change of medication form capsulase to tablet anyone else?

[Sunshine78]

Had depression for years and GP told me I will always be on ADs anyway been on the same sort for about 9 years and generaly apart from odd days been OK.

Just over a month ago collected my repeat to be told I had been switched from capsules to tablets but that medication was the same. Didn't think alot of it. Anyway over last month have not been feeling great but kept brushing it off then last Thurs had a mini break down at work - ended up my parents being called to collect me as was just histerical which is how I remianed for over 24hrs. My DH put 2 and 2 together and reckoned it was the tablets so asked GP to give me capsules.

After trying to assure DH tablets and capsules are the same GP gave in and gave me the capsules. Been back on them for a week and feeling back to normal.

Had to go to GP today to see how I was going and was told it was all in my head that there was a difference and that I am now costing the NHS an extra £400+ a prescription by only wanting capsules over tablets!

Has anyone else experianced anything similar?

what anti-depressant is it?

£400 a prescription?! WHat are they made from, gold???
It is all in your head though. The medication is exactly the same regardless of the shape it comes in

On venlafaxine XL.

Justallover - really am not sure it is just in my head as didn't give it a second thought till went down hill and DH mentioned it - actually thought the tablets were easier to swollow!

I don't think it's in your head. Sometimes different preparations can act slightly differently e.g. the liquid form and the tablet form can be different.

However, if your GP insists they are the same, I guess you have to trust? Have you tried googling to see if any other users have had similar problems?

I know psychological factors are major. I am on mirtazapine and one time I was given a different brand - the tablets were a different colour and it freaked me out.

Will try google - just cant beleive there is such a difference in cost!

Hi - I have venlaflaxine slow release capsules and there is, from what my psychiatrist and gp, told me a difference, or several difference.

If you look up on a search engine you will see that one (capsules) is a slow release drug, the other is not. Also the capsules and tablets have different dosages, so just swopping may mean a rethink of dosage.

If you have a psychiatrist can you contact them and ask their opinion? If you were put on capsules for slow release purposes it would be for a reason.

Venlaflaxine XR used to be only one brand - before generics could be used, 1st brand was Efexor, but new generics are cheaper - which is an option. I reacted badly to the generics, so my gp has to write one each prescription "English brand, Efexor" - ie not one packed from Spain of 150's and my other part of dose from another country as has happened. Chemist not happy with this, but Gp said cost not important - health is!

If you get nowhere, you could maybe try Mind to get an advocate for you, or Pals maybe for support. Or change gp?

Hope things improve.

i work in a pharmacy, our pct is insisting that all venlafaxine is switched from caps to tablets too as they are cheaper, the generic xl tablets are either viepax or venlaclic.
the cost of the 150mg xl caps is about £38 per box not £400! the dr is having you on.
the generic version is about £20 btw

There is a lot of discussion about generic medications (not just AD's).

Drs generally claim that there is no difference between brand names and generics but in the US apparently (dont knnow about UK) a generic only has to be within 80-125% of the active ingredient. (if you do a search on google youll find out more about this)

I have found that I was ok on the generic version of my medication BUT every time i was going to the chemist I was getting a DIFFERENT generic and they definately had different effects on me.

I asked the chemist about it and he said they cant ask for a particular generic so you just have to accept what you get.

In the end my GP has changed me to the brand name so that i should get vaguely the same thing each time but that was only possible because my medication is a very old one and the brand name is actually a few pence cheaper than the generic.