trouble switching brands of alprazolam XR?

[samcat]

I had been getting Greenstone alprazolam XR at Walgreens when they switched to Amneal. It made me extremely drowsy on the same dose. My psychiatrist said to wait it out and see if I adapted. When I didn't after being a zombie for two weeks, he lowered my dosage to get rid of the persistent drowsiness. That isn't working so well either--sometimes I am drowsy all morning and jumpy the rest of the day, even on the lowered dosage, plus more side efffects. Anyone else had a similar experience with generics? I know they are supposed to be the same, but that isn't what my body is saying.

[mphd97]

Ack!! I've tried replying to this message twice, so hopefully this one will take! Different brands will have different binding agents, so yes, there can be a problem when switching. I am currently having the same trouble with different generic buspar brands. One knocks me out for 14 hours, while the other (same dose) only made me dizzy for about 10 minutes... hmmm!

[samcat]

Hopefully, you can find the old manufacfturer at another pharmacy. You can't function being knocked out for 14 hours. I would rather be dizzy for 10 minutes any day. Sounds like we have both been through the same mess. Friday I decided to switch back to my old Greenstone brand--it doesn't control my anxiety as well, but at least I can function on it and my stomach and nausea are doing better. I don't know about your insurance plan, but I have Medco for 90 day supplies and they told me that they will get me the Greenstone from a warehouser if they don't have it or if i can't find it locally. Found out that these local pharmacies just order the med by the generic name and get whatever manufacturer comes in. Medco was great about letting me change--just told me to have my doc write a specific manufacturer on the script and that I was having side effects. They were very good about covering the med change.

Good luck--I hope you get your meds straightened out. I feel for you because my experience sure wasn't pleasant and yours sounds just as frustrating.

Thanks for the reply.