist hasn't been any of help. The military pharmacies buy whatever is cost-efficient for them. They do that with all their medicine. The price is Vets pay for serving. ;(

If I hear if anything I will post it out here for you all. As my grandmother used to say, "This too shall pass".

Forgot there's always trying to find a compound pharmacy that will make the medication for you tailored to your chemistry in your body. Something I'm thinking about looking into. The only problem with that is getting the military to pay for it.

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Re: Deedee (# 363)

Deedee, Have a good one is a slang we use in my state. (As in take care) As for Mylan the only beef I have is that they could have informed the general public on their website that they were going to discontinue it.

There was no need to tell one person one thing and another something else. Like everyone else here I use lorazepam to control my extreme panic disorder.

I was trying to be positive for the other readers out here because my Intel from Mylan was it's just on backorder. When I started seeing numerous names I've never seen before saying they aren't making it- it put me in a panic. Some of the posts really looked like the same person. I was like ok.

This site is very valuable to many of us. I don't come here a lot but when I do like you I get the 411 on who's having troubles with one and who's not. My doc is anti-benzodiazepine. I can't even tell any of you how tough it's been dealing with that. I've been on every drug available here in the states with no luck. Being I'm retired military I can't pick and choose who I see. And I don't have other insurance. Even if I did the majority of doctors do not like to prescribe benzodiazepines.

For the time being I am taken a breather on what my next move will be. I have a bit of time to figure this out. I really wish you the best.

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Re: Henry (# 365)

Hi Henry. Leading is total garbage and the Watson brand last month was the same crap. Let me know if you try Sandoz. I did years ago and had problems. I’d appreciate any advice.

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Re: Twig7 (# 358)

Thanks Twig. Do we have a complete list of currently produced lorazepam generics?

1) Actavis- junk

2) Watson is now owned my Actavis, so these are the same and junk

3) Leading pharm/Major Pharm: haven't tried personally but many complaints about it here and elsewhere.

4) Ok, so I see Sandoz is back on the market maybe? Hard to research these things, but from what I read Sandoz stopped making lorazepam some time ago, but it looks like it's active again (sandoz.com). Sandoz was purchased by Novartis. Has anyone taken/tried to order this recently? I might try to and see what happens. Any generics available that i've missed?

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Re: Twig7 (# 354)

Hello again, I replied yesterday but I do not see it posted. I have had many traumatic things happen at a younger age and a tubular pregnancy that changed my brain chemicals. I was on the same dose for many many years... then if stopped working for me. I had to go up on it and add an anti depressant that helps with panic. Valeant is charging me as a Ativan price. Are they the owners of Ativan brand? The meds are thousands! I have caremark and I do not know who you have but if the generic doesn’t work then your insurance should cover it. They have a form your dr can fill out so that they need to pay for the brand name. I hope everyone gets this figured out it’s very stressful I know.

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Re: Twig7 (# 359)

Evidently the medchat administrators looked at my last post before they approved and if they match up multiple names under the same account they immediately shut them down, so that should make you feel better, that the “friends” we’ve made on this link truly care about one another. I would’ve never known not to take the Activis brand, and then just recently found out how Watson may look like the old Watson, but is made by Sandoz now and doesn’t work either. This site has really helped me know which to refuse and which ones to give a try if I’m backed in a corner and can’t get the 0.5 from Mylan next month. Have a good one??

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Re: Twig7 (# 354)

I have to say I wasn’t offended at all. I just have a serious anxiety disorder. I fell and hit my head at the age of 7 & went into convolutions. I was raped and left for dead in the woods at the age of 10. I do not feel sorry for myself. I live my life to the fullest and I did not allow what happened to me to change who I am. It does not define me. I also had a tubular pregnancy in 1992 and it can change your brain chemicals, which it did :(. That’s when the panic started. I am on Ativan because it’s the only thing that allows me to function well and drive etc: I do not want to feel doped up.

As far as mylan goes, I was very upset over them stopping and I do not believe it’s their fault. What happens is other companies make things cheaper and the pharmacy’s get bids to contract with a brand. Who ever comes in low they get. It’s a shame. Out of all the generics I have taken mylan was the very best! I feel for all of us! My Doctors have said I will have to be on it the rest of my life. It really sucks! I would rather not be but I can not have quality of life and take care of my family if I am not functional. Anxiety is very hard to live with with out the correct meds. The leading brand made me so sick. I remember when I was first put on the lorazepam I took it for a couple of weeks and then went off. I ended up in the ER and they told me I had to take my medication. I did not like that answer of course. In 2010 I went through a very bad episode of anxiety my meds were no longer working. That is when I went on an anti depressant. That truly helped me from the panic episodes. At the time I was having heart palpitations 24/7. The only way to calm me was to up my lorazepam. So yes, I’m taking more then some people but not as much as others. Many people take 8 mg a day. Some take 4 mg at bed time ! That would prob make me go into a coma!

I have lowered my dose since put on Ativan an it goes to show that the real stuff actually works better than the generics! Just so everyone knows I am one person using the same Email. I have only wanted to help and I am just as disappointed as every one else was with mylan stopping the manufacture of lorazepam! It’s something that worked well for many and it’s said that companies get driven out money wise for a cheaper less effective med.
Thanks all!

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Re: Twig7 (# 354)

Some additional thoughts on your friend in pharmaceutical marketing saying Mylan's lorazepam cancellation is because it isn't lucrative. It makes a lot of sense, I took a look at what my insurance and I (blue cross) pay CVS total for the generic lorazepam and it's only $0.048 per tablet. That's what CVS gets, how about the generic manufacturers and then factor their total costs? The average monthly script cost for most people is probably less than $3.00. Competition drove the price so cheap that it's not a lucrative medication anymore and we're left with the crap that doesn't work correctly (Actavis). On the flip side is Valeant that owns the rights to brand Ativan and makes a good product but they charge $28.00 per tab.

I guess ill have to start researching here if any of the Xanax generics are considered decent. I took a look at webmd and see the brand cost is about $500-600/month. Obviously I don't want to spend $6000/yr on anxiety medication but if im not doing well on ativan or xanax generics, $6000/yr for brand xanax is better than $60,000/yr for brand Ativan. JFC what a nightmare.

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Re: Deedee (# 356)

To answer your question: Yes, your email address is kept private and is not displayed or shared. And because we do not force users to enter their full name or real name (for privacy), there may be cases where a single individual changes their name from time to time. The only time this is really frowned upon is if someone is attempting to manipulate a discussion (by posing as multiple individuals in a deceptive way and/or having fake conversations with themselves). In such a case, our moderators would promptly take such a message down and ban them. We hope this helps and please let us know if you have any other questions about this.

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Deedee you don't hafta use your email to post to these threads. That's only if you want to know if you post has been posted. You can use an anonymous name post your comment then come back and checked the boards. All I know is Mylan most certainly made some of us look like fools. I put my faith and trust in their replies to those personal phone calls I made. I stood up for them out here and yeah. I'm glad that things have worked out for you. As for me I will bounce back and figure this out. Have a good one.

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Re: Henry (# 357)

My pharmacist told me it's no longer available and is discontinued. My spouse called three chain pharmacies and they said it's discontinued. I'm just perplexed. I think that Mylan should just plain and simple post it on their website. It would save alot of phone calls and stress on not only them but us as well. I'm not sure what plan I'm going to take as of now. I'm thinking going back to Valeant's generic. But I don't even know if it's being made either. I was told by a large chain pharmacy they had it. Three weeks later they tell me they don't have it at all and never did have it ane that they only carry Watson and Actavis. Major Pharmaceuticals is Leading brand so that's out as well. Wish you the best Henry.

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Re: Twig7 (# 354)

I decided to call Mylan just now to see what they tell me about backorder vs discontinuation. I was transferred to a woman named Desiree who deals with product availability. Honestly she didn't offer much of any useful info. She confirmed all sizes of lorazepam tablet (0.5, 1, 2) are showing as backorder and don't have eta dates. I pressed her if this means it's discontinued and she wouldn't commit an answer (she apparently didn't know). I have no reason to disbelieve Twig's friend in the industry that says Mylan axed it. I also just called my CVS and the pharmacist checked and found she is unable to get any sizes of Mylan lorazepam.

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Re: Twig7 (# 354)

I just pulled up the conversations to catch up since I last posted. I did get mylan 0.5 filled yesterday for my 30 days, and the pharmacy showed in the computer their warehouse still showed them in stock. Unfortunately, last Friday when the Mylan rep called me after my email Thursday, she didn’t say whether all lorazepam would be DC’d or if it was just the 1 mg dose. I did ask my pharmacist yest if they could check it every 2 weeks like Mylan suggested and see if they could order and he wasn’t sure that was possible. Mylan said they had enough for one more batch, but wasn’t sure when the release date would be. We all have to be our own advocates I guess, at this point. I have a friend with MS who’s on oxycodone 15 mg and her pharmacy is now giving her a brand that doesn’t work at all, so am telling her what I’ve been going through with all of your help and hope she learns from this. Since I made a direct call in response to Mylan’s return call, I know for sure it was that company who was on the phone with me. As for even trying to believe the few of us that seem to be responding back and forth I hope I’m not too naive to believe anyone would play games like that and for what point?? When you mentioned looking at post dates and times, I did go back and look, and all I noticed was that some people spend more time reading and answering right away. I would really hope we all are real people who are just trying to help out another friend with the same health issues. Also, doesn’t the site have our emails private, and why in the world would they let the same email go online using different nicknames. This is supposed to be a reputable website. If you know something to the contrary, I would sure like to know and I’ll cut my conversations immediately. I did have a thought a while back that maybe one of the people we were taking to was from FDA, MAPS, whatever, but then thought that’s not a big deal because I have absolutely nothing to hide, have a legitimate problem that necessitates my medication, etc. Have a good day.

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Re: Twig7 (# 354)

Ugh! Twig that wasn't the news I was hoping to hear! I had a bad feeling though, it seemed strange Mylan would have such difficulties with lorazepam supply. Now I don't know what im going to do. I had an approval for the "brand" from 2006 when it was Biovail and maybe $200 more a month than generic. That insurance is long gone from an old employer in a different state. There is no way my current insurance is going to pay $5000/month for the Valeant, and as you said I don't blame them.

I guess i'll have to try another lorazepam generic although I don't have much faith in that from my past experiences and those posted here. If that doesn't work I suppose it's back to my doctor to find another medication, probably a different generic benzodiazepine like Xanax XR, What a mess :(

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