I have noticed a huge difference since my grandson started taking the generic Concerta. It doesn't seem to last as long or work as well...it seems that he can not stay focused as long. I am going to talk to his Dr. about keeping him on Concerta and not the generic.

I just took my first generic Concerta 54 and was wondering if in fact it is working, I'm on vacation, having a bit of an off day, tooth ache interrupted my sleep, woke up late......took my meds, coffee... is my muddledness all this or the generic Concerta? Impossible to tell.

Beware the placebo and nocebo (anti-placebo effect). The Placebo Effect, we're all familiar with. The standard explanation, we're given a pill, told that it helps some condition, and voila! it does--except it's a sugar pill. We believe that it will help and it does. The Nocebo Effect is the opposite, we are given a real pill, but distrust it; we don't get better. It's a curious effect, there's still debate about how significant it is, but it's real. It works even if you are aware of it. ziot even works on antibiotics (which is really mold attacking bacteria, what's our head have to do with this???)

If Ritalin works on you the way it does on me, here's what it's probably like. If I forget my Concerta 54 in the morning, I might not even notice, but I will never forget my coffee--I notice this right away. My morning is worse if I'm out of coffee than if I'm out of Concerta. Often the first symptom that I haven't taken my meds is something like not finding my car keys.
My standard test for the Ritalin effect is reading, I'll be reading the newspaper in the morning, meandering down the column, as the Ritalin (Concerta) kicks in, my reading speed increases, my meandering stops. That just happened. This increased focus is a subtle effect, easy to miss, but also easy to achieve for us ADHDers. This is the hyper-focusing that we enjoy.

What I would suggest is that unless you have a long term standard test, don't make snap judgements about generic Concerta, you might be falling into the Nocebo Effect. Take the generic, use whatever test you've used in the past, tracking, diary, and relax, let it work. Consider your results over a period of at least a few weeks. I'm willing to bet nothing changes.
Mistrusting generic medications is not at all irrational, there's a lot of evidence of poor quality generics. In the case of Concerta, I haven't learned what the 'settlement' was that led to generic Concerta was. The knot the insurance companies have us all tied into means that we don't have a real choice, we accept the generic or we pay out of pocket for our meds. I can't afford to pay the prices I see on the pharmacy bill. Just my co-payment alone, for a three months supply went to $125 last Autumn. With generic it dropped to $30. I think these increased co-payments for Concerta probably were cutting into business, doctors probably shifted to prescribing generic Ritalin. Generic Concerta might be a way to save their market. -w

We should all make up our own mind regarding what I


http://www.jnj.com/connect/news/all/ortho-mcneil-janssen-pharmaceuticals-inc-enters-into-agreement-for-concerta-authorized-generic

Titusville, NJ (November 2, 2010) – Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OMJPI) today announced it has entered into a supply and distribution agreement with Watson Laboratories, Inc. to distribute an authorized generic version of CONCERTA® (methylphenidate HCl extended-
release tablets). Watson will launch the authorized generic beginning May 1, 2011.

Authorized generic:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorized_generics

I took 54mg Concerta for two years and life was great. I went off it for six weeks just to see if I could (bad, bad idea - life was hell without it.) So I went back on it two months ago, same dose as before. I couldn't figure out why it worked so good for two years, and now that I'm back on it it's just nowhere near as effective as it used to be. I just found out yesterday that I've been given a generic. I had NO IDEA that I was taking a generic, so it was not my imagination. Therefore, I find it incredibly hard to believe that it is exactly the same as the original formula I used to take.

That's funny.....it makes some of the negative experiences posted seem rather silly knowing it's literally the exact same thing.

The first patent for Concerta is set to expire in 2018. However, due to a legal settlement between two drug manufacturers, a generic version became available in May 2011. Due to the settlement, Watson Laboratories is allowed to sell an "authorized generic" version of Concerta.

This means that the original manufacturer supplies Watson with brand-name Concerta tablets, which Watson packages and sells as a generic drug. Therefore, this generic version is exactly like the brand-name drug in every way, other than it being sold as a generic.

If the medicine isn't working...you may just want to try a different form entirely, as currently, the generic is exactly the same as concerta

I was switched to generic on Monday and it's a complete failure. Two solid days I've not been able to function!! I've been on Concerta for years and have never had a single day like this entire week has been

We got lucky for some reason our generic Concerta is priced at the generic tier. However my child is on generic previcid solutabs and that is charged at the highest tier because they say there are less expensive generics in pill form. My kid just turned two so can't take pills but that doesn't change anything. They stopped covering the brand name solutabs all together so I guess I should be thankful I'm atleast getting what I am.

Anonymous wrote:I was excited to see that a generic was available when I dropped off my son's prescription of 36 mg. Unfortunately,
when I picked it up and she ran it through insurance the co-pay was still $50. I called the ins co to find out why that would be and was told that it isn't really a generic in their eyes, but a multi-source medication. Very frustrating!

I had the exact same experience -- generic was same price as the brand name. So I just stayed with the brand name since I know it works for my ds.

I think it depends on the individual in most cases. My DC is very sensitive to meds. Took a generic antidepressant and did great. Discontinued after a year. A year later took the same antidepressant (brand name and same dosage) and within 3 days had a psychotic episode (and seizures) and ended up in the ER.

I was excited to see that a generic was available when I dropped off my son's prescription of 36 mg. Unfortunately,
when I picked it up and she ran it through insurance the co-pay was still $50. I called the ins co to find out why that would be and was told that it isn't really a generic in their eyes, but a multi-source medication. Very frustrating!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

18 mgs is a really low dose....that's probably why.

Thanks. That is what I was thinking, although I've read that for the inattentive type, the low doses usually work best so I wasn't sure whether the next step was to try a different med at a low dose or bump the current one up a notch. I guess it makes sense to do the latter.

I also want to say thanks to all of you for sharing your information and experiences here. So helpful to a mom that is trying to make the best decision for her child. Please please please lets not drag this forum down with bickering and name calling. This is such a lifeline of support and if it becomes ugly people may be driven away and that would be a real shame. I'm as guilty of the next of jumping into the fray on the Off Topic forum, but this is a nice little island of civility that is desperately needed.

For what it's worth I take 54 mg of Concerta for primarily inattentive ADD. I have a very severe case that was diagnosed in the second grade in the 80's which is astounding given that I'm female. I was a very quiet daydreamer as a child. Anything less than 54 mg doesn't do much for me. I can actually take a nap mid-day on this dose.

Also, Concerta's dosing can be confusing. Basically 18 mg's of Concerta doesn't equal the same dosing as 18 mg's of short acting Ritalin. It's 18 mg's total and it's released slowly throughout the day. The equivalent would be 6 mg's of short acting Ritalin given 3 times a day, every 4 hours. I've heard that non-psychiatric doctors commonly under-dose Concerta because they aren't aware of this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting; my son started on 18mg Concerta 10 days ago, which they filled with the generic, and it doesn't seem to do a thing for him, positive or negative. This is the first med we've tried with him and I was going to talk to his doc about adjusting the dosage or trying a different med. Now I'm wondering if I should discuss trying the brand name version.
I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on what our next steps should be.

18 mgs is a really low dose....that's probably why.

Thanks. That is what I was thinking, although I've read that for the inattentive type, the low doses usually work best so I wasn't sure whether the next step was to try a different med at a low dose or bump the current one up a notch. I guess it makes sense to do the latter.

I also want to say thanks to all of you for sharing your information and experiences here. So helpful to a mom that is trying to make the best decision for her child. Please please please lets not drag this forum down with bickering and name calling. This is such a lifeline of support and if it becomes ugly people may be driven away and that would be a real shame. I'm as guilty of the next of jumping into the fray on the Off Topic forum, but this is a nice little island of civility that is desperately needed.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for your thorough response 19:03. I wish that there were some things i could "unread" about this generic, though. It's impossible for me to know how much of my reaction to my kid on generics has been colored by these negative responses. After all, unless one was keep a medication diary from before using generics, one could never know for sure if reactions are truly different. *sigh* very frustrating.

And dick move criticizing the military recipient. He or she is making a big sacrifice with travel and deployments; potential loss of life and limb--nobody is really getting it for "free".

Sorry, I don't see how the two things are related. I didn't see it as a criticism either....sarcastic yes.

You think we all would be happy that the military will be getting a break on the cost now that the generic is out so they have more money to help support and protect our troops and heals the ones who were injured. Wouldn't you rather our tax dollars go to these important things rather than continue to pay the outlandish cost of brand names drugs? The overwhelming majority of med recipients will do just fine on the generic.

In most cases the generics are as effective as name brand. I'm not saying that some people aren't super sensitive and need the brand but really this is a very tiny percent of people and you are very likely not one of them.

Think of all the generic antibiotics we are using. You never hear about the generics being less effective and people demanding brand names. They aren't marketed in the same way. I think the drug companies have done such a fabulous job of marketing their product that people will choose it even though it's basically the same thing but only 3 times more expensive. They get away with it because the insurance companies are paying the bills so we aren't as aware of what's happening. But don't be fooled into thinking that all of this isn't driving up our premiums. If some of these posters were paying for these meds themselves I think they would probably take a step back and give the generic time and more of a chance.

The generic was only released a month ago and I'm shocked about how many people seem to be running back to their doctors already! I'm not too happy about footing the bill for these folks with my premiums either. I've been on the generic for a month and I've not noticed any difference.

And the poster who wrote an entire page of bizarre symptoms....holy cow! The active ingredient is the same....I can't imagine what in the world would cause such a huge range of freakish symptoms. I'm really thinking that she has other things going on that aren't related to the stimulant. Way to go freaking everyone else out who have to give this to their children.

The doctors don't care and will just write the script for brand name only to make their patient happy....I doubt they really agree but it's not their money to waste.