[Last updated: 10/08/2008]
Here's an excellent source for more information:
http://gerd.emedtv.com/prilosec/generic-prilosec.html
Saving money on heartburn / GIRD meds
How to take omeprazole / Prilosec
Omeprazole should be taken with a glass of water at least
1 hour after eating, and you should not eat or drink
anything except water (or antacids) for at least 30
minutes after taking it. (For Zegerid, you should wait
at least 60 minutes after taking it.)
Generic omeprazole is usually packaged in capsules, like
prescription Prilosec and Nexium. However, Prilosec OTC
is packaged in caplets (elongated tablets). While not
identical, they are functionally equivalent, when taken
whole.
The main difference is this: You can open capsules to
split the dose, but you must not break the Prilosec OTC
caplet in half to split the dose, because the Prilosec
OTC caplet uses an enteric coating to delay dissolution
until the drug has passed into the small intestine, where
it will not be destroyed by stomach acid. If you break
the Prilosec OTC caplet the coating cannot work. Most
omeprazole capsules (except Zegerid) use an enteric
coating on the "tiny time pills" within the capsules.
What it costs, and where to get it cheapest
Prilosec OTC is available everywhere in the United States.
("OTC" stands for "Over The Counter," i.e., without a
prescription.) The best price I've found is about $0.63 /
20mg caplet, at Sam's Club.
Prilosec / Omeprazole Magnesium is made by AstraZeneca
(innovator) as Prilosec / Losec, and under license by Procter
& Gamble (OTC version), and as part of a joint venture
with Astra, by Merck. Generic versions are apparently
made by Ranbaxy (as Romesec), Productos Farmaceuticos
Collins (as Alboz), KUDCo / Schwarz Pharma (as Norpramin),
Mitsubishi Pharma (as Omeprazon), Valeant (as Nuclosina),
DrReddys (as Omez), SBL (as Merofex), Teva, Mylan, STADA
Arzneimittel, Kremers Urban, Omega Biotech (of India,
not Canada), Sandoz / Lek, Intas Pharmaceutical, Apotex,
Dexcel Pharma (as Omepradex & Zanprol), Santarus (as Zegerid),
and probably others.
NEWS: In December, 2007 Dexcel Pharma & its marketing partner
Perrigo received FDA approval to market generic omeprazole
OTC caplets (as Omepradex?) directly in the USA.
Omeprazole is manufactured in 10mg, 20mg & 40mg dose sizes.
20mg is by far the most common dose, but if you are buying
a generic product you should make sure that you are getting
the 20mg dose, rather than the 10mg dose.
I've found sources for generic omeprazole made by Collins,
Ranbaxy, SBL, Omega Biotech (of India), and Intas. Ranbaxy,
Omega Biotech, and Intas are based in India. Collins and
SBL are Mexican companies. (I believe that Ranbaxy is the
manufacturer of many of the generic drugs that WalMart sells
with their $4/month prescription drug offerings - which do
not, unfortunately, include omeprazole.)
eBay used to permit the selling of generic omeprazole, but
no longer does. Before they changed their rules I found a
half-dozen vendors selling generic omeprazole there.
I use Collins "Alboz," which I've bought from two sellers
for under $0.22 / 20mg capsule:
hilojoe at hotmail dot com (Joe Cino) & Ed Costa, 760-408-3535.
Heartburncure at sbcglobal dot net (Irene Luna)
(Irene & Joe might also sell "Merofex" generic omeprazole
from SBL Pharmaceuticals, but that's not what I bought.)
Both Joe & Irene used to sell generic Prilosec on eBay, both
have 100% positive eBay feedback ratings, both treated me
well, both gave me excellent prices, and both have recently
answered emails from me.
ProgressiveRX sells Ranbaxy "Romesec" for about $0.25 / 20mg
capsule. The company name makes me a bit queasy, but they
have an excellent eBay feedback rating, and a polished-looking
web site. However, I've never done business with them.
Another eBay seller of Ranbaxy "Romesec" omeprazole was
ebay vendor joymukherji200188jq. Her eBay feedback rating
is perfect, but I've never done business with her. Her
email address is joymukherji2001 at yahoo dot com, or you
can presumably contact her via this link. At last notice,
she was selling 200 capsules for $38 ($0.19 / capsule).
Update: eBay seems to be permitting generic omeprazole
sales again. At least, there's somebody selling it again:
the_detroiter has a perfect eBay feedback rating, and sells
Ranbaxy "Romasec" for under $.30 / 20mg capsule.
Omeprazole is also sometimes sold on Amazon auctions
for $0.25 / capsule or less. One vendor I've seen there
is gizzy24 (Debbie Tye, email: dtye at cox dot net), whom
you can also contact via this link. However, because of
Amazon's 17% auction listing fee, you'll get an even better
price from her (as low as $.17 / capsule) if you shop at her
web site, datdiscounts.com. She sells generic omeprazole
made by Omega Biotech, of Ghaziabad, India (not to be
confused with the dubious Canadian "nutraceutical" outfit by
the same name). She stocks the smaller packages; the larger
ones are drop-shipped from India.
As of 8/08, generic Omeprazole by Teva is now for sale at
Walmart and Sam's Club, but the price is only slightly less
than that of Prilosec OTC (about $0.40/caplet).
Omeprazole is also sold on many other Internet web sites,
such as PurpleDiscount.com. PurpleDiscount apparently sells
generic omeprazole manufactured by Intas Pharmaceutical
of India, and the product is drop-shipped directly from India.
PurpleDiscount.com has been on the Web since October 2004.
That's a very good sign. They sell omeprazole in both capsule
and tablet forms (for aproximately the same price), which
is unusual. They have a toll-free 1-866 American phone
number, which is a plus. I have not purchased from them,
myself, but I personally know of someone I trust who was a
satisfied customer of PurpleDiscount.com, and I've recently
exchanged friendly emails with the owner, Mr. Dan Sherman.
I think purplediscount.com is a reliable vendor.
Note: The long list of testimonials on the PurpleDiscount.com
web site all sound to me like they were written by one person,
which initially worried me. However, Mr. Sherman has explained
that fact to my satisfaction in an email message, in which
he wrote:
"Each and every comment on our site (customer testimonials)
are legitimate. I only edited significant punctuation and
grammatical errors, but that is it."
That makes sense: by cleaning up the grammer and punctuation,
he inadvertantly made them all sound alike to a suspicious
person like me.
Unfortunately, I don't know how to determine which companies
are legitimate and reliable, and which are not. I guess I
could inquire with their local BBB & AG offices, but I've not
done that. The lack of an eBay-like "feedback system" makes
purchasing from such web sites less safe than purchsing from
an eBay vendor with an established >99% positive feedback
rating, in my opinion.
Prilomed.com has been on the Web since February 2005.
That's a good sign. However, PriloMed.com is actually
the same folks as SlushConnection.com, a little Northern
California outfit that rents Margarita Machines to bars.
That does not inspire confidence. (Web site is down 8/08.)
Aclepsa.com appears to be a larger company, with many
products. They have been on the Web since October 2005.
Like PurpleDiscount and PriloMed, they drop-ship from
India. They have a toll-free 1-800 American phone number,
which is a plus. Warning: as of 8/08, they're now also
offering to sell generic versions of products which I am
certain are not legitimately available in generic form,
such as Nexium. So I do not trust them!
The ranitidine alternative
For many people, there's an even cheaper alternative to
omeprazole. Generic ranitidine 75mg (equivalent to
Zantac 75) sells at Sam's Club for about $.02 / pill.
(Generic famotidine, which is equivalent to Pepcid, is
similar, and also less than a nickel per pill at Sam's
Club, and it works better than ranitidine for some people.)
One difference between omeprazole and ranitidine is that
omeprazole can be effective at one capsule per day.
Ranitidine is much shorter term in its effect. It has a
half-life of about 3 hours. So you can't get by with just
one per day. However, 75mg of ranitidine every 8 hours is
only about $.06 per day, and for many people it is almost
as effective as a daily omeprazole (though obviously less
convenient than taking just one omeprazole dose when you
get up in the morning).
Also, ranitidine (or famotidine) has the advantage that you
can take it with or without food. You need to fast for an
hour before taking omeprazole, and for at least a half-hour
afterward, but that is not necessary with ranitidine.
Silly labeling fictions
The approved labeling for both Zantac 75 / ranitidine and
Prilosec OTC / omeprazole contain silly polite fictions,
which everybody ignores.
The approved labeling for Ranitidine 75mg instructs that
it should be taken just twice per day (one 75 mg pill
"b.i.d." which means 2/day). But the reality is that it is
routinely taken 3 or 4 times per day (225mg or 300 mg/day).
In fact, the over-the-counter Zantac 150 is labeled for
two 150mg doses per day, and for treatment of erosive
esophagitis Zantac 150 is given four times per day (one
150 mg pill "q.i.d." which means 4/day), a total of 600
mg/day.
Likewise, Prilosec OTC is labeled for use for up to 21
consecutive days, only. But the reality is that it is taken
continuously and indefinitely by almost everyone who uses it.
Other similar drugs:
Omeprazole is in a class of drugs called "proton pump inhibitors,"
which include: omeprazole (Prilosec), esomeprazole (Nexium),
rabeprazole (Aciphex), lansoprazole (Prevacid) & pantoprazole
(Protonix).
Ranitidine is in an older class of drugs called "H2 blockers"
or "H2-receptor antagonists," which include ranitidine (Zantac),
cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid) & nizatidine (Axid).
More medical notes, on other subjects
Here's a web page similar in style to this one, but on a different
topic -- statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs:
http://www.burtonsys.com/cholesterol.html
Here's a web page similar to this one, but about bisphosphonates
(drugs for osteoporosis / bone recalcification):
http://www.burtonsys.com/osteoporosis.html
Contact me
I can be reached by phone at home at 1-919-481-0098, or by email.
Dave Burton
Cary, NC
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