Sertraline brand change

Hi all

Newbie over here. Haven't posted on a forum before. Just came across this thread via google search during a mad panic before bed.

I have taken Ranbaxy Sertrline on and off for around 2.5 years (stopped with each pregnancy x 2) I recently started them again (around 8 weeks ago) at just 50mg but its the only brand I have ever taken. I collected my prescription this evening, bag was sealed but didn't think to check until I was home. Its a different brand called Lustral. I have none of my old ones left so panicked and took the new brand. Now I'm worried I'll have horrid side effects. Anyone on this brand at all? I'm guessing from reading the above comments that Ranbaxy is pretty s****y!

Thanks 😃

Hello - so glad I found this discussion i have been taking accord sertraline for around 5 months and after a wobbly start been feeling great! on wednesday i picked up a new prescription which is Lustral Sertaline made by Pfizer. Went from feeling great to feeling sick, anxious and back to how i was. Any chance this could be change in brand? Any help really appreciated thank you

I have also been taking Sertraline 50mg for 2 months Ranbaxy brand. At first I had the usual side effects dry mouth, feeling more anxious and insomnia. I started to have much better days before my tablets ran out. When I collected my next supply it was a different brand Lupin and also the tablets were blue. I spoke to the pharmacist who assured me they were the same as what I had already been taking. Reassured I started the tablets and carried on with my day. An hour later I started to feel strange and very shaky. I also had a horrible taste in my mouth. My anxiety increased as well as the ability to sleep well. I called my GP who was very understanding and did not dismiss my concerns. I was asked if I could try and give it a few days and then call back if I felt worse and they would try and get the Ranbaxy brand. I managed for 7 days but felt I was going backwards in the recovery of my anxiety disorder. I spoke to GP and have just collected the Ranbaxy brand and felt so relieved. I just want to say that you have to give the tablets time to work it will get better just try and remind yourself of that. Its not always easy when you are in the grip of anxiety and panic. Also I was prescribed Sertraline when I was 1st diagnosed with an anxiety disorder 19 years ago. I took sertraline Lustral and was back to feeling better and more like my old self much quicker. Lustral lost the licence to continue after a cheaper version was licensed. I have not needed to take any SSRI's at all up until now. The recent pandemic and menopause have triggered the anxiety disorder. Hope you start to feel better very soon.

Hi All,

A quick update from myself:

Two years have gone by since I posted here for this first time. It's great to see that I am not the only one experiencing issues with different Sertraline brands. I have been told numerous times by pharmacists and GP's that there is nothing that they can do, because they have no control over their medicine brands. It is the suppler who dictates which brands are available to the general public.

I have been building a spreadsheet which cross references Sertraline brands with ingredients. This spreadsheet proves that there is a difference in ingredients between brands. So far, I have discovered that brands Aurobindo, Crescent and Accord have the exact same ingredients. If you would like to contribute to the spreadsheet, please message me directly and I will give you access. For reference, please see the following screenshot taken from the spreadsheet:

As of the 5th of July 2020, I began taking Ranbaxy again due to it being the only brand my local pharmacies have in stock. As a point of reference, here are the side effects I've been experiencing:

• Fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty sleeping
• Low mood
• Irritable

I hope you all are doing well and staying safe,

Max

hi...I have been having problems switching brands so sertraline but unfortunately no ones interested, doctor, psychiatrist, pharmacy say they are all the same but I know they are not. My story is I was originally on ACTIVIS for ages, the chemist used to get them in for me and i received 3 months supply at a time, then they could no longer get the brand and that activis was now ACCORD, that's when my problems began. I had awful side effect, my mood crashed, sertraline was no longer working. I was referred to a psychiatrist who tried me on several other ADs only to get terrible side effects landing me in A&E a couple of times. He then put me back on sertraline 50mg increasing to 100mg with 50mg quetiapine as back up. The first brand was LUPIN and was ok, then they couldn't get it, then MILPHARM which is AUROBIDOs new name, gave me headache from hell and mood crashed. Then ACCORD which was ok for a few months on the whole, then back to MILPHARM, couldn't get ACCORD anymore. Now I'm where I am, 3 weeks on increased dose to 150mg of MILPHARM and feeling worse than ever. I have been cut down again to 100mg as psychiatric nurse said 150mg is too much but I was on 150mg originally before it stopped working?..I'm at my wits end cos I know it's all the switching that's causing the problem but am getting nowhere, I want to go back to accord but chemists will not get it for me as they did before, can only give me what is sent in which is MILPHARM. Lastly I've been able to stay on ACCORD brand of quetiapine from the start up. Has anybody gone through similar and found a solution..cheers maties....Sue

How do u know which brands are they? I always took it 100mg in a orange/yellow box and now its blue and im feeling crap again. 😕

Ive been taking Lupin brand 50mg for the past month and feeling fine. Took Milpharm yesterday and have had 24 solid hours of nausea, a spaced out feeling and anorexia. I feel horrible. I went back to the pharmacy and they wont change it. Im dreading another dose of this yuck

Hi All

thought i would share my experience in case it helps others. i have been taking 150mg of sertraline for around 3 years. i think as it is a high dose I probably notice the side effects more when switching brands than if i was on a low dose. I have also been given the run around from pharmacists though i did find one that admitted the make up of some sertraline can be different. this means he said that some can be slow release where as others are more instant. i have found accord brand work for me. I have recently had a problem getting this brand from my local pharmacy who fobbed me off with 'that brand are in short supply and this is all we can get' I took to the internet and found that this was not true. i rang my doctors who advised me to call round some other chemists but that also trying a large supermarket may prove more fruitful. I rang my nearest large store with a pharmacy (morrisons) and was told there was no problem getting this brand however they said 'Oh these are quite a bit more expensive than other brands!BINGO! at long last a pharmacist that was willing to admit that there is a cost difference with brands. my doctor sent a new script through to morrisons and the tablets were there the next day. my advice would be stick with whatever brand works for you, i imagine all brands are ok in themselves its the changing of them that causes the issues. i would imagine that each change of brand means you will go through all the side effects with that brand that you initially go through when taking a new tablet. the larger the dose the more obvious the side effects. Do not put up with pharmacists palming you off with different brands, its not their life that it effects its yours! My doctor has advised that before each time i am due to get a renewal to ring the chemist and ensure they either have the brand or can order them in. it took seconds for morrisons to tell me they could order accord in so i honestly feel the smaller chemists are trying to save money! in future although it takes a couple of phone calls beforehand i will be following my doctors advice.

hope this helps! And those who have been told it makes no difference regarding the brand, ignore them and go with your own gut instinct.

Yes, I had the same thing happen. I have been on sertraline for years. All of a sudden my anxiety if out of control. The manufacturer changed. I was using Lupin (doing great) and the pharmacy switch to Cipla (horrible results). I have tried to find the Lupin manufacturer but apparently sertraline is in short supply due to COVID. I just picked up another prescription and the manufacturer is Aurobindo. I sure hope it works like the Lupin did. I thought I was crazy but come to find out the pharmacist says is happens a lot with generics.

Good luck.

I've had EXACTLY this same issue. I was on the Crescent brand and was absolutely fine. They switched me to Ranbaxy at the start of the year and got the past few months I've been in a foul mood. Have felt depressed and foggy at times. Am speaking to my GP today about it