Hey dt
You tried. It was the caring thing to do. Call it “brainwashing” or conditioned response or whatever. It is an effective tool, whether used in a positive or negative manner. The military does it in basic training. People in North Korea think the US is full of homeless people and in a constant state of racial warfare. Its all they have ever been exposed to by the state media, so that is “their” reality. The same applies to Chinese products in the US. Most people only hear about the bad stuff: tainted baby formula, dog food and contaminated fish. Children’s toys covered in lead based paint. Ignorance can be cured by accurate information but it requires an open mind.
Some people just aren’t blessed with one.
M

Ha!!!
Someone else gets the old “What are doing on there all the time” routine!
I thought it was just me…..
M

I wonder if I can get Juvederm from China

P

Hey DT, your friend may well change his tune if hard evidence of efficacy is put in front of his nose and if his mindset was to be altered by that, it would be a result. People do have difficulties getting their heads around all this generic stuff. I was in the pub with some old friends. explaining what I am doing some weeks back and the bemused question that came back to me was “why, if its the same stuff,are’nt more people doing it”.

Hey dointime
Keeping it brief but I totally get this
I purchased my Chinese generic, had my relevant bloods done and started tx
Walked into my first liver clinic since last year and the doctor there had a full hissy at me.
His receptionist also had a full hissy
And why? Because of his preference for Indian generic yup the exact same medicine
I was a wreck
What I would like to know is why has this doctor who I have lobbied for my DAAs even taking a loan to pay Gilead prices against my home at one stage firstly withheld the information he then basically bragged about re his monitoring Indian generics for several months not told me I could have already basically purchased same and now be finished tx, why did he then insist on a repurchase yet told me “oh yes I will monitor you just stay on the Chinese meds and switch when the Indian arrive”
Stressful, unnecessary, and just not helpful
So, I now have two lots of meds both the same.
At least if the worst comes to the worst and I need to extend tx after 12 weeks there are tabs in my fridge.
All the buyers club meds are legit
This sort of hoohaa riles me too
Cheers
Onwards and upwards
Ariel

Hi dt,

I’m sorry to hear of your experience with your friend while you are feeling vulnerable. There is no blame to you in what happened and you did the right thing by telling them about your treatment using generics. Your friend’s initial response was unfortunate and not a nice place for you to be during the emotional ups and downs that we experience during treatment. But if they have been a long term and trusted friend then I suspect that on reflection they may well be regretting their response which could have been driven to some extent by their recent rejection for treatment and the thought that someone with who they shared a commonality appeared to have made the jump onto a moving train that they were too frightened to make?

One thing all of us here need to keep in mind when discussing generic Tx with others is that we are ‘early adopters’. We are the 10-20% of the population who make an independent assessment of our needs versus the risks/benefits with only minor weighting to what the rest of the herd thinks, then we follow our own path. Most people aren’t like that and I think all we can do is lead them to the water and show by example that it is safe to drink. As they see more doing so their own confidence will increase.

Imagination and these chems do strange things to our emotions while on treatment. At 12 weeks or half way into my Tx I’m not sure if this has lessened or whether I am just learning to compensate better but I have found that it is often best not to respond to strong emotional reactions but rather to consider them a side effect of the Tx and put them to one side until I can process them better, be that overnight or on a couple of occasions several days. Friendships and relationships are too important to burn on the spur of the moment and anyway it would be boring if everyone thought the same. But at least we have this site where we can come and have a good rant and get it out of our system with friends who understand.