To be horrified at lack of addrenaline

[rabbitheadlights]

So my DP recently diagnosed with as yet unknown trigger anaphylaxis and I have spent 2 days calling pharmacies to find that nowhere in the whole of Manchester has stock of adrenaline pens!! So right now he's at work (chef) possibly the worst environment he could be in, unprotected and highly exposed and I'm a nervous wreck at a loss as what to do. There are 3 distributors of adrenaline pens in the UK and all are experiencing manufacturing difficulties. What do I do? Why? And what the actual f##k this is a life saving drug and even pharmacists can't access it? What's causing this? Is it just a thing? Is it Brexit? Is it something else? I'm literally sat here praying he comes home safe and will do the same tomorrow

I think you can blame Brexit

Really wildorchidz? Why sorry im probably a bit naive to it all?

I doubt that Brexit can be blamed, given that nothing has changed at all with borders and flow of goods and people yet, as it hasn't yet happened...

Probably can blame brexit- people stockpiling medications in case they suddenly become unavailable, meaning people who need them now can't be supplied

To be fair Brexit aside this is a serious question where do I go? What do I do?

The shortage of Epi-pens has been going on for quite a while now, its even worse for Epi-pen jrs (childrens dose) at one point we couldn't get hold of any to replace ds's out of date auto injectors for almost two weeks!

Have they told you how long before they can order them in?

What has the Dr prescribed? Is it Epi-pen, Jext or Emerade? You could try ringing the chemists back and see if ghey have any of the other brands in stock and get the GP to change the prescription?

It's a huge issue. I can't get my full quota at the moment so am walking around without the spares.. (gulp)

But it's not just adrenaline. Apparently HRT drugs are similarly affected.

The government are stockpiling so in the event of a no deal Brexit, there is enough. [Hmm]
The pharmacists are not allowed to officially say that but are saying it off the record.

I've got prescriptions for all 3 ironically they all have the children's ones

More constructively, ask the GP to write a generic prescription for adrenaline, rather than EpiPen, Jext etc. The pharmacists can often get one of one and one of another.
Confusing because they look and work differently, but needs must.

Problem is he has none at all let alone spares

Cross post. Ignore my last point!

Ifartglitterybaubles I have prescriptions for all 3 can't get any

At one point our area were only issuing one per person, two if for a school aged child and they had to send the prescription off somewhere to get permission to dispense. We normally have four, two at home and two kept at school as we're in a semi rural area. My GP got round it by issuing two prescriptions with two Epi-pens on each one.

@Wildorchidz Brexit hasn’t happened yet, FGS!

In fact to be perfectly honest, there isn’t going to be a Brexit.

I would keep ringing around and see who can get you some the quickest or maybe try another area. I remember the panic and ringing around its shit. Have any of the chemists given you a time for when they're likely to get any in? Do you know the trigger and can he avoid it until then? Sending some unmumsnetty hugs.

What has his employer had to say about it? I'm surprised that he's allowed to work.

I had the Same problem, strange thing was when I paid £300 for a private prescription I got six.

The Epi-Pen shortage was an issue 5 years ago when I worked in a pharmacy. It's not Brexit and by blaming Brexit the real issue isn't being made public. Every so often the UK them again, then we're out for ages. Idk why the manufacturers are having the issues all these years later but I suspect it's something to do with them having a pre-negotiated price-per-unit with the NHS which is lower than they're getting in other markets, at which point they'll always prioritize those other markets when their supply is low.

It’s not Brexit. I’m in Aus and they are difficult to get here too. For the first half of 2018 it was very limited to get, advice was given on efficacy of expired ones. There are some new suppliers now and they are easier to get, but still supplies are low.

Like others have said it’s other drugs too, and I think ketone sticks for diabetes can be hard to get sometimes (due to excess demand with non diabetics on the Keto diet buying them up...)

I hope you get a speedy improvement for your son soon

We had this problem a while ago. Now we have extra pens as ex left them 120 mile round trip away. They are going out of date soon and we will be back to trying to get more. You can use them a couple of months out of date as long as the solution is clear. Not a lot of fucking good if you haven't any already.

Get some liquid antihistamines. Ceterizine possibly. Take that at the first sign of a reaction. It may buy you time to dial 999.

Phone 111, they may put you through to a clinician (Nurse or Paramedic) to seek further advice or an out of hours DR call back/appointment.

Let us know how you get on if you do x

This really winds me up - it's not because of Brexit!!!
The shortage has been going on for a few years now. It started when the US suddenly bumped up the price to over $600 per pen and all the suppliers were selling to them to make more money. There has also been two faulty batches (and therefore recalls) during this time which didn't help with the shortages.
Nothing to do with Brexit.

Wow this sounds horrible. This probably sounds daft, but is it possible to get it outside the country? I think prescriptions have to be honoured within the EU, so maybe you can contact pharmacies abroad in EU countries (while there's no Brexit yet) to see if they will fill it at a price? I had a prescription from Greece that I got filled in Asda, so you may find a pharmacy in another country that will do it.