Teva Clonazepam Discontinued Group

I saw this last night while watching tv. It is very unsettling with all this brouhaha caused by the Teva discontinuations and substitution with Actavis.

 

I called the FDA earlier this morning because I wanted to learn to navigate the site itself and see all these discontinuations for myself. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of options when you call them for that kind of general information so in order to get a live person on the phone, I had to go to the last option which was speak to a pharmacist. So this was in Silver Springs, Maryland, but that pharmacist was very difficult to understand because she spoke with a very pronounced foreign accent.

 

She herself had tremendous difficulty with the website herself, had trouble seeing any discontinuations at all, and it ended being a pretty much worthless call to have made.

 

I do have insurance myself for medications, but for the branded benzos, none of those benzos by brand are covered. So I would have to appeal this for an exception, and I’m fairly sure that my pharmacy and the others here won’t do it. I do think that will be left to my doctor, so I will discuss this with him when I see him on July 12th. I looked at the formulary book and it appears to be a rather “tricky” process, but my doc probably gets this a lot.

 

I am having adverse effects from this Sandoz Clonazepam (that horrendous strangling feeling), but I’m pretty sure it’s related to all the switching back and forth I’ve been forced to do. And if an appeal doesn’t work out, I might be able to pay for the brand name klonopin myself. At this point I’m not sure any other generic or brand name will change anything for me. Too much sensitivity of my CNS.

 

I had 2 pretty good days where the strangling feeling was gone, but it’s back today, maybe not as bad as it has been which is good, but I’m now at day 17 of a liquid taper with a tiny reduction, and I’m holding the same reduction where it was on day 1. So I’m just going to tough this out and see if those receptors that control what’s called “Brocas brain” fully upregulate. I’m grateful that my doc is so supportive of me.

 

And Uni, thank you for all you’ve done yourself.

I don't believe this at all but my latest from the Teva folk.

I also believe (and what I was told multiple times over the phone except the last time) is that once the Teva that's out

there is gone, it's gone.

 

On Jun 22, 2018, at 2:11 PM, TevaCS <TevaCS.TevaCS@tevapharm.com> wrote:

 

Thank you for contacting Teva Pharmaceuticals Customer Service.  We are unable to predict the discontinuation of a product. At this time Teva Clonazepam 1mg Tablets are active and available.  I hope this information has been helpful in addressing your concerns.

 

and when I asked specifically if they were still manufacturing it

 

On Jun 25, 2018, at 2:01 PM, TevaCS <TevaCS.TevaCS@tevapharm.com> wrote:

 

Thank you for contacting Teva Pharmaceuticals Customer Service Department. At this time Teva Clonazepam 1mg Tablets are active and available.  This states that the product is still being manufactured.

Well that’s very strange and conflicting to what we thought.  Let’s hope this remains true so those taking TEVA can continue. 

 

Thank you Intend and NoLongerAnxious for all the work you’ve done with this. 

 

 

Well, and so the story goes on and on and on and on ....

 

I am going to email and call again to get to the bottom of this. Whether I get the real Klonopin brand from Genentech or not is not my issue at the moment.

 

I want the truth from Teva, and I will get it.

Intend, I admire your ability and determination in this matter.  Thank you for all you’re doing, it’s helping everyone with the TEVA scare. 

Thanks all for your hard work & input. I just got back in town, sorry I havnt contributed. I now have another very expensive med my nuero wants me to take for ms that I’ll have to figure out cost wise, it’s outrageous.

Just called cvs, they have solco & accord in .5mg

1mg solco & just a bit of teva left

Rite aid that’s just switched over to Walgreens has .5 solcos cursive v on one side & 2530 on the other, if you look that up, that is Qualitest

What I was told is that prinston pharmaceuticals manufacturers qualitest & solco distributes it & that the old manufacturer was endo & parr-

They said they can try to order actavis bu5 can’t promise a steady supply.

1mg they have solco & actavis & said they might be able to order actavis in .5mg

I found the solco to be more sedating than teva, and didn’t seem to be feeling well on it, but was not crossed all the way over & was simultaneously trying to stabilize from a cut & hold that caused too much withdrawal & I updosed or reinstated from, so didn’t give it much chance. It’s also softer, can use pill splitter but not razor to cut.

I have no idea if I should try actavis, try solco again, or try to get brand approved, it’s $179 for 30 .5mg brand k pin without insurance!

be well all

It's a real mess Scaredie.

 

While you've been gone, others like me and nolongeranxiousbut have called Teva and sent those emails you may have seen on this thread.

 

I have researched a lot of possible email options to the corporate offices of Teva. I've found that their official website is literally several sites. A bunch of sites that are outdated and who knows what. But I'm disturbed enough to even use an option I found yesterday. The site is dated 2015, but it shows the corporate structure with Kare Schultz as the new CEO which is correct. And it has their code of conduct, and a bunch of other crap there. It talks about their responsibility to patients and their duty to keep patient groups informed and ensure a ready supply of product for all who need their products.

 

And their are two different email options meant for Teva workers to inform management of unethical practices. I'm seriously considering using those emails to inform the "higher ups" of all the BS the customer service people keep giving us. We are just those lowly patients they refer to.

 

I'll get beyond those lousy customer service people, and if my voice will be strong enough this morning, I'm going to call them and tell them that. No one should have to deal with all this. It's horrendous.

And I'm just going to say this one more time.

 

There are SO MANY people on BB on clonazepam, what the hell is going on?

 

I look at the tapering people and SO MANY are on this crap.

 

Don't they care what is going on with all these discontinuations?

 

I feel like sending out some kind of alarm. But where does one do that?

 

People keep wanting to know how to taper with this or that, but is anyone aware that they might have to switch brands of generics? Is the only option left to get the branded drug from Genentech?

 

Gee, this whole BB site site seems to be in total la la land as far as clonazepam and what is happening.

 

It's come down to a survival situation. Great for people who are off this stuff, but awful for others who have aways to go.

 

And I sure despise getting any advice from people who are off about tapering. I know how to do it; it's about getting the drug to taper off of.

Once again thanks so much, intend!

I’m lost & scared about the entire ordeal.

Been a on here looking @ what people have to say about it, but not finding answers really.

Sorry you’ve been left to do so much leg work.

I have to go call insurance about another med & will inquire about brand penalty exception for k pin.

I don’t know why some people don’t care. Either their generic isn’t effected, they don’t know what’s up, or they’re not bothered by crossover to other generics.OR they can afford brand.

Hope to touch base soon.

Scaredie,

 

Go make your call and get that over with. I just called customer service again and gave them a bit of a lecture about all this mixed up BS. I will post this info here and on the KK Klub#2.

 

I'd sure like to tell all K taperers to consider what's going on here. Guess I might have to ask admin where to post that.

 

How come admin and moderators seem to be in the dark about all this? They're out of touch themselves it seems. Never used to be that way. Kinda shocking I think.

 

 

Gotta post tomorrow about my conversation with Teva. Spent all day waiting for cops to come about the strange guy walking down our street. And he just left. They say theyre coming by to watch the video the neighbor caught on her camera, and then its way later than they say.

 

Got caught up in watching msnbc also. And more laundry. Did a bunch yesterday, but way more to do. Couldn't get to it till hubby took his stuff out.

 

So tomorrow for sure.

And I'm just going to say this one more time.

 

There are SO MANY people on BB on clonazepam, what the hell is going on?

 

I look at the tapering people and SO MANY are on this crap.

 

Don't they care what is going on with all these discontinuations?

 

I feel like sending out some kind of alarm. But where does one do that?

 

People keep wanting to know how to taper with this or that, but is anyone aware that they might have to switch brands of generics? Is the only option left to get the branded drug from Genentech?

 

Gee, this whole BB site site seems to be in total la la land as far as clonazepam and what is happening.

 

It's come down to a survival situation. Great for people who are off this stuff, but awful for others who have aways to go.

 

And I sure despise getting any advice from people who are off about tapering. I know how to do it; it's about getting the drug to taper off of.

 

Yes I’ve been wondering the same for the past month as well. There are so many people on clonazepam and most of them are on teva. I’m wondering if the pharmacy’s in there area still have some teva left over and they don’t know it’s been discontinued. Or if they do just fine with switching generics and don’t notice a difference. They might not even be aware they are getting their generic switched out. Come on Teva people where are you guys!

Dub,

 

Yes, where are all this clonazepam people?

 

Dub, I just posted today my conversation with Teva customer service yesterday. It's there right now.

I called teva again today and now they say both .5 and 1 mg clonazepam are gone and Activis is out there and available.  This is all very disconcerting when many of us tapering long term have a groove that was going pretty well. I for one can’t deal with all new symptoms and poor quality generics and know I am not alone.

 

Just wanted to let folks know latest info they told me which differs from a month ago....aaarrgghh. Hang in there, Suzuka9

Yep,

Suz, sorry in same boat. You might want to check out the klonopin klub 2. It’s looking like either solco or actavis for me. Actavis not even out here yet though. Good luck

Ok folks. I called 2 cvs pharmacies here in the Salt Lake City area. Actavis is on their shelves.

 

As anyone here knows I’ve been doing plenty of calling and emailing to Teva. I heard plenty of discrepancies myself.

 

And nope, I sure don’t want to have to change again. It feels like all I’ve done is switch from one generic to another. And it feels that way because it is what I’ve been doing.

 

I sure don’t know why Teva decided to do this. They are still the largest generic drug maker in the world. Sure can’t tell you why they decided to get rid of their Teva clonazepam and bring back Actavis again.

 

My doctor is mystified. I am mystified. I did the best I’ve ever done on Actavis, but to be switched from that to Sandoz to Actavis to Sandoz and back to Actavis again is hard on my CNS. I feel that and now I’m highly sensitized. I’ll feel everything now. My voice is deteriorating. My doctor commented on that one aspect yesterday because we discussed it in detail. His daughter is a speech pathologist and she totally understands my rare disease which affects my voice.

 

Another switch is going to probably hit me. Will I ever get off this drug is a huge question for me.

Intend:

 

Thanks for all the updates and research. I find this whole scenario ridiculous and troubling. I fortunately have not had to switch yet but by next week need to start calling pharmacies to see if I can find more teva, or move to brand K. It looks like I am very likely changing jobs again (started this one in April), and I cannot have a generic switch up mess me up. Because I am not doing that well to begin with.

NJ,

 

It’s has been rough just to do all this stuff. I read about your possible new job a minute ago on the LHSG.

 

Hard to advise on that. I’ve heard about those commutes on the east coast. I guess people get used to them. They sure do race around Salt Lake City. I’m in West Jordan, and it’s a real racetrack here also. You look before entering a street. No cars. Then out of nowhere, 15 cars appear behind you. Oh vey! Scary!

 

Sounds to me that if you can move to brand K, you might want to give it a try. I’m never sure myself, because updoses have affected me as far as my voice. But you don’t have that problem, so it could help you.

 

We went to Boston to visit our daughter when she was there. Crazy driving also. Lots of roundabouts, people pushy, edging cars into a lane literally inches at a time. Gotten the same way here now.

 

Lots for you to consider as far as job and K. We all seem to be in some sort of worry and stressful situation. I remember reading on some UK site that people should pick a time to taper when life’s stress are really low. Sure would like to know when that was. I guess when I was just young and ready for anything. Not that way now for sure!

NJ,

 

It’s has been rough just to do all this stuff. I read about your possible new job a minute ago on the LHSG.

 

Hard to advise on that. I’ve heard about those commutes on the east coast. I guess people get used to them. They sure do race around Salt Lake City. I’m in West Jordan, and it’s a real racetrack here also. You look before entering a street. No cars. Then out of nowhere, 15 cars appear behind you. Oh vey! Scary!

 

Sounds to me that if you can move to brand K, you might want to give it a try. I’m never sure myself, because updoses have affected me as far as my voice. But you don’t have that problem, so it could help you.

 

We went to Boston to visit our daughter when she was there. Crazy driving also. Lots of roundabouts, people pushy, edging cars into a lane literally inches at a time. Gotten the same way here now.

 

Lots for you to consider as far as job and K. We all seem to be in some sort of worry and stressful situation. I remember reading on some UK site that people should pick a time to taper when life’s stress are really low. Sure would like to know when that was. I guess when I was just young and ready for anything. Not that way now for sure!

 

Yes, the job thing and jumping again to a new spot is a bit of a stressor. I started a new job in April after working somewhere for three years that was pretty much awful every day. It took me a long time to find the new job, and the interviews (some jobs required five different interviews!) were overwhelming. I got several offers but none was the right one. When I got the one I accepted, it seemed "good enough." And it is "good enough" but a $10,000 raise and cutting my commute time by half would be a huge positive, and I think it is a job that I would enjoy more. Where I am, it has sort of been a bait and switch, everything they told me during the interview process has not turned out to be true. It is crazy. I even have a different boss than I anticipated ... I would not have accepted had I known I would be working for this person. I think the new possible job, they were very transparent during the interview process. We'll see how this goes. I need to give them an answer by Tuesday but I cannot imagine that I will say no.

 

But going through more stress during a time when my body isn't doing spectacularly well, this is hard. I actually think that most of my issues with my GI system and even sleep stem from sudden food intolerances. I feel and sleep better when I avoid protein and dairy.

 

Intend, hope you have a great weekend because you deserve it after all this work!

NJ,

 

Thank you!

 

I know how this interview process goes. It can take multiple interviews for an interviewer to narrow down who they want for a particular job. And then often, that job turns out exactly as you say. I’ve been through this myself. Very disconcerting.

 

The food intolerances sound like a strong possibility. Sometimes this sort of thing comes on later in life. My hubby used to have horrendous allergies every spring, and now he hardly has anything. And the same with my younger daughter. Awful asthma that she grew out of. But you might be the opposite of that. It does work that way often.

 

And it could be the benzo. Lots of problems we never had before happen. Just to get away from these drugs is a blessing. I do ok so far, but I do have rashes with this clonazepam. Occasional, very infrequent upset stomach. Maybe you could tolerate a more plant based type protein diet. I’m sure those tests will pinpoint something that will help.

 

There are those other type dairy products also. Almond based etc.

 

You have a great weekend also. I know you’ll make the right decision as far as your job.

Hi ladies,

Wow. Yes everyone seems to be having their own form of extra stress in life atop all this. Thanks again intend for an update. Here’s the update for southeast, Walmart accord, CVS, Walgreens, solco. I guess actavis on backorder for our area. Having dejavu hearing that again from same teva guy that told me teva was on back order right as this all started going down...Walmart is the only pharmacy that knows what their preferred .5 k pin is & knows what they can & cant order. So I did cut & partial crossover, when teva ran out, updosed, found 1mg teva to cut in half, gave up on dream of trying to hold onto that, now I’ve a few days of teva left, have some extra solcos laying around was hoping to try a week of activis but it’s not here & Pharos are saying they can’t order it. Mom & pop one really irked me the other day as Walmart said try them, they may order it for you & they were like well why don’t you just try a week of North Star(oh yeah so there’s North Star here) um because I’m calling you asking you to order actavis & don’t want to try North Star sorry rant.

 

In any case I can’t afford brand, so to me I was hoping to try a week of activis, compare it to solco, see who if anyone is going to promise to keep one in stock then choose the best fit for me if that’s possible. It’s scary & I may not have much choice. Maybe actavis will show up & I can at least test.

 

Just remember it could always be worse. I wouldn’t wish this depression & fatigue on anyone. Add the poor cognition, anxiety & people can hardly stand to deal with me. I’ve been through much emotional turmoil in my life & probably always think each depression is THE worst one, but I’m so uncomfortable in my own skin right now. I think benzos can really mess one up emotionally. I hope I can get functional enough to help myself more. There’s so many natural things I know I can do for myself but they all seem so far out of reach right now. One day at a time.

 

NJ good luck with new job. You could use a break, I can’t believe you function in your condition. Intend I hope you have a restful weekend, you need break too.

 

Be well xx SC

Hi ladies,

Wow. Yes everyone seems to be having their own form of extra stress in life atop all this. Thanks again intend for an update. Here’s the update for southeast, Walmart accord, CVS, Walgreens, solco. I guess actavis on backorder for our area. Having dejavu hearing that again from same teva guy that told me teva was on back order right as this all started going down...Walmart is the only pharmacy that knows what their preferred .5 k pin is & knows what they can & cant order. So I did cut & partial crossover, when teva ran out, updosed, found 1mg teva to cut in half, gave up on dream of trying to hold onto that, now I’ve a few days of teva left, have some extra solcos laying around was hoping to try a week of activis but it’s not here & Pharos are saying they can’t order it. Mom & pop one really irked me the other day as Walmart said try them, they may order it for you & they were like well why don’t you just try a week of North Star(oh yeah so there’s North Star here) um because I’m calling you asking you to order actavis & don’t want to try North Star sorry rant.

 

In any case I can’t afford brand, so to me I was hoping to try a week of activis, compare it to solco, see who if anyone is going to promise to keep one in stock then choose the best fit for me if that’s possible. It’s scary & I may not have much choice. Maybe actavis will show up & I can at least test.

 

Just remember it could always be worse. I wouldn’t wish this depression & fatigue on anyone. Add the poor cognition, anxiety & people can hardly stand to deal with me. I’ve been through much emotional turmoil in my life & probably always think each depression is THE worst one, but I’m so uncomfortable in my own skin right now. I think benzos can really mess one up emotionally. I hope I can get functional enough to help myself more. There’s so many natural things I know I can do for myself but they all seem so far out of reach right now. One day at a time.

 

NJ good luck with new job. You could use a break, I can’t believe you function in your condition. Intend I hope you have a restful weekend, you need break too.

 

Be well xx SC

 

Scardie:

 

I find meditation really helps me. I cannot do it alone; I use Jason Stephenson on Youtube ... it's wonderful. Totally changes my day. Take good care of yourself with all you have on your plate.

Thanks NJ. I saved your suggestion. Be well

I also like Jason Stephenson.

 

My husband was picking up some of his own medication at our CVS Friday and just asked and they currently still have Teva 1 mg in stock... not sure for how long.

Gee willikers,

 

nolongeranxiousbut. I know what they said around here as far as Teva and Actavis. Last month the CVS in West Jordan were big dum dums.

 

This month the customer service guy called them and they tell him there all stocked up with Actavis on the shelves. Then I called a CVS in a Target store in West Jordan. They were stocked with the 1 mg, and waiting for more of the .5 mg to come.

 

This whole thing seriously bothers me on so many levels. DubCity mentions that his doctor says drug companies make no money off clonazepam so they discontinue clonazepam. I tend to think that drug companies make hardly any money off any benzo. And for that matter, they make very little off any generic drug in general.

 

I did ask Walgreens whether customers across all ages preferred the branded drug or the generic (if there was a generic), and they said the generic was always preferred.

 

Well, I can only guess about what’s going on here. I’m thinking that there’s still some Teva left as you said, and they just didn’t know when it would run out.

 

I’m really surprised that SC found Wal-Mart to know their preferred generic clonazepam. I’m not fond of Walmart because here it’s like a “zoo.” Too many people, and I’ve always been told here that they get what they get like a lot of pharmacies. I have no idea if they have a preferred clonazepam or what. I went in there just the other day to get something my daughter wanted for her birthday, and never thought to ask. I will ask though at sams club. They have a pharmacy also. And they get what Wal-Mart gets. I do go there. Going to ask them.