True Religion Designer Jeans or Generic Jeans?

 

I have always loved “True Religion” jeans.  The way they form to my body and accentuate all the right curves, while minimizing my fluffy parts…. yes, every girl has parts they would like to hide.  These slacks are God’s gift to women.  Just see the picture to the right of my derriere with those sexy jeans on.  Alright, so it is not me, but in my head, I look just like this model from behind.

If you too would like to attempt this level of hotness, you will have to fork over 200 clams or more if you choose to have your rump bedazzled with crystals…. what girl wouldn’t?  But for many reasons, a new pair of “True Religion” jeans are always out of reach. Usually because my husband reach is much longer than mine and he controls the credit card.  Should have thought about that before I signed the marriage certificate.  I could have added a clause that allowed seasonal “True Religion” shopping sprees!  Hindsight always has the last laugh!

So what is an alternative?  If you shop around, you can find some pretty decent jeans for any body type.  I can tell the difference with generic jeans and I don’t prefer them over my name brand, but some people may not want jeans with crystals that cost more than a paycheck, so they choose to have a cheaper alternative.  But are they really the same quality?  I guess it depends on what manufacturer makes the impostor jeans, what type of fabric was used, or what of style they are….my brain hurts.

To get to the bottom of this jean conundrum, I will use my personal experience I had this week while switching from my name brand Parkinson’s disease medication “Stalevo” to its generic form.  I have never given much thought to the difference between the two forms of drugs and the fact that the generic are cheaper is always exciting, especially when you go to pick up your prescription from the pharmacy.  But this week, this naive girl was taught a life lesson.  Throughout the week, I had noticed my Parkinson’s symptoms had gotten significantly worse.  My medications appeared to have forgotten to send a memo to my body about its upcoming vacation.  I struggled all day with symptoms; people were even mentioning my slowness of movement and my expressionless face.

I tried to make it through the day by forcing my body to swing my arm when I walked, speak with an audible tone, and control my rigidity.  But I was failing miserably attempting to look normal.  On top of the emotional hell I was enduring, I was struggling with pain; a feeling that I couldn’t get comfortable whether sitting, standing, or lying down.  I completed my day and walked slowly to my car, smiling at people passing by.  As I got into my car and closed the door, tears began to stream down my face.  I  thought to myself, “how could I continue feeling this way everyday?”…..the reality hit, this is how bad it really could get.

After a couple of days struggling to maintain my sanity, I sat down with my Neurologist (who is also my boss….bonus!) and shared my challenges.  After a few questions, he had come up with a reason I was feeling like dog poo.  I had just recently switched from the name brand “Stalevo” medication to its generic form, to save money.  He stated that he has heard from multiple patients that the generic form was not effective for controlling their Parkinson’s.  My mind was blown! Or what is left of it.

When I did my own research, I came across this quote from CNN  that was describing the FDA’s guidelines when determining the bioequivalency of a drug,  “A generic’s maximum concentration of active ingredient in the blood must not fall more than 20% below or 25% above that of the brand name. This means a potential range of 45%, by that measure, among generics labeled as being the same.”  This means that the medication that I felt somewhat stable on, has now been changed into a substance that which I have no idea how my body would react to, and this is all without my knowledge.

I know that there can be many benefits to using a generic medication.  My frustration comes from not knowing the potential that these medications can have.  It was almost as if I had bought an awesome pair of “True Religion” jeans from a friend, complete with hot pink crystals.  When I wore them out for the first time, I noticed that they didn’t fit the same as my other jeans.  Not only did they not embrace my curves, but they put a huge neon sign pointed right at my fluffy muffin top.  Could it be possible that I had bought a fake pair of jeans?  They looked the same, but something was off.

I paid less for the generic jeans as did I with the generic brand of medication, but it was obvious that they were not the same.  The fake “True Religion” slacks, just like the generic medication were created by multiple different manufactures, which altered how the looked and felt on me.  Now I am not saying that you should be afraid to try the generic medications, because just like jeans, they will all fit differently depending on our individual body types.  I thought it was important to share this information to make people aware.  Now if only we could get the FDA to oversee the production of Denim Jeans…