Sertraline - constant brand changes

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For a long time I was on the same brand of sertraline. Once I got over the initial side effects, I settled well on it.

The last year or so, the pharmacy will give one brand for a couple of months, and then switch to a different brand. Some brands give me much worse side effects, but the constant switching between brands means I have the side effects every time.

Both the doctor and pharmacy seem to suggest the other needs to request a specific brand and I’m not getting anywhere.

Has anyone got any advice?

flamingo seems to be the worst brand for me.

Check the ingredients - they should all be the same? Look at the product licence number (PL). Same licence number, same formulation.
I know that some thyroid meds this can be an issue but I'm not sure about sertraline (DD has had many different brands with no problem).

I have different brands all the time. I haven’t noticed a difference, the product number is the same?

@CookerhoodThank you, i don’t have two boxes of the same dosage to compare. I have 50mg and 100mg with different PL numbers but assuming that’s because of the different dosage.

I get exactly the same side effects when I switch brands as when I first started taking them and definitely feel worse on some more than others. One of the side effects is night sweats and I know that one isn’t psychological if that makes sense.

It can be a thing. My DM had the same with her heart tablets - her GP put on her prescription that she could only have a certain brand.
Happened to me with Cerazette too, switched to Cerelle and had an awful time on it. Lots of people reported the same issues, I had to get it through Superdrug online pharmacy in the end.

@LutonBeds im wondering if it’s the filler ingredients? The active ingredients might be the same but maybe the coating or anything else added might be different.

OH! I wondered what was going on! Thank you you've solved a mystery.

I was switched from seratide to fostair a few years ago. Developed a cough. GP concerned so had an x-ray. Still coughing. Went for annual checkup with asthma nurse. She clocked the change and put me back on seratide. Said she'd had an issue with a few patients. Cough went.
Last year they put me on a new one, same cough so back to seratide again.

Even if it's only a tiny minority it's worth speaking up

I had this with sertraline. I actually switched to a different med because it was so unpredictable.

Seratide (salmeterol xinafoate & fluticasone diproprionate) & fostair (beclometasone dipropionate, formoterol fumarate dihydrate) don't have the same active ingredients, so that is probably why.
In theory there shouldn't be a problem with drugs with the same active ingredients as studies have to be done to show that they are bioequivalent. Clearly for some people they aren't the same though.

God yes this is so annoying. I am also on 150mg broken into one brand of 50 and a different brand of the 100, the 100 is absolutely disgusting as it dissolves quickly in your mouth. Every month a different brand!

Thanks all. I might look into getting them through an online pharmacy and see if that makes any difference.

Possibly, I think that’s what they said it was with DM. I just got fobbed off with Cerelle and told it was the same. Even when I offered to pay, they wouldn’t prescribe it 🙄.

I've noticed this, I get bad heart burn & indigestion with one of the brands.

I found less changing with Boots chemist as opposed to local chemist.

Yes!! I've had hideous heartburn and headaches for the last month and twigged in the last week that the brand has changed.

Deep joy.

I am on a different SSRI, and have had a relapse of crippling anxiety and its assoicated symptoms the past 2 weeks. Realised I had had a completely different brand for the past 18 days, (never had a problem switching before).

Could this be a thing and i am not going insane? I feel like I sounded insane when I told my husband.

@Triangledreams i really think it does make a difference. In your case it sounds like you didn’t even realise the change in brand, therefore surely it’s unlikely to be psychological.

I asked my doctor to reissue my prescription and I called around a few pharmacies to find a brand I felt better on.

Hi
I know I'm abit late joining this discussion but I am really interested in everyones experience of changing brands.
I'm so disheartened as have been on sertraline for a very long time and the constant brand changing is becoming more and more frequent. This has affected me again and again I think it's so unfair and also seems to be disregarded as an important issue in the treatment of mental health problems 😒

Hi
I know I'm abit late joining this discussion but I am really interested in everyones experience of changing brands.
I'm so disheartened as have been on sertraline for a very long time and the constant brand changing is becoming more and more frequent. This has affected me again and again I think it's so unfair and also seems to be disregarded as an important issue in the treatment of mental health problems 😒
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Hi I know this is an old post but did you suffer worse mentally or just physically when you changed brands and by that do you mean a different manufacturer?

I suffer really bad with the flamingo brand, the active ingredients are the same in all but the inactive ingredients are different in every brand.. I’ve called the doctors today because I can’t continue on the flamingo brand 😩

My daughter’s GP puts a note on her repeat prescription saying that it must be a specific brand of Sertraline liquid. I have found Boots chemist more reliable at providing the right brand. The chemist is correct based on our experience that brand requirements are the responsibility of your GP.

Yes I found this with cerazette/cerelle but not with my sertraline

@Firsttimehopful Both.. my anxiety would
feel heightened again, and physical side effects like headaches, tiredness and night sweats seemed to get worse again.

I am now on a lower dose, and it doesn’t feel as much of an impact when the brand changes, but I have been on the same one for a while now.

@BAJ94 hope you’re able to get another brand. Flamingo definitely worse for me too.