Hi girls
I,ve been on femera for about 4 months now and phoned my pharmacist to ask about whether it was has to get hold of. He said no - they ordered straight from the manufacturers. He just needed 3 days notice. I only get a months supply at a time, maybe untill they make sure the Se,s are not too bad for me, but upto now i,ve had no problems getting hold of these drugs. Touch wood it stays that way.
Maria x
I’ve just opened my new supply of Femara. One box is the usual make (Novartis in a burgandy and white box) and the other box is called Actavis (no mention of the word Femara - Letrozole Film-coated tablets is the wording on the packet). I have never had this one before. Can anyone tell me if this is the one that is replacing Novartis and perhaps the reason why.
Wishing you all well.
Jeannie
I’ve just googled “Actavis” and been given the information that they added 10 new products to their list in July, letrozole being one of them. This suggests to me that my usual Novartis is being replaced by Actavis. Anyone else in the same position?
Jeannie
Hi everybody.
Have been on Femara for 4 years now, and today collected script as usual… to find mine come from Arrow Generics Ltd, marked up as Letrozole film-coated tablets.
Fingers crossed for no se’s.
Cheers
Anne
Sorry ladies , but you will be getting them from all over the place . If you are lucky your pharmasist will get you the same brand of Letrozole each month , but if he orders the cheapest , well that could change your brand time and time again .
So far , I have had five different brands of Letrozole in over one year .
Sorry ladies , but you will be getting them from all over the place . If you are lucky your pharmasist will get you the same brand of Letrozole each month , but if he orders the cheapest , well that could change your brand time and time again .
So far , I have had five different brands of Letrozole in over one year .
Hi,
I have about 20 novartis tablets left and have not been given any other brand yet. Any suggestions what I should ask the chemist for if he cannot get the usuals? Its like tamoxifen and nolvadex-d all over again 
Lily
Phoned chemist today to repeat my prescription. i did ask her if i,d be getting femera as usual. She said no it will be which ever is the cheapest. Great!
Jackwagstaff - have you had lots of different side effect sfrom these different generic drugs?
Hi Mazbaz, Yes unfortunately I have .Sounds strange to say this , but I just picked up my prescription month after month , and do you know , I never really noticed that they were different , nevre even realised that they were´nt actually "Femara "
My s/e really got me down , last summer , I can honestly say was the worst year of my life , i just did´nt know what to do or who to ask for advice . I have my treatment here in Spain , so it is a bit different . Anyway , I had to have some relief for the hot flushes as they were every hour day and night . So I started to take Gabapentin. That cut them down by half , it went to every two hours day and night , and thats what it has been ever since . Mybreathing got bad , so inhalers for that , I had persistent diarohea , a rash came on my cheeks with spots , gained quite a lot of weight , got a urinary tract infection that made me so sore , but worse than all this was my head just was´nt in the right place , I really was not happy about anything .
One of my friends in the UK sent me out a print oout of s/e from femara , and that was the first time I realised that all my problems wer caused by the tablets I was taking , increased liver enzymes , heart palpitations , sky high chlorestrol , everything needing me to take yet another pill .
Then a few months ago , I was actually given a box of Femara from the pharmacy , first time ever i had this. The difference in how i felt was almost immediate . Within 10 days my breathing was so much better that I don´t use the inhalers any more . best of all , I felt like ME , I don´t know if that makes sense , but thats how it happened . Yes I have s/e , my hot flushes are more intense , but over very much quicker and i don´t get that awful "panicky " feeling before them , I get really bad swelling of my feet , hands fingers and ankles , pains in my joints , but I would prefer these to how i felt before .
Unfortunately , due to austerity measures , Spain is now refusing to allow docs to prescripe anything ohter than the cheapest of the generics , so if I want to continue , Like Jacq with her Arimidex , I am going to have to pay myself .
Sorry to have gone on so long mazbaz.
luvkris
Kris
You really didn’t go on! I,m glad you,ve told me about all that has been happening to you. You,ve really been through the mill. I,m going to try which ever generic drug they give me, but boy am i going to kick up a fuss if i have any problems.
Maria x
I got me next 2 months supply today and it was Femara, I’m going to be keeping a close eye on this though as I don’t really want to change just in case I get other side effects, ok so I’m having volcano moments on Femara, but they are doable.
Hi,
well I took my latest prescription to my chemist today and told them I only wanted femara by novartis. They told me that they had taken the decision to buy letrozole manufactured by Sandoz. They said that Sandoz have taken over the Novartis production of exactly the same tablet and contents and coating (which annoyingly is the part that mostly causes a difference). This is proved by the Pl00101/0493 on the side of the sandoz product which matches the femara brand code and this cannot be used unless it is the exact replica. I cannot see this code on my current femara box but he showed it to me on another that he had. So according to him Sandoz brand will be the same femara we are using. I have quite a few tablets to use before I start them, as I always keep one box ahead after supply problems.
Femara are cureently £98 a box and these are £89 so as you see not a cheap generic.
Hope this helps you stay as well as poss
Lily x
bumping for Juliet
Lily , where are the Sandoz manufactured please ?
Hi,
just opened one of the new Sandoz boxes for you. The box says Sandoz but also lists Novartis as the product licence holder. It says that Novartis are the manufacturer (hence it being exactly the same ingredients) and the distributor is Sandoz Ltd, Frimley, Camberley Surrey.
Hope this helps
Lily
Thanks Lily .
KrisX
Hi Ladies, I put my Femara prescription in early as had problems last month and had to wait for some tablets. Two days later I went in to see how things where going, only to find my prescription was ready and waiting. Great, I thought, minor glip last month, problem over. But when I got them home, it wasnt my usual Femara, but a generic Letrozole from a company called TEVA in Eastbourne.
I was doing so well on Femara, so can only hope that these are the same.
I have noticed since changing brands that some of my hot flushes have got worse. They were bad before, but some of the one’s I get now are almost unbearable.If you see a woman stripping off in Tesco, its probably me LOL.
Has anyone else had a change in side effects since changing brands.x
Just started Teva last Friday -so far no noticeable difference t
From Femara -fingers crossed!
k x
Hi,
if its of help to anyone I have switched to the Sandoz brand and no change in effects yet, as promised by the chemist
Lily