New to board..Need some help please!! - Page 2

JuiciCouture · 12-20-2004, 05:40 PM

Oh ok..See I was thinking it was the generic form but its actually, in some way, a totally different pill? Yeah the actives are the same, but it seems everyone reacted badly to it...So its obviously much different. (thanks for pointing out that its not generic...I didnt know that.)
Anyway.. I am thinking of going back on Nordette. I just have a gut feeling that it was what worked for me. I dont want to go trying different pills and screwing my system up worse and worse.
I never was asked if Levora was ok... And that kind of ticks me off because look what it did, and I didnt even have a choice in the matter. I felt totally different on it as well as looked (skin wise). My skin became alot oilier...alot more broken out, and I felt very sluggish..i had decrease in appetite (which is NOT good because im a skinny girl and need all my appetite!!) and I felt very introverted and depressive. On Nordette I felt great.
So weird! Anyways- Keep me posted. [ please carefully review the posting rules - no emails ]

uglynow · 12-20-2004, 06:27 PM

Thanks Tigress!
That's a kicker, for the pharmacist to say that Levora is a generic form of Nordette...what a dumb.a..!
I wonder why it's so much cheaper then..must be some cheapo ingredients. Thanks for the info. Now I can really get back on my Nordette with no BS information from my pharmacist!
We should ALWAYS have a choice on what we put in our bodies. I'm so sick of Insurance companies and doctors pushing their own agenda on us. I've heard that Drs. get royalties or comission $$ from different companies when they push their new drugs, that's why if your gyn or any Dr. tries to change your pills or push something new on you, when there's no feasable reason for it, I would seriously question it, and call them out on it. They're supposed to be Doctors not sales people.
Sorry for venting, just had to add my 2cents.
Thanks again, and I will keep you posted on my results if I see any. You do the same.

Tigress223 · 12-20-2004, 06:38 PM

Well, it's supposed to be the same pill. The active ingredients are the same. You can have many manufacturers make the "same" pill. (ie-same active ingredients)

Once the patent on a name brand expires other companies are free to make the drug. This means other pharmaceutical companies as well as generic houses. What they can't do is duplicate the inactive ingredients (fillers) otherwise they couldn't make them any cheaper so there wouldn't be any reason to switch from the name brand. So they use different fillers which everyone say doesn't make a difference. They're inactive. But fillers do make a difference. I have seen this in myself and many others.

For me I actually liked the Levora better than the Levlen. (Except for the skin issue) But I had acne before starting Levlen so when I switched to Levora it was more like things went back to normal for me. My sex drive went back up. I got high blood pressure which runs in my family anyway and got my acne back. After 4 years on Levora and having to start taking some other meds in the meantime I just wanted to be done with the pill and I got an IUD instead.

All that to say they are technically the same pill. It's not like going from Nordette to Ortho Tri Cyclen or Alesse or Yasmin. Going from Nordette to Levlen or Levora, or Porshe (sp?) which I think IS an actual generic, should be like taking Nordette. Many people won't notice a difference but because of the difference in fillers many people do notice a difference. It could be the fillers in Levora effect the skin in a way the fillers in Nordette and Levlen don't...

Tigress223 · 12-20-2004, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uglynow

Thanks Tigress!
That's a kicker, for the pharmacist to say that Levora is a generic form of Nordette...what a dumb.a..!
I wonder why it's so much cheaper then..must be some cheapo ingredients. Thanks for the info. Now I can really get back on my Nordette with no BS information from my pharmacist!
We should ALWAYS have a choice on what we put in our bodies. I'm so sick of Insurance companies and doctors pushing their own agenda on us. I've heard that Drs. get royalties or comission $$ from different companies when they push their new drugs, that's why if your gyn or any Dr. tries to change your pills or push something new on you, when there's no feasable reason for it, I would seriously question it, and call them out on it. They're supposed to be Doctors not sales people.
Sorry for venting, just had to add my 2cents.
Thanks again, and I will keep you posted on my results if I see any. You do the same.

At first I didn't know Levlen or Levora were brand names either. I started out with Levlen and when the insurance co. sent me Levora and I noticed the change I asked my GYN about it. She's the one who told me Levora wasn't a generic, it was a different brand of Levlen. My insurance company sent me Levora as a generic substitute for Levlen. I never even heard of Nordette. They were substituting Levora as a generic for the name brand Levlen because Levora is cheaper then Leven. I think anything that's cheaper than the original is called generic so as not to "confuse" us "laypeople". Thank God my GYN is straightforward with me.

uglynow · 12-28-2004, 06:10 PM

Hi again,
I wanted to let you know that I called my pharmacy directly and asked if they could switch me from Levora to Nordette, they checked to make sure the insurance covered it and switched it!(just costs $10 more) The pharmacist said Levora is a generic version of Nordette

I guess if it wasn't generic it wouldn't be possible for the Pharmacist to switch it without Dr. approval. Either way I'm happy I didn't have to go through the Dr. to do this. I hope you're doing well with the Estrostep!