Quality Drop of US Pharmacy-Sourced Generic Alprazolam

[lbz]

Personally, I've noticed a significant drop in the potency of generic xanax brands issued by US pharmacies in the past few years. I don't get it since we're supposed to have the some of the tightest regulations here.

Recently, I prefer my Indian generics, which seems counter-intuitive.

I've noticed murmurs of similar opinions in threads of varied topics and so I'm starting this one to see if anyone has a similar opinion/experience or concrete facts on the matter.

Disclosure: I haven't done any research into it outside of the forum. Not sure what the FDA, DEA, big pharma, et al are up to in the slightest.

I have head (by way of mouth, not the most reliable source) that in the US generics are allowed to contain up to 15% less active ingredient than brand name.

Here's my personal history for the past few years (in 2011 I was w/o insurance)
2009 - .25 & .5mg /can't recall the generic name but they were light blue or pale peach // effective as expected
2010 - .25 & 1mg /again no generic name recall but the 1mg were orange and oval // almost as effective as expected
2012 - .5mg purepac scored peach; 1mg purepac scored light blue // both weaker than expected

[Patseers]

Maybe you have built up a dependency to the drug and are going to have to take higher doses now to feel the same effect as two years ago.

Hell no 1 mg Upjohn was as good as my first.

[Utopiate]

The difference can be 20%, higher or lower. Many people don't know that a lot of the generics sold in American pharmacies are actually manufactured in other countries.

I've experienced profound differences with the different generics with zolpidem. When I actually discussed this with a pharmacist he gave me a sheepish look and admitted that some generics are inferior by quite a bit. The FDA doesn't have the resources, authority and probably not even the interest to inspect foreign manufacturers.

[lbz]

@Patseers I guess I've (especially recently) built up more of a tolerance than in previous years. However, I'm comparing US generics with Indian generics both of which I'm currently taking, so they should be subject to the same tolerance level, no?

Also, the first two years I was only prescribed during episodes. It was as-needed and needed for only a month or so at a time, you know, during dark spots.

[Patseers]

@lbz I see where you are coming from. Maybe India doesn't quite have the technology we have here in the USA so there pill strengths could vary a lot more?

[CecilOtter]

@Patseers I guess I've (especially recently) built up more of a tolerance than in previous years. However, I'm comparing US generics with Indian generics both of which I'm currently taking, so they should be subject to the same tolerance level, no?

Also, the first two years I was only prescribed during episodes. It was as-needed and needed for only a month or so at a time, you know, during dark spots.

Another difference to consider is the binder/filler for the rest of the pill aside from the active ingredient. That can significantly alter rate of absorption and thereby the way it works once ingested. Depends on the type of filler and how much of it is in the pill.

[Quaalude]

The difference can be 20%, higher or lower. Many people don't know that a lot of the generics sold in American pharmacies are actually manufactured in other countries.

I've experienced profound differences with the different generics with zolpidem. When I actually discussed this with a pharmacist he gave me a sheepish look and admitted that some generics are inferior by quite a bit. The FDA doesn't have the resources, authority and probably not even the interest to inspect foreign manufacturers.

@Utopiate, you're preaching to the choir on this one. While working in retail pharmacies during college, we used to get phone calls from folks left and right inquiring about what generic brands we carried. I didn't give it a second thought at the time, but now, I totally get it. The varying degrees of potency I've experienced in zolpidem and alprazolam over the years is astounding! Truly night and day. I know they say +/- 20% when it comes to generics but some brands are just plain CRAP.

[RRyan]

@Quaalude I agree with ya 110%. On a different note, I found Purepac brand very effective for me
@IBZ, you are adding on some weight on your belt and definitely have developed more tolerance. This is just my suggestion which might defeat the whole purpose of your need of equally strength pill. But you can ask your doctor for the 2mg bars (Purepac 2mg bars were very good on me), and just take halfs or quarters. This will cut your COST of medication in half as well