Hello everyone
I've been on Losartan Potassium 50mg for over a year now - always the same brand manufactured by TEVA UK and collected from Boots. Today, my husband has picked up my prescription from a different branch of Boots which is manufactured by Laboratorios Liconsa in Spain and distributed by Sandoz Ltd (the name on the pack).
I know that the pharmacies have to supply the cheapest available at the time, but I thought it a bit strange that I have always had the same supplier for such a long time and suddenly it has changed now for the first time. However, owing to my side effects from so many different pills, I'm a little concerned about switching manufacturer, and would be interested to hear what others think.
With my variable BP I never know if different makes make any difference. I have a bit more confidence in Teva as they are made down the road from me!
This month the ones I have were made by KRKA in Slovenia. Other months other makers.
When I was taking Securon SR (Verapamil) I always went to Boots as that was what I got whereas other pharmacies dished out generic versions that I felt did me less good. I did once challenge the makers and then MHRA who tested them and said that the ingredients were within the specified range.
It could be that the binding agents, lactose etc. used vary and I did read somewhere they are what cause side effects in some people.
Losartan , other ingredients include: microcrystalline cellulose, sodium stearyl fumarate, croscarmellose sodium, colloidal anhydrous silica, polyoxyethylene stearate, hypromellose and titanium dioxide (E171) whatever they may be:-)
Hi Mrs O. I think Derek is right, its the binding/bulking agents in pills that are more likely to cause problems not the actual active ingredient which must pass strict EU rules. Having said that and being a self confessed cynic I suggest that the rules could be considered by some countries to be guidelines! You could always kick up a fuss and demand the make of pill you have always had and see what the GP and Boots can do for you.
Derek and Fisherman, thank you so much for your replies. There is a slight difference in the ingredients in both brands, so I have 'phoned the pharmacist, explained my problems with pill side effects/kidney disease and she is going to change those supplied yesterday to my original TEVA brand. She told me to request the TEVA one in the future and if it isn't in stock she will get it in. After being a nuisance, my renal consultant will probably switch me to a totally different pill in a couple of months time!!
Derek and Fisherman are correct in what they say about the different brands - at present I take Candesartan for high blood pressure and find exactly the same - my gp is rather sarcastic and tells me I must be over sensitive but will still not name a brand on prescription - exactly the same thing with my thyroid medication and the chemist tells me that they have to purchase the cheapest brand on offer to them at the time of buying. I think it would cause doctors less problems if they were to prescribe a brand that agreed with their patients.
Hi, I am very interested to read this. I've been on TEVA for months but a few weeks ago was given SANDOZ which has all kinds of side effects resulting in having to go back to my GP for another prescription. My GP insists that all Losartan should be exactly the same but I know it isn't. Has anyone else any comments?
Although the main ingredient is the same in the different brands, the fillers and coatings can be different. This could be why someone might find a change in brand doesn't suit them.
Hi Mrs O, thanks very much for taking time to reply. I always use my local BOOTS who assured me they could order in 75mg TEVA but first it came in 100mg SANDOZ and the re-order came as 50mg SANDOZ (which caused my legs and ankles to swell and raised my blood pressure) and 25mg TEVA. They said they couldn't get TEVA!! I'm changing to a different Pharmacy!! They ordered it yesterday and it will be available to collect from 10.30am today! I am so thankful that, even though my GP said all Losartan was the same, she agreed to give me another prescription.
I still ring my pharmacy (also Boots) just before my next repeat prescription is due and ask if it is the TEVA brand before I collect it. if it isn't, then they quickly get it in. An easier way, of course, is to ensure that the GP notes TEVA on the original prescription, and happily it seems that our GP has already done this. This is the only BP pill out of about 8 different brands that hasn't resulted in instant ankle/leg swelling or other nasties. It can produce itching, or did in me when Doxazosin was added and triggered the itch, but now take just Losartan 50mg am and 50mg pm, with only the tiniest hint of an itch still around. Not sure whether this is reducing my blood pressure though - have yet to check it....aaargh!
MrsO Thank you so much for all this info. You have been extremely helpful.
OAP20, N.Ireland
Can I just say this discussion has been so very useful to me -- I am almost lost for words.
Let me explain:
I picked up my prescription of losartan (50mg) from the chemist a couple of weeks ago. I noticed that it was a different brand from my normal Teva brand, but thought nothing of it. Within a few hours of taking the first tablet the following day I started feeling a bit strange -- sort of tired and groggy with a feeling of pressure behind my eyes. cognitively I felt slow and fuzzy and had to 'rummage around' in my head to remember simple things. Later that evening my wife said to me 'you look really tired'. I knew what she meant -- I felt rubbish.
This carried on for about three days. Buy this time I had had enough so I contacted my GP via Patient Access and asked for a repeat prescription. I used every letter of my 150 character entitlement in the message box to describe why I felt I needed to go back to my normal brand. My request was refused. I was devastated. I would have to go three months before I could request a new prescription and feel that everything was back to normal. In the meantime I would feel completely rubbish -- tired, lethargic, no spark...not myself.
Then I read this conversation. Someone suggested going back to the chemist to request that the medication be changed for the normal brand. I hadn't though of that. I had assumed that they would require another prescription before they could issue any more medication. Anyway, I gave them a ring. I got the usual 'all brands are the same' response, but they checked that my normal Teva brand was in stock and said to bring the remaining tablets from my previous prescription in and to my enormous delight they swapped it for my Teva brand! They can only swap unopened boxes, so I only have two month's supply, but I can order my next prescription a bit early so that shouldn't be a problem.
I feel like the weight of the world is lifted from my shoulders. I actually sang 'hallelujah' from the 'Hallelujah chorus' in the car most of the way home!
Thank you so much to Mrs. O. and everyone else who has contributed to this conversation, for this incredibly good piece of advice. The moral of the story is if you're not happy with what the chemist has given you talk to them first and try and explain your reasoning as best you can.
All of my prescriptions change almost from month to month as pharmacies buy the cheapest available.
Hello Derek, I have difficulty every 3 months with a repeat prescription. Trying to get the same brand is part of the cause of my high blood pressure!!!
Eventually I had to leave Boots and go elsewhere.
I eventually found Boots impossible. It is a big busy branch where there is a long line of people waiting for prescriptions or to hand them in. They then go to check whether they have it and are away for ages. If you are lucky they bring it back and lay it down to be checked and tell you it will be twenty minutes. You go away and come back and join another long line.
Very often they don't have an item or don't have enough so you have to go back the next day.
I now go to a small pharmacy opposite the surgery where they have about six mainly East European pharmacists and am in and out if five minutes but seldom get the same brand.
Like you I prefer Teva products. .
I wouldn’t be impressed with a GP who was so uncooperative, happily ignoring the side effects you were experiencing from the different brand Losartan you were given. The GP’s job is to care for their patients and keep them well and out of pain wherever possible. And they are paid to do just that. Have your side effects resolved now back on TEVA? I do hope so. These forums have their uses, don’t they - glad you found us and it helped.
I'm so glad I found this discussion because, as I get older, I find that I think I may be imagining things and it's great to find others experiencing the same problems. I've just gone back to my local, small pharmacy to return the Sandoz Losartan that I collected yesterday in exchange for the Teva brand which, I assume, my body has now got used to. Each time the brand has changed my annoying cough has increased and, with the one brand, I now think that it wasn't a coincidence that the cramp in my legs was excruciating - worse and lasting longer than ever before. Doctors and other professionals may say that Losartan is Losartan whoever the manufacturer is but the experience of people taking it is a far more useful pointer when reactions are not quite what they're expected to be. Thanks to everyone who has commented.
Hi
The main source of the idea that drugs produced by different companies can have significantly different effects are the drug companies themselves. It might be that the other contents might have an effect on absorption rates, which could effect the response to some drugs, but BP medications build up their effects over a number of weeks and loose their effects over a similar time span. Really if people experience an immediate change its unlikely to be the drug formulation. Drug production is a highly regulated activity and products are regularly subject to quality control tests, its usually in the supplement market that products are not as they should be. A company found to be producing a poor quality product would likely be out of business the next day, but drug companies in order to charge more for an exclusive product will even produce new drugs with no real differences to older products simply to charge more.
It seems that people are more likely to worry about this in the USA, but drug companies are allowed to advertise directly to the public, often stressing quality issues. The NHS buys drugs under contract and keeps the cost down by doing so, generic drugs are often sourced from different suppliers.
Laroxe, the actual drug composition itself is likely to be much the same but the bindings/fillers and coatings used can be quite different. Many people have drug allergies but I’m also sure some of us can be allergic to the add-ons as well.
I agree about the other constituents of the pills being relevant, that's why I mentioned rates of absorption. However the very long lead in time, which is often over weeks would suggest this is very unlikely to cause problems. I also agree that people may be intolerant of some constituents, but this would usually be very obvious very quickly. These arguments don't mean that there are not some unexplained effects but perhaps help explain why Drs are not convinced about it. Having said that they tend to dismiss a lot of the effects of BP medication and in that they are very often wrong.
I’m not a good example with my experience with medication - in fact, I’m probably the medics’ worst nightmare, being highly allergic to loads of medications, confirmed by skin biopsy in some cases.