Generic or brand name ritalin

[Handsley]

What is your opinion on this? Is it worth it to get the brand name?

 

[ABBY890]

Not to me for ritz. I've never read of anyone having an issue with generic v brand, but could be I'm not looking hard enough to find those posts

 I have people I trust, so I stick with those generics. 

 

[Painful heart]

I think the brand is better that’s just me. 

 

[amayzing]

I wondered same thing... and thought there must be a difference. Finally tried and my opinion is no.... theres no difference.

 

[Handsley]

I think the brand name is more effective for me.  Not by a lot.  I took my usual dose of 2, which is what I took with generics, and I was way too peppy and could stick with just taking one.  I've had heart arrythmia when I was younger so I have to watch carefully anything that speeds up old Bessie.  I'd have to do some math, but I think that alone would render it about the same price as generics.

 

[gbenner]

Can someone help me find new vender for this? I just lost my longtime guy

 

[Fiery Lass]

Is it just me or is the generic Rita from a sy vendor less potent ? I took one and nothing.. I've never really tried it before been on Adderall mostly.. is it safe to try 3?

 

[gbenner]

I lost my vender. Can anyone help?

 

[Kalsima]

@Handsley so good to see you. I know in the Mexican sy section they carry it because three times I had ordered zannies and received ritz instead. I am a mess on uppers I wish I could donate the 3 packs I have that are not opened or touched. But that is against the rules. I guess they will just sit in my drawer like they have been for the last year! It sucks being excited to get your letter but receive the wrong order 3 times in a few months. I now use Diego he has never messed up my orders! 

 

[vs322]

I have studied this particular issue in absurd depth—waaaaay beyond just in vivo testing.  In retrospect, there are probably better ways that I could have spent my time, so I hope my DBG glip-glops* can benefit from it. 

Malinckrodt generic IR mph is garbage; some batches are awful, and no batches are better than "kinda-maybe barely acceptable."  Watson-Actavis was the gold standard (literally exactly as good as brand), but their IR mph operations died after Teva took the reins.   KVK is somewhat inferior to  the old W-A stuff, but it's consistently fine.  Sandoz mph seems to have vanished into the abyss, but it was comparable to KVK, albeit less suitable for any parenteral ROA due to insoluble excipients.

Personally, I'd have no objection to paying an extra hundred bucks or so to get a month's worth of brand, W-A , Sandoz, or KVK instead of Malinckrodt, but I probably wouldn't pay very much to get brand instead of Sandoz or KVK (maybe I'd pay ~$20 extra?).  I wouldn't pay any extra at all to get brand instead of W-A. 

Batch-to-batch variability is a real thing, especially among generics (and especially especially in the case of Malinckrodt), so people who haven't noticed a difference with generics may very well have been fortunate enough to have gotten exclusively good batches.  In a large enough sample, across enough batches over enough time, my above remarks will hold in a statistical sense, but they shouldn't be construed to be at odds with anybody's small-sample experience.  I.e., I'm very confident in my answer, but I'm not claiming that people who haven't noticed differences are necessarily wrong.

Hope this helps!

*Brownie points if you get the reference

 

[veggieragz]

@vs322

sorry to get off topic, but I was curious if you happened to have any info regarding the quality of malinckrodt's ir amph3tamine salts. and then, a bit more on topic, if you have an opinion on the quality of tradea mph?

 

[vs322]

I'm afraid that I'm only familiar with the formulations sold in the U.S.    

As for Malinckrodt's IR mixed amph salts, I don't have any direct knowledge, but I don't have a great deal of faith in anything the company makes.  If their quality-control for one product (mph) is so lax, that bodes ill for the rest of their QC system.  

One insider tip is to keep an eye on the FDA'a drug-shortage lists.  When most companies are running short on some drug, particularly stimulants, check whether there are any manufacturers that consistently seem to be immune to those shortages.  Pay particular attention when the listed reason for the drug shortage is "shortage of precursors/raw materials".  The guys who claim that everything is fine for them at such times should be viewed with suspicion. Those guys are unlikely to have superior supply-chain arrangements; rather, they're the ones who aren't overly concerned about whether their drugs actually contain the correct ingredients in the proper amounts...

 

[CAHEpiphany]

Old thread and unrelated to the most recent comments, but I will add my two cents. Not had good experience with IR r!tal!n so I can't comment there.

I've been rx'd c0ncerta legitimately for several years now and my insurance covered only name brand, until this year, where it's a lot cheaper to get generic. And IMO at least for ER, name brand works MUCH better and is worth the extra cash. 

However, I've found the generix to be better if I cut em in half before ingestion. This is for US formulations, sorry also can't speak for other countries.