Allegra Prices: Does it Matter if it's Generic or Branded?


Many types of allergy medication is used as "maintenance medicine" - that is, you need to take it regularly in order to prevent an existing condition from acting up. Think of your allergies as a raging beast, and your allergy medicine as the cage that keeps it tame and locked safely away. This means you have to take maintenance meds like Allegra every day, to make sure the beast stays down. The accumulated cost of buying this medicine in bulk on a regular basis will weigh on your budget, eventually. So if you are conscious about how tight you've already drawn your purse-strings, of course Allegra prices will matter.

The conscientious spender will seek to save on everything, even the cost of medicine consumed daily. Of course, this doesn't mean one should sacrifice quality only for the sake of savings! Allegra prices will vary if you visit different stores, and surf through different online pharmacies. You will even see pharmacies that allow you buy generic. Now for the big question: Should you buy generic, if only for the savings?

Most generic medicines are sold at exactly the same dosages as their branded counterparts. Allegra is no exception. They may not be advertised at all, but they exist as lower-costing alternatives to more expensive medication. However, it is natural that people will have doubts about their potency. Since branded medicines cost more, that probably means they work better or faster, right?

This is not always the case. Branded medicines are given a higher price by their manufacturers not because they are essentially superior to generic medicines, but because the cost of developing them was significantly more than the cost of developing generics. The marketing and advertising of such drugs could also cost a lot, and placing a high price on the consumer drug is what allows big pharmaceuticals to get a satisfactory return on their investments. Sometimes a branded medicine would cost more than 100% of its generic counterpart.

For the most part, generic medicines are just as potent as their branded equivalents, so if you're out to save money, make sure to ask your doctor or your pharmacist about the generic name of your drug of choice. You may also wish to look into offshore pharmacies for good deals. Accredited online pharmacies may be able to place you in touch with cheaper medicines, but watch out for the shipping costs! If the costs related to shipping the medicine to your location are high, perhaps you are better off buying a box of branded Allegra from a neighborhood drugstore.

The biggest factor that would decide if you should buy generic or branded is how reliable your pharmacy is. If your only two choices are branded Allegra from a trustworthy drugstore, and generic allegra from a not-so-reliable one, it is obvious what your choice should be. You should never seek to buy branded Allegra from a store you don't trust! That would be like throwing money down the drain. Given how there are so many online pharmacies advertising themselves on the Internet, you have virtually limitless options, so you should make an effort to explore each one, and check out the credibility of your prospective pharmacies.