Anyone being prescribed Filnarine SR?

Hi' I was on mst 100mg for yrs and last week my chemist gave me Filnarine 100 and guess what ?? It did more or less (f^$" all) and left me in a state of withdrawal.!!!!!!

So, if anyone else feels as though this drug is not as strong as their usual morphine t r then post a comment please as I really think there is a huge difference in the way it addresses ones receptors. !! jon wilson

I am on 3 100mg filnarine tabs per day. ASDA pharmacy took me off mst then morphagesic on to filnarine for the same reason....£££ money.

Here is the punch line, I started to withdraw from morphine a few hours after starting the filnarine and went and complained. They are S H I T!!!!!

I was told to get my prescribing Dr to highlight mst or whatever instead of just morphine slow release, of which the chemist takes advantage of. Generic crap is dished out. Quite rightly you point out that IF the same ingredients are used how come the price difference?? Well, the ingredients in filnarine ARE NOT the same.

Don't blame your pharmacist, it's just the NHS trying to save money (which is to all our benefit) the originator brands (Like MST / Zomorph etc) carry out the research, and take them to market, this is very expensive. They negotiate a price, which enables them to recoup their investment, and have market exclusivity, which typically lasts about 10 years. One their period of exclusivity passes, other companies can then produce the same "Generic" drug, which is invariably cheaper, but the active ingredients SHOULD be equivilent...typically a generic drug costs 10-50% of the originator brand. (Sometimes, the brand is reduced in price, to maintain market share...but more commonly, they keep the price high, and lose market share, but maintain a good margin). However the generic should work as well, and it maybe the inactive ingredients that don't agree with you (other ingredients are put in during manufacture, to ensure tablets don't crumble etc)

If the generic works, great, we all save the NHS money, if not, explain to your GP, and either try a different generic, or go back to the original product. GPs don't want patients to suffer, they just want patients to try cheaper alternatives....

Just found out today that both Filnarine 30mg and 10mg are not available due to manufacturers problems, Telephone to Teva UK found that they have no idea when this medication will be available again.

I would advise anyone taking these medications like me to see their GPs asap and get your prescriprtion changed to either Zomorph, or MST, or some other type of analgesic (EG Oxycontin or what ever).

All the best

Paddy

It seems that who ever produced Filnarine has either run out of ingredients, fallen short of quality control, or the factory has collapsed, as Filnarine is not available for the forseeable future (according ot Teva, the UK distributors). Had to change back to Zomorph.

Paddy