MNHQ here: have you found it difficult to get HRT recently?

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

As lots of MNers have already been discussing, there seems to be a nationwide shortage of some forms of HRT. (The reasons for the shortage seem a little clouded in mystery, although there's a partial explainer here.)

We've noticed a few MNers talking about going abroad to obtain their usual brand of HRT, or considering buying online - which of course isn't something health professionals would generally recommend (and probably doesn't feel very good to the women doing it either).

It seems pretty scandalous to us that women are having to do this in order to be sure of supplies of essential medicines and we wanted to get a sense of how many of you are affected.

So if you've struggled to get supplies of your normal HRT, or have considered going abroad or buying online to secure your supplies, we'd be interested to hear from you - please post on this thread or if you'd rather keep it confidential feel free to PM us or email us on [email protected]

Thanks
MNHQ

Basically tells her she will just have to put up with the pain

I am on livial tibolone and haven't had any issues getting that as yet. Due my next 3 mths supply next month so will see if any different then.

@Pavlova31 Your friend should report her to the practice manager. That is disgraceful. It won't be cost- the cream is around £4 a tube so less than the NHS prescription fee. (I pay for mine privately and with the mark up it's around £7)

I wasn't able to get Evorel Sequi from the pharmicist this week. They are going to call around for me to see if they can locate any then call me back - still waiting for that phone call and only 1 week of patches left. Oh dear.

Batshittery - envious you can get Elleste Solo. I haven't been able to get them recently. 3 months ago had to change tablets from Elleste Solo 2mg to Progynova which is estradiol valerate which is the same but different. Doesn't feel quite as good as Elleste and I am up and down on it. Googled and found some info that said the ingredients weren't quite the same strength.

As I now have to see a doctor to get a repeat prescription, waited a month to see a doctor this morning who has prescribed me the same tablets. I said that I was only given 3 months last time and could I have 6 months this time. So I now have 6 months of progynova.

Hoping that after 6 months the other brands may be back but not holding my breath.

Yes I had trouble getting Everol Conti. It's the only type I can take and because I had such a premature menopause my GP made the effort to ring round local pharmacies to find who still had some in stock. We found one box and I had to go straight to that pharmacy to collect. I only got half my usual amount, but still had to pay the full fixed prescription charge of course. Am just hoping it's available again soon.

I was prescribed Elleste, which wasn’t available, then Femoston. I am now taking Novofem. I was advised by the pharmacist that the shortages are in part due to the (European) pharmaceutical companies trying to renegotiate the price with the NHS.

My GP sends prescriptions direct to the attached pharmacy, last time there was a shortage I was asked to call 4 pharmacies who of course had not had stock for months before they would issue a different prescription. Got my usual brand today to the amazement of myself, GP and pharmacy (!). Had been feeling pleased I was not ripping off the NHS as cost per pack to them was less than a prescription charge. I’ve seen women berating the chemist and assistants over the double charge patches though. One incensed that it wasn’t free like contraception! I’ve had a female GP tell me the person signing off prescriptions in the surgery was loathe to sign off three months worth as basically women had already had a free ride on charges with the pill. Not that men are entitled to free birth control eh... Guess she was hoping someone would complain about this policy...didn’t sound like she approved at all.

Not even tried, but I've noticed the difficulty in buying paracetamol, lately.

Have you all seen the latest on HRT and breast cancer? www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/29/breast-cancer-risk-from-using-hrt-is-twice-what-was-thought and the full text of the study is here www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31709-X/fulltext

I've been unable to get Tridestra for months, my pharmacist does call round everywhere for me before I got to get my repeat prescription as it worked wonders. Had to change to Femostron but took a couple of months to sort out dosage

Thanks for that @LiliesAndChocolate.

For those of us who've had an early menopause, some of us will be on hrt for decades (in my case by the time I stop I'll have been on it for approx. 40 years). Does this risk still apply? Whenever I've asked my GP about it, they've said that it doesn't because the HRT is just replacing hormones that should be there with the implication being that 'having' the hormones for too long is the issue. But if it's the HRT itself that's causing breast cancer then surely the risk is still there and the longer you're on it, the greater the risk?

I haven't read the Lancet study because it's all but over my head, so sorry if the above is a stupid question.

I feel sick just thinking about what my risk level would be.

The shortage isnt new. Ive struggled to get supplies for 12 months now. Sometimes having to wait up to a week.

I ordered some online as a back up so I have twelve months worth now.

Why is there no shortage in the rest of Europe?

A friend has just stocked up in Spain whilst on holiday.

Also, is the release of the new Oxford study findings a coincidence?

Someone once quantified the risk of HRT as being about the same as drinking a glass of wine every night. Which I can live with, as the benefits outweigh the risks.

I wonder if that's still the case though.

Also it does seem that it would be better to stay on Sequi than move onto Conti, from what this study says.

Can anyone explain to me the medical reasons for moving onto Conti at 55?

I've read on Menopause Matters that Evorel patches are going to be out of stock generally until mid 2020. I have the 50s at the moment to deal with peri symptoms so will have to try and find an alternative when I run out.

After reading about the new research on bbc news today I'm wondering whether to continue, it really bothers me. I started taking it at 45 and was intending to take it indefinitely, it's given me back a real quality of life.

I know we all have to die of something but is it worse to have the potential health problems of hormone deficiency long term or increased risk of cancer at any time? It's really difficult.

I think I will continue with the hrt but concentrate on good diet and exercise to try and deal with the additional cancer risk though.

@LiliesAndChocolate and @Unburnished funnily enough I said this a couple of weeks ago on a menopause thread on another board: we were wondering about the shortages and I said "I wonder if the drugs companies are sitting on some new research on safety and pulling some of the brands with the highest risk?" This was sheer speculation at the time, but not entirely a stab in the dark as my original HRT , Prempak got pulled off the market about two years ago, and I'd wondered at the time why - my hunches were either that it was the cheapest on the market and just didn't have a big enough safety margin, or (it was the highest dose on the market, and conjugate equine oestrogen) that the drugs companies had concerns about its safety and were pulling it before the shit hit the fan.

Having said that, the biggest shortages currently are with patches which are safer than pills.

@RapidlyLosingThePlot my understanding is that any oestrogen (as one medic of my acquaintance put it) "acts like rocket fuel on breast cancer" - whether your body's own or HRT. So what you're doing in treating premature menopause is swapping like for like. Your breast cancer risk would go down, but your risk of osteoporosis would go up. Worth going to your doctor and talking it through.

@grumiosmum I'd been thinking of it a bit along the lines of "extra glass of wine" so I'm another one going to go off and have a rethink. I think personal/family medical history is relevant too. I have a family history of musculoskeletal problems but not one of breast cancer.

I was on Elleste Duet and couldn't get my last prescription. I told the GP what I had researched as the best alternative and she gave it to me! I'm finding I prefer it, which is a bonus.

I had some leftover packs of some HRT patches which I'd previously tried and didn't suit me, and I ended up sending those to another Mumsnetter who was having problems filling her prescription.

I've battled PMDD for over six years with severe symptoms at times. I've tried numerous treatments for it which all failed. I finally had a hysterectomy this year to get rid of everything. I'm early 40's, so menopause hit me very hard with severe symptoms. I'm finally settled on Evorel patches and now I've realised I might not get them again when my current prescription runs out at the end of October.

I also have crohn's disease (bowel disease) and prefer not to take oral hormones as they make the crohn's symptoms kick off.

After thinking I would be finally free of symptoms and able to get on with my life again after all these years of struggling, I'm really quite annoyed at the HRT shortage situation.

@RapidlyLosingThePlot in the Sydney Morning Herald of today there is an article which gives a summary of the main finding
www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/news-isn-t-good-hormone-therapy-blamed-for-breast-cancer-risk-spike-20190830-p52mbq.html

If I were you I would book a GP appointment to request a referral to a gynaecologist expert on menopause to discuss not only how the latest finding affect you, which alternatives you could benefit from, what test you should consider doing.
I think this goes beyond the competency of a regular GP given that there is a gap between research and changes of protocol that can take years.

Thank you so much @LiliesAndChocolate, that article is much easier to follow.

It says the risk was doubled for the women on it for between 5 and 14 years. I almost don't want to know what multiple it would be for 30-40 years.

I'm definitely going to push to see someone about it. Thank you again.

I'm thinking about this new report. I've been on HRT for 14 years, now 63. G.P is not enthusiastic and never has been , so I use an on line doctor and just see G.P.when the word on the street is that there is an easy going locum in place for a while. I'll run out of road with this practice soon because of my age. The benefits of HRT for me have been incredible, good libido, skin and hair, freedom from such serious and debilitating menopausal problems that I simply can't work when they resurface. My mother was crippled with osteoparosis so that is one more worry off my mind. I suspect I'll try to find a tame menopause doctor and plead for a continuing supply but it has got me a bit worried this time. Hopefully someone will come along soon to contradict the new findings.

Interesting. Went to collect my 3 month HRT prescription today. I was given 6 months worth and was told my surgery has asked for all HRT prescriptions to be doubled.

Wise pre-Brexit precaution or contributing to the panic hoarding issue, I wonder.

(Separately, it was the first time ever I have collected an HRT prescription that was both available and was given the correct dose.)

I've just obtained some patches from Spain.I'm on Evorel 50 here in the UK but in Spain they seem to be called Evopad 50. Also made by Janssen. There's no reported shortage .

I wish i had known about the availability of patches from Spain. I had a coil fitted on Friday, as part of a polyp removal and I'm waiting to find out if it will be patches or gel for oestrogen.

I would have happily paid €30 a month for the equivalent of my last patches.

Surprise surprise, picked up my regular three medication (thyroxine, beta blockers and oestrogen gel) prescription yesterday and the missing item was the HRT. They will get me the HRT as and when and apparently are going to double up the prescription for everything next time. I can only assume this is to tide me over the initial consequences of a no-deal Brexit. When will this madness end?