Anonymous wrote:The generic is much different. The concerta er has lazer presidium technology and drill a small precise hole which the medicine is slowly release from. The pill is made up of a special coating of polymers which expand when the water from you body is absorbed to the pill which then expands. the pill is 3 chambers which have medicine and is released through that hole and is what they call the innovative time released formula.
The generic is not as precise and only has to be 80% of the brand name dose. This means companies can save money but not giving you as much medicine and let you pay less. Would it make sense for any company to waste money on
you if they didn't have too? Of course not - so don't listen to the bs.
The old saying - you get what you paid for
Some medicines are more sensitive to this
Also. The generic concerta looks almost exact but has a tiny diffrence . The alza might look thinner or completely on center, but the sides are a good indicater. You can look up what the generic vs brand looks like. It even shows you a picture of it crushed. They don't look the same inside and its not time released like the brand in fact, accprding to one site the generic version is easier for drug abuse because its not contained in chambers and once you get past the shell it's all really to snort. As for the brand name - you would have a harder time from separating it and getting past the shell and chambers. I didnt verify this info by testing it out but I'm sure it is accurate.
I have been on generic and I got suspended 6 times before first period in high school. I did not know I was getting the generic till after I peiced the puzzle together. Once they put me back on the concerta I was fine.
To give any technician that is is diffrent.
Try pittin up with my on the generic you will be the most miserable person in the world . Ps without the brand name concerta or if I don't take my ADHD med for the day I can't stop eating .
So I concerta I eat around 600 calories
Generic : 3,000
No med: 4,500
I get extreamly sick if I don't take brand name. I'm healthy weight and it's thanks to concerta.

Anonymous wrote:Concerta doesn't seem to be working for my son on 54MG it's been a while now but i think the generic was working better at school. Anyone else have this problem.

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!

Anonymous wrote:To the person who continues to insist that the generic is EXACTLY the same it is not. Generic drugs do have the same ingredients in the same dosage in the same delivery system (i.e. pill). They do studies to determine that these generic drugs are safe and effective however when they determine that a drug is bioequivalent they are approving it within an "acceptable range". For example the drug is approved to be "the same" if it has 80-120% the absorption of the origional molecule. For someone who is switching from a drug like concerta to a generic, this range can have no impact or a significant impact. Also, the formulation of brand name Concerta is specially designed to deliver the medication over a period of time. Generic Concerta (at least the Canadian version) does not have this specialized release system (even though it contains the exact same ingredients) thus changing the way the medication is delivered to the body. I am not saying that generics are not safe or effective. They do contain the same ingredients, at the same dosage however because of the "acceptable range" requirements that the FDA considers safe they may not be EXACTLY the same as the origional molecule. It is absolutely not in your head. Many people have changed from Brand name to generic Concerta and have not had the same results.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has been on 36mg of Concerta for 5 years which has worked great! About 4 months ago we switched to the generic Concerta and since then she has nothing but issues with her stomach. I left her on the generic because time and time again I was told that there was no difference between the name brand and the generic.

She does not take the Concerta while on school breaks and over Christmas break had no stomach issues. Today was her first day back, took her pill and came home complaining that her stomach hurts. We have even had blood work done and a MRI to make sure there wasn't anything more serious wrong. We are switching back to the brand name and will see what happens.

I didn't see any posts that reported severe stomach pains while on the generic which makes me a little skeptical but switching back will be worth a try!

If anyone else has experienced stomach issues while on the generic I would like to know about it.