i have just been told that i have bilateral embolism and must take warfarin for life,
can anyone tell me why then i have to pay for a life saving drug for the rest of my life when drug addicts
get the help they need for free i pay my taxes i bet most of them don't sorry if this sounds like a rant but i am still a bit upset
Well I don't suppose you are going to skulk in dark corners waiting to rob some one's home to feed your Warfarin habit . I hope Warfarin doesn' t have that effect on you - it doesn't on me either. lol
Whilst I can't provide the answer you are looking for I can say that since my need to take Warfarin commenced I have found the NHS Prescription card to be financially useful. Check out nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1127.aspx
Hi, understand your frustration, am on lifelong warfarin and have paid for my scripts for over 35 years or so as working and another younger family member in the same boat.
A couple of suggestions: make sure you get a prescription for 3 mths supply at a time with different strengths (mg) to cover you in case you need dosing tweaks. You may also need to consider the pre-payment certificate if you think it's likely you will need multi scripts within a year period. As warfarin needs regular monitoring, you may wish to consider self monitoring using a hand held device. The strips are available on prescription, the devices have to be purchased and were approved by NICE recently.
Speak to you doctor about this option if of interest.
Also, there are two newer anticoagulants that do not need monitoring like warfarin and both have been approved for the treatment and prevention of blood clots. They are Rivaroxaban and Dabigatran. They are more expensive than warfarin and some doctors will only prescribe after a patient has tried warfarin for a few months first. I do hope that your doctor has advised you of all the anticoagulation options now available - if you have a mechanical heart valve, the new drugs aren't suitable.
If you need further information about any of the above, go on ACE website anticoagulation.org
Good luck!
many thanks for your help it means alot
Same for all of us if under 60. The 'season ticket' is worthwhile and if you time your precriptions right you don't need a year card but several 3 month cards. Fortunately(?) I'm now over 60 and now get free prescriptions so your time will come...eventually!
thank you for taking the time to reply tipper
That's a question for a politics forum I think. Ethically I don't see any difference between the two conditions, but each to their own.
I've had asthma all my life and have always paid for my prescriptions, after being prescribed Warfarin too I got a PPC/prepayment certificate which costs about £10 a month. If you're in the UK, that's your best option.
Yes I feel the same as you. A friend of mine has an underactive thyroid and gets all her prescriptions free. This does annoy me when she even gets cream to rub on a sore finger for free and things that are not remotely connected to her condition. The whole system needs to be revised as it is totally unfair on a lot of people who have to take medication for life and have to pay for all their prescriptions.
me too i have friends who get it even if they don't need it i totally agree with you its the system needs looking at thanks for your reply
Re strips for self testing Warfarin levels. I live in Camden and in my area strips are NOT provided on prescription, so I guess that it depends on where you live if they are free or not.
Oh well at least Warfarin is very cheap. So I have been told. Probably one of those really annoying cases where the prescription charge is more expensive than the drugs themselves.
hi stecas
Unfortunatly if your like me and be the 1 in a million person who actually pays for there prescriptions, we still have to pay, but as they are the same medication if you need all the different strengths, it only counts as 1 price, and yes the yearly/monthly cost is far cheaper way of doing it.
Hi. I am living in Canada and i am a 33 year old male. I was diagnosed with a dvt approx 10 months ago and was put on warfarin. The weekly blood test were a nightmare, as i am very difficult to get blood from. After 7 months i was cleared of the dvt and stopped the warfarin. Last week i started having chest pain and went to the hospital. They discovered a large clot and multiple smaller ones in both lungs. I was very scared. They started me on warfarin and injections in the stomach in the hospital. The doc said i would need to stay in hospital until inr was stable. Amd most likely be on warfarin the rest of my life. Yesterday the hospital pharmicist came to see me to explain The warfarin, which i had already been familiar with so i told him how difficult it was for them to draw blood from me. It just so happened that the pharmicist had the same thing i did (dvt and then pulmonay embolism) he proceeded to tell me about a drug called rivaroxaban that he was using. No regular blood tests. No worry about diet and no dosage "tweaking". I am just curious if you people have access to similar drugs over there in the U.K. this new drug will practically be life changing for me. I hope some of you can get it as well. It seems to be a nightmare over there.
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