I have seen other people post about this so I wanted to share my experience. I was on the regular ortho tricyclen with no acne problems. The pharmacy gave me the generic (trinessa) and since my insurance doesn't cover BC I decided to try it. I have been breaking out for the past 5 months that I have been on it. I never had a problem with acne before but its gotten so bad that I've been to the derm and since been on benzaclin, retin-a micro, tetracyclin, vitamins, drinking lots of water, proactiv cleanser, eating an organic diet to avoid excess hormones.... Basically nothing has worked. I never even thought about the fact that I changed to the generic pill and this could be the reason (I am 24 and never had an acne problem.) Since I made the connection, I have searched the internet and found other people with the same problem. Has anybody else experienced this? I am going back to the regular ortho tricyclen to see if my skin will go back to normal. I will post in the future to let you know what happens. Please let me know if this has happened to anyone else!!

I can't really answer your question but I have the same concerns about Trinessa. My daughter got this because our policy wouldn't cover Orthotricyclen which was prescribed for her acne. She's on her 3rd pack and not gotten the clearing that I hoped she'd get. We have a derm appointment tomorrow and I'll ask him about the generic vs regular. Hopefully, he'll have an opinion.

I didn't wait for an opinion. I went ahead and switched her to the regular OTC. I think she might be a little better but she's always got her makeup on so I'm not sure. Thank you for this thread it was timely for me/us.

I just switched too, and now that you mention, my acne has gotten worse. I mentioned to Derm. but he said it "shouldn't" have an effect. I was wondering the same thing, so I'm glad someone else has noticed. Maybe I will switch back. That sucks b/c I was so excited to have a cheaper brand of BC.

I'm so angry. I was on ortho and on spiro, and completely clear for 3 years. Then, the pharmacy switched me to the generic ortho, and I've been breaking out since then. I just spoke to my doctor, who said that there might be minor differences in the meds that could provoke a change. I'm furious, because when I had asked the pharmacist, he had said that they were exactly the same.

Now, I'm not sure what to do. My doctor upped my spiro from 75 to 100 mgs a few weeks ago, so hopefully this will make a difference. I also have a derm appointment next week. Have you gone back on ortho, cheesewagon? Please let us know if you see results!

Good luck

I'm glad you guys posted about this because I was under pressure a little while back to switch to the generic because since they came out with the generic the copay for the regular othro went from 15 to about 80 dollars for 3 packs!!! I considered switching but decided against it and now I'm glad.

My daughter has been breaking out like crazy on ortho. She's in month 3 now. She was on generic Trinessa for two months. I'm not sure if we're starting all over with an initial breakout or what? Still trying to be patient but doing a bad job.

I just switched back to regular OrthoTriCyclen....I am hopeful. Since I last wrote I found 30 different people (on different web sites) mention changes in their skin and cycle since going on Trinessa. Even though the pharmacist says that it is a clone, I am highly skeptical!!! How can this many people have problems with it? If there is no difference in the two pills, I find it too coincidental that I made it 24 years without acne and the same month I switch pills I break out with untreatable acne... I promise to keep everyone reading this thread updated!!!

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences with the generic ortho. My generic was actually Trisprintec and not Trinessa. Isn't it infuriating that we were misinformed? I'm going to switch back to ortho at the end of the month (my doctor told me not to switch mid-month). I hope I won't have to face an initial breakout with ortho....Best of luck with your transition, Cheesewagon.

So I was talking about all this with my mom and she said the problem with generics like this is that it's not necessarily equalivalent to the original for ALL people. For some people it might be but for some people it just isn't.