Shortage of Hydroxocobalimin in USA

[scnuke]

It appears that there is a major shortage of Hydroxocobalimin in the USA. All pharmacies and mail order outlets that I can locate have zero supply and this is expected to continue until December of this year.

I can't seem to find any way for Versanpo to ship to a USA address and outlets in India and Viet Nam have been unresponsive. I have about ten doses left of my current supply and it looks as though I may be forced to go back to Cyano. I recently tried that a few months ago with very poor results. After a week or so, all sorts of old symptoms came back with a vengeance, so I am not looking forward to this adventure. There is a local compounding pharmacy that can provide Methyl, but the cost is prohibitive at greater than $200 for a month supply, plus I had tried it a few years ago without much difference than cyano.

Any ideas from other parts of the world? Thank you for your consideration.

[wedgewood]

You can certainly get Hydroxocobalamin from apohealth.de in Germany . No shipping costs if you purchase to the value of €12 and over . The site is obtainable in English ( click on Union Jack . Bottom left on my device.

Panpharma B12 depot. 1ml x1mg single dose ampoules in packs of 10 Ref no 16199653. . ( depot indicates Hydroxocobalamin)

Pascoe b12 depot. 1 ml x 1.5 mg ampoules

Hevert b12 depot 2ml x 1mg ampoules

Hope that this helps .Best wishes .

[wedgewood]

I did check that apohealth.de do ship to USA and Panpharma B12 depot is in stock .

[scnuke in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you so much wedgewood. I've got 90 amps on the way from apohealth.

[PaintLadie]

I was able to get Hydroxocobalamin Inj. with doctor referral on Amazon. Stock has dried up here in the Southwest also. I don't know how long it will last.

[scnuke in reply to PaintLadie]

I checked Amazon Pharmacy and they have none in stock and anticipated availability by December.

[PaintLadie in reply to scnuke]

shucks maybe I got the last one. It is supposed to be delivered on Wednesday. I will have to wait and see if it comes in.

[jade_s in reply to PaintLadie]

Wow that's crazy, we tried Amazon a few months ago and there was no stock. Funny. We're in the Southeast and Northeast and no Actavis for months already.

[PaintLadie in reply to jade_s]

I just got a message telling me my prescription delivery date has been postponed. This usually happens when they are all out. I don't suspect it will ever arrive and I have not had time to call.

[PaintLadie in reply to scnuke]

This is what I ordered: Hydroxocobalamin (mdv), 1000 MCG/ML Vial

[helvella]

There appears not to be an official, FDA-declared, shortage.

You can see such shortages here either in the list or by searching:

accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/...

[scnuke in reply to helvella]

Thank you, this is a helpful site. I have reported my findings and will see if they verify.

[helvella in reply to scnuke]

I hadn't even noticed you could report an issue!

Our UK equivalent is almost useless for patients - if you are not a pharmacist, forget it! (I'm exaggerating but not that much.)

[jade_s in reply to helvella]

Yes unfortunately it's not listed but there is in fact a shortage specifically of the Actavis brand. My sister has been in contact with Teva, the manufacturer, since about 4 months ago and they keep changing the availability date. Hydroxy powder via compounding pharmacies still seem to be avialable.

Scnuke I will send you a PM (Chat message) with all the info that I found about compounding and other pharmacies. We also ended up going through a compounding pharmacy and it too was pricey, but there might be other options you can find in my notes.

If you did express delivery with Apohealth (1-3 days), I ordered some to the US and it got here in about 2 days, and even though it was hot out, the B12 seems to be ok. So hopefully yours will make it!

[scnuke]

There are positives and negatives of NHS and the US system(s). I've never had too much of an issue, but always had coverage through an employer or Medicare now that I am retired. The poor, self-employed, and unemployed are taking it up the wazoo with no lube. Some people lose their homes or have to declare bankruptcy due to medical bills. The nordic and industrial Asian countries seem to have their act together. No one ever seems to worry about having to go to the doctor.

[am111]

I got it from here once: unserekleineapotheke.de

Fast, efficient and cheap.

From India, you have to buy Trineurosol HP, which is the only hydroxocobalamin brand that I know of. It is easily available, but is on prescription, so don't know if they will ship to USA.

For Cyano, you have to use much higher dose as only a fraction is absorbed(there are tables), so while switching from hydroxy to cyano, you have to use the equivalent dose, which will be higher, or increase the frequency.

[mcg-woo]

Hi Scnuke,

This has been a on going issue with hydroxo supply for several years in the US. One lab in Portugal produces the supply and it seems like they only run production maybe once a year?

I fill my rx with a 90 day supply in an effort to have some stock on hand when this occurs. I just turned down 3 vials at Walgreens because expiration date is 12/23 and I have enough supply on hand with same expiration date. I didn’t want to buy something that would expire before I inject it.

Thanks for the December expected date and I hope that’s correct but sometimes those dates can be delayed. I just don’t understand why the company doesn’t run another round of production if the same thing keeps happening? It’s baffling? This has gone on for years.

I’m going to go ahead and check with a local compounding pharmacy to see if they can help since my insurance does cover compounding scripts. Ugh! Beyond frustrating. I don’t want to resort to cyano either. I might be buying overseas for the first time ever if I can’t find a way to source it in the US. This prospect is a little scary for me. I’m in full remission on weekly hydroxo and I don’t want to relapse.

Thanks again and best of luck!

[jade_s in reply to mcg-woo]

It's already been delayed multiple times since at least May or so. Each time we ask, they givea date a few months out. I sent you a Chat message with more info on compounding pharmacies as well as German suppliers that ship to the US.

[mcg-woo in reply to jade_s]

That is exactly what happens each time! Beyond frustrating! I am definitely not counting on the December date then. Thanks for the information! Getting on this right now!

[jade_s in reply to mcg-woo]

It's also for this reason that I sent a large stock to my relative in the US last year (before the Panpharma shortage). When I first joined the b12 community back in 2016, people were still talking about the big Actavis shortage of 2014. So being the paranoid and overprepared person I am, I made sure they had a year's supply of Germany B12 , and in the end it was needed. Unfortunately!

So I recommend everyone in the US who uses hydroxy build up some stock from Germany - easier now that the new Panpharma expiry dates are in 2026!

For anyone else reading this, Apohealth offers free delivery to the US for up to 9 boxes of Panpharma (with 10 ampoules per box). I would wait til it's cooler weather to order, but express delivery for 16 euro arrives within just a few days .

[scnuke in reply to jade_s]

I ordered 9 boxes from apohealth yesterday. I also have six 30ml vials of cyano coming from OptumRx through my insurance at zero cost and will use that as back up and extra doses if needed.

[PaintLadie in reply to mcg-woo]

I have been using my expired hydroxy. It expired 1/23. It appears to still be working although I do take more than 1 ml just incase.

[scnuke in reply to PaintLadie]

That's what I would do as long as the vials are unopened. Once a vial has been pierced, it should be used within 28 - 30 days then tossed out. Higher risk of contamination.

[scnuke in reply to mcg-woo]

This is the first time I have run into a supply issue with hydroxo, so it is frustrating. Since I inject twice a day, I may go one hydroxo and one cyano per day to make the supply last longer.

[PaintLadie in reply to scnuke]

I usually inject 2x daily also, but have been splitting 1ml to make it last longer. I'm going to make an order with the German company and see how that goes. Man what a bummer. I finally convinced my doctor of my dosage need and now there is no Hydroxo to go around. I've had to in the past Pharmacy hop for whatever there reason is and wait 2 or more weeks. I think I'm the only one in my half of the state that gets these injections.

[mcg-woo in reply to scnuke]

I don’t know how long you’ve been using Actavis Hydroxo but I have been using it since 2017 and this has been an issue several times over the years. Really frustrating! Another poster has been using it longer than me and recalls a shortage in 2014. This is definitely a pattern. If it keeps happening, it’s hard to understand why the company doesn’t do anything about it? It’s horrible to have to ration medicine and use expired vials. Good luck and I hope you can stretch your supply to cover the gap!

[Awb824]

Try amazon.de, I ordered from them a couple months ago and it looks like it is still available.

[scnuke in reply to Awb824]

Yes it is. they use apohealth as their supplier.