My mother has taken Fosamax for several years. She has just started to take the generic version of the drug. She says that it is causing her a lot of digestion problems. Has anyone been able to use Fosamax and NOT been able to use the generic version?
Hi Poet-Lady: I've never taken Fosamax, but I would talk to your pharmacist, the one that filled the rx, and ask if the generic version has any other things in it that the Brand name doesn't like fillers, preservatives, additives, etc., I know from personal experience that some generics have additives that the Brand name med doesn't. You can look this up, but generics sometimes differ up to 20% from the Brand name equivalent. Do you have a PDR or access to one? You can look up the ingredients of both brand and generic in that book (Physicians Desk Reference), but look for the 2008 version of the PDR.
Do you if she was taking Fosamax or Fosamax +D? They wanted me to switch to generic but I refused because I wanted the one +D. I had problems with plain Fosamax but no heartburn problems with the +D version. I used to work in a doctor's office and talked to Merck rep one day about it. He said he had heard that report from others - that they don't have the heartburn with Fosamax +D - but they were unable to advertise it that way. So you might want to go back and see which one she was taking before.
Peggy
I have been on Fosamax and when the generic came out my doc told me to take the one that Watson Pharma produces because it is actually the exact same formula as the original Fosamax. (and on the package it actually has the info that it is a Merck product) My regular pharmacy didn't carry that brand, so I changed to another local place that does. The cost is the same no matter what generic you use.
Marion
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