# Got a generic Klonopin prescription yesterday, but don't like the manufacturer



## meco1999 (May 28, 2011)

I finally went to the doctor yesterday for my severe anxiety and sleeplessness and was prescribed generic Klonopin and Zoloft. I haven't taken psych meds in 13 years. I went to Walgreens, and they gave me generic Klonopin manufactured by Mylan. I took a Zoloft around 6 PM and a Klonopin around 10 PM, but the Klonopin didn't do anything for me as far as sleep goes. I got slightly sleepy, but I didn't get a wink of sleep at all. Maybe it's the Zoloft having an insomnia effect on me. 

I did some research online and everyone seems to agree that Mylan is the worst manufacturer of generic Klonopin by far, almost on par with sugar pills, but Mylan is all Walgreens has around here. Some other pharmacies around here have the better Teva and Actavis generic Klonopin, but my prescription bottle says "No refills without doctor's approval." 

If I wanted to get the Teva or Actavis, what are my options? I've got a whole bottle of 59 apparently-worthless Mylan pills to go through. Walgreens told me they can't just take the pills back (of course).


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## albertolobat (Oct 19, 2012)

Can't you brought them back to your pdoc and ask him for another prescription? I am sorry, I am not very used to the way meds are handled in the US.


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

What provider do you have? Kaiser gives you the Teva brand.


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## meco1999 (May 28, 2011)

I have Blue Cross, but the manufacturer you get depends on which pharmacy you go to. The Walgreens around here have only Mylan, some others though have Teva, Actavis, and Qualitest. Wish I had gone to one of those .


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

Surely the manafacturer has to prove that the pills provide a certain amount of the drug into the blood stream withn a certain very small percentage range + or - of the original like they do in every other country ?

I can't see anything complicated about what's in the tablets that should make them much different. You're experiance also doesn't sound any different to my experiance on many brands of klonopin, it's the weakest stuff i've ever used. Even diazepam makes me 10x more sleepy.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

For the last 3 months I've been taking Mylan Klonopin. Seems to work as well as benzos normally work.

I have Teva Klonopin in stock, but haven't gotten around to using that yet, so I can't make a comparison.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

I personally prefer Teva--maybe I am insane but I think of the three generics I have been given they are the best. I would love to try the REAL DEAL, those little beauties with the cutout K. I might just spring for it at least once.


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## meco1999 (May 28, 2011)

WineKitty said:


> I personally prefer Teva--maybe I am insane but I think of the three generics I have been given they are the best. I would love to try the REAL DEAL, those little beauties with the cutout K. I might just spring for it at least once.


None of the pharmacies that I've called in my whole city (including Walgreens, Walmart, Target, and local pharmacies) carry the actual name-brand Klonopin. They say they don't carry it because insurance won't cover it since there's a generic available. I asked how much it would cost if they DID carry it, and they said around $180 for 60 1mg pills. 

I guess online would be the only option for that.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

albertolobat said:


> Can't you brought them back to your pdoc and ask him for another prescription? I am sorry, I am not very used to the way meds are handled in the US.


This is your best advice if you want to do something about it now. Another thought, Klonopin might just no t'work' for you. All the the other benzos have the effect me that one would expect.. but even when I had no benzo tolerance, Klonopin did not effect me at all. I tried different brands and stuff, But I could take 20 mgs and it would do nothing. So understand that everyone's brain is different and certain medications may have different effects for you than for other

You say that the klonopin has a mild effect on you. What dose were you prescribed? Maybe you just need a higher dose? Did you try taking a couple. Maybe Klonopin just doesn't help you sleep and you need a different drug. A lot of different possibilities before you just jum to "mylan sucks"
Mylan brand has always worked great for me



UltraShy said:


> For the last 3 months I've been taking Mylan Klonopin. Seems to work as well as benzos normally work.
> 
> I have Teva Klonopin in stock, but haven't gotten around to using that yet, so I can't make a comparison.





WineKitty said:


> I personally prefer Teva--maybe I am insane but I think of the three generics I have been given they are the best. I would love to try the REAL DEAL, those little beauties with the cutout K. I might just spring for it at least once.


As You can see opinions on the subject are like bungholes, everybody's got one. Personally I think that it is all in one's head, just like when you buy different brands of bread, milk, etc at the grocery store. It really is all the same yo. I never judge a book by it's cover. Also, as for complaints online. People generally only write a review when they have something bad to say. So yeah maybe lately people have had a bad experience with Mylan. Realize that all the bad reviews represent only a tiny population of Mylan brand Klonopin users. For all those complaints there are many many satisfied customers writing nothing online about their experience.

Don't ever buy brand name. The markup is somewhere around 1000% If you cant figure out a better use for the money, then give it to me. I need some cash for ammunition.


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## meco1999 (May 28, 2011)

istayhome said:


> This is your best advice if you want to do something about it now. Another thought, Klonopin might just no t'work' for you. All the the other benzos have the effect me that one would expect.. but even when I had no benzo tolerance, Klonopin did not effect me at all. I tried different brands and stuff, But I could take 20 mgs and it would do nothing. So understand that everyone's brain is different and certain medications may have different effects for you than for other
> 
> You say that the klonopin has a mild effect on you. What dose were you prescribed? Maybe you just need a higher dose? Did you try taking a couple. Maybe Klonopin just doesn't help you sleep and you need a different drug. A lot of different possibilities before you just jum to "mylan sucks"
> Mylan brand has always worked great for me
> ...


You're probably right, all the manufacturers (Mylan, Teva, Qualitest) of generic Klonopin are probably pretty much identical quality. Doesn't the FDA test all of their pills to make sure they're very close to identical quality, like within 1% or something?? I would hope so, anyway. Not sure how that works with generic drugs and companies, I'm new to all this.

If so, not sure why all the Mylan Klonopin hate on various forums, other than just random bad experiences, group-think, etc.

I was prescribed 1mg twice a day "as needed", but for the past 2 nights Klonopin has actually helped me sleep well. It was the Zoloft that gave me insomnia the first night. Last night I only took a half pill (0.5mg) of Klon and I slept pretty well, and was even able to go back to sleep after waking up at 4 AM, something that's been almost impossible for me for over a month.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

Take the Zoloft in the morning. It will cause insomnia if taken at night.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

viper1431 said:


> You're experiance also doesn't sound any different to my experiance on many brands of klonopin, it's the weakest stuff i've ever used. Even diazepam makes me 10x more sleepy.


That's actually kind of interesting because I've never tried diazepam but klonopin seems to feel really weak to me lately and I also need something new for insomnia.


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

I always just assumed the reason Klonopin was so popular in social phobia was because it worked but gently so as not to make people too doped out to talk anyway. Would certainly be my last choice when it comes to needing one for sleep as the OP seems to need.


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## meco1999 (May 28, 2011)

istayhome said:


> Take the Zoloft in the morning. It will cause insomnia if taken at night.


It may just be the first week of my brain adjusting to it, but Zoloft caused insomnia the first night, took it during the day the next two days, made me sleepy both days (Klonopin helped me sleep those nights), then last night I thought since it makes me sleepy I'll take it at night with my Klonopin, and it gave me insomnia again! Laid awake all night, although I think I finally drifted off for an hour or two around 5 AM, whereas without pills I can usually fall asleep for the first 2-3 hours.

Morning only from now on.


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## meco1999 (May 28, 2011)

viper1431 said:


> I always just assumed the reason Klonopin was so popular in social phobia was because it worked but gently so as not to make people too doped out to talk anyway. Would certainly be my last choice when it comes to needing one for sleep as the OP seems to need.


My doctor first suggested Trazodone for me for sleep, but then I suggested Klonopin since I read such good things about it for anxiety (i have severe generalized anxiety + severe SA) and was a benzo, so it should help sleep too.

What would you suggest for sleep?


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

meco1999 said:


> My doctor first suggested Trazodone for me for sleep, but then I suggested Klonopin since I read such good things about it for anxiety (i have severe generalized anxiety + severe SA) and was a benzo, so it should help sleep too.
> 
> What would you suggest for sleep?


I just take valium or xanax. I have those two benzos around anyways and either will help shut up my mind so That I can sleep once I've been awake for too long. I didn't want to be prescribed another pill just for sleep. But I think that benzos or z-drugs works best. Personally all of the other option like trazadone, remeron, seroquel, Doxepin, etc. all just make me feel like crap the next day


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

istayhome said:


> I just take valium or xanax. I have those two benzos around anyways and either will help shut up my mind so That I can sleep once I've been awake for too long. I didn't want to be prescribed another pill just for sleep. But I think that benzos or z-drugs works best. Personally all of the other option like trazadone, remeron, seroquel, Doxepin, etc. all just make me feel like crap the next day


Antihistaminergics like seroquel, remeron and doxepin tend to make me groggy too, not to mention they make me depressed (though this seems somewhat ironic since all 3 have FDA approval to treat depression). That said, they do tend work for my insomnia, though the cons seem to outweigh the pros.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

meco1999 said:


> None of the pharmacies that I've called in my whole city (including Walgreens, Walmart, Target, and local pharmacies) carry the actual name-brand Klonopin. They say they don't carry it because insurance won't cover it since there's a generic available. I asked how much it would cost if they DID carry it, and they said around $180 for 60 1mg pills.
> 
> I guess online would be the only option for that.


That is a shame. I would like to try the real deal just to say I did...but it is cost prohibitive and generics are said to bio-equivalent. Although I still contend not all generics are not built the same due to the different background qualities.



> As You can see opinions on the subject are like bungholes, everybody's got one. Personally I think that it is all in one's head..


Don't let anyone, esp this person, tell you what is wrong/right for you. You will have to try things out on your own to decide what is right for you. There is no be all, end all for all people...certain people like to think their priceless advice is the mold for all but frankly you are going to have to try different meds to see what you really think. What works for one person might not work for you. I never tried to tell you what to do but rather offered advice rather than dismissing the advice of others. Beware of those who claim to be benzo know it all's.

You have no idea how edited this post is.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

WineKitty said:


> That is a shame. I would like to try the real deal just to say I did...but it is cost prohibitive and generics are said to bio-equivalent. Although I still contend not all generics are not built the same due to the different background qualities.
> 
> Don't let anyone, *esp this person, tell you what is wrong/right for you*. You will have to try things out on your own to decide what is right for you. There is no be all, end all for all people...certain people like to think their priceless advice is the mold for all but frankly you are going to have to try different meds to see what you really think. What works for one person might not work for you. I never tried to tell you what to do but rather offered advice rather than dismissing the advice of others. Beware of those who claim to be benzo know it all's.
> 
> *You have no idea how edited this post is*.


Are you talking about me . I am flattered,especially when you are incorrect and critical about everything about me. It makes me feel famous and life you are the paparazzi, just following me around to get a quick sound-bite that makes me look bad. I love it - you make me out to be faaaabulous thanks dear. kiss-kiss, xoxo


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

istayhome said:


> Are you talking about me . I am flattered,especially when you are incorrect and critical about everything about me. It makes me feel famous and life you are the paparazzi, just following me around to get a quick sound-bite that makes me look bad. I love it - you make me out to be faaaabulous thanks dear. kiss-kiss, xoxo


Just replying to your post...again I ask that you stop quoting me and move on.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

WineKitty said:


> Just replying to your post...again I ask that you stop quoting me and move on.


stop whating you????


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

Why do you turn every med thread I post into a personal attack on me?? We already have the mods involved in this harassment that goes beyond board posts. STOP ****ING QUOTING ME and leave me the hell alone. I can give my opinion on the med forum --you don't own it and what works for you might not work for someone else. If you don't like what I post then use the damn ignore button but stop quoting me.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

WineKitty said:


> Why do you turn every med thread I post into a personal attack on me?? We already have the mods involved in this harassment that goes beyond board posts. STOP ****ING QUOTING ME and leave me the hell alone. I can give my opinion on the med forum --you don't own it and what works for you might not work for someone else. If you don't like what I post then use the damn ignore button but stop quoting me.


What are you talking about yo?


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## billyho (Apr 12, 2010)

meco1999 said:


> None of the pharmacies that I've called in my whole city (including Walgreens, Walmart, Target, and local pharmacies) carry the actual name-brand Klonopin. They say they don't carry it because insurance won't cover it since there's a generic available. I asked how much it would cost if they DID carry it, and they said around $180 for 60 1mg pills.
> 
> I guess online would be the only option for that.


Your pharmacy does have the ability to order from a different _generic_ manufacturer/supplier. If they say they can't/won't then move onto a another pharmacy. Usually the smaller corner pharmacies are alot more accommodating with customer service. You will need your doc to call in another prescription if the pharmacy is able to order another brand. They can still order the brand name if you are willing to pay for it, but i would suggest trying different generic versions first.


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## steve0 (Feb 19, 2015)

*RE: Actavis are my favorite*

I happen to find the Actavis generic to be my favorite. I had to go to a different pharmacy (a major chain) because I wanted to refill my rx early, and they gave me Mylan. They don't seem to be as good as the Actavis but they still keep me somewhat calm. I actually think Teva is the worst. Not all brands are the same. Generics are legally allowed to be less or more potent then the brand names, not gone through the same tests as their brand, and everyone reacts differently to different brands. In my experience, good meds like Actavis Klonopin are found at private mom and pop pharmacies, not big chain places like CVS.


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