If we run out of insulin ...can I get a prescription filled abroad? EU?

[user1471530109]

I've googled and can't find an answer for after we leave the EU. It says that any EU script can be filled in any EU country....

I'm panicking. I think having a back up plan with help my anxiety over this more than anything.

Anyone know if I could fly out somewhere if I needed to? Or even get friends in the EU to send some over (if I supply the prescription?).

It's not just my insulin. My pump supplies are from Europe...

I'm thinking I can go low low carb to reduce insulin needs...but stockpiling tends to be all stodge!

Feeling more desperate the closer we get. I can't believe they will let this happen? FFS.

blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=11050

If you would like to discuss any concerns you with has please call us on 0345 123 2399. Our lines are open 9am-6pm Monday to Friday. We’ve also set up a new contact form for you to get in touch about any concerns you have about insulin or medicines supply and Brexit.

Please write to them OP forms.diabetes.org.uk/prescription-brexit

I am diabetic using a pump also and have perhaps buried my head in the sand completely regarding this. Do I need to be genuinely worried,should I try and start stockpiling or have I left it too late?!

Someone upthread said there might not be any flights and ferries.
I think this is very very unlikely. I do think there will be delays though.
Yes and of course they are nice to look at

I think we need to flood MPs and patient groups with emails. My initial thought was that there’s no point as they don’t have any information that we don't. However, lots of letters and emails can be helpful to patient groups and (sensible) MPs in getting heard and putting pressure onto TM to avoid crashing out.

I would make sure you have a couple of months worth of long acting in the fridge if you are on the pump. Our pump company have told us to do this - already awful supply issues so we are stretching out sets, etc. Don’t know how my DS will manage as his insulin needs have gone up 8 fold in the two years he’s been on a pump. We self fund cgm but will be screwed if that supply chain breaks down (zero nighttime hypo awareness)

@cheekysquirrel I guess you would need to go to bed high - my DS would hit 14 before crashing in the small hours on jabs.

I asked Medtronic about brexit and they had no clue really but didn’t seem massively concerned.

I’d have to go to bed about 14 or so as well to guarantee no night time low, but I can’t say I’d sleep easy.

They are allegedly still catching up post Puerto Rico hurricane (Oct 2017) so I’m not convinced about their planning abilities. I didn’t sleep during the night at all for the year my DS was on MDI and finger pricks.

No it’s shit. It’s all shit.
It must be more worrying if it is your child although I am worried for my children regarding me if I’m not well or worse.

Thanks, all.
I did ask a few FB groups last night and they seem to be saying that the insulin companies have stockpiled triple what they normally have in the UK.
I'm not sure about pump supplies. I'm planning on placing an order this week (if the let me-all up in the air with funding) plus I have kept my old pump and have roughly a month's supply of those. So in theory, minimum should be 4 months supply.

I will be placing a new order a few weeks post brexit, so if it takes weeks/months it should hopefully arrive in time.

I'm feeling slightly less panicked.

The libre, PP, there are already supply issues. What send me batty is the fact they are manufactured in the UK (down the bloody rd from me in Oxfordshire I believe) then are shipped to France for worldwide distribution. I really hope they rethink that for UK customers....

Let's be honest, TM will have her own supply safe. Doesn't mean anything about our own supplies. I will BE writing to MP and planning on bombarding him via twitter on a regular basis. Maybe if we all do similar, especially as it's more public, someone may address it higher up? Is that wishful thinking and niavety?

My friends (both type 1) have been advised to keep full stocks at home, neither uses a pump now though so simpler. Luckily one is a nurse so has an inside source for supplies but they are very worried - far more troubling than the papers talking about olive oil shortages!

I cannot believe that we are sat here not sure if we are going to survive much after March. It’s fucking horrific. People can tell me it’s unlikely all they want to but I’d like to know it’s impossible - not that it will ‘probably’ be ok. Probably doesn’t cut it I’m afraid.

You would have to go to Europe and get a new prescription there, probably paying full rates for the consultation, the drug itself and a dispensing charge.

This would be the case as it stands. Some online pharmacies may still dispense to the UK but it would depend on legislation both from a dispensing and a border control point of view.

There are some pharmacies and Drs in Europe who will prescribe via Skype and post medication. We started IVF abroad and this was how we arranged medication. We had to send my blood test results off and that was it. Even with all that, and fast delivery, it worked out cheaper than getting the prescription in the UK! Might be an option, and something that I’m sure some Drs/Pharmacies will be keen to promote if things do become difficult.

I doubt that you could get it filled abroad. Though I suppose you might be able to get medicines if you were prepared to pay the going rate

A lot of planning is going on in the unlikely event of a no deal. You will not know what is being discussed yet. Please stop panicking until you know the reality. There is a lot of project fear going on

@elyelyoy Insulin is that it has to be kept at quite specific temperatures (fridge cold but not freezing) otherwise it degrades. I'd be interested to know whether the companies supplying from abroad can guarantee that.

@confusedbeetle - I genuinely wouldn't have thought the UK would have been in this much of a mess - I know a lot of it will be scaremongering but it's such a mess, I'm not sure I trust the powers that be to get this right... It doesn't help that I'm sure the majority of people with type one or parents of kids with T1D have experienced difficulty in getting supplies, even without Brexit. We've had the GP refusing to prescribe test strips to allow testing five times a day, the long acting and glucagon coming off the repeat prescription without warning, the problems with delays in processing prescriptions, etc. The pump supply stuff has been causing real problems and completely founded anxiety and the manufacturing/supply issues with the Libre were a problem for us. So I you know that you're living with a constant low level anxiety about all this stuff anyway, and the Brexit thing is a whole new layer on top. We've got no buffer on pump supplies at all because of issues - it's been really desperate with repeat phone calls, emails, etc...

@t1mum3 yes I’m aware of that (my cousin is insulin dependent) but lots of IVF medication is the same: if the temperature isn’t right it degrades and can result in a completely failed IVF cycle.

I'm not sure I trust the powers that be to get this right

Well based on recent past performance, you'd be justified

@Confusedbeetle This is happening in two months. The time for planning was two years ago. Guidelines are normally issued months in advance so planning can be filtered down through organisations.

The government haven't the first idea of what they are doing.

Terrifying
I'm also on a pump and worried about supplies. This whole thing is insane

No, but the U.K. is still the 5th most developed country in the word and nobody would let people with chronic disease like diabetes fall into a major crisis. EU doctors and medicines would be allowed in, they would bypass other blockades! I understand your worries, but don’t put you health in any risk now, by tweaking your doses or letting your values too low, in the fear that something might happen!

No, but the U.K. is still the 5th most developed country in the word and nobody would let people with chronic disease like diabetes fall into a major crisis.

Why not ? Quite happy to see homeless on the streets, and people too ill to work stripped of benefits. To be honest, I'd have been more convinced if you said "the UK still has a 'K' in it's name, so nothing will go wrong."

Ehi now, I agree with you that we have totally crap politicians at the helm right now, but most people and civil servants and doctors would know who to prioritise...or at least I’d hope! If not, it’s really Armageddon...

@Confusedbeetle perhaps you should google how long a type 1 diabetic can go without insulin before becoming critically ill before you say don't panic.

I am a T1 mother in Ireland and am extremely concerned about the knock on effects of UK delays on Ireland supplies. However the advice here is that the pharma companies have sufficient stocks and we are not to stockpile supplies and the individual level. Very hard not too when you know the stakes are so high.

I'm just making sure I have penfills as back up (which are back up anyway in case of pump failure) and just ensuring I have normal stocks of pump supplies.