Generic Concerta Vs. Name Brand Concerta, Are They the Same?

With the release of a generic form of the ADHD medication concerta, and with people being more conscious on ways to save money, many wonder if the only difference is the difference in price. Even after having my doctor and many other sources saying that the generic is equally effective, I still wanted to do a test for myself.

Let me give you a little background information about myself and my experiment. I have a rather strong case of ADHD, where if I don't take my medication, I can notice how easily distracted I get, and when I'm on it, I can noticeably see the difference in my drive to work and stay on task. There is no placebo at work because I can think that I took it but be distracted or I can think that it has worn off but still feel the drive to work. I have had to deal with ADHD for almost all of my educational career and have had to take medication for 11 years. I have had much success with my medication having not experienced many side effects. I am the perfect subject for a test in the new generic.

My methods for carrying out this experiment were simple; take either the generic or name brand on any given day and see if there is a difference in performance. To factor out the power of suggestion, I mixed the name brand with the generic in the same bottle and just took them like I would normally. This worked because in a side by side comparison, the 2 pills look exactly alike. Both the generic and name brand have the same shape, color, weight, all the way down to the numbers and letters indicating dose. I could not tell which kind I was taking so there was no way for me to convince myself that one was better than the other thus skewing the results. I did this for a month putting my grades on the line in the name of science and frugality.

If I noticed a difference, I would have to reevaluate the results and find a way to figure out which was better, but I didn't notice any difference. From what I found, I couldn't notice any difference in focus and performance between the generic and name brand. The only difference is $20. But I am just one person and my results may not be typical. To be sure for yourself, I recommend that you perform a similar experiment. If you are doing this for yourself, take an equal amount of the name brand and the generic, mix them together, and take as you normally would. The pills should all look the same, thus eliminating the factor of placebo. You will know that there are different kinds but not sure which. If you are the parent of a child with ADHD and administer their medication, you could mix them up without your child knowing but you would know which is which and measure the results that way. It doesn't matter the method in which you conduct your test, just so long as the subject doesn't know which is which. In the end though, I found that the generic was just as effective as the name brand with the only difference being that the generic was $20 cheaper.