My wife has had PD for 28 years, now aged 64, and is still active, and is on Sinemet Plus. For the last year or so she has been having the Organon brand, which last no longer than 3 hours max, usually 2 to 2 and a half hours. but she was given some from Lexon UK few weeksago, exactly same strength etc, to her normal ones, but tried her on them for the last 2 weeks and the difference is astounding. 3 to 4 hours every time, and if she has run out, they come through much quicker. Anyone else found this with these brands of Sinemet plus, or other ones. Despite asking surgery and pharmacy for Lexon brand, keep getting other ones. So frustrating.
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I also find teva brand is the best for me,tried to give me co-caradopa many years ago found that this generic drug was totally different, released different into my system ,they say they are the same but there not just cheaper asked my pd nurse to only prescribe teva brand gp.Had no trouble since had pd 20yrs now .just starting to fall alot more now and speech, had dbs and tried all tablets so there’s nothing else now just keep fighting and active as i can. All the best
I’ve never heard of Teva. Spoke to our pharmacist a few days ago, who is very helpful, and he is trying to source Lexon for my wife. It could be helpful knowing about Teva, to possibly try as an alternative if the Lexon supply falls through.
He did tell me that these brands, are just wholesalers, and just source them from different suppliers around the EU, so it’s obviously where they are sourced from that produce different variants. It is the extra ingredients to either bond, or bulk up the important parts of Sinemet that is making the difference.
Do you have problems getting hold of Teva? Are the packets and blister packs stamped as Teva?
Thank you for your reply.
I am newly diagnosed June 27. Neurolgist put me on Sinemet building up gradually to 3 x2 s a day.
Lots of depression,black moods,muscle cramps,dizziness and sleep disruption so I’ve decided to stop taking it ( under advice from.my PD nurse). Just want to get back to where i was 6 weeks ago- active, happy and very busy albiet with a slight tremor and stiff foot. Any one have any experience in stopping?
I read on this forum that the producers of generic cardedopa/levadopa are allowed a 20% tolerance. I imagine that most pharmaceutical companies will take advantage of that to supply 20% less of the expensive(recently ellusive( ingredients than the Sinemet brand. That means that If you have been taking the Sinemet brand every 3 hours, and are given a different brand you could expect the same dose to last only just under 2.5 hours Our GP pharmacist told me that Nhs Grampian directive to pharmacists is to prescribe the generic(cheaper) drug. If the patient is not aware of this situation, they could unnecessarily suffer the consequences of shorter on time. I expect the saving is false economy,’since patients will be less well, need more GP, Consultant visits, and more prescriptions to attempt to obtain status quo. Very unsatisfactory for people struggling with declining health, increasing issues, especially when each extra stressor results in increased anxiety and hence worsening symptoms …
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You may have to change to a pharmacy that can supply what you request.
My pharmacist is brilliant to be fair. He rang around all our local ones, and said he would do a swap with them, so he could supply my wife, but none of them have it or get it.
The formulations can be subtly different between brands causing differences for some people. The generic brands are much cheaper so the ideal is to start people on those and then adjust the dose of that to fit their symptoms.
If you can’t get the different brand you might just need slightly more if the generic brand. You should discus with your neurologist or pd nurse
It’s a tiny dose, you shouldn’t have a problem stopping. But if your have Parkinson’s at some point you’re going to need some medications so you’ll need to subside discuss further with your PD team about what to do next
All the best