Teva Clonazepam Discontinued Group

[[Buddie]]

Just FYI. I stopped crossing over to qualitest & got the 1mg tevas to split into .5s right now as I hold. Will see what’s available when this script I’d up? Good luck all.

[[Buddie]]

Sc,

From what i heard over the phone, all strengths of Teva K are being discontinued. Right now Teva wholesalers are using up their supplies of everything is what I was told. And that means the pharmacies are using up all their supplies also.

I’ve emailed Teva and got an emailed response back. So I called for the 3rd time. And that’s what I was told.

Boy, Teva has really put Benzo users in a difficult position.

[[Buddie]]

This has been so stressful for me as well. Been on teva for 8 years now and taptering for 3 years and only had 5 months left untill being completly off and now this happened. My pharmacy gave me the accord brand which gave me horrible withdrawal symptoms to the point of not being able to function. I finally got the new actavis brand that has replaced teva, and still not feeling any better. Not sure if I should just stay on the actavis until my body adjusts or should try the 1mg teva. I was told the 1 mg teva will be eventually discontinued as well. Mylan and sandoz have discontinued their clonazapam as well, I contacted them by phone and thats what they told me. Pretty strange their all discontinuing around the same time. I am very shocked a change in generic is giving me such a hard time, wasnt expecting it to be this hard. Good luck to everyone. 1luv

[[Buddie]]

It is very strange that several well known generic brands of clonazepam are being discontinued.

Mylan and Sandoz are definitely discontinuing theirs. It has been on the FDA website that someone (can’t remember who)posted. I called Sandoz also and they verified it to me also. Did not call Mylan, but it is on that FDA website. And now there’s this Teva situation. I had plenty of communication with them by email and on the phone.

They always indicate that all strengths of Teva K will be gone when used up and replaced by Actavis. I started out with Actavis at a Shopko Pharmacy several years back, and it ended up working fine for me. Then it got replaced with Sandoz at most pharmacies around here. I had to adjust to that. Then back came Actavis. Got put back on that. Then it was unavailable again. Got put back on Sandoz. I’m on it right now, but it has and has had some side effects for me. Sandoz has given me a strong feeling of being choked and inability to breathe that I never experienced with Actavis. I’m really worn out and affected in my CNS with all these switches, and I don’t just mean emotionally.

I have a very rare disease called idiopathic subglottic stenosis that affects ones ability to breathe. I’ve had multiple corrective surgeries for it, and after 14, I was able to breathe. So the Sandoz has some connection to the way I feel on it. Could be fillers and dyes or something in the way it’s made. It’s being discontinued for some reason-complaints? Financial? Who knows. I’ve heard Mylan is too weak from various sources. So once again-complaints? Financial? But nevertheless, I’m concerned for myself. Even if I can get the Actavis again, I’m realizing that since all those surgeries affected my voice from the start, the last one I had removed over 2 inches of my trachea and put my vocal chords in a totally different place in my trachea. So now another switch is coming up with Sandoz discontinuation, and basically with each one my CNS is sending mixed up signals to my vocal cords that are weakening my voice. My voice is now so weak, I struggle to speak, and with another switch to any different Clonazepam (Actavis or whatever) I’m going to become totally mute. I essentially have what is known as vocal cord paralysis.

This can happen anyway with subglottic stenosis patients, but mine is is definitely exacerbated by Clonazepam or maybe even all benzos. I’m really lost here, and not sure what to do or where to start.
Not asking for advice, just expressing thoughts, fears, concerns. Been doing that since I got up early this morning.

[[Buddie]]

It is very strange that several well known generic brands of clonazepam are being discontinued.

Mylan and Sandoz are definitely discontinuing theirs. It has been on the FDA website that someone (can’t remember who)posted. I called Sandoz also and they verified it to me also. Did not call Mylan, but it is on that FDA website. And now there’s this Teva situation. I had plenty of communication with them by email and on the phone.

They always indicate that all strengths of Teva K will be gone when used up and replaced by Actavis. I started out with Actavis at a Shopko Pharmacy several years back, and it ended up working fine for me. Then it got replaced with Sandoz at most pharmacies around here. I had to adjust to that. Then back came Actavis. Got put back on that. Then it was unavailable again. Got put back on Sandoz. I’m on it right now, but it has and has had some side effects for me. Sandoz has given me a strong feeling of being choked and inability to breathe that I never experienced with Actavis. I’m really worn out and affected in my CNS with all these switches, and I don’t just mean emotionally.

I have a very rare disease called idiopathic subglottic stenosis that affects ones ability to breathe. I’ve had multiple corrective surgeries for it, and after 14, I was able to breathe. So the Sandoz has some connection to the way I feel on it. Could be fillers and dyes or something in the way it’s made. It’s being discontinued for some reason-complaints? Financial? Who knows. I’ve heard Mylan is too weak from various sources. So once again-complaints? Financial? But nevertheless, I’m concerned for myself. Even if I can get the Actavis again, I’m realizing that since all those surgeries affected my voice from the start, the last one I had removed over 2 inches of my trachea and put my vocal chords in a totally different place in my trachea. So now another switch is coming up with Sandoz discontinuation, and basically with each one my CNS is sending mixed up signals to my vocal cords that are weakening my voice. My voice is now so weak, I struggle to speak, and with another switch to any different Clonazepam (Actavis or whatever) I’m going to become totally mute. I essentially have what is known as vocal cord paralysis.

This can happen anyway with subglottic stenosis patients, but mine is is definitely exacerbated by Clonazepam or maybe even all benzos. I’m really lost here, and not sure what to do or where to start.
Not asking for advice, just expressing thoughts, fears, concerns. Been doing that since I got up early this morning.

That is a lot to handle. Is there any way you can have your dr. get you approved to take brand name klonopin.

[[Buddie]]

NJ,

I thought a lot about the doc trying to get the brand K for me. He’s told me before of arguing for other clients of his to get brand name meds for them, but he is a pdoc, and I never asked if he meant a Benzo or an AD or an AP. Just didn’t think about it at the time.

I have an appt with him on July 14, so I will inquire then.

But another consideration is cost. I just turned old enough to have to use the Medicare part D program that President George W Bush started back in 12/8/03. I’m not sure if you know how this works, but it is administered by private health insurers who have a forumulary they use. And each year, in the fall, new plans come out and some remain from previous years. It can be a good program, but the general rule is to stick with the formulary your plan has. I’ve done this for my hubby for several years now since I retired early. He’s permantly disabled, and up until I retired, I had him on my workplace insurance. So his meds were covered by that and so were mine. I’ve actually only been on a Benzo so costs were pretty good overall.

Then due to job stress (social work/crisis counselor) and some layoffs (RIFs) that I would have to pick up the work of others, and work by myself for 8 hours each day counseling numerous families and teens in severe crisis, I decided to retire early myself and pay the “early retirement medical insurance” and put my hubby on Medicare which he’s been eligible for all along. So I’ve been picking these plans for him for about 5 years now. But this last fall I had to pick plans for both of us. I usually have gone with plans who’s premiums are fairly low cost as long as they covered his meds. So I picked one that stayed pretty low cost as it did last year. And since I’m now on Medicare myself as this last fall, it’s mandated by law that folks who physically retire (not sure about Federal employees or those who continue working past 65) pick a plan. So we’re now on the same plan for the rest of the year.

I checked out the formulary and they pretty much have all the benzos used in the US in generic form. They do have an appeals process that I read and seemed a bit complicated, but the doc will probably understand it. If that were to work out ok, it would most likely lower the cost of the brand name K, and eliminate this constant switching from one generic to another. Of course, these plans change from one year to the next, so by October of this year, I might be looking at another plan altogether. From what I’ve observed they all have an appeals process for this sort of situation, so the answer is maybe I can get the brand name.

Paying out of pocket w/o insurance is somewhat prohibitive I think, although I sure haven’t checked out those prices. Thought I read somewhere that brand K at both Sams Club and Costco were fairly inexpensive although it looks like a phone call will be necessary to verify. I’[...] also check Walgreens as that’s where our med part D plan is. Im very explanatory as you see.

[[Buddie]]

NJ,

I thought a lot about the doc trying to get the brand K for me. He’s told me before of arguing for other clients of his to get brand name meds for them, but he is a pdoc, and I never asked if he meant a Benzo or an AD or an AP. Just didn’t think about it at the time.

I have an appt with him on July 14, so I will inquire then.

But another consideration is cost. I just turned old enough to have to use the Medicare part D program that President George W Bush started back in 12/8/03. I’m not sure if you know how this works, but it is administered by private health insurers who have a forumulary they use. And each year, in the fall, new plans come out and some remain from previous years. It can be a good program, but the general rule is to stick with the formulary your plan has. I’ve done this for my hubby for several years now since I retired early. He’s permantly disabled, and up until I retired, I had him on my workplace insurance. So his meds were covered by that and so were mine. I’ve actually only been on a Benzo so costs were pretty good overall.

Then due to job stress (social work/crisis counselor) and some layoffs (RIFs) that I would have to pick up the work of others, and work by myself for 8 hours each day counseling numerous families and teens in severe crisis, I decided to retire early myself and pay the “early retirement medical insurance” and put my hubby on Medicare which he’s been eligible for all along. So I’ve been picking these plans for him for about 5 years now. But this last fall I had to pick plans for both of us. I usually have gone with plans who’s premiums are fairly low cost as long as they covered his meds. So I picked one that stayed pretty low cost as it did last year. And since I’m now on Medicare myself as this last fall, it’s mandated by law that folks who physically retire (not sure about Federal employees or those who continue working past 65) pick a plan. So we’re now on the same plan for the rest of the year.

I checked out the formulary and they pretty much have all the benzos used in the US in generic form. They do have an appeals process that I read and seemed a bit complicated, but the doc will probably understand it. If that were to work out ok, it would most likely lower the cost of the brand name K, and eliminate this constant switching from one generic to another. Of course, these plans change from one year to the next, so by October of this year, I might be looking at another plan altogether. From what I’ve observed they all have an appeals process for this sort of situation, so the answer is maybe I can get the brand name.

Paying out of pocket w/o insurance is somewhat prohibitive I think, although I sure haven’t checked out those prices. Thought I read somewhere that brand K at both Sams Club and Costco were fairly inexpensive although it looks like a phone call will be necessary to verify. I’[...] also check Walgreens as that’s where our med part D plan is. Im very explanatory as you see.

I am only 49 so still on a regular health care plan, not Medicare. I looked up and I think a 60-day supply for brand name K for me would be $160 with no insurance. I am able to swing that--it isn't great, but worth it my dr. is willing to write a prescription for brand. I think she thinks I am crazy, but I haven't been terribly stable since January (I think some of my gastric symptoms at this point are more than withdrawal, awaiting more tests).

I really don't want to be on the generic merry go round, I think this is just ridiculous for all of us. I now wonder if the issues I had with a compounded liquid klonopin a few years back was because the compound was made with something other than teva pills. I never thought of it then, but now wonder if that is the case.

Take care.

[[Buddie]]

NJ, just checked Sams Club and Costco websites and they are up to date. The drug search always defaults to Clonazepam for both, but it’s possible that they can order brand K at a fairly affordable cost.

My voice is so weak right now, I hesitate to call. Maybe hubby can do it, although I have to write it all down for him. But I can do that.

Going to check Walgreens site also. Up to date, and he can call the Walgreens in West Jordan which is 24 hours.

I agree that this awful generic merry go round is ridiculous. It’s worth it to at least check these costs makes sense. My doc is genuinely worried about me as his daughter is a speech pathologist and has worked with several idiopathic subglottic patients. Totally explained it to him. He’s a great doc.

[[Buddie]]

So I have just emailed Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche. Genentech make brand name klonopin for Roche.

Very organized site that will not allow questions about medical products on their general inquiry site.

Email inquiries about medical products are redirected to the the Medical Information Department.

It will take 1-3 business days to get back to me.

I am seeing costs of around $300 for bottles of 60-100 tablets w/o insurance. Maybe this email will provide more specific information. And I can call different pharmacies tomorrow also. I’m a bit overwhelmed and our oldest grandson just came to work on his car.

He’s that engineering student and super tech savvy so I’m going to ask him to look at my iPad which keeps timing me out whether I’m posting somewhere or reading movie reviews. Very annoying.

[[Buddie]]

Actually, this group is a bit inactive, just like the KK #2 is, but oh well; I can’t do much about that.

Still baffled by this as so many people get put on K even in 2018. I often wonder what generics brands they are taking currently since all this Teva stuff started.

I did a bit more investigatingthis morning about a few of these companies, and just thought I’d pass it along. We do know for sure that Mylan and Sandoz have discontinued their generics of clonazepam.

So this morning, I called Solco. I actually forgot to ask if they make generic Clonazepam, but if [...] is getting it from Solco, they must. Will call them back when my voice is decent enough to do that just to verify. But I did find out that Solco has no connection to qualitest. They are 2 separate companies.

Then I called qualitest at 1-800-444-4011. Qualitest is still part of Endo Pharmaceuticals and Endo bought both Par pharmaceuticals and qualitest. So these folks that answer these phones seem a bit mixed up themselves, but after getting transferred around, I was told that I was speaking with the parent company, Endo, and they only make Clonazepam in the oral disintegrating tablets now and not any higher strengths.

I’m wondering what is going on here. I still have to call Solco back to find out what those Clonazepam strengths are, and I will. Just not today because I have a bunch of mundane stuff to do, and after I take that horrible Sandoz crap, my voice is almost inaudible. Surprises me that folks can hear a literal whisper of a voice, but they do hear it. So lots of the older companies are not making Clonazepam at all it seems.

Still going to call Accord as they are still around. Just can’t do this in one day. Almost seems like Clonazepam is going away. Well, it’s a toughie for sure. Maybe folks just can’t handle it; I’m unsure of all this now. I did send that email to Genentech who makes brand K for Roche, but can all people on K afford it? I don’t know, but if someone is not working and alone, who knows?

I could swing the cost of a couple hundred bucks, but I’m not as close to getting off as others because I started at 3 mg. and tapered down to half of that all on Actavis. I’ve got some time to go here.

Just an update here. Good luck to all of us on clonazepam because for all the people here who take it, no one seems particularly concerned overall. I can’t keep all this calling up because I’m VOCALLY IMPAIRED. And maybe others can make a bunch of switcheroos on generic brands, but they screw me up so I can’t.

I just made a good case for the Benzo information coalition. One of their “consequences” listed for taking benzos is LOSS OF VOICE. I’ve got that people. The BIC maybe have never encountered it; not sure, and they probably never encountered someone with idiopathic subglottic stenosis. I just don’t know.

Well, here I am- a Benzo user who got sucked in by an unknowing psychiatrist way back, and a person with one of the most rare diseases in the world. Anyone can go to Facebook and join the closed group “living with idiopathic subglottic stenosis.” Maybe not if you’d never had it. But it’s there. I personally can not navigate Facebook, so I’ve given up even trying to post there. And my surgeon is considered the best in the world or so I’m told.

Getting off track here. Just would appreciate more input from others. What does anyone else hear or know? Still haven’t gathered the courage to see if my particular pharmacy can now order Actavis or not. Those dummies at CVS are the worst. I may report that particular store to their corporate headquarters. Lovely to walk into that pharmacy and have all those people welcome you, and then get to the pharmacy and be treated like crap. And be treated like crap on the phone also. Ok that’s it for now. Maybe I’[...] have to try to switch to valium. That’s on the WHO organizations list of essential medicines along with Ativan for seizure control. Not really understanding if they do or don’t control seizures. But Clonazepam is not on that list, and it’s used to control seizures. Nothing making sense here.

Please spread the word to whomever you think needs to know. Maybe the long hold group, and that totally inactive KK club#2 who could probably give a rats ass. Just don’t let me be the only person here doing something for heavens sake!