Opinions - Are Branded Benzodiazepines or Generics Better?

[enquirewithin]

My fish tells me that it finds no difference between generic and brand name diazepam and 'Valium", for example, but then he only takes for specific reasons (mainly to get to sleep) and never recreationally.

Lorezapam seems to work more or less as well as diazepam and seems to be quite strong.

[laws0n]

bump sorry can a mod move this to the benzo thread?

[mrsyavez55]

Anyone know if there is really a difference in effects? I just seen my doc who prescribed the brand instead of generic ones I already have. I didn't realize he marked "do not substitue" until I went to fill the script. Is there really a difference or am I shelling out more money for the same effect.

P.S. My psychiatrist rx'd the generic ones.

[Herbal Healer 019]

Well while some debate that brand is better than generic, I would think that since they are both the same chemical they would both be equally as potent. Personally I think brand vs. generic is a given, all you are paying for is the name. The way I see it, as with clothing companies, the pharmecetical companies know people prefer brand over shitty generic "just-bought-this-on-clearance-from-K-mart" pills.

SWIM finds with some pills, especiallly tramadol (generic=pure tramadol, brand=tramadol & acetaminophin), the generic def. beats the brand name.

[Pent]

In SWIM's opinion it depends on where they're coming from. A lot of generic benzos that SWIM has obtained were shipped from places like India, and as we all know, heat is bad for benzos and thus the generics (due to cheaper packaging usually) tended to be weaker when they reached him.

However, if they are both made in the same country and treated the same way with equal packaging, they should be perfectly equal unless one of said companies is lying or one of the ingredients is somehow reducing the potency.

[90%.]

Generic ones usually have some type of a filler and the high doesnt last as long as they would if they were branded(xanax) . thats in swims opinion anyway

[Horiz]

Originally Posted by 90%.

Generic ones usually have some type of a filler and the high doesnt last as long as they would if they were branded(xanax) . thats in swims opinion anyway

I'm pretty sure that every pill, branded or not contains binders and fillers. Alprazolam is Alprazolam is Alprazolam.

[ganja4girl20]

swim takes xanax for anxiety (and yes occasionally for fun). she heard that brand name was far better than generic..........in swim's oppinion this is not correct, in fact she felt the oppisite (maybe she's just used to the generic?) she paid 60 dollars for those damn things when the generics cost her $3! insurance won't pay for brand when generic is available. swim just curious on others opinion on this, anyswims prefer brand name?

[OsCarwild]

It completely depends on the drug. Some generics are better than the branded ones, and some branded drugs are better than the generics. With xanax (alprazolam) it should not make much difference either way. Other generic drugs can have totally different characteristics though. For example generic oxycodone gels, while branded Oxycontin does not. The difference in generics and brand names sometimes only matters when SWIY is snorting it of injecting it.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good information

[ganja4girl20]

yes that is true. swim has taken oxycodone 2 pills with little effect and took the same mg's brand name one time and was too much for her to handle! as far as snorting for some reason swim NEVER get an effect off anything when snorting, her nose is really small, i don't know if that matters, hehe.

[ganja4girl20]

swim did a thread not too long ago on this. she wasted alot of money on those brand name xanax which did absolutely no more than her generic alprazolam. the difference in price was $3 for generic $60 for brand, and no diff in recreational value! now as far as percocet goes.......well that's a WHOLE nother story! swim would advise you don't waste your money, but as swim did you may have to try for yourself first!

ganja4girl20 added 1 Minutes and 29 Seconds later...

sorry for swims ignorance this WAS swim's thread, lol! maybe she should lay off the xanies awhile!

[Stimulants]

When it comes to time-release, there can definitely be a difference between brands, but for instant release, the pill is simply active ingredient + binder, so there is no difference, except in rare circumstances. For example, brand name pill is blue, generic is not colored and patient is allergic to the blue dye.

For FDA approved generics dispensed from a legitimate pharmacy with a prescription, generic and brand name should be the same. If the said "generic" is from an illegitimate source, then there's no telling if it's even got the claimed active ingredient or the claimed amount.

[Nahbus]

SWIM has heard, but is completely unsure if it is true, that "generics" can legally be labeled as, say, "5mg", but in reality contain something like 4.8mg, while "band name" pills will have the exact dosage in them.
Again, SWIM is unsure if this is true, and seems as though it shouldn't be, but in today's society where everything is run by money, he wouldn't doubt it for a minute.
If it were true, though, he wouldn't see any reason for both generic and brand name pills to skimp as much as legally possible.. so I suppose in the end, he doubts there really is much of a difference (at least dosage wise)

[Stimulants]

Originally Posted by Nahbus

SWIM has heard, but is completely unsure if it is true, that "generics" can legally be labeled as, say, "5mg", but in reality contain something like 4.8mg, while "band name" pills will have the exact dosage in them.

Certainly non-sense in US and Canada. The generics must be approved and pharmaceutical companies run tests on batches.

If you have a 5mg drug, no, it won't be 5.0000mg, because nothing is perfect. There's a certain level of allowable deviation, i.e. +/- 0.5mg

[Stimulants]

Originally Posted by newlevel

Hi,
SWIM wonders if the same applies to the brand name vendor. have swiy any idea? swim guesses yes.

I would suspect the same applies to all medicines in developed countries.

In the US, FDA oversees the potency, sterility as well as cleanliness of all dispensed medications. All the ingredients, active and inactive are pharmaceutical grade known as "USP".

Remember that assay and purity are different things.

95% is assay.

95% could mean 95% tylenol + 5% clean binder, or 95% + 5% dog shit.

So, the safety and purity of pills originating from third world countries where regulations are lack can't be assured, but all pharmaceuticals, dispensed from a pharmacy in North America and Europe are clean.

[newlevel]

yes, well said. thank you.

[tyranny4u]

a special problem are substances that can't be pressed without
binders and the substance is lower than 5 % of the total weight
of the pill. sometimes substances get adsorbed by filling materials,
and therefor won't be absorbed by the body - the high pressure
of the pill press has pressed the filler and a part of the substance
that hard, that those stay "sticking" together.
that's why maybe some very hard pressed pills show a poorer
bioavailability than pills that are "smoother". besides of that it gets
harder to disperse the active substance equally, when the part of the
active substance is very low (as pills pressing is not done by scaling the
substance for each pill. it is done by "mixing" the fillers and the
substance into the right proportion, then the powders get "mixed" for
the certain time that is needed to get the right apportionment, then the
powder is dumped into the pill press and the 500.000 batch production
is started.
some pill pressing machines can press with 5 tons of pressure, maybe
there even are some that are stronger.

TT hopes his english was ok and understandable, sometimes it's not
so easy to choose the right expression for technical terms and so on...

[bosch man]

it is of course all in the mind, they are both the same in terms of active ingredients, but your mind tells you that if its cheaper its not going to be as good and in case of benzo's you may note a difference in effect if the think that way.

...bit like alcohol some say they get more drunk on 12% volume (uk) champange than on a cheap bottle of sparkling wine same alcohol percentage...LOL.

[tyranny4u]

What has effect on the consumer are:

- Reputation of Brand / Generic
- Pill Design
- Galenics (is the pill pressed hard and will dissolve slowly and so effects show up slowly?
- Have the fillers any effect on absorbtion of the substance?
- Do galenics have any effect on bioavailability?

tt can only talk for his country, as he doesn't know enough foreign material:
on the open drug scene for example, certain generics are preferred over
original brand (STADA Diazepam over Roche Valium, Neuraxpharm Flunitrazepam over Roche Rohypnol...)

The first mentioned two points are not that insignificant, believe me.
Pills are designed to meet the expectations of the patients. Or let us
call them consumers, that describes it a bit more realistic.