Lamotrigine or generic Lamictal was first became available in 2005, and it is now manufactured by a number of companies and easy to find in countries like the US and Canada. As with most generics, it is a less costly different than the brand-name drug Lamictal, making it easier to purchase for those who lack prescription drug insurance, and usually it makes the formulary list of preferred drugs of most insurance companies

 I HOPE EVERYONE READS THIS FORUM.  I AM SO GRATEFUL AND IT IS SO HELPFUL

I am 21 year old female who had my first seizure at 18.  Sleep deprivation and stress were most likely what triggered it.  I was diagnosed with epilepsy, I've had it since I was born and it was not caused my a head injury and there was no family history of it. 

I was on BRAND NAME KEPPRA for the first two years.  Then, unknowingly, my doctor said to switch to the GENERIC since it was cheaper.  Within the first two months, I was experiencing many auras and a few other symptoms not knowing why.  Ultimately, I had my second seizure, and was not even very much sleep deprived that same weekend.  I went back to BRAND NAME.

 I am now on BRAND NAME KEPPRA XR for the past 10 months since having my last seizure, and it is slightly cheaper than regular brand name Keppra.  I have been doing well on it.  However, I have always had concentration issues when it comes to school work since I am a college student.  I am trying to decide whether it's my laziness, the fact that I take 23 credits/semester, or that I am easily distracted since some times i just can NOT concentrate.  My doctor says Keppra effects concentration and cognitive thinking, so he wants to switch me to LAMICTAL.

 I now in the process of switching over to Lamictal, slowly, but still take the Keppra with it.  I have been taking BRAND NAME LAMICTAL the past 5 week in a trial pack and I now need to fill an Rx at a pharmacy for GENERIC lamictal.  THANK GOD I read this page because now I am aware of the horrible side effects of Lamictal generic, and am hesitant to fill the RX for generic this week. 

 I have MEDCO health insurance and I pay  $450 for my 90 supply of KEPPRA XR (brand name, there is no generic for XR).  Regular BRAND NAME KEPPRA is $622/90 day supply.  LAMICTAL BRAND NAME is $1,100.00/90 day supply which is WAY more than I am willing to pay.  I am going to stick with Keppra XR and not even risk Lamictal generic, which would cost me not even $100.00 for a 90 supply.  Although I have trouble concentrating, I am a Deans List student and will deal with my lack of concentration on my own.  I am not paying for some crappy generic Lamictal after I read this forum!! I wish my doctor understood and was aware of all of this brand name vs. generic.  I hated generic Keppra and most liekly will hate generic lamictal after reading this.

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!

 -Christina

I am a pharmacist at a hospital and I found this site because I was reviewing the problems associated with interchanging generic and brand name antiepileptic medications.  All of your experiences with generics are similar to what is found in case reports and studies.  It is terrible that the insurance companies have so much control over what is dispensed.  There are several patient assistance programs out there sponsored by different drug companies.  Your doctor's office should know about them or should be able to contact the rep to get more specific information if they do not have it on hand.  The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists also has a lot of information on their website and links to patient assistance programs.  You can find this information at www.ashp.org and under Resource Center click the arrow and Patient Assistance Programs will be in the list of options to choose.

Lastly, I do wish to clarify a misrepresentation.  I did work in retail pharmacy for a short period of time and did not like it at all.  I do know that the pharmacist does not have any power in this situation.  If the physician indicates "Brand Name only" then the pharmacist legally has to dispense the brand name.  If that is not specifically indicated then a generic can be substituted and often is due to the financial impact to the patient.  The individual pharmacist has no financial incentive to use generics.  As a retail pharmacist, I interchanged generics due to the decreased cost to the patient.  Most often people were angry with me due to a change in their copay or their insurance companies refusal to pay for the medication.  I cannot vouch for all pharmacists, but I would say the majority have good intentions when substituting generics.  Lastly, it is illegal for pharmacies to receive any incentive for dispensing generics and larger chains have sustained fines and been sued for this very practice.

Hi, my son was switched to generic lamictal when it became available. His Dr. was not happy but agreed we could try as the name brand was $500 per month out of our pockets. His Dr. stressed the pharmacy had to provide him with the generic from the same manufacturer every month, this is one reason the generics don't work as well, the pharmacy orders in bulk from the cheapest supplier each month and the difference in the generics from different companies is enough to cause seizures. We had to switch to a small mom and pop pharmacy because the big store pharmacies cannot control which company the drug comes from.  We have to be vigilent to ensure his meds come from the same company each month. So far so good. He has been on generic since it became available and he remains seizure free. He has complex partial seizures and when they are not controlled he has a minimum of thirty a day. We currently get his generic lamictal from the manufacturer Tevau. I do know his Dr. mentioned quite a few of his patients did not do well on the generic and as we all know epilpesy is so different from person to person, but our experience with the generic has been good. Good Luck!

Hello All--

I can't tell you how relieved I am for finding this post.  I don't know why I didn't think of searching for this earlier.  I have partical complex seizures and have been seizure free since 99. Like the rest of you, my pharmacy switched me over to the generic as soon as it was available.  I was a little concerned, but also relieved b/c of the cost of the brand name drug.  I did start noticing a difference in the way I felt, but I kept telling myself that it was just in head and nothing was wrong.  I started having really bad migraines and people told me it was probably perimenopause.  Then I found if I didn't take my next dose at exactly 12 hrs. I just wouldn't feel right.  I even said to myself that's okay I just have to make sure I take my am and pm doses exactly 12 hrs. apart.  I even told my neuro this and said I'll just make sure I take it on time.  But we all know how difficult that can be at times.  So finally about a month ago I got such a bad migraine it brought me to tears.  The next day I felt just awful I didn't dare drive anywhere b/c I felt so out of it.  I even had some auras throughout that day.  So at the end of the month when it was time to refill I called my neuro office and asked them to please switch me back to the brand name-the receptionist didn't understand why I was taking the generic to begin with.  She told me to just have my pharmacy call them and they would make the switch.  I then called the pharmacy and asked them to please call my neuro--the pharmacist says to me oh we don't have to call all I had to do was say something and they would switch me back to the brand name.  I asked if my insurance would still cover it.  The pharmacist just told me what the cost would be--which didn't help me much. (Unfortunately I have the type of prescription coverage that I have to pay all of it out and wait to be reimbursed.)  I tried to be proactive and call the insurance co to make sure they would reimburse and couldn't get anywhere on the phone, so I just crossed my fingers that I would get my usual 80% reimbursement.  The month passed and I did receive my the 80%, but I can't help but wonder if they will continue to pay w/o problems or will out of nowhere a problem arise.  

I feel 100% better now that I switched back to the brand name.  I'm glad I made the switch before I had a seizure.  So those of you who are reading this--if you are questioning it-don't make the switch to generic or if you have any difference in how you feel switch back to the brand name before you end up having a seizure.

I WORK A A C.V.S. PHARMACY AND HAVE TO RENEW MY HEALTH PLAN IN MAY I WAS SHOCKED WHEN IT SAID THAT I MUST USE
AVAILABLE GENERICS OR PAY THE EXTRA COST IN ORDER TO KEEP HEALTH COSTS DOWN. "WHOSE HEALTH COSTS MINE OR THEIRS ".
I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH GENERICS IN THE PAST. WE ALL SHOULD CONTACT THE F.D.A. AND TELL THEM OFF.

YOU CAN BE I ACTUALLY SAW A TALK SHOW WITH FORMER F.D.A. EMPLOYEES THAT STATED THAT THEIR SUPERIORS HAD
AUTHORIZED SOME EMPLOYEES TO PASS CERTAIN DRUGS ONTO THE MARKET EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE NOT SAFE!!!

THIS IS THE F.D.A. THE ADMINISTRATION THAT WAS FORMED TO PROTECT US FROM THIS SORT OF THING.

I have been on Lamictal (200mg BID) and was very nervous when the generic was presented to me in my little white pharmacy bag.  My neurologist does blood work twice a year to check the lamictal levels to make sure that ithe level is at the theraputic dose.  He has tested it twice since the generic and it is ok. 

I admitted to the actual frequency of myclonus so he added 0.5mg BID of Klonapin taken 1 hour before the Lamictal.  I could not believe the difference for me with the Klonapin!  I ran out of 3 doses and was in the ER with a Grand Mal - first one in 13 years.  He increased the Klonapin and ordered the blood work again.

Not because of the generic, but because I am getting a really hard time at work, I want him to do another sleep deprivation EEG.  He mentioned it when I saw him after the GM and decided not to.  I am going to push for it just the same.  He may see a difference, if any, with the generic.

All,

My wife has been on Lamictal for many years with almost no issues. Just figureing out the dosage. Anyway, the nigtmare starts. She swithed to generics about 6 months ago (I am guessing), and I noticed a few focal seizures over this period. I should of connected the dots but was too niave. Anyway two weeks ago we noticed that the generics shape had changed from diamond to round. My wife confronted the pharmacy as to why to make sure she got the  correct meds. She was assured it was fine. Anyway, Saturday morning she had a seizure in bed before I left. She was fine when I left but I was going to look into it on Monday. 1 hour later, my son called in a complete panic and said you gotta call the police chief because mom had a seizure. I called and was told to meet my wife at the hospital because she had a very large laceration above her eye from hitting her hed on the bed when she had a seizure and fell. I was still baffled (idiot). I then called the neurologist on call and he gave me the whole run down on generics and why they should not be used for this medical condition. He mentioned the dosage requirements being too lax as well as the crystaline structure not being the same to get it into the bloodstream effectively. I was now so furious that I could hardly see straight. He also informed me that pharmacies get a kick back for every customer they switch to generics. Needless to say we got her back on the real deal right away. It is $25/month with our insurance instead of $5 which I could care less about. But I want to know what I should do next. My wife is now sporting a 1.5" scar that traverses from above her eyebrow all the way to the corner of her eye. Sure, I should be elated that nothing worse happened (I am), but am still very upset because of the power the pharmacist weilds in this whole scenario. This, in my opinion, was 100% avoidable. Not to mention the effects it has on my kids dealing with this. I want to know what I can do to get this madness stopped.

Rod

Friends,

 I am a Lamical taker.  I have had few simple parital on Lamictal.  Much better than Tegretal or Kapra.  

recently I want to have my Rx filled and suprise it went from $50 with co-pay
Blue Cross to $400 a month, I contacted Blue Cross who informed me I had to take Generics,  My Neroligist wants me to take Lamical.  I won't bore you with my seizure life surfice to say three years ago I had a seizure while driving went 300 feet of the brow of a mountain.  Thank goodness I didnt hit anyone, kill anyone or die myself.  Generics...............I need data.  Properties of generic as compared to Lamical.  I intend to meet with Blue Cross and inform them of these stories.  I live in Chattanooga, Tn. where they are based.  I can see their building from my house.  Please give me help, I will confront them, I will tell your stories.  This must stop, we will prevail.  Help me and give me data.  Blue Cross informed me that if my Dr.wrote to them why I should not take generic (which she did ) they would go before the Pharmacy division and present the request.  Please have your Dr. write or fax Blue cross pharamacy division as to why Generics are not right for you. Pharmacy Review Fax:  1-888-343-4232, I hope if we band together we can stop this generic craziness.  Let me know what I can tell them if I get a chance.  We need hard data that will help them see it is cost-efficent to let us have the drug our Dr.s prescribe.

Carolyn

I have been on the generic since it has been available in 08.  My pharmacy switched over, and it honestly didn't concern me because I have always used generics when available.  I went to my reg. dr. for a check-up a couple of months ago, and he began questioning me in detail as to why I had to take Lamictal.  He then mentioned that his daughter, in her 20s, had her first seizure a year earlier.  She was prescribed Lamictal, but when she switched over to the generic, she had another. 

Of course this scared me to death.  I am now stuck w/ the decision to stay w/ the generic with no new side effects, or do I take a chance on switching back to the brand Lamictal.  I had my first seizure almost 2 years ago.  When it happened,  my neurologist said that he felt it would not happen again and gave me the option of taking medication.  I chose yes because of my profession and didn't want to take any chances.

Had I known of issues w/ the generic, I would have never switched.  I have an appt. w/ my neurologist in a couple of weeks and will let you know the advice he gives me.

I have a minor seizure disorder and take 200 mg a day of lamictal. My pharmacy automatically switched me to generics when they became available. I didn't think anything of it. I went to my doctor about a month after switching for a regular check up. No problems. I told her that I had been on generics for a month. She went crazy! She said, "No, no, no. I do not like the generics in Lamictal. I want you to go back to the brand name. We'll write a letter to your insurance company should it be a problem."  Later that morning, I had a routine blood test. Went home, then a few hours later had two back-to-back fainting episodes. Family around me said they didn't see any indication the incidents were seizures but I hadn't fainted or had a seizure in a couple of years. We researched online and found plenty of articles saying to be cautious about certain generics. So I strongly urge everyone to consult with their doctors first but seems like there's enough evidence on this page alone to tell us something quite worrisome about lamictal in generics.

I have read many situations with problems caused by generic Lamotrigine.  My is a burning rash from my neck to my legs.  Doctor decided to cancel generic treatment and require Lamictal brand.  Appeal to Blue Cross Blue Shield (Medco) was sent today, but I am unsure about the outcome.  Current brand cost is $265 per month.

Med Rx is 400mg AM 400 mg 2PM and 300 mg PM.