Terry,
Don't switch!Tell your doctor of the problem.When a brand name medicine has been out for seven years its patent runs out and generics jump in just to sell a version that contains just the therapeutic ingredient. The company that developed Keppra puts more ingredients in it than that one.The half-life of generics isn't near the same as the brand name.You will probably have more seizures because the therapeutic drug it released by liver into blood at a much quicker rate.So it isn't effective very long and if you continue to take it at the doses/rate as you did with Keppra, the medicine will not be in your blood system long enough before you take your next dose. Because its probably at twentieth-life before you take a dose again.The manufacturer of Keppra which has a half-life of 12 hours, began to distribute Keppra XR which has a half-life of twenty four hours, because of generics,their inability to copy what is the patent on half-life; but,it has
the same drug it it.So when its patent runs out,generics probably won't be able to copy it, since they already copy the one drug it has. But how can they copy the half-life?
Tim Baldwin
________________________________
From: Terry Martin <trm0818@yahoo.com>
To: "epilepsy@yahoogroups.com" <epilepsy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, May 26, 2010 11:11:54 PM
Subject: [epilepsy] Switching from Keppra to generic
Hi Everyone,
Has anyone switched from the name brand Keppra to the generic form of it? I have heard that it is not good to change to a generic if you have been taking the name brand. Keppra has been controlling my seizures (along with generic Dilantin). My pharmacy has tried to get me to change to the generic, but I refused and now my copay has doubled. Thanks for any thoughts on this subject. Take care.
Terry
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