Hello all, I have been taking prednisolone now since December 2022 and my chemist has now given me a different brand, I am taking 13 1/2 mg. trying to taper slowly as finding it difficult, was on 15mg got to 12 1/2 and had return of pain so went back up a bit. I included a 1mg of the new ones with my last dose and feel really awful, can't believe it, legs like jelly, neck and shoulders painful, hips stiff, and feel dizzy, can this 1mg change in brand have caused all this. Anyone know how I could get the ones I have been taking for over six months and have got used to, as much as you do get used to, but don't want to feel like this on a different brand, the pharmacist at surgery just tells me to ring around chemist shops , we only have two in our small town and I can't travel miles to others.
Feel like I was when starting on Pred. Be glad of any help with this, thanks in advance
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Thanks, don't think I explained right, been reducing slowly from 15 last December to 12 1/2 by May this year but pain returned so went up to 13 1/2 which seemed ok till I took a different brand of pred, just 1mg in with the rest of my original tablets, I can't believe how it's affected me, don't know how to get more of my original brand as almost run out, five days left, thought if I introduced the new ones slowly I would manage ok, have to say I have problems with most medication the older I have got.
The most likely problem with a different brand is that you have reacted to the fillers being different but I'm surprised it was that much with such a small dose.
DId you mean you were tapering from 15 to 12,5 and it didn't work? Like piglette, I'd suspect that change in dose was simply too much and the 1mg increase wasn't enough.
What a helpful pharmacist - NOT! He could have phoned the suppliers for you,
Thanks, sorry seem to have said it wrong, I started on 15mg last December, tapered to 12 1/2 by May but pain returned so increased to 13 1/2, was supposed to taper again from today but after taking 1mg of new tablets with the rest of dose still of the original ones I feel so dreadful, just like I did at the beginning of this. not sure what to do. Will run out of my original pred in five days, so only have the new ones then. I will try to get the GP surgery pharmacist on Monday but she will say to ring around chemists who say they only get delivered whatever comes in and can't specially order for me, this happened with another medication a while ago.
I see what you are saying but when did you increase to 13.5mg?
What we are trying to say is that the increase of 1mg may not have been enough to get things under control and you would have felt rubbish by now whether on you were on the old or the new brand of 1mg tablets.
PS
Plus looking at previous posts you do seem to have struggled pretty much from the get go, so I would be blaming uncontrolled PMR rather than different brand of Pred….so maybe just coincidence…
Thank you for reply, have been feeling pretty ok for weeks now with occasional very tired day but nothing like this until got to 12 1/2, then upped it to 13 1/2 and felt better again, still on 13 1/2 so decided to introduce new ones slowly that's why I took 1mg with my usual pred and had this reaction, I am not very good with tablets and often have bad reactions to things, just glad it wasn't the complete dose I took of these new ones. Will have to get back to surgery pharmacist but she is not much help nor is GP. Have considered contacting maker myself to see if they can suggest anything.
I will have to ask again if they can get it for me, don't hold out much hope. The surgery makes up prescriptions for anyone who is over five miles away so I might ask if they can order correct ones for me, thanks for reply
I have to agree with Pro. A couple of years ago we had an issue accessing 1mg tabs. Some pharmacies were telling us they were no longer available. I did some research and contacted the manufacturers and what had actually happened was that they'd repackaged the 1mg tabs and to order them the pharmacy needed the new PIP number. I tell you all this because the pharmacy should order whatever the GP stipulates and can do so by simply using the appropriate pip number. I suspect cost may come into yhis!!
Yes I think it is cost as well, the pharmacist at chemist's was not helpful, think I will go in and speak to them, thanks for that tip about PIP number, good idea.
Thanks, my chemist just says they take what is sent to them so seems they don't order specific brands, will ask why they can't get them for me or change to Boots which is only other one near me and see if they can do better, last time we had to ring around all over the place to find that local Boots had a packet I could have.
They are from STRIDES PHARMA UK on the packet. Just been given contact address so will try to get in touch if no joy with chemist tomorrow, non of this should be down to me to have to do really, my surgery should be helping with this surely.
Thanks, seems it's all down to me to find a chemist that can order the right ones, not happy at the lack of help from surgery, back to same problem today only got two days 5mg left now.
Afraid not...Pharmacists are reimbursed at Drug Tariff prices since prednisolone 5mg tablet is in part VIIIA of the drug tariff. (reimbursement price is fixed)Brand names added to the generic name will be ignored by the Pricing Bureau. Brand names would need to be specified separately but supply can be erratic . Pharmacy wholesalers generally do not offer the ability to specify manufacturer/brand for generic orders.
But GPs CAN specify a brand - it has been the case with Zentiva hydroxychloroquine for some years as some patients don't respond to other brands. No point giving a patient a drug that doesn't work for them. Pharmacists don't LIKE it as it costs them.
My pharmacy (Boots branch) simply cancels the prescription if they haven't got the brand in stock and tells me to go back to the surgery to ask for a generic or different brand. I have had to do this with two different medications recently. The prednisolone is a generic prescription but this has not caused a problem so far.
That's not very helpful, I was going to try our Boots branch, only got two 5 mg left and getting very worried, I put in for my prescription last Monday but takes so long to get them it was almost the weekend before I knew I had a problem so by today that's what I have left with a few 1mg. Waiting now for surgery pharmacist to ring back not that she is much use but have to follow procedure.
I know, my chemist has one pack of 5mg which I am hoping I can have tomorrow if the prescription has been sent to them today, I don't understand why they can't get them in for me.
I have the same brand all the time after trying others which gave me an upset stomach due to the fillers. My GP put the information on my script that I must have this certain brand and, if the pharmacy don’t have it, they phone around to get it. I don’t know about other places, but here in Scotland, it is the pharmacy’s job to obtain this for you, it’s not up to you to phone around! Stick to your guns, say these others don’t agree with you. I know what it’s like and am sorry you have this problem.
Thanks for your reply, I will speak to pharmacist at doctors surgery again, she did that with another medication Ihad problems with but chemist just said they got whatever came in and that was that, they couldn't order specially, they all seem to be chains these days no independant chemists shops any more who would likely be more helpful.
Your problem arises because nearly all, perhaps all, draw their stocks daily from their wholesalers. These wholesalers will be doing "deals" with the generic companies SOLELY on price, no other consideration.
I see that Strides manufacture in Pudacherry in India, nice place. Accord are in Devon, used to called Cox Pharmaceuticals who had a great reputation. Many years ago they manufactured Lasix 40mg for Hoescht at about £50 for 500 at the same time supplying Frusamide 40mg at £1.50 for 500. I always told GPs about price differential but they still prescribed Lasix. Hey ho, old memories.
From my pharma experience, I would really be very surprised if the change you described would cause that much difference (though not impossible, but highly unlikely). All brands and generics are meant to be equivalent, and part of the licensing of a new brand is to show that it is equivalent to the original (though there are some specific exceptions and pred is not one of them). Though as PMRpro describes, the fillers can be different. If you look at the in-pack leaflet at the end, the inactive ingredients are listed, so you could compare the two to see if there is a difference. However, I would think highly unlikely to cause such an extreme reaction. What dorsetlady says about a flare seems much more likely. Or possibly something unrelated has caused it, coincidentally at the same time. I mention this because I am discovering that I am hugely reactive to what I eat. I had a long car journey yesterday and went overboard on eating crisps and snacks; my neck and arms are so stiff today and it hurts just to move my head. Is there anything of that nature that has suddenly changed for you?
Thanks for reply, this has happened twice on the same different brand so think it's more than coincidence now, first time I added just half of 1mg and felt rough with that and this time took a whole 1mg with my usual brand of the rest of dose and it really badly affected me, up till now I have felt reasonably well, apart from tired somedays but not as I described after taking these different pills, it felt as if I had not taken the full dose, checked the fillers and seem to be the same, I do have weird reactions to some things, just want my usual brand, can't be that hard to get surely. Careful what I eat trying to keep carbs fairly low because of huge weight gain all over, but do eat sensibly
I see you are based in the UK. If you consider that it is a potential drug reaction, you can report it as a patient to the MHRA, our medicine's licensing authority. There is an online form here for reporting: yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/ It should ask you if you are a patient or medical practitioner when you enter the name of the medicine and then direct you to the right form. I hope that posting links aren't against the rules here, though it is an official government website, so I am not directing you towards dodgy information. You may not hear back from them, but it will be logged and if other people have reacted the same, then it will be investigated.
Thank you, I took all dose in usual pred I have left and feel so different today so feel sure it is something in the different brand causing it as this is second time it's happened on them. Thanks for the info on yellow card as well.
Hi. I was a pharmacist and during part of my career I worked in manufacturing and licensing of pharmaceutical products. Can you send me the manufacturer names and PL numbers of the Prednisolone tablets that work and don't work. I'll see what I can find out for you.
Thank you , I have been taking pred for six months from Strides Pharma UK and used to them. The ones that seem to cause problems are from Wockhardt. What are the PL numbers, can't find anything on the packet.
Hi, how strange, just proves not every brand suits everyone, find it very stressful every month hoping I can get the right ones, just had a whole months supply of wrong brand and trouble getting the others, managed to get two packs of 5mg at last minute, thank goodness.
Still trying to get the 1mg I need as seems chemist unable to get them, hoping doctor can give more 5's to get through this month, waiting for call back from him, very annoying never knowing what time he will ring
It's the co-op chemists I go to, they have given me the 5mg now but say there is a problem getting the 1mg which make it difficult to make up my dose of 13 1/2, waiting for doctor to call me back to see what to do.
Thanks, never heard of that name, we don't seem to have much of anything around here, anything involves travelling miles, will have a look though, thank you.
Hi I'm in Leicestershire and like you can only tolerate Stride. I was started on Stride by the hospital but my local dispensary changed the brand and I was violently ill on them (Accord I think) and getting worse. Dispensary said no control over what they get. I had to ring round Leicester pharmacies to find one that could get Stride which means a 20 mile journey from here each month which is a pain but the change for me was dramatic. Why my local dispensary (at local doctors surgery) can't specify them for me I'm not sure. When I was suffering so badly the doctor I saw poo pooed the idea that it could be the brand change
Sorry to hear your reaction and problems getting them, doctor needs to understand things better, at least mine knows I have bad reactions and they can put the brand on the prescription for you, do you do order from surgery online as with ours I can put the brand name needed myself I just discovered this last time. It's just the chemist's gave me all wrong ones as it seems there is a problem getting the 1mg at the moment and they must have thought give her the lot in whatever they had all the same. I am trying to work out how to get 13 1/2 out of 5mg tabs as it's all I have managed to get in Strides . It's a long way to have to go to get the right ones, is it a chain as in Boots or Superdrug etc or a privately owned pharmacy who will order specially for you.
No, seems to be a problem with the 1mg, I read some time ago that this has happened before. Have a pill cutter, still trying to work out 13 1/2 from 5mg tablets.
Yes , says same ingredients but something not right, tried them twice now with same horrible feelings each time, tried half 1mg and this time full 1mg and even worse. Hoped it would be ok but after going back to usual brand felt much better, really hoped they would be all right if this is what I will be given every time untill they get changed to yet another brand.
The PL number will be in very small print on the box possibly near to the manufacturer's address and a box with POM inside it. It will be there somewhere - it has to be. Could it be obscured by the Pharmacist's label?
The first named items are in the largest quantitiy. They are added to Prednisolone powder to aid dissolving in the stomach and also to bind the tablet together when the power is compressed into tablets in a machine.
If you are having a reaction to the Wockhardt brand you can contact them directly via their side effect reporting page. Or you can use the MHRA Yellow card reporting scheme You will have to list the batch number and PL number together with an explanation of your problems. I suggest you copy the information in writing to your GP as Wockhardt will not respond to you but to your GP or Pharmacist.
I hope all this helps. Anecdotally in 30+ years of practice I came across this problem very rarely. There was an issue 25 years ago with Imuran/Azathioprine tablets but my research on behalf of the patient directly with the companies found nothing. The only possible answer to your experience is that there has been a major incident in the manufacturing process but all the post production quality control procedures would have picked that up. Since the Wockhardt brand contains fewer excipients perhaps you are sensitive to the talc?
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