Hi All, just been swapped from Tamoxifen to Arimidex by my oncologist and went yesterday to gp for prescription. They said they dont have “Arimidex” the brand but do have “Anastrozole”. I said that I had read on the web site not to be fobbed off with a brand other than “Arimidex” but lo and behold when my husband collected the tablets later they had given me the cheaper alternative.
I read in the GP handbook that the cost to the NHS of “Anastrozole” was £68 per pack, but “Anastrozole” was £6. I know that the active ingredient is 1mg of Anastrozole regardless of brand but there must be a a reason for the difference in price.I dont want to start taking the cheap brand and then have to swap because of side effects, but there is a long bank holiday coming up then I am away for 2 weeks.
What shall I do??
I am sure there was a discussion about this on the website at some time but cant find it now.
Hi, can’t offer any advice but I’ll be interested in following this discussion. I had my last chemo session last Thursday and have come home with a packet of Anastrozole, to start taking in four weeks time. I was half expecting this to happen even though the consultant told me I’d be taking Arimidex. If it’s just the difference between a generic brand as in Panadol versus supermarket paracetamol then I’m quite happy to take it. From reading other discussions it seems Arimidex itself has quite a few unpleasant s/e’s so I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see.
Regards, Pauline
This has happened with Letrozole, the origainal company was Femara but when generic versions were available the majority of pharmacies give the much cheaper generics.
The difference is in the coating which Femara didn’t have and with Letrozole there are at least 4 versions of generics. When I checked the ingredients it would seem that all the generics included Hypromellose apart from Teva which my Gp has now put on my prescription to make sure that I keep to it. In April I saw my Onc and he had received a letter from a GP querying why should they prescribe the dearer Femara and not the cheaper versions and his reply was that if the generics were having significant side effects and it was affecting their lives they should have Femara.
Having read various posts some ladies see no difference in the makes and it might well be that you need to try various generics to see if you are okay on one particular one.
Hazel
Hi all,
I was one of the ladies on the original arimidex/anastrazole thread. Anastrazole is the generic name and had been known under the Arimidex brand name until early last year. Astra Zeneca had developed it and they had sole licence to make it for 5 yrs but the manufacture exclusivity ran out Jan/Feb 2011 (think that’s right) so other drug companies could make it and sell it. The ‘original’ arimidex is the most expensive tablet, all the generic ones are a lot cheaper (my chemist said the difference was something like £90 a month compared to £6 so once the generic version became available, GPs started prescribing this to most women (as a doctor at my surgery said to me once, I have budgets to think about…).
Some of us ladies on the old thread found that the generic drug caused the most awful side effects that we didn’t realise were down to the change of manufacturers until quite a lot of us started posting on here. Others had no worse or sometimes better side effects. At the time of my change of tablets, I had been on ‘proper’ Arimidex for 2.5 yrs so maybe my body had become so used to it. I persevered with the generic version for 3 months but was struggling so much with the side effects I wanted to stop all treatment for a few months to try and get back to normal. I had an appointment with my onc as the GP surgery had said it was pure coincidence and told her about wanting a break but she said that as I have secondaries it would just be too risky to have even a month off and that it would be the generic version causing the problems. She wrote to my GPs (only way they would alter the brand) and said I must have AZ version. Within 3 days of taking it I was back to normal. Onc said they knew of such issues and as the thread went on, more and more stories like mine came up. Some GPs would change the script back immediately and others like me had to get our oncs to insist.
The active ingredient is the same be the tablets generic or the original AZ ones, it is the bulking out agents that can alter the side effects. Like every treatment, we all react differently and it is a bit of trial and error. I am still on the AZ original version and my chemist has to order them in specially for me. Sorry this has been a bit of a long post but hope it gives some idea of what happened.
Hope whichever brand you get works, anyway!!
Liz
Very interested in these posts as I am suffering badly with SEs from anastrozole and so far my GP has only suggested testing me for PMR and all sorts of other problems rather than letting me try Arimidex. I had already guessed that cost must come into it but the aches and pains I am suffering make me feel that I am 95 if a day and these problems (not to mention the hot flushes) appeared within a week of my starting the tablets in October 2011. I will persevere with the GP and beg if necessary but I certainly cannot afford private prescriptions at those costs. Are there any other brands that do the same job but are cheaper and without the SE’s?
mini
I think it’s hit and miss minimavis. The side effects are still bad on the Arimidex but think they have settled down a bit over the years. By the way, following my onc’s letter, my prescription is actually marked Arimidex by AstraZeneca. Otherwise I would still get a cheaper version, which I would be ok with were it not for the even worse side effects…
Hi All
I was prescribed Anastrozole by my oncologist and am on my third month and this month it is a different one again and both seem to be the same SE wise. The important thing to remember is that we are NOT being given a cheaper drug. When a pharma ompany develop a new drug they are allowed to sell it under licence for a period of time at what ever price they like. They are huge multi national profit making organisations and are interested in making as much profit as they can. Ok - they have invested a lot of money into research and development so are entitled to recoup some of this but obviously they want to make as much as they can - hence the inflated cost. They are only allowed to do this for a certain amount of time before the market opens up to other pharma companies to also make the drug. It then becomes competitive - which is an advantage to us as the drugs become more widely available. Eventually the original producer will bring their price down once prescribing habits change. So we are not being prescribed cheaper drugs - we will all have access to high quality drugs all with exactly the same active ingredient some people will develop side effects to this and some to the other added ingredients which will differ but are essential for the coating etc. hope that makes sense and helps to reassure everyone.
Big Hugs xx
Hi everyone,
I was prescribed arimidex at first but my repeat prescription was for anastrozole and I got the zentiva brand. When on the arimidex the only SE I had was hot flushes in the evenings. when I changed to the anastozole after a month I was very tired for 2 or 3 days and had a few aches and pains in joints - but all eased after a couple of weeks. Interestingly I had a weeks worth of the arimidex left and started taking them again before I picked up my next months prescription and I started having the hot flushes again. Tomorrow I start the next batch of anastrozole and I am wondering whether I will have the tiredness back for a few days. I wonder whether the major SE others have experienced are partly due to having to change brands after a long time and the body reacting to the change. the brand I have had is by zentiva and all the ingredients (not just those listed as active) appear to be the same as in the original arimidex.
Daffodil3969. I hope that my experience may help you - thoughof course we all react in different ways. Good luck - I hope all goes well. xxx
I have been taking anastrozole since Sep 11 apart from 1 week before surgery in Feb 12 and 3 weeks whilst having radiotherapy last month. Nearly every presecription has been from a different manufacturer and apart from suffering from hot flushes, which now appear to be subsiding, I have been lucky in having very few problems with the different manufacturers.
Is it possible for BCC to give us some definitive information on the different brands as it may help in making informed choices in treatment.
Try TEVA brand NO side effects!!!
My pharmacist switched brand to Accord and I had horrible joint pain and spotting blood after 2 years no cycle.
Accord is dangerous if it can stimulate ovaries after 2 years. Again try TEVA
The generic versions do make a difference ! I took arimidex for three years 2006 to 2009 and it was the real deal …never had any problems .
I am now on letrozole and the different brands make a lot of difference to. I asked the doctor if he could just make sure I get the same brand every month …it just means consistency in side effects !!
if u find a brand that suits you …just ask for that brand on your prescription .
I hate the brand switch too but all I can say is I’m on letrozole but prefer the "accord " brand of that . So it might b ok for the arimidex too.
I had very little side effects from arimidex …maybe just a creaky knee !!
It’s a very powerful little pill and it sounds like it does what it says on the tin!!