Question
Are generics the same as brand-name drugs?
4 January 2016. Related: All topics, Changing treatment, Side effects, South Africa.
I live in South Africa and have recently been advised by my medical aid that they will be changing all Atripla patients to a generic drug called Tribuss.
This is because Tribuss is cheaper.
I have checked with my doctor and she advised that there is no reason to worry because it is almost the same thing – just that the other is a generic.
My concern was around side effects. I wanted to know if I should expect going through the side effects all over again.
My other question is what is the actual difference between the actual drug and a generic?
Answer
Your consultant has given you the good information about Tribuss.
The main difference between generics and brand-name drugs is just the cost. Generic drugs cost much less than brand-name counterparts.
The active ingredients for the generic and brnd versions are both the same.
Generic drugs might be a different shpae size or colour but they have the same activie ingredients. They are just as effective and also have the same risk of side effects.
Generic drugs are also carefully tested. They undergo similar strict regulations for safety and its effectiveness. In the UK, between 65% to 85% of all drugs prescribed by the NHS are generic.
In theory, you should not have any side effect problems, since they share the same active ingredients as brand-name drugs. However, if you do get from side effects, please talk to your doctor.
This answer was lightly edited in January 2016 from an original answer in February 2012.
Hi my Dr suggested that I should take Tribuss and am new in this,its my first time taking this treatment and my CD4 count is 373 and my viral load is 15
Hi Dion,
First of all I’d like to clarify that we are not doctors, and we have no medical qualifications.
It’s great that you’ve achieved an undetectable viral load and this CD4 count is also good. Everybody has different responses to treatment but the BHIVA guidelines define successful treatment as a CD4 increase of 100 or more. This link will take you to a graph which shows average CD4 increases after starting treatment.
Hello Dr,
I am on Tribuss/Atripla since september last year and my viral load decreased to undetectable within 6 months (under 40copies HIV/ml blood)My main concern is my CD4 did not improve much,starting at 48 and now only at 178.What type of CD4 increase should be expected at such a late stage of initiation ? I took me seven years to progress from infection to CD4 of 48,which was only when I found out about the infection.I would like a general figure for CD4 count increase for Tribuss please,if available.Thanks for a great forum !
Hi Thoko,
Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I’m sorry to hear about the dreams you are experiencing, are these affecting how well you sleep?
It’s very normal to have strange dreams when you are taking Tribuss. This is a side effect of one of the drugs in this combination which is called efavirenz. There are some things you can do to reduce this such as taking Tribuss on an empty stomach and taking it a couple of hours before you go to sleep. But if these dreams are affecting your life it’s important to talk to your doctor about this. Tribuss isn’t the right drug for everybody and if the side effects are too much to cope with you should be able to change to a different treatment. Please follow this link for more information about efavirenz side effects.
hi
I was on lamzid and viramune for 4years then i gave bith in march.soon afte that my treatment was changed to tribuss which made me so drowsy not being able to look after my new born.
But now is better cause i take it when am putting her to sleep at the same time.
Again since i take tribuss i dream about dead people almost everytime.is this nomarl?
Thoko
Hi Gugu,
It’s great to hear that your sleep has improved and that you’re feeling relatively positive!
It’s not unusual to feel bloated when taking Atripla. This could be caused by trapped wind, which is a side effect known to occur with tenofovir (one of the drugs in Atripla). Your doctor should be able to prescribe somehting to help with this. There are also over the counter medications to treat with this but you should check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking these to make sure there is no drug interaction with your ARVs.
Do you know what units your kidney function is being measured with? Without knowing this it is difficult for me to comment on this test result. Has your doctor suggested any treatment for this?
Hi
If the weight loss was fat loss because one of your previous ARVs was d4T (stavudine) then regaining fat again is a slow process. However, this is already going on because you have switched to Tribuss. Tribuss include tenofovir, FTC and efavirenz. Several studies showed that limb fat (in arms and legs) slowly returns after switching from d4T to tenofovir. this is slowly over several years though. Just as the fat loss took time, any return takes time.
Also, individual results will vary. For some people who lost a lot of fat, the way to make your legs look bigger is to develop muscle where the fat used to be. This involves resistance exercise to build your leg muscle and individual results vary for this too.
I m currently on tribus and i want to gain some weight, i loss a weight as a site effect of other arvs, more especially on the legs. Kindly advice me what to take to gain a little weight, i dont like myself because i was not like this before taking the first arvs.
Thanks. The increased information from people who have taken efavirenz during pregnancy is very reassuring. This is also a big relief to woman who are getting great results from treatment that contains this med in case they become pregnant in the future. Thanks for your feedback.
I’m really happy to find the information on this page. I was very angry with my Dr. When i talk to him that i am planning for the pregnancy but that i am afraid for my baby to get harm because i am taking efavirenz medication. But my Dr tell to go ahead with my pregnancy because now efavirenz has no side effects for the baby. i thought he didn’t want me to get pregnant.