Reaction to drugs

[reinaway]

Has anyone got any advice on how to get the right brand of drug from pharmacys who tell you the one supplying Nebivolol to you that it is the only brand they can get. Meanwhile that brand when I take it sets my stomach and abdomen on fire.!!

[Hylda2]

Try asking you Dr to put on prescription only supply the named drug that you want! I had to do it with thyroid drug

[Buffafly in reply to Hylda2]

I had to do it with diltiazem, one brand gave me non stop wind! But be aware that you may have to visit a lot of pharmacies before you get the one you want, or it might have to have it ordered in. I went to the dr with a serious leg infection and couldn’t get antibiotics until 24 hours later - that’s one reason for the long A&E queue in Flapjack’s post. My GP told me that if I felt more unwell than I already did I should go to A&E, maybe she knew there would be a problem.

[JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply to Buffafly]

Hi

We in NZ had a space of 5 months with a non Safe Medsafe Diltiazem because Myer had a problem. ACCORD was alternative. I had to add more thyroxin.

Reassured when my normal pill came back. JOY. 74. (NZ)

[jeanjeannie50]

I asked my GP to state the brand I wanted on my prescription.

At one chemist, which I'd been using for years, I had one problem after another with them saying they couldn't get the brand I wanted. Went to Boots the chemist and they have had no problems over the last year supplying the make I like.

Jean

[reinaway in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thanks Jean I'll have a go at doing that then. Might be a bit difficult as I order repeats through the NHS app and they send it direct to the local chemist in the village. xx

[MrsSuzuki]

My GP states the brand on my prescription for Levothyroxine. There are only two brands I can take as others cause me problems.

Lily

[Mrsvemb]

I had the same problem with certain brands of Nebivolol. Boots told me to get my GP to request Glenmark on my prescription.

If there is no brand specified the cheapest available is used. Boots explained to me that if brand wasn’t specified, then I asked for Glenmark they wouldn’t get paid for the more expensive brand.

It works really well now. Ask your GP to specify the brand on the prescription.

[Peony4575]

Pharmacies use different wholesalers who tend to buy in from the supplier they get the best deal from . If yours isn’t going to help I would ring around a few pharmacies until you find one that stocks the veranda you want and move there. Belt and braces ask your doctor to specify on script . They are often sceptical that there are differences, but it’s the differences in the excipients( the stuff other than the actual drug in. There) that causes the problem

[secondtry]

I am taking the issue up with my surgery today. I specify Flecainide Accord brand only and this last month they slipped in a pack of Flecainide Milpharm with no explanation. So may have to intimate that I will in future go elsewhere unless they can change back to Accord brand - that has worked in the past as no doubt they want to preserve their profit!

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to secondtry]

Boots had no problem getting me Accord. I actually rang the company and they told me where I could get it. Accord also goes under the name of Almus.

Jean

[secondtry in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thanks Jean much appreciated 😁

[Tangalle]

As others have said, ask your GP to add the brand name to your prescription. I did this for all my meds, GP okay with doing this and wherever you order your drugs from will have a copy of this prescription. I had no problems with my last collection from the pharmacy.

[Vonnegut in reply to Tangalle]

I asked that of my surgery but without success, sadly.

[Tilly1957]

I have made my pharmacy so paranoid about only giving me the brands I can tolerate, that the poor counter girls double check the ingredients every time!!!!! So my medicine packets have always been opened before I pick them up. X

[Vonnegut]

I had a similar problem with Flecainide and was advised to find a pharmacy in my area that did have the brand I was used to. Fortunately, the first pharmacy I contacted ( top of the list) did stock it but sadly the following month they gave me two packs of different makes!! These do seem to work so far unlike the one I referred to the yellow card guys as it didn’t! Apparently pharmacists just seem to get what their suppliers provide and guess price and availability affects them! Good luck with your search and “don’t panic”.

[Qualipop]

Try different pharmacies; they use different distributors. My local one can only get certain brands; luckily usually the one I need but if they go out of stock I have t o ring round everywhere. I too react badly to certain manufacturers who use different preservatives and colourings.

[cassie46]

I am having problems with Nebivolol at the moment. I cannot tolerate Accord or Northstar brands best for me are Teva or Glenmark. Had my last monthly prescription just over a week ago did not check it (it was delivered by pharmacy just as we were going away for the weekend). When I got back checked contents, have 9 items on it and Nebivolol was Accord. Went to chemist to change it, they had no other brand but said they could order Teva for next day. Got a phone call next day to say no they could not get anything other than Accord. So this meant having to ring surgery to get a green prescription to be picked up at the surgery so I could go to any chemist I could find that had Teva or Glenmark. Trying to sort it out with the surgery was a battle 2 phone calls on Friday and then one on Monday eventually got it sorted. I started taking Nebivolol about 5 years ago was on Biso before and it was 5mg dose, tiny tablet that could not be cut in half, so little filler in it. Now they are much larger tablets because they can be cut in half (Accord is even larger as it can be cut into 4) with a lot more filler mainly lacose and I am lactose intolerant.

I have had problems with 5 of the other medications on my prescription and have had to get the surgery to specify which brands I can have. I am on my 4th chemist at the moment as some of you have said above some will not get the brands you want because of costs etc. Never used to have all these problems until all these generic brands came onto the market, well there might be the odd problem but not on this scale.

Cassie

[reinaway in reply to cassie46]

I've been on BBs since 1994 and had no trouble until about 2019. It's been awful since then and I am sure it's the cheap fillers. 1 brand that was OK had 4 fillers and the cheap brand had 8! I shall have to try and do without them as if I take one that I react to it's 48 hours before I'm OK again.

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

In NZ your doctor can get the brand you want. Request from Pharmac.

cheers JOY. 74. (NZ)

[needlestone]

I’m in the USA and can get my meds prescribed by functional medicine doctor at a compounding pharmacy. Some meds I take these are all I can tolerate as all others have caused major side effects. Are compounding pharmacies not available in other countries? I have to pay out of pocket for them but at least I get no side effects from them. Worth it to me.