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Different makers of Prednisolone

Posted , 15 users are following.

andrea93419
andrea93419

Hi all!! I picked up a new prescription of Pred from another chemist this week and the manufacturer was different!! Prednisolone on the box and I'm sure it does what it says on the box,,, or not??

I've ached every day this week! Plus all of a sudden my not so hamster face seems more hamster hahaha!! Do I blame the tablets or is it all in my head???? Has anyone else had the same experience???

️Xx

2 likes, 26 replies

26 Replies

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  • judytal
    judytal andrea93419

    Posted

    Hi Andrea, I've been taking the prednisolone since August ( low dose.. 4 mg twice a day).  When all this started I was taking the series of amount for several days and then going down. After that I am now taking the 4 mg. I have not had any changes in my face... Just looking like I haven't slept in years and feel that way as well!! 

    How much are you taking?  

    • andrea93419
      andrea93419 judytal

      Posted

      Hi Judy!! I've been on 20mg pred for 6 weeks, on Monday the rheumatologist cut me to 17.5mg so I'm now wondering is it a tapering issue or the fact that the manufacturer is different???

      Xx

    • Juno-Irl-Dub
      Juno-Irl-Dub judytal

      Posted

      Hi Judy, I was delighted to see you mention " just looking like I haven't slept in years". I haven't seen anyone talk about this before. For the past 2 years since my PMR diagnoses, I've looked so tired with dark rings round the eyes etc. In fact, some days  I may be feeling relatively well and then meet someone who I haven't seen for a while and they comment about how tired I look - and I feel the're too polite to add ' and how ill ' . . . Bad for the morale! 
    • EileenH
      EileenH Juno-Irl-Dub

      Posted

      Some doctors actually mention that aspect "the patient looks ill"
  • Oregonjohn-UK
    Oregonjohn-UK andrea93419

    Posted

    I have had at least 3 different manufactures of preds from the same pharmacy!  Preds is the generic name.
    • andrea93419
      andrea93419 Oregonjohn-UK

      Posted

      Hiya John! Thank you for that, I was concerned about the pain, it's probably coincidental!! 😄😄
  • tina-uk_cwall
    tina-uk_cwall andrea93419

    Posted

    Hi Andrea, no I don't think it would make a difference re the different brand, just so long as it is still prednisolone.

    I reduced from 9 to 8.5 slowly over 3 weeks and this week is the first week of all 8.5 doses. like you I have experienced a very very slight ache in my shoulders since Monday. I am watching this ache very closely as it might just be a flare. The only reason why I'm not fretting too much is, I don't wake with the pain and it comes on over the the day which I am putting down to working my arms and shoulders too much in the day. On Monday I cleaned the church and following my monthly clean I always get a little pain in my shoulders and arms. I have been doing some pretty heavy gardening, cutting back heavy shrubs etc. the pain is not quite like the pain I have previously experienced when I had a flare pre Christmas last year, so unless the pain gets worse or spreads to my hips I will simply keep a close eye on it. And finally, I'll say this for the last time, I like hamsters, they have beautiful, pretty faces!!! All the best, christina 

    • andrea93419
      andrea93419 tina-uk_cwall

      Posted

      Hi Christina!! I did smile when you said you liked Hamster!! Hahahaha

      I've also had a busy 2 weeks really!

      Plus I think my trigger point is stress! I've been informed that my employer needs to have a welfare meeting with me next week as I'm currently off work! So I'm getting worked up over that!! But I, like you will keep a close eye on the pain!!! 😄😄

    • tina-uk_cwall
      tina-uk_cwall andrea93419

      Posted

      Hi Andrea, try not to get too stressed over the welfare meeting. I'm not sure just how long you have been off work for, but for return to work I believe you will need a sort of sick note from your GP that states you are well enough to return back to work and if they think in their opinion you could return to work but on reduced hours or duties they can also advise that too. If you work for a medium to large company you will also have to have a return to work interview with occupational health and your employer will have to implement the recommendations set. Also throughout this period of return you will have to under go reassessing. Stop fretting, it will do you no good!! All the best, christina 
  • charlie44644
    charlie44644 andrea93419

    Posted

    You would think that pred is pred but be concerned about changing suppliers.

    Most meds these days are "knock offs" of the original. Many companies may make it.

    I have not had a problem with pred but I have not changed suppliers.

    I did have my metoprolol changed once (Beta blocker for  a fib). For the 3 days I took that new pill I went into atrial fibrilation each day at 13:00hrs. That is the hour when I go into atrial fib if I have been forgetful and did not take my old pill. It wakes me right to the fact that I was forgetful !! So, as far as I could tell, the new pill was  not providing me any benefit at all. I returned to the pharmacy and got my old pills.

    Charlie44644

    • erika59785
      erika59785 charlie44644

      Posted

      Charlie, I would agree with you.  I was wondering about a different supplier myself which I have with the 10 mg and the 5 mg prednisone.

      The 10 mg seems to work better .......I have some 5 mg and 1 mg for future tapering.  I am on 20 right now for a month, and then it would be 19 for a month and so on.

      I will go to the Pharmacy and consult with them.

      As always, many thanks for your input.  Erika

       

    • Oregonjohn-UK
      Oregonjohn-UK erika59785

      Posted

      Every manufacturer of any medication must reproduce the same formula with the same trade name Prednisolone is Prednisolone .  I have three different at this very moment - Genesis Pharmaceuticals in Harrow, Actavis in Barnstaple and Co-pharma in Watford all 5 mg?  Each packet is different in size but the pills are all the same/
  • EileenH
    EileenH andrea93419

    Posted

    Theoretically prednisolone is prednisolone. However - there is evidence that patients DO respond differently to pills from different manufacturers. 

    The pred is the same - but the "fillers" differ and some patients don't do well on various ones.

    I was on enteric coated pred and had always had them supplied in blister packs. I'd been fine at 17.5mg every 2 days. Then I was handed a new supply loose, in tubs of 100 pills, counted out by the pharmacy. When I started the new 5mg tablets I developed a flare within a couple of weeks. I tried the new 2.5mg tablets - worked perfectly. Back to the 5mg ones - flared again. Was put onto a different version altogether (Medrol, methyl prednisolone) and intially it was OK as well.

    The 5mg pills were definitely duds of some sort as far as I was concerned. They may have been counterfeit, or they may simply have had different ingredients to bulk up the pill - that is normal. Even pharmacies get landed with counterfeit medications - it is a big fraud business.

    Later when I was on Medrol (which is supposed to be be more effective) I was OK at first and then suddenly it stopped working and I had more side-effects than effects - PMR flaring big-time despite being on higher and higher doses and the beard, muscle wasting and weight gain were awful. I don't know if that coincided with a change of manufacturer, it may have done.

    So as I say - theoretically there isn't a difference between generic medications, in practice there can be. See if you can get some more of the original sort and see if they work better.

    Is there 

    • andrea93419
      andrea93419 EileenH

      Posted

      Thanks Eileen!! I tend to agree with you! I'm going to take them back to the pharmacy tomorrow, they had my original ones there but the pharmacist said these are exactly the same! Mmm mmm mmm !!

      a friend of mine who has been on heart tablets all her adult life swares blind that the 'compounds' differ in the tablets even though the end result is the same and she's a SRN in the business herself! Xx

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy andrea93419

      Posted

      I have had two suppliers of coated tablets and I felt one was better than the other, although it may have been because one had prettier packaging! I am now taking Lodotra which is prednisone not prednisolone, although it all ends up the same inside you eventually. I do find them better than the coated version, but they are not available on the NHS for PMR yet. 
    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      Three cheers for Lodotra - the sooner they try it properly the better. Not that any GP will pay for them so it's all theoretical anyway!
    • EileenH
      EileenH andrea93419

      Posted

      The answer to that is - no, thank you, but I'll stick the ones I know. They'll make a fuss, they can't take yours back now they've left the pharmacy - you might have chewed them and spat them out ;-)

      Ask how much they cost - I bet the ones they gave you are slightly cheaper...

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy EileenH

      Posted

      There was some London GP writing an article this week saying she would not prescribe some expensive PPI, but omeprazole which costs a few pence, to avoid wasteful prescribing which is an ethical pursuit, whatever that means! She then went on to say that if patients did not want the cheap version they should pay the extra cost even if the expensive one was better.
    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      "Ethical pharmaceutics" means drugs which are only available on prescription, not OTC. 

      These prescription drugs are sold to healthcare systems at premium prices for the first x years (sorry, can't remember how long patent protections lasts) to try to recoup the costs of development and obviously the more they sell, the more they make to offset those costs. Once the patent expires the drug can be made as a generic by other companies - and is then sold at far far lower prices. So during this time the reps are pushing the latest version as being better/fewer side effects or whatever - and it is a proven fact that the most recent rep visit DOES have an effect on what the doctor prescribes.

      In the UK the prescription can be written in two ways: the substance name, for example ranitidine, or the brand name which in this case would be Zantac. The pharmacist must obey that - and you might have ranitidine on the prescription but the packet that you receive says Zantac or you might get a packet that says "generic ranitidine". This is because the NHS supplier to the pharmacy has a bulk buy on Zantac that is the cheapest option.

      In some cases it makes a difference - sometimes you might need a sustained release version for example - and then the GP must write the brand name in full as what they want dispensed and that must be handed over. Here in northern Italy they can write either - and the pharmacist asks which we want. If we choose the brand version there is a small extra charge, the difference in price as this GP was suggesting, unless there is a good reason for the brand being needed when the GP will have said that. In the UK this doesn't apply - and if the GP writes the "new improved"version on the prescription, that is what you get without paying more. Which is exactly what the pharmaceutical company wanted.

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