Just another thing to think about.
When I looked at my bi-phosphates (all from different chemists) it seems that the GP just makes a script out for the meds, so he would just put ‘Anastrazole’ for instance, then it looks like the chemist picks which company you get?
I think that this was what my GP was explaining to me. I have the same drug but manufactured by three different companies!! Surely that is going to cause problems?
Hi LancsLass,
Yup, my GP gives me a script for Tamoxifen, I take it to the pharmacy (chemist shop)just down the road and he gives me whatever he has in stock… sometimes UK Generics, sometimes Wockhardt. The ‘active ingredient’ is identical, so it will do its anti-cancer job in the same way, but the other gubbins in there is slightly different. It is recognised that side effects can vary between brands, sometimes people are advised to switch to reduce SEs, sometimes they are able to specify the one that is better for them. It is not the case that one brand works better than another, but one brand may suit one person better than another for other reasons. Does that make sense?
Morning LL
From my point of view this is def the case.
Initially 4 years ago I was given Tamox which was awful for me. When I couldn’t cope any longer the doc gave me Nolvadex D which has since been discontinued unfortunately, this was brill for me, I felt really well on it.
Then back on tamox because my BCN said the experience might be different a second time, it wasn’t. On to Aromasin, a few initial probs like stiffness, headaches, feeling sick etc. They went away and I was fine. Then suddenly I get Activis Exemestane, same drug but as RevCat says different fillers and gubbins, stiff again for a couple of weeks and then OK. This month Teva Exemestane!!! Back to being stiff again and headaches!!! I’m off to the docs in an hour. I have to sort it out can’t keep doing this potentially every month.
I little tip my BCN gave me was that if you ask for the same drug but stipulate the make i.e. Aromasin (Exemestane) then you can’t be refused. I did it with Nolvadex D and had a bit of a fight to get it. The doc dais she would give it to me for 3 months initially and it I was no better then it would be back on to the generic.
I think we have enough to cope with to be honest. We really don’t want the side effects every month or so or the worry of wondering if we are going to get the same generic 2 months in a row.
J xx
It helps if you have a friendly pharmacist. My local pharmacist always gets me the same brand of tamoxifen - APS - as that is the one that suits me best. I live in a village and always use our local pharmacy. I don’t suppose you would get this level of service from, say, a Boots in a big town or city.