Now initially I would have said no, fluoxetine is fluoxetine but then coke and pepsi are both cola yet taste different, so can the same apply here?
I do have a reason for thinking so, If you'd read a previous thread by myself about being in denial then you'd have read that the pills made me feel really ill.
I can't remember what brand they were but since starting again and getting them from a different pharmacist, I was given a differnt brand, the pack is a different colour and its larger. the blister packs are 2 lots of 15 as opposed to 3 lots of 10.
Anyway, basically my reason for writting is that this time I don't feel ill, don't feel light headed or as tired and am feeling brighter and it's only a week in.
Now this may just be coinsidence, maybe it's just that I've accepted I'm depressed and not fighting it, maybe the brighter nights are making me feel better but I just thought I'd share my findings incase anyone else who was feeling ill due to the pills maybe fancied taking their prescription to a different chemist to see if they were given a different brand and it improved how they felt. The ones I'm on now are made by Ranbaxy.
I guess to see for sure I should try the older ones again but I dont really want to feel that bad again. I'll see what my next prescription brings.
Actually I must agree. This months prescription have come in a pack of 2 x 15 rather than 3 x 10 and they are very brightly coloured tablets. The packet is pink but i cannot remember the brand name as I'm at work.
I feel like I'm 'normal' now and perhaps could come of these (I've starting week 11) but I know that i need to be on these at least 6 months.
Anyway, I digress.... I don't feel them as much having an effect as I did with the other type, however that could be because week 11 - they could be in my system now.
I have been calm, still off the drink as a glass of Rosé took 4 hours to drink on Sunday night and I didn't really enjoy it :-(
However yesterday I made an outburst with the whole family in the car, calling an oncoming driver who wasn't patient enough while I reverse parked into a space 'Stupid Bitch'. I felt the anger flare up inside and it was just because she looked at me as if I was stupid...I just erupted! Crazy. At least I just shouted though as previously, I'd be more likely to get out the car and give her a mouthful face to face. I'm not violent, just got a big gob!!
Still feeling knackered, I'm needing at least 10 hours kip per night and still looking forward to one where I don't wake up at least 4 times for no apparent reason.
So, I'll look out for difference in manufacturers and you've made a good valid point there Dreamer.
From what I've read about previous medication certian things can vary like time release ingredients and stuff so maybe some give you it all in one blast but others release it steadily through the day?
I also remember watching a program a while ago about counterfeit goods coming from China and how even conterfeit medicines are making it on to UK shelves with even experts struggling to tell nthe difference so may be worth trying to source were your meds are from. The one I'm on now is from India.
Hey Ang, it's rotten that your not feeling as good, I must admit that since my initial period of reading every thread on this forum I haven't really been reading much now but the last time I did you and others were sounding great. May I suggest that you maybe speak to your doctor about the medication I was originally trying to get on but was told it wasn't licensed for just feeling tired. It is licensed for use in depression just I wasn't diagnosed as depressed at the time.
The drug is modafinil and works by shutting off the part of the brain that makes you want to sleep but unlike amphetamine it doesn't have the same stimulant properties and doesn't affect other parts of the brain.
I also read a report where someone brought up a debate in one of the houses (think it was lords) that modafinil should be sold over the counter as it doesn't have any known side effects and it helps improve concentration etc. It's also supplied by the MOD to the armed forces on active duty.
I feel this may be worth your while asking about there is loads of stuff on the net you can read about it. I've also checked and it is ok to be taken with fluoxetine, in fact, one study found that it reduced the time taken for fluoxetine to take effect.
I have also wondered the same thing. I mean in terms of the actual 'fluoxetine' they should all contain the same amount right? E.g. the 20mg pills will have same amount of the actual working drug in no matter what type...what differs is the extra 'buffers' they add in.
At least, thats what i understand. Im no pharmacist but i gather that this is true. So in effect, it could be the extra stuff different companies add in which in turn gives everyone different experiences...i guess like they say its kind of a trial and error process of finding the right one for you.
Im on month 3 of my tablets, each month they have come in 3x10 packets but in month 2 they were diferent brand to month 1 and now im back to same ones as month 1...
The main thing that also bothered me during month 2 was that instead of being all green capsules these ones were half green and half yellow!
Now, im taking them for depression (although i think i suffer mildly from OCD symptoms) and the one thing that drove me mad was that the colours didnt all line up! in the packet!
I can't imagine how frustrating that must be for someone with OCD who is taking these tablets?!
One of my other friends said... 'If you're that bothered pop them all out and put in a pot or something!' but the one thing i appreciate about keeping them in the pack is knowing how many days of the pack ive taken...its like a record and i also tend to remember easier if i know im on an 'odd or even' day in case i get confused as to if ive taken it or not!!
Sounds odd to you perhaps?! but we're all different i guess !
Thanks for listening, feel like i rant so much on here, but it does really help!
SJT your post brightened my morning! I am probably borderline OCD, although I prefer to say I'm very tidy and have got a 'tidy' mind. I have no feelings of depression or anxiety so am not bothered about it.
I know exactly where you are coming from and those who aren't tidy have no understanding of why something like colours of tablets lining up should matter do they?
I think your posting is more of a view than a rant. Why should it be 'better' to be untidy than tidy? We are all different. Why not just be aware of our own idiosyncracies and try to manage them, ie realise when tidiness is becoming an obsession and try to lighten up? I think the fact that you can see the funny side of your being bothered about the colours shows you're basically pretty sound.
So thanks for giving me a posting to smile about and relate to.
Just to update on this thread.. Im two days in to my 4th pack of fluo and again, the tablets have changed.
They are again the same as month two(...with the annoying green and yellow caplets which arent all in order!!) and i believe they are made my Neolab Ltd.
Although this could just be an off day (it certainly is), Im struggling again with slight fuzziness in my head, have an awful headache which hasnt gone away despite taking paracetamol and I had lunch a short while ago and am now experiencing some unpleasant stomach cramps.
Like i say, i dont know if this is due to the change again in the brand of the fluoxetine..but i certainly wasn't as rough as this last month and do remember in second month being similar. Am wondering whether to give my GP a call to find out if this is possible.
HAs anyone else noticed similar problems with this? I can't remember the other (all green) brand of fluo i have taken.
This is not good though when im still getting to grips with new job and unsettling symptoms are happening! grr...!
have checked from my old info sheet and the two different brands i have been taking are 'Neolabs' and 'Tillomed'.
The Tillomed (all green caplets) certainly do have less 'inactive' ingredients compared with the Neolabs... perhaps as i mentioned before it is simply one of these 'buffer/inactive' ingredients which causes me to experience different and worse side effects.
I still have a dull ache in my head that kind of got better but was just really more heavy than painful if that makes sense!?
Also, just as an interesting side point...i noticed a number of artificial colourings on the list e.g. E104,E106,E110 etc which i presume is used to colour the outer casing.... However, in recent news i have learnt that if or when new EU laws come into place food manufacturers will no longer be allowed to use such artificial colourings.
Does anyone know if this will also relate to medicines...of all types?! I remember some awfully bright 'banana' or 'strawberry'type flavoured medicines from when i was younger. Surely these, along with my annoyingly coloured Green and Yellow doctor-sweeties/happy pills (as i refer to them) will be no more!!
I wonder what colour they might become... food (or tablets) for thought if you will!!
Im in an odd mood despite headache and having had utterly rubbish day at work.
Thanks for reading (if you had patience to that is!)
Hi all, just wanted to post a little update on this. Roughly 3 weeks ago I moved on to my second pack of flu and although things seemed fine at first, I have now come right down to the point were I had to call the doctor today to ask if I should come off and he told me to go to the surgery to be seen. He told me that it's unlikely to be the meds and more likely to be the depression with, perhaps, anxiety kicking in. I asked if it could be the change in brand but he said not to this extent and said that he may increase my dose when I go back.
I'm going back next week for my new prescription and am not giong to hand it in untill I find the brand I was on in the first month. I guess then I should know for sure one way or the other.
I started Flu. made by Neolabs a months ago and felt great after 5 days. My repeat prescription was for a different brand of Flu. made by Wockhardt in India. I had a funny sick feeling about an hour after taking the tablets and haven't felt good since starting this second packet.
I have been back to the pharmacy to change them for the Neolab ones and will let you know if I feel any different in a few days.
I also have Pernicious Anaemia and am waiting for a B12 jab to kick in so that's another factor....
I am so glad to have found this post. I am on my third month of taking Flu and each of the three packets have been different. Other than the original side affects when I first started taking I have been fine until my third packet.
These are three packs of ten - two colours. I have had al,ostconstant headaches which won't go away. I have also had terrible heartburn / acid indigestion every night which has affected my sleeping. Also when I have finally got to sleep i have had crazy vivid dreams.
I finish this pack next week and am going to definitely make sure I don't ge the same brand again
I am certain the brand does make a difference
ps - Flu is making me feel like me again - I wish I had had the guts to see my doctor years ago
Well I have always had the same tabs. Green & yellow made by Milpharm(?) (well they have MIL on them). They come in 3 x 10s
With these I have had very mild side effects nothing serious. No massive headaches or anything. AND, more importantly, they work - well I think so.
I would be surprised if there was any difference in the active ingredients as the UK medicines people do sample checks on the quality of the ingredients so we should be getting what we think.
Not meaning to insult anyone here - as depression makes us paranoid could this be a case of us not getting better as fast as we think we should so looking for an excuse? I may be wrong but????????
YES YES YES !!!! - Somebody who has suspected the same thing as me. Thank God I have the best GP in the world who listened to me and changed the brand.
I don't know what brand I was on for the 1st month but I felt great. After my 2 week visit Flu was so obviously working well I got a 2month prescription - I noticed the different packaging (pink - TEVA) and I noticed within 5 days I was not how I had been, after 10 days I was convinced they were a placebo. I went back to my GP I was shaking, I was hyper I was tearful - it was simply awful. Anyway we changed them that day and within 48 hours I was better. Currently a yellowy white package from Karib Chemi but I have never got back to where I was (see my other posts) Unfortunately Boots couldn't get anymore of these so tomorrow I start on my 3rd brand (big purple package from Actavis). The Karib Kemi pack has 2*15 blisters and I have deliberately changed at the end of the first blister pack so if I start reacting badly again to this new brand I can go straight back to Karib Chemi vs of Flu. The pharmist at the GP says the doctor and I are talking rubbish - but the physical evidence in the form of me proves otherwise.
I would really really appreciate hearing from other people if they have had anything similar and more importantly what brand are you taking that seems to be working for you ??
Lelly's hit the nail on the head, she's spot on :ok: unless some counterfeit meds have got into the system, ALL the meds are the same in the UK, no matter who manufactures them :sorry: :wink:
it's a medical fact that the placebo effect is VERY powerfull, but the 'rub' is it can also work in reverse, ie. placebo can also negate the benefits of REAL treatments :shock: :wink: <michael caine voice> \"not a lot of people know that\" lol :ok: :whistle:
