Hi, I have just collected my usual prescription for tamoxifen from the chemist. However, the pharmacist was unable to fill the prescription and was only able to give me enough medication for two months. Also, he was unable to give me my usual brand as there is a national shortage of Tamoxifen. Has anyone else had a problem like this? I’m bit worried about changing brand as I know some people experience additional side effects & I’m a bit worried about not being able to get it at all!!!.
Kyra
Hi my GP gives me a prescription for 3 months supply and nearly always the chemist only gives me 2 months and I have to go back a week or so later to pick up the other months worth and each time the brands different wockhardt then APS,Ive got used to it now lol.Haven’t heard anything about a shortage of tamoxifen though.
Best wishes Melxx
Two months you are lucky I only ever get 1 month at a time, that seems to be the practice round here.
Not heard about a shortage but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Jan
Haven’t heard of a shortage - I get 2 packs every time ( 60 tablets)
The pharmacist told me that if you ask your gp to specify which brand on the prescription,they must give that brand to you (I usually ask if it’s Wockhardt at chemist -it usually is but this time none in stock,so went to another)
I only get 28 days prescription, APS. Wasn’t aware of shortage, maybe BCC has some information on this?
Hi everyone, just collected my prescription and only ever get one months supply,last six months have been on workhart,then having seen my gp last month and complained about se I was given aps.The tablets I have just collected have no brand on them at all! anyone had these? they are in green bubblepack.
Zilpha
I think the tablets you have are Generics. I read on another thread here that they have been newly re-liscenced and are the cheapest on the market, so I am guessing there will be a bit more of them around. Someone else on this forum used to work in pharmaceuticals and said that all drugs when made synthesise differently and can have vastly different side effects.
I had three months on Wockhart and once all the flushes etc settled down I was fine AND THEN I was given generics. I cried every day for 3 weeks, I even had dreams where I woke up crying for my mum! I’m quite a strong person and doing ok so it was terrifying to just cry for no reason. I have been on APS for a week now and have been absolutely fine. I know everyone is different but I just thought I would share my experience as I really hope it doesn’t happen to you or others!
I got a new prescription and called around the pharmacies to make sure they had something other than Generics in stock.
Hello all,
if anyone is in a panic about not having enough Tamoxifen and they know anyone whos visiting Spain,get them to bring you some back. I live in Spain and I can buy them at any Pharmacy for between 5 & 7 euros, not true of Femara or Exemestane though,would you believe 170eus!! Best wishes, love Mags. BTW,the last lot I got from UK were generic in the green pack and each day I took them,I got more & more nauseous,I chucked them away and took the Spanish ones,no SEs at all.
Hi woody24,so anyone can buy tamoxifen in spain you don’t have to have a prescription.
melxx
Hi i havent heard of a shortage of tamoxifen but my friend is on femera and she was told never to leave it untill her last strip to re-order them as they were difficult to get and she had to go to a couple of chemists before she managed to track them down .I have been on wockhardt brand for a couple of months now and always ask for this brand at the chemist and up till now ( apart from flushes ) have been fine x
Ummmm. Strange, Type in Shortage of Tamoxifin on Google I just did… There maybe a problem brewing…
Or maybe me being cynical…
Well I googled it and could only find links back to this thread on this site, so if we don’t watch it we’ll be causing a panic for no purpose - and cause a real shortage!
i dont think there is a shortage… why would there be?
i know a few years ago when i was a midwife and the diamorphine factory was burnt down there was a shortage of diamorphine but there was an actual reason behind that.
pharmacists get drugs from their suppliers and they may not get the same brand every time but any of the generic brands… different companies start and stop producing them… eg sandoz stopped producing them a few years ago… workhardt took over CP pharamceuticals etc so it could be the company that supplies you pharmacy gets them from one distributer who maybe no longer supplies it.
i have 2 or 3 pharmacies i use regularly in different areas and have no problems getting my 2 months supply (can usually only get 56 days worth in scotland unless its contraceptives).
interesting article seen in the independant newspaper
independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/profits-before-patients-the-export-of-prescription-medicines-1830662.html
Still think this runs the risk of being scaremongering. That article in the independent is a year old. It’s quite common for pharmacies not to have the full amount in stock to fill a prescription in full there and then, so they give you a lesser quantity at first and get the rest for you in a few days.
Hey, carry on like this and we could find out that the same person shot JFK and killed Princess Diana, AND he was the head of a pharmaceutical company which makes Tamoxifen.
Julie i think if it was actually an issue there would be some recent news rather than something 12 months old… thats a very long time in terms of news and that if there was a problem 12 months ago, you would hope they would have addressed it by now.
totally agree with CC that there is a potential for scaremongering… only 1 person who has posted on this thread had any problems getting their meds and that was the OP.
i dont want or intend to scaremonger anybody but it has been reported again more recently in March 7th this year in the observer and daily mail sept 4th this year. I just think people have the right to know . I also know quite a few people in my area who have had difficulty getting their medication .Hopefully the government will put a stop to this before it has a marked effect on patients .I am only given 1 box of 30 tablets at a time.
Call me neive, but I can’t believe how easy it is to buy tamoxifen and other prescription drugs on the internet and over the counter in other countries.surely this is very dangerous especially if women are buying these drugs because they think they will protect them from getting breast cancer.And you dont know what are in these drugs it could be any old rubbish.
Melxx
Hi - thank-you ladies for all your feedback. Didn’t realise I was lucky to get three months of Tamoxifen at one time!
I really wasn’t trying to scaremonger I just wanted information as I am a little concerned. In fact all I was doing was repeating what my pharmacist told me! I tried to google as well and couldn’t find anything.
Kyra