Drug shortages are you affected?

[justasking111]

My pharmacist apologised this morning he cannot get the drugs I need, he will try to get hold of some, unfortunately other drugs do not work on me according to my consultant. I have an abbreviated list of the drugs which are in short supply.

WHICH MEDICINES ARE IN SHORT SUPPLY?
The Government agreed to pay higher prices for the following medications in December because they had become more difficult to get hold of.

The list below is shorter than the 80 specific prescriptions included on the list because many exceptions are for different sized packets or separate formulations of the same drugs.

Allopurinol
Amiloride
Brimonidine 0.2% eye drops
Buprenorphine sublingual tablets sugar free
Carvedilol
Citalopram oral drops sugar free
Clomipramine
Co-careldopa
Diamorphine powder for solution for injection ampoules
Dosulepin
Fluoxetine
Furosemide
Glyceryl trinitrate pump spray
Hydroxocobalamin solution Ibandronic acid
Lamotrigine
Latanoprost eye drops
Lercanidipine
Levetiracetam oral solution Lofepramine
Losartan
Metoprolol
Metronidazole
Naproxen
Nebivolol
Nicorandil
Nitrofurantoin
Nortriptyline
Ondansetron
Orlistat
Propranolol
Quetiapine
Ramipril
Ranitidine
Risperidone
Sevelamer
Sodium valproate
Tadalafil
Telmisartan
Temazepam
Topiramate
Valsartan

I haven't had any issue getting Losartan, yet. I wasn't aware it was on the shortage list.

I have however had major issues replacing my sons now out of date a Epipen Jrs. Fortunately we were able to get 2 but the Epipen shortage has been going on for months.

3 of the drugs I take are in that list, but I haven't had any probs in getting them

But I haven't been able to get Elleste Duet Conti for months. I'm now on a different brand, which the pharmacist tells me is exactly the same medication.

One of my medications is on that list and yes, i have had a lot of problems getting it. it seems to have settled down at the moment but if the problems continue, id on't know what i'll do as I don't think there is an easy alternative to it, not without switching me to a completely different medication as the problems have been with both the branded version and every generic available

One of mine is on the list. Hurrah. Fortunately the surgery messed up and sent me two months' worth the last time I requested a repeat, so I'm OK for a few weeks, but after that I'll be worried :(

We struggled with Naproxen about 3 weeks ago. 5th pharmacist had it. I also needed codene and liquid morphine but they wouldn't give us anything on the prescription as they couldn't fulfil the whole thing

Oh shit. Mines on the list. Brill.

Great one of mine is

None of ds on that list but many have been over the years. There is always a pretty long list for various reasons (normally issues with manufacturing)

Damn yes - lamatrogine - I can take lactimal though which is the unbranded version but its not great and not quite as effective for me

One of mine is on there and I need to renew my prescription. Fingers crossed.

Above does not make sense (lactimal and lamatrogine are same things) I mean I can take Keppra if the worst comes to the worst but swapping round will be horrible and its not nearly as good for me :(

Some of my Mum's on the list and lots of people having trouble with Naproxen near me.
Ironically I have several boxes of unopened Naproxen which are no longer of use but they can't take back which I understand but it's silly them going to waste when people are desperate for them :(

We’ve been having issues with the EpiPen shortage for months now. Was told to keep hold of the out of date ones as according to some doctors “some out of date adrenaline is better than no adrenaline in the event of anaphylaxis” Having almost lost my son to anaphylactic shock once already, it doesn’t feel great putting my faith in that nugget of wisdom
From what I hear too, Nutricia who make Neocate amino acid based formulas for children with severe food allergies have factories all over the world, and while some of it is made in the U.K., most of it is shipped in from Europe. My 2yo has only recently started eating solids again after a long food aversion, and we’ve been relying on the Neocate to make up his calorie deficit and other nutritional needs. If we struggle to get enough of it, I’ll be very worried about my son losing weight and becoming poorly again

Can I ask is lofepramine affected then? I have it in tablet form not Levetiracetam oral solution Lofepramine. I also take naproxen which will be affected...yay already had previous issues with lofepramine though and was put on impiramine for a short while

This is interesting as I just posted about not being able to get my HRT drugs and I see someone else has the same issue, very annoying and I’m sure worrying for some people who can’t get a replacement.

We've had some trouble getting hold of Venlafaxine, which isn't on the list. Something to do with certain doses, I assume, as it was fine until DH changed his dosage, and then suddenly it's been a bit of a nightmare. BUT not to a point where he would have had to miss out on it. Just a hunt around several pharmacies and waiting for deliveries that might or might not come etc. Another one of his regular meds is on the list, but so far we've been okay getting that one.

A friend has had issues Naproxen, but again has luckily so far been able to get it from at least one of the several pharmacies in town.

gazelda can I ask what the pharmacist gave you instead? I’m seeing my doctor next week to get an alternative.

Eeek. When i get utis Nitrofuratonin is the only one Im not resistant too!!!!!

Bit worried theres a few antidepressants/mood stabalizers on there which you dont really want to disrupt!

Im also waiting for migraleve to comd back as I rely on those the few times a year I have proper migraines.

Very worrying to see epilepsy medications on this list.

itscoldouthere. Don't know if this helps but I have been on Estelle Duet Conti for years but my pharmacist hasn't been able to obtain new supplies since November. ☹️

Had to see the G.P today as I only have a couple of weeks supply remaining and she has prescribed Kliofem instead which I will start this evening. She said they were very similar/closest in composition to ED Conti. 🤞

itscoldoutthere they've given me Kilofem.
I panicked a bit because the first alternative suggestion was to go onto patch which I've never got on with. But hopefully these work out just the same as the elleste duet conti.
Good luck!

X post Rafflesway!

Nothing on that list is out of stock in my pharmacy. We had problems with naproxen for a long time but it's fine now. Epipens are an absolute disaster and as above poster said, we've been told any adrenaline is better than none.

Definitely Moomintroll3!

My adult dd suffers from a very dangerous form of cluster epilepsy but she aso has SLD. We have spent years trying to find something which not only controls the seizures well but also keeps her calm and doesn't create extreme challenging behaviours.

We are presently using a triple combination of Zonisamide, Brivaracetam and Lacosamide along with a daily prescription of Vit B6.
So far so VERY good! God knows where we go if any of the above become difficult to obtain. It has taken over 20 years to get where we are now trying virtually every AED under the sun. 😢