Is it possible to buy a generic drug from a different manufacturer?
May 4, 2019 5:20 PM Subscribe
I've been taking norethindrone 0.35 mg once per day since November 2017. It went great...until this past month. I'm wondering if there's any way I could buy a generic from a different manufacturer to replace the one I was prescribed, to see if that makes a difference. Is that something that's possible?
As you can see more details about from my past question from back when I started taking this, I have PCOS, and I've been taking norethindrone to regulate my periods and also for birth control use. Before I started taking it, I was getting very irregular periods, sometimes with overwhelming bleeding, and sometimes going more than a month without one. I'm taking the mini pill, without estrogen, because I have family history of clotting disorders, strokes, and cancers, as well as migraines with aura, so it was the best option.
I feel like my current trouble started when I opened a new pack of pills from a new pharmacy near the beginning of April. The manufacturer is Mylan, which is the same manufacturer I had been getting pills from before. But for some reason I started getting spotting and then period-like bleeding shortly after starting the new pack, and I have bled off and on for almost a month.
When this started, I even thought I might have a UTI (blood in the urine), since I'd had my regular period a week before that and had never really had breakthrough bleeding or spotting before. I had also had a real UTI a couple weeks before that and thought it might be recurring. I couldn't entirely tell the source of the bleeding because it was intermittent. So I went to urgent care and got a second prescription for Cipro. I also went to a follow-up appointment that week with my gynecologist, who confirmed that it was just light vaginal bleeding, likely breakthrough bleeding and spotting. She said to wait and see if it continued, and they could do imaging to follow up if need be. Both cultures taken have since come back negative for bacterial growth, so it definitely wasn't another UTI.
But yeah, now it's a month later, I'm still bleeding off and on, and I'm starting to wonder if it's just that something about the manufacturing process or formulation of the pills changed with the pack I just got, or maybe they were stored improperly or something. I was doing so well for so long with these, and this all seemed to have started immediately after starting the new pack of pills from a new pharmacy. Unfortunately, this current prescription was for a 3-month supply, so all my pills for the next 2 months will also be from the same package, unless I change something. The other complicating factor is that I just changed health insurance, and the gynecologist I was seeing just a month ago is now out-of-network for me. So following up with her is going to be difficult. That said, maybe there's an opportunity here to get a new prescription for the same thing fulfilled through the new insurance, with a different pharmacy, and perhaps get a different generic, if that's possible.
Thus I am wondering: Is it possible to even on my own buy the same generic drug from a different manufacturer, to see if that makes a difference? Should I call the new pharmacy and get their opinion, see if I can get a replacement package or something? Should I just wait it out and keep bleeding? Should I stop taking these, see if the bleeding stops, and go back to condoms for now? Do I just have to wait until I get my new insurance card, then find a new gynecologist and see if I can consult with them on other progestogen-only options entirely besides norethindrone 0.35 mg?
I'm kind of frustrated and upset after a month of this, so any suggestions for how I might best deal with this myself or in conjunction with experts of some sort would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
As you can see more details about from my past question from back when I started taking this, I have PCOS, and I've been taking norethindrone to regulate my periods and also for birth control use. Before I started taking it, I was getting very irregular periods, sometimes with overwhelming bleeding, and sometimes going more than a month without one. I'm taking the mini pill, without estrogen, because I have family history of clotting disorders, strokes, and cancers, as well as migraines with aura, so it was the best option.
I feel like my current trouble started when I opened a new pack of pills from a new pharmacy near the beginning of April. The manufacturer is Mylan, which is the same manufacturer I had been getting pills from before. But for some reason I started getting spotting and then period-like bleeding shortly after starting the new pack, and I have bled off and on for almost a month.
When this started, I even thought I might have a UTI (blood in the urine), since I'd had my regular period a week before that and had never really had breakthrough bleeding or spotting before. I had also had a real UTI a couple weeks before that and thought it might be recurring. I couldn't entirely tell the source of the bleeding because it was intermittent. So I went to urgent care and got a second prescription for Cipro. I also went to a follow-up appointment that week with my gynecologist, who confirmed that it was just light vaginal bleeding, likely breakthrough bleeding and spotting. She said to wait and see if it continued, and they could do imaging to follow up if need be. Both cultures taken have since come back negative for bacterial growth, so it definitely wasn't another UTI.
But yeah, now it's a month later, I'm still bleeding off and on, and I'm starting to wonder if it's just that something about the manufacturing process or formulation of the pills changed with the pack I just got, or maybe they were stored improperly or something. I was doing so well for so long with these, and this all seemed to have started immediately after starting the new pack of pills from a new pharmacy. Unfortunately, this current prescription was for a 3-month supply, so all my pills for the next 2 months will also be from the same package, unless I change something. The other complicating factor is that I just changed health insurance, and the gynecologist I was seeing just a month ago is now out-of-network for me. So following up with her is going to be difficult. That said, maybe there's an opportunity here to get a new prescription for the same thing fulfilled through the new insurance, with a different pharmacy, and perhaps get a different generic, if that's possible.
Thus I am wondering: Is it possible to even on my own buy the same generic drug from a different manufacturer, to see if that makes a difference? Should I call the new pharmacy and get their opinion, see if I can get a replacement package or something? Should I just wait it out and keep bleeding? Should I stop taking these, see if the bleeding stops, and go back to condoms for now? Do I just have to wait until I get my new insurance card, then find a new gynecologist and see if I can consult with them on other progestogen-only options entirely besides norethindrone 0.35 mg?
I'm kind of frustrated and upset after a month of this, so any suggestions for how I might best deal with this myself or in conjunction with experts of some sort would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
When my son was having issues with a generic med from a particular manufacturer, I called around to the various pharmacies in my area to see which manufacturer they were currently stocking for that med. Then we just transferred the prescriptionto the new pharmacy.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:11 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 6:11 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Talk to your pharmacist, if you can, with your 3 month supply in hand. Some can be remarkably sympathetic with swapping out generics. Another option is getting the prescribing physician to support non-generic based on this difficulty.
We had a family member suffer through generic inconsistencies and his in-person relationship at the walk up counter paid real dividends.
I hope something in this is helpful, having ineffective meds or outsized side effects is beyond frustrating.
posted by childofTethys at 6:14 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
We had a family member suffer through generic inconsistencies and his in-person relationship at the walk up counter paid real dividends.
I hope something in this is helpful, having ineffective meds or outsized side effects is beyond frustrating.
posted by childofTethys at 6:14 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Are you being super careful about taking the mini-pill at the exact same time every day? Generally they warn you about that because if you mess it up, you might get pregnant because of the way the mini-pill works, but in my experience on the mini-pill, if I take it even like an hour later than normal, I get break-through bleeding. Break-through bleeding is pretty common on the mini-pill -- did you change the time you take them around when this started?
posted by Countess Sandwich at 9:00 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Sandwich at 9:00 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Absolutely, it's possible. I take generic Metformin and had no problems for years and then all of a sudden had terrible side effects. I mentioned it to my pharmacist, and he said that the binding agents used can vary from one generic version to another. The pharmacy chain had changed their supplier for this drug. He special-ordered the med (same generic med, different manufacturer) from the supplier they'd been using previously, and all my side effects went away.
Note, this doesn't mean this is your issue, just that yes, you can get different generics. But first, I'd talk to the doctor.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:08 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Note, this doesn't mean this is your issue, just that yes, you can get different generics. But first, I'd talk to the doctor.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:08 PM on May 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
My health insurance made an exception to cover a replacement prescription from a different manufacturer once when I explained that the current rx was not working for me.
posted by RoadScholar at 9:24 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by RoadScholar at 9:24 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Memailed you.
posted by Knowyournuts at 10:05 AM on May 5, 2019
posted by Knowyournuts at 10:05 AM on May 5, 2019
I developed an allergy to the adhesive on a patch I wear, and had to switch pharmacies to get the generic patch from another manufacturer. The chain pharmacy I generally use sourced from only one intermediary, McKesson, and the only patch they carried was made by Mylan. I called a family owned local pharmacy and they gladly ordered another brand. It's such a pleasure to deal with them that I switched all my scripts to them. They even deliver in the neighborhood for free, and will fill pillboxes for seniors if requested.
posted by citygirl at 10:33 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by citygirl at 10:33 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
this happened to me with my pill! It's weird, right? Because the brand ought not to make any difference if it's the same drug formula...? Anyway, I talked to my doctor who said it happens sometimes that a particular brand might not work the same way for your body. In my case, she changed my prescription so it specified I had to have the exact brand I had before.
posted by EllaEm at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2019
posted by EllaEm at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ananci at 5:22 PM on May 4, 2019 [2 favorites]