#31041 - 08/28/03 04:10 PM
Brand Norcos
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tracerb
Board Addict
Registered: 03/21/03
Posts: 322
Loc: USA
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Wow, I must admit that at least with brand Norcos, they are most definitely very potent, more so than generic. I've always subscribed to what the FDA says regarding brand, but I most definitely can feel how potent Brand is for norcos. 
Edited by tracerb (08/28/03 05:07 PM)
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#31052 - 08/28/03 11:12 PM
Re: Brand Norcos
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tracerb
Board Addict
Registered: 03/21/03
Posts: 322
Loc: USA
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Yea both watsons and norcos are made by the same company, but perhaps it's just this particular batch of norcos I received, but they definitely feel much stronger than any other Brand or generic norco I have ever taken. Perhaps, they have been stored in optimal conditions or their mix got off a bit and more hydro wound up in them, but I can definitely feel a huge difference in strength compared to any norcos, Brand or otherwise, that I have gotten to date.
I'm not complaining though as you might imagine
The pharmacy they came from is Universal Pharmacy Solutions, with the OP being uspharmacyrx.com. Hopefully, those who ordered norcos get the same ones to make up for their recent, and perhaps, ongoing fiasco with shipping.
I also noted that they essentially opened a factory sealed bottle of 100 (pretty fancy bottle too), took 11 out (yea they shorted me one...not gonna make a fuss over 1 though), and sent me the factory bottle with a prescription label on it.
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#31053 - 08/29/03 12:05 AM
Re: Brand Norcos
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platinum79
Journeyman
Registered: 08/05/03
Posts: 97
Loc: United States
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I totally agree Tracerb(your first post), the entire time I have been prescribed Norco 10/325's I have received Watsons...then this last time, they mistakingly sent me Norco name brand (  ), they are definitely more potent to me...and see, I'm pretty small and take like 3 a day, so I think I would notice a difference more so than maybe someone who takes more in quantity and weighs a considerable amount more than myself...
Edited by platinum79 (08/29/03 12:07 AM)
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#31055 - 08/29/03 07:05 AM
Re: Brand Norcos
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voyager
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 04/17/03
Posts: 1090
Loc: United States Virgin Islands
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Just an additon to this conversation. Norco is patented. Part of their appeal to pain management MD's is their size. They are 10 mg tablets but the smallest of all the hydro's. They are manufactured by watson labs. The generic watson 10/325 is EXACTLY the same size as is the norco and EXACTLY the same color and are made by EXACTLY the same company. They are also EXCATLY the same strength.
I have had both and they are EXACTLY the same. There are too many other variables that are not quantifiable such as how much food you ate before consuming the medicine, tolerance etc.
For those of you that think there is ANY DIFFERENCE at all you just don't know where you are coming from. I know because a family member works for Watson labs. Hope this clarifies things a bit. 
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#31057 - 08/29/03 08:03 AM
Re: Brand Norcos
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rex
Enthusiast
Registered: 01/29/03
Posts: 223
Loc: NJ
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Can anyone tell me roughly what the price difference is between Brand Name Norco and generic Norco at a good pharmacy like Woody Pharmacy (like for #90 or #120)? Thanks in advance. 
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#31058 - 08/29/03 08:10 AM
Re: Brand Norcos
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14stones
Board Addict
Registered: 06/18/03
Posts: 336
Loc: On the beach in California
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First i said "akin". In that situation common sense would tell you that they won't sue themselves, but, maybe you should ask yourself what their reason would be for developing another EXACT replica of a med that they produce with the only difference being labeling. I was told by a chemist and a compounding pharm that drug companies hold an exclusive patent on a med for a period of time and then other companies will make "generic" versions of the med changing common ingredients so not to duplicate the original med and act against the original patent.
I am not a scientist. I am a guy who has severe reactions to most generic meds. So much so that I have actually paid out of pocket to find out the difference between the two. I can tell you that while you might be able to specualte that their are no differences in them, that I can with certainty tell you that there is. I have impirical evidence to support what I have said. I also was given a "blind" test to eliminate the chance of the problem being a psychological one. I have four pages of printouts on these specific meds as well as a few others that I have had problems with and there are absolutely differences.
I have been told by the chemists at the lab that the differences were mostly in something they called "binders" and other "non active" components. I was told to get an alergy test to all of the "binders" and "non active" components on the list. (They highlighted them for me). I haven't done it because knowing that there were differences was all that I needed. I stick to using brand name products and avoid the problem.
There also was absolutely a different level in the amount of hydrocodone between the two types of pills that I provided for their study. I gave them 5 from each bottle (brand and generic) and the diferences between the two were the same on each sheet.
I personally don't really care if anyone else agrees with their findings. I used them to establish a few guidelines for myself and it has worked. I came here to share the info. No biggie to me if you believe it or not. I would appreciate it though if those of you who don't like what I have had to say for some reason or another would stop with the angry pm's. I don't think it's too cool. Heck, we are all adults. So what if we don't agree with each other over any topic here. I would think that we could be mature enough in this caring environment to simply agree or disagree without all of the chest pounding.
To sum up, I had actual scientists do a chemical study of the meds and they found several differences. These are empirical and documented. They shouldn't effect most people unless they, like me, have allergic reactions to the said differences. They did find that there was slightly less hydrocodone in the generic than the brand but I would suppose that it is possible that I could have recieved meds that were out of date a bit and that could be the reason for the slightly lower amount in the generic. (although it wouldn't explain the higher dosage of the brand name but it is insignificant)
I don't have a scanner or I would scan the findings in and post them here. If anyone is interested you can send me a happy pm and I will be happy to work out a way to mail you a copy of the findings.
I did actually say it "would be akin to" and not that it is "exactly the same thing as". There are certain differences between the two statements that I thought were obvious. I apologize for not thinking through the idea that some might not see it that way. I just took it as it appeared to me and thought that there was no way that anyone could mistake that statement, I was wrong and as I said apologize.
No more pm's that have been written by 9 year olds. I know that we have some anonymity on the internet so there could be times when we feel that we might want to behave differently then we would in front of each other but please, don't waste your time with me. I won't respond and other than make me scratch my head a bit don't really care about what youv'e written.
O.K.?
Silly, isn't it? I agree!
_________________________
Go that way really fast, if something gets in your way.....TURN! Always look on the bright side of life.
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#31059 - 08/29/03 11:24 AM
Re: Brand Norcos
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rex
Enthusiast
Registered: 01/29/03
Posts: 223
Loc: NJ
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14stones - Wow! I'm sorry (and surprised) to read that people sent you angry PMs.
I enjoy sitting on the sidelines and reading posts by people more knowledgeable than me on this subject. I certainly don't find this such a sensitive topic.
I just want to get the most out of my hydro Rxs. I still am curious about the difference in cost (just a ballpark figure) for #90 10/325s or #120 10/325s at Woody Pharmacy or a similar, competitive pharmacy.
Does anyone know if you can ask the pharmacy to send Name Brand on a refill where the first fill was generic. Or is this something that the doctor has to order? Thanks.
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#31061 - 08/29/03 04:23 PM
Re: Brand Norcos
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painster
Stranger
Registered: 08/09/03
Posts: 12
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Regarding the price difference of brand Norco and generic, they generally run anywhere from 25% to 100% more, depending upon the desired profit margin that the pharmacy is attempting to achieve. You need to call around to different pharmacies and ask that very question. That's my personal experience anyway.
Another personal observation that I've found to have a link as far as efficacy of almost all oral narcotic pain meds is that you take it on an empty stomach. Any food and some liquids slow down or partially inhibit the absorbtion of the med. Again, this is a personal opinion and as a result, I've developed a bad habit of not eating during the day in order to maximize the efficacy of the hydrocodone. I do however drink liter after liter of water. I generally eat in the late afternoon or early evening and I never eat until one hour after my last dose. That's a terrible habit that I've developed, which is definately not good for my health. But, if you want the maximum effect of the oral narcotic pain med, that's one way to do it. I want to make something perfectly clear however, the majority of most other prescribed medicine out there is not as sensitive or may be totally insensitive to whether you have stomach contents. Alot of this information is directly out of the Physicains Desk Reference (PDR) but alot is my personal opinion as well. So don't adopt my bad habit (I'm sure most of you wont), but it's something to think about if you're looking for reasons one tablet "feels" stronger than the other.
I wanted to share one other thing. I use a compounded formulation of 15mg hydrocodone with 100mg acetamenophen. The pharmacy is William and Mary through Cyberscriptsrx.com. I am curious if anyone elso uses them and have experienced an inconsistancy with ratio standards.
Thanks, good health and good day!!
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#31065 - 03/16/04 08:30 PM
Re: Brand Norcos
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ken2
Journeyman
Registered: 01/30/04
Posts: 70
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Actually the Brand Norco and the generic Watson 10/325 Norco are NOT "exactly the same". [Sorry I couldn't resist.] They are embossed with different names and numbers, Norco vs. Watson, and I'm not sure of the exact numbers. Other than that, they're EXACTLY THE SAME. Same manufacturer, same manufacturing plant, same composition, same period.
If you look at the pictures and descriptions of all of the varied types of hydrocodone product at the Eckerd website, which has been linked on this board, seems that the brand Norcos are also sold by Eckerd and others, as their store brands. So if you get Eckerd brand hydro 10/325, you're actually getting brand Norco, which is exactly the same as generic Watson 10/325. Since the brand Norco -- unless purchased for example from Eckerd -- is much more expensive than the generic Watson 10/325, I can't think of any good reason to pay for the brand Norco, except that some OP's will send ANY generic, which could be Watson (Norco), or any of the others (Able, etc).
If anything above is wrong, I'd like to hear.
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Moderator: Melody, Heidi
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)They use several different chemical components between the two. They are required to by law. If they didn't it would be akin to copy wright infringement. Usually they will use different binders or compounding agents. I had to find this out as I have had some very severe reactions to generic meds and have never had them with Brand name meds. I actually took an order of Lorcet that I had recieved (generic) to a lab to see if I had been poisoned. They compared them with a name brand product and told me that there were several differences and that they were common to the differences between brand and generic. I got this big print out of all of the chems and they were allot different. The interesting thing was that the generic had 9.47% hydrocodone in it and the brand med had 10.77% in it. Not a true significant difference in that they were both close to the "10%" that they preport to have in them. Just different enough to give those of us with sensitive systems fits.
