Generic name drugs contain the same active ingredients that name-brand drugs contain and are FDA-approved, but they almost always cost less. Generic name drugs can only be released after the patent for the brand-name drug has expired (which generally takes 20 years), so not all drugs can be purchased in a generic form. But some drugs that are available only in brand-name form do have a generic equivalent, which may be a slightly different formulation or a combination of two generic drugs. Ask your doctor if a generic drug is right for you.
Pharmacology
Pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs, medications, supplements) are chemicals used to treat, cure and prevent diseases. Learn more about pharmaceuticals from our experts.
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Stacy Wiegman, PharmD , Pharmacy, answeredSee All 2 AnswersEphedra is no longer available in the United States.
Ephedra is a weight loss supplement. It causes you to feel fuller and decreases your appetite. While this supplement may be able to decrease your appetite, it is not safe and is banned by the FDA.
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Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answeredSee All 2 AnswersThe drug Sibutramine (marketed as Meridia) has been shown to suppress appetite by acting like the feel-good hormone serotonin, so you don't experience the dramatic increases and decreases in brain chemicals that lead to hedonistic eating. Most folks can lose roughly 7 percent of their weight but not much more with this drug alone.
By the way, the popular weight-loss drug fen/phen had the same physiological action, too, but it was taken off the market because of its link to pulmonary hypertension.
An interesting side note: increasing your serotonin has been shown to reduce your carbohydrate intake, so it becomes a physiological chicken-egg discussion: Do comfort foods work to help curb depression or do we eat because we're depressed? -
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Stacy Wiegman, PharmD , Pharmacy, answeredSee All 3 AnswersCholine is an essential nutrient. It is needed for nervous system health, metabolism regulation, and gallbladder and liver health. The body produces some choline, and the rest needed is available in a healthy diet. This substance may be used to protect the liver, improve memory and treat high cholesterol. Although used by some bodybuilders, there is no evidence that it helps build muscle. Some food sources of choline include: milk, eggs, peanuts, beef liver, beef, salmon, cod, shrimp, broccoli, brussels sprouts, wheat germ, peanut butter and milk chocolate. There are a variety of supplements that contain choline available. The additional names that choline may go by include: tetra-methylglycine, phosphatidylcholine, CDP-choline, citicoline and polyenylphosphatidylcholine (PPC).
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Discovery Health answeredYou may not be surprised about hearing or seeing something that isn't there if you were taking LSD or morphine, but you may be surprised that some prescription drugs also "may cause visual and auditory hallucinations" as a side effect.
For instance, Parkinson's disease patients using Mirapex, have reported seeing everything from people hiding in their closets to snakes crawling up the walls. While these hallucinations are disturbing, patients who reduce or cease their medication often begin experiencing tremors and other impairments again.
Another medication-Lariam (generic name mefloquine)-was invented to prevent and treat outbreaks of malaria in the U.S. Army. Until recently, the drug-which as invented by researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-was routinely administered to soldiers deployed overseas and was given to many tourists, too.
However, Lariam carries some serious side effects-which includes the potential of hallucinations.
Both tourists and soldiers have reported experiencing frightening hallucinations and violent psychotic behavior soon after they took the drug. Beginning in the early 2000s, the Federal Food and Drug Administration began requiring patients to be screened for a history of psychosis and depression before allowing them to receive Lariam.
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Stacy Wiegman, PharmD , Pharmacy, answeredAeroBid-M is no longer available in the United States.
AeroBid-M, also known as flunisolide, is an inhalation corticosteroid used to treat asthma. When used regularly, AeroBid-M can decrease the number and severity of asthma attacks. AeroBid-M works be preventing cells in the lungs from releasing substances that trigger allergic and inflammatory reactions. AeroBid-M relieves asthma symptoms, including wheezing and shortness of breath.