Generic medication considered harmful (by me)

I wrote recently about strange seizures that I have been having recently, the most amusing of which is a complete loss of orientation (not knowing how to get from the bathroom to the living room, or not remembering the route home when you are on a bike ride for example). My doctor sent me to the neurologist who, in turn, referred me to the hospital to undergo the full gamut of available tests, notably an EEG.

Just after visiting the neurologist, I realised that a couple of months earlier I had switched from my medication, Lamictal, to its generic version, Lamotrigine. I was all pleased about this as it was costing the social security much less money to keep me from collapsing at random intervals. However, this change coincided with the new frequency of seizures and the new types of seizures. I immediately went back to the GP who gave me a prescription for the non-generic version. It was 10 days between switching back and the visit to the hospital. How about that - no seizures during that time. Pretty strong evidence that the generic medicine was to blame. However, with my scientific training, I realised that there may be other factors, one of which was the fact that, like an idiot, I fell off my bike during this time and had therefore done no exercise during the 10 days - maybe this had an influence.

I explained this to the neurologist (at the hospital - the French have such a convoluted healthcare system). Her immediate reaction (no translation needed) was "Ooh là là, catastrophe!". I'm now going into the realms that distinguish blogging from journalism, i.e. I have done no research to back this up, but according to her, there is a "20% difference" between the active ingredients in the proprietary and the generic version, and that some studies in the US are calling for the withdrawal of the generic version.

I thought generics were supposed to be the same as the patented versions, only cheaper? I don't think anybody reads this blog, but if you do, I would be interested in finding out more, I may be completely wrong on this one - for once, Google didn't help me.

Moral of this tale: don't just accept generics at face-value. You may be a good citizen, but you may be putting your health at risk...