Have any of you used the generic of Aricept? If so, any problems? And, how much did it cost you? Trying to get a handle on what this disease is going to cost us.
My pharmacy said it isn't available yet. I found this on the web: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100105/FDA-approves-generic-donepezil-hydrochloride-orally-disintegrating-tablets.aspx--it may be that only the chewable version is available in generic.
Yes, I think you're right that this generic approval is only for the chewable variety. Works for me. I found these drugs on a Canadian online site for generic = $30.16/10 tabs and Aricept (non generic) $541.08 for 90 tabs. This stuff is unbelievably expensive.
We are in the donut hole so I am looking at the next order of Aricept will be generic from canada. Namenda will continue get at the best price I can find. I think that will be at Walmart.
OT is off topic for when we want to talk about something other than dementia. The donut hole is the time when prescription costs are no longer covered by part D until additional costs add up to a certain amount, than part d kicks in again
Moorsb, have you asked the neurologist for samples? We've been able to stay out of the donut hole the last 2 years because of her giving us samples. I ask before I *really* need them in case she doesn't have any; then ofc staff mails them. Hb is "off" Aricept and on to Exelon. Ofc sent 4.6 the last time and said to use 2 of them. I had to buy Namenda the last time at Walmart for $34.58 for 60 tabs.
I am not at all clear about how the meds work with the donut hole. I am supposed to take Entocort and the prescription given me was for 3 a day for two weeks, then 2 a day for two weeks, then 1 a day for a month, and I'm due to run out. Medicare Part D paid for most of the prescription but since the donut hole is figured on how much YOU AND THE INSURANCE pay for something, I'm now just short of falling into the donut hole. Turns out that the prescription I got was for 90, for $1000!!! SO i need some more, not a lot more; the doctor said come by for samples rather than refilling.
But if I need it again and go to Canada for it, don't I have to let the people handling Part D know that in case I come out on the other side of the donut hole! The real thing, not a generic, is $219 in Canada!
I'm not sure about that either. There's is no way we WILL come out the other side of the donut hole, but the question is worthwhile on an academic level. How would Canadian-filled Rx's be factored into drug costs? Or not?
We discussed generic Aricept at our support group today. The facilitator, who is a geriatric nurse, explained that the FDA will allow a generic drug to have a different amount of the active ingredient than the brand-name drug. If I understood her correctly, it can vary as much as 20 percent. Bottom line, if anyone is going to switch to the generic Aricept, please observe your LO closely for changes as it is not identical to the brand-name drug.
That is true. I learned that in researching the possibility of generic birth control pills for people who seek my counsel on such matters, and discovered that the difference in active ingredient which is allowable by the definition of generic equivalent could be the difference between accidental pregnancy or not. Not good. I recommended sticking with the original in that case. Will have to think about this as concerns aricept.
My mum has been on this Generic Aricept for 8 weeks now and her cognitive thinking and problem solving has become more fluent, she also looks much more alert. To know more visit http://www.internationaldrugmart.com/aricept.html
My husband has been on the generic aricept for awhile. The doctor actually put him on the 23mg aricept after the generic was available at 10mg. That was 1 1/2 years ago. The 23 mg made him sick so he takes 10 mg in the morning and 10 mg at night. It is the generic. We do his mail order through the insurance. I don't think the higher dose helps. They say that it is not doing anything anymore. He has been on it for 5 1/2 years. He has progressed in the past year. I saw on the other decussion of should we stop it. But his doctor told me if we stop it he will go to where he would be if he never had been on it. So we continue it. He has been on namenda for 4 years too. We are lucky he can take these. It seems so many cannot. I am not sure if it has slowed it, but seems like it did for awhile. We have known he had problems for 9 years now and was dx 6 years ago. He is starting stage 6 I think.
Sid has been on generic aricept for over a year. It IS available, and has been so for as long as he has been on it. He is on MY prescription drug plan from my retirement insurance. I pay $20 for a 3 month supply. Anyone paying anymore is getting ripped off. There has been no difference in his functioning - just the normal decline, plateau, decline, plateau, that he has followed since the beginning of the disease.
Jackiem29 I believe it's been generally accepted that the 23mg Aricept was a marketing scheme to fight off the generics once the Novartis patent on the Aricept brand had expired. Nearly everyone who tried the high dose, according to the literature, suffered side effects severe enough to discontinue the med.
Exelon is a drug in the same class as Aricept, a cholinesterase inhibitor. A higher dose patch was approved by the FDA after testing showed statistically significant improvements in mild to moderate patients lasting for about 24 weeks, with no additional side effects